The Illustrated Calendar of the Soul

The Illustrated Calendar of the Soul: Meditations for the Yearly Cycle 

Rudolf Steiner’s beautiful meditative verses for the yearly cycle have been used by countless people over the years. The purpose of this beautiful little book—one you’ll treasure for many years—is to awaken one’s feelings of nature’s cycles and, at the same time, stimulate self-discovery. By listening to the changing language of the year and awakening a profound sympathy for it, we can in turn discover our own individual nature. Steiner’s original and unique meditations facilitate this process, leading to a healthy feeling of being at one with the natural world.

This edition features Anne Stockton’s fifty-two celebrated and evocative paintings, a wonderful complement to the text. John Thomson has translated Steiner’s words especially for this edition.

Easter Mood

April 7–13

When from the vastness of this world
the sun speaks to the human mind
and joy from the depths of soul
in beholding joins with light;
then thoughts that burst from out the self
stream into distant space
unknowingly uniting
the human being with the Spirit’s life.

The Calendar of the Soul is a translation of “Anthroposophischer Seelenkalender,” included in Wahrspruchworte (GA 40).

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up (see right). As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.

Anne Stockton has been painting professionally for most of her life. Resolving to become a painter at age thirteen, Stockton began her formal studies at the Art Student’s League and Grand Central Art School, New York City, in her fifteenth year. She has taught for many years in the U.S. and England, at Tobias School of Art, which she founded in 1979 with her husband Kurt Falk. She lives and works in her studio in Sussex, England.