CALENDAR OF The SOUL

A Poetic Exploration of Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Calendar

- By Marguerite Dar Boggia

From a scholarly perspective, Rudolf Steiner's The Calendar of the Soul stands as a profoundly intimate work of spiritual poetry and meditative guidance, it was written between 1912 and 1917 and published in its first full German edition in 1918.

Structured as fifty-two soul-seasonal verses, one for each week of the year, Steiner offers readers a rhythmic pathway to harmonize inner life with the outer progression of the seasons. Written in free verse that nonetheless hints at traditional metrical structures, each poem functions as a kind of soul-imprint, inviting us to enter more deeply into the subtle energies of nature and the self.

In Truth, The Calendar of the Soul is more than a devotional text: it is an experiential curriculum. Round by round, readers are encouraged to read (or chant) the weekly verse, sit in reflection, and allow the imagery to work into the heart, shaping one's thoughts and feelings. Steiner's teachings guide the soul from inwardness and contemplation toward outward blossoming and creative engagement. Each poem is carefully keyed to the sun's position through the zodiac, synchronizing our inner journey with cosmic movement.

Themes and Structure

A key theme is inner alignment with the macrocosm of nature. In Winter weeks, for instance, Steiner writes of the soul "embodying silence, spirit-body burning ecstasies," evoking an inward heat that contrasts with the cold world outside. As light grows in spring, the verses blossom into images of sap rising, spirit blossoming, and new resoluteness emerging.