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work through his elder daughter,Arvia (later Mrs. Karl Ege),whose name, along with thatof her younger sister, Christy(later Mrs. Henry Barnes), will befamiliar to many Society members,particularly those involvedwith Waldorf education. In anycase, Percy visited Dornach inthe 1930s, became friendly withAlbert Steffen and collaboratedwith him on publishing a selectionof their “inter-translated”poems. Percy was also deeplyproud of his daughters’ life-longwork as Waldorf teachers andartists (both were publishedpoets).Incidentally, Percy was frequentlyin despair at how oftenhis surname was misspelled. Iam loath to mention it, but, deareditor, take a look at the photocaptions in the “Columbia Rising”article.Swain PrattChatham, NYThanks!What an enlivening andnourishing experience it is tostroll through a Farmer’s Marketand benefit from its abundance,stride the fields of a BD Farm,also enter an Art Gallery orMuseum. Sometimes one needsto “escape” into a small roadsidechapel or cathedral for innerpeace and inspiration or hearmusic of various kinds to bringback harmony and meaning inone’s life. All aspects of life areaddressed in Evolving News ForMembers and Friends, it is sucha well rounded publication withso much depth, width and socialscope. It is a delight to receiveand am so grateful for all thevariety and visual riches one istreated to! Am looking forwardliterally and figuratively to moreto come!Veronica ReifBerkeley, CAPoetry as PhenomenologyThe E-News article and challengeas to whether Rudolf Steiner’swork is related to phenomenology,Husserl, Brentano, andso on is interesting and thoughtprovoking,and Scott Hicks’ worksounds very interesting too.What I would suggest, however,is that it is quite impossible toview Rudolf Steiner’s work in anyof the categories that philosophyhas at its disposal.Even his book The Philosophyof Freedom does not seem to meto pertain to philosophy. Rather,it is in his poetry, the many verses,The Calendar of the Soul, the“Foundation Stone Meditation,”and The Mystery Dramas, that thereal meanings can be found.Phenomenology basicallyseems to consist of ways to viewexperience. A long time beforeI found Rudolf Steiner I studiedsome phenomenology and wrotean MA thesis, “The Experience ofLoneliness.” I was told to not talkabout things that you are tryingto present. Instead, phenomenologyteaches us to get inside theexperience and show the readersor listeners what it is you wantthem to hear, see, think about—which is what poetry does.Steiner shows us so muchthrough his poetry which is amarvelous phenomenon just initself. It is important to considerevery word in the poetry. Phenomenologistsdo this also: theylook for meaning within or underthe things of the sense worldand are not satisfied with tellingabout something but rather lookfor what is at first hidden butperhaps can be brought to lightthrough our thinking. Steiner, ofcourse, goes further and lets usbring spirit, soul, willing, feeling,and all the rest.A small verse that I like is atthe beginning of Verses and Meditations(p.34):Why does the seeking soul of manStrive towards knowledge of higherworlds?Because every look—born of thesoul—Into the outer world of natureTurns to the question, fraught withlonging:Where is the Being Divine?Warum strebt des MenschenSuchende SeeleNach ErkenntnisDer höheren Welten?Weil jeder seelenentsprossene BlickIn die SinnesweltZur sehnsuchtsvollen Frage wirdNach dem Geistessein.Here is the word Sein. ThisI believe that miso belongs to the highest class of medicines,those which help prevent disease and strengthenthe body through continued usage. . . Some people speak ofmiso as a condiment, but miso brings out the flavor andnutritional value in all foods and helps the body to digestand assimilate whatever we eat. . .—Dr. Shinichiro Akizuki,Director, St Francis Hospital, Nagasakiwww.southrivermiso.comWOOD-FIRED HAND-CRAFTED MISONourishing Life for the Human Spirit since 1979u n p a s t e u r i z e d p r o b i o t i c c e r t i f i e d o r g a n i cSOUTH RIVERMISO COMPANYC o n w a y , M a s s a C h u s e t t s 0 1 3 4 1 • ( 4 1 3 ) 3 6 9 - 4 0 5 7word and Dasein, as well as theword Wesen, are important inRudolf Steiner’s work and inphenomenology, though they arenot easily translated into Englishand are given meanings such aslife, being, existence.It is cumbersome to translatethe last line, Nach dem Geistessein,as “Where is the BeingDivine?” Geistessein is spiritbeing. The word Blick is glance.In die Sinneswelt is into the senseworld. Thus, every glance intothe sense world creates the question,Frage, filled with longing,sehnsuchtsvollen. The direction,nach, of this longing is towardsthe spirit being, Geistessein. Earlier,the seeking or searching soul,the suchende Seele, is towards,nach, knowledge, Erkenntnis, ofthe higher worlds, der höherenWelten. Nach is thus a small wordbut carries large meaning in thisverse, as to the direction of ourlonging and our looking.As far as our knowing is concerned,the “Foundation StoneMeditation” tells us to practice(Übe) three things that pertain toknowing: spirit-recollection, spirit-mindfulnessand spirit-vision.Übe Geist-Erinnern, Übe Geist-Besinnen, Übe Geist-Erschauen.The word Geist is of course spiriteverywhere; the second partsare Erinnern, meaning to remember,Besinnen, to think, reflect,and Erschauen, which is a wayof beholding. I feel we can usevarious parts of “The FoundationStone Meditation” and any of hispoetry as meditations to bringus to the point of knowing thethings we want to know.Seelenentsprossene, the wordmodifying Blick, is interesting.Seele is soul and Spross is basicallya sprout, so entsprossencould mean a sprouting up in thesoul. A further note concerningthe word Blick. Augen is eye, andcombined with Blick is Augenblick,which means moment.A book I have of lectures givenin Munich in August 1912, the25th to 31st, has the title in English,Initiation, Eternity and thePassing Moment. In German it isVon der Initiation, von EwigheitLetters continue on page 63Spring 20107