The Four Seasons in the Rhythmical Cycle of the Year
In the greatest part of the populated world we are exposed to the
rhythmical changes of the seasons in the yearly path of the Earth around the
Sun. [1] We experience the seasons through the changes
in weather and also through the changes in nature [2] – if we are not
completely enclosed by a human-made environment, as is the case in many
modern cities. Direct contact with the plant world causes that "our feelings
in spring are different from those we have in autumn. When buds are
bursting in spring and giving promise of the beauty and splendour of summer,
the feelings of a healthy soul will not be the same as they are in autumn;
with the approach of spring we feel the awakening of hope. The feeling is
only slightly developed in an ordinary, normal man, but it is present,
nevertheless. Towards autumn, the mood of hope and awakening connected with
spring will be transformed into one of sadness, of melancholy; when we see
the leaves falling, when we see bare, skeleton-like branches instead of the
bright flowering shrubs of summer, our souls are steeped in melancholy;
there is sadness in our hearts. In the course of the year, if we move in
step with the phenomena of outer nature, we can experience a cycle in our
life of soul." [3]
Those people who still cultivate the land can also experience the seasons
through the change of gardening or farming activities throughout the course
of the year. For example, various plants are sown and harvested at different
seasons. In the past it was very common for people to live in close
relationship to nature and this is still the case in many parts of the
world. People "in the country lead a simpler,
more rhythmical life, in greater tranquillity. Whereas in the towns man is
filled with thoughts of thousands of things which flood through his life
unrhythmically, in the country man is accustomed to fit his life into the
rhythmical course of nature, into the rhythms of growth and withering, into
the rhythm of the seasons of the year. Every year, in rhythmic harmony with
nature, he sets about definite tasks at different times, and thereby places
himself in a far more intimate connection with the great cosmic laws than
does the town-dweller, who pays no heed whatever to these laws."
[4]
In the present more people are living in towns and cities than in rural
environments. One typical characteristic of modern life-styles is that we
spend more time indoors than outdoors. If we add to this the continuous
supply of food products by supermarkets throughout the whole year, then we
can see that modern people are separated to a large degree from the natural
rhythm of the four seasons. Although this separation from nature is a necessity
for the proper future development of humanity, it also has negative impacts,
for "everything which takes place with regularity in the universe, for
instance, day and night, the course of the sun or the sequence of the
seasons – all this is connected with what is necessary in human life. The
regular intake of food is necessary within the rhythm of sleeping and
waking; the regular rhythm of breathing, circulation of the blood, and so
on, is necessary." [5] However, the solution to these
modern difficulties is not in turning back to natural rhythms, but in the
development of new insights, forces, and skills which will enable us to
overcome these disparities of modern life and create new rhythms.
If we want to achieve this aim we need to become familiar amongst all other
cosmic influences also with the hidden forces coming to the Earth from the
cosmos during the various seasons. [6] We can understand these influences only when we are aware that
"we cannot conceive the Earth as a mere conglomeration of minerals and
rocks, as is done by modern mineralogy and geology, but we must rather
regard it as a living, ensouled organism, which brings forth the plants, the
animals and the physical being of man out of its own inner forces."
[7]
The Rhythm of Four Seasons as the 'Breathing' of the Earth
We will now look at "the seasonal cycle of the Earth, a kind of mighty
breathing which the Earth carries out in relation to the surrounding
cosmos. In this case of course it is not air that is breathed in and out,
but rather those forces which are at work for example in vegetation, those
forces which push the plants out of the Earth in spring, and which withdraw
again into the Earth in fall, letting the green plants fade and finally
paralyzing plant growth." [8] It must be clear to us that "it is not a breathing of air of which we
speak, but the in-and-out-breathing of forces, of which we can get a partial
idea if we observe the plant-growth during the course of the year."
[9]
We will start our survey with "the time of the winter solstice, in
the last third of December. [10] At this time we may compare the Earth's
breathing with the lung-breathing of a man when he has inhaled a breath of
air and is working on it in himself, that is, when he is holding his breath
within him. In the same way, the Earth has within it those forces which are
inhaled and exhaled in the cycle of the year. At the end of December it is
holding these forces.
We can of course only consider one part of the Earth in connection with
this breathing; the conditions are of course reversed on the opposite side
of the Earth. We must picture the breathing of the Earth in such a way that
in one region there is out-breathing, and in the opposite region
in-breathing. At the end of December the Earth has fully in-breathed and is
holding in herself these forces. She has entirely sucked in her soul
element, for these forces are the soul element of the Earth. She has drawn
it completely in, just as human beings who have inhaled hold the air
entirely in themselves.
Now let us follow the Earth further in its yearly course. Let us follow
it up to the time of the spring equinox, the end of March. Then we shall
have to picture the situation in this way: The Earth is in the process of
outbreathing; the soul is still half within the Earth, but the Earth is
breathing it out;
the streaming soul-forces are pouring out into the cosmos. Whereas since
December these forces have been intimately bound up with the Earth, the
outward-streaming soul element is beginning now to be met by the force of
the sunlight itself. While in December the Earth-soul element withdrew into
the interior of the Earth, in order to be insulated from these cosmic
influences, now the out-breathing force of the Earth-soul streams out into
cosmic spaces and receives the Sun force.
If we carry further our review of the Earth's breathing process during
the course of the year, we find the Earth in yet a third condition in June.
At this time the Earth has completely exhaled. The entire soul-element of
the Earth has been poured forth into cosmic space; it is yielded up to
cosmic space and is saturating itself with the forces of the Sun and the
stars – the Earth-soul is at midsummer given over to the cosmic All. The
Earth has fully out-breathed. In her outer physiognomy, with which she looks
out into the universe, she reveals not her own inherent force, as she did at
the time of the winter solstice; instead, the Earth reveals on her surface
the reflected forces of the stars, of the Sun, of all that is in the cosmos
outside her.
If we follow this breathing-process still further we come finally to the
stage that makes its entry at the end of September, the time of the
autumn
equinox. The out-breathed forces begin their return movement; the Earth
begins once more to inhale. The soul of the Earth which was poured out into
the cosmos now draws back into the interior of the Earth again. Human souls
perceive this in-breathing of the Earth-soul element, either in their
subconscious or in their clairvoyant impressions, as processes of their own
souls. Those men who were inspired by initiation knowledge of these things
could say to themselves at the end of September: What the cosmos has given
us and what has united itself with our soul force – this we now allow to
flow back into the earthly realm, into that earthly sphere which throughout
the summer has served only as a reflection, as a kind of mirror in relation
to the extraterrestrial cosmos." [11]
With the help of this brief description of the mighty process of the
yearly out-breathing and in-breathing of the Earth, we can grasp that
in
different seasons different cosmic forces are active in the surroundings of
the Earth. These forces are working on the kingdoms of nature and on human
beings in different ways. To properly understand the nature of these cosmic
forces and all interrelationships demands long study. For the sake of this
nutritional principle it will suffice if we are aware that they are of
astral nature and etheric nature as well. For that reason these forces have
impact on our soul life and on life processes in nature, to which belongs
also our body – that is, our etheric-physical organism.
Influences of the Cosmic Forces on the Human Organism
So far we have been occupied with the influences of seasons on our soul
life. Now we will focus our attention on more hidden seasonal influences on
our physical organism. For that purpose we will start with the picture of the
THREEFOLD HUMAN BEING
which presents three main systems of human organism and their activities.
However, we will separate the metabolic-limb system into two subsystems. In
this way we arrive at four systems which have their seats in the different
parts of human organism:
- In the head we have the nerve-sense system
which enables with its activities of perceiving and thinking.
- In the chest we have the rhythmic system which enables with its activities of
breathing and circulation.
- In the abdomen we have the metabolic system which enables with its activities of
digestion and metabolism.
- Then we have the system of limbs which
enables activity of voluntary movement.
Now we will look at how cosmic forces active behind the various seasons
influence these four systems of human organism. We will start with the
description of the situation in summer. At that time "the cosmic forces of thinking
appear in the cosmic surroundings, and then follow a course which brings them
after six months to the other side. Then it is winter with us. But the Earth
does not hinder these forces from coming to us; they penetrate right through the
Earth and permeate us in winter as an ascending stream from the other side"
[12] of the Earth.
Thus in summer time "we must picture the cosmic forces of thinking
streaming out in the cosmos, raying into the clouds, the rain, the thunder
and lightning, and raying also into the growth of plants. In winter – after
the cosmic forces of thinking have made their way round the Earth – these
forces stream up through the Earth and come to rest in our heads. And then
these forces, which at other times are outside in nature, have the effect of
making us citizens of the cosmos. For they actually cause an image of the
cosmos to arise in our heads, illuminating us so that we become possessors
of human wisdom. Thus the cosmic forces of thinking work in nature at
midsummer, and during the winter season they work in the human head, so that
in this connection the human being is truly a microcosm in relation to the
macrocosm.
We understand the human being only if we place him in the world not
merely as a being of nature, but as a spiritual being. And just as we can
follow the cosmic forces of thinking and see how they stream into man
through the course of the year, so must we do with the
cosmic forces of
healing which pour into the forces of nature in spring; and in autumn,
when they arrive on the other side of the Earth, they engender the forces of
human breathing. Thus man learns to recognise in himself the healing forces
which play through the cosmos in the spring, if in autumn, when the cosmic
forces of healing pass through the Earth, he is aware that these forces are
active in his breathing." [13]
If we now look at the time of Christmas we will see by the help of
clairvoyant vision that "the cosmic forces of nourishment
are then of a cosmic nature; we have to look up above to find them. At midsummer these forces are carried into man after they have
descended from their cosmic activity during the winter to their human
activity in the summer, when their forces stream through the Earth. During
the summer their rays penetrate through the interior of the Earth and carry
into man who is on the opposite side of the Earth all that is brought about
by the formative forces of nourishment.
And when at last we come to the
cosmic forces of Will, we find them as
the cosmic forces in autumn. They are then at their highest; they have
reached their cosmic culmination. Then they begin their descent; in spring
these forces penetrate through the Earth and live in all that comes to
expression in man as movement and the power of Will, enabling him to walk
and work and take hold of things." [14]
In this way we arrive at the following summary of the
cosmic influences: [15]
- In winter the cosmic forces of nourishment are active
in surrounding nature while inside the human being, in his head, the cosmic forces of thinking are active.
- In spring the cosmic forces of healing are active in surrounding
nature while inside the human being, in his limbs, the cosmic forces of Will are active.
- In summer the cosmic forces of thinking are active in surrounding
nature while inside the human being, in his abdomen, the cosmic forces of nourishment are active.
- In autumn the cosmic forces of Will are active in surrounding nature
while inside the human being, in his chest, the cosmic forces of healing are active.
Man's life depends on proper functioning of these four systems, and their
activities depend on the inflow of cosmic forces of nourishing, healing,
thinking, and willing. But now you must surely wonder how we can obtain, for
example, the cosmic forces of healing not just in autumn but also in other
seasons. This is due to the fact that man is not
bound up with the cycle of the year in the same manner as it was in the
past. In this stage of human evolution "man does not inwardly experience the
cosmic forces of healing in his breathing system only in the autumn, but on
through the winter, spring and summer. A kind of memory of it, more
substantial than ordinary memory, remains. So while things are arranged in
the way described above, their effects are active in human beings throughout
the year. As an experience remains fixed in the memory, so
the effects of
cosmic forces continue all through the year; otherwise man could not be a uniformly
developing being all the year round. In physical life, one person forgets
more readily, or less readily, than another. But the influence which the
cosmic forces of healing have implanted in our breathing system during the
autumn would disappear by the following autumn if the cosmic forces of
healing would not come again. From one to the next autumn this nature-memory
in the breathing organ remains active, but then it has to be renewed."
[16] This renewal is
happening regularly each year with all cosmic forces – the cosmic forces of
nourishment, healing, thinking and willing – when we move rhythmically through
the seasons of the year. [17]
The cosmic forces presented above are not the only ones which influence
our life on Earth. Nor are described here all the influences of seasonal
changes. Although the above description covers only a very small part of the
complex relationship between man as microcosm and the universe as macrocosm,
the knowledge of these seasonal influences enables better knowledge of our
own being, including the impacts of nutrition.
For a complementary perspective see:
♦ NUTRITION AND HUMAN WILL
