Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

unexpected always capableof happening.In summary, the predominantetheric gestures arethese:• The East, where thecontinent breathes and traditiondominates• The Center or Midwest,where the continentalcirculation happens; steadiness,balance, and evennesspredominate• The West, where thecontinent dies and becomesreborn, where every mountainand pointed evergreenlifts your gaze to the heavens,where new ideas and insightsare quick to appear and fadeawayThe threefold activities ofrespiration, circulation, anddeath/rebirth allow NorthAmerica to have a cosmicThe hard core of ancient volcanoes remains.consciousness and allow it tocommunicate with the stars. The Native American Indians centered theircosmologies on this reality. 4Natural History Appears Most Emphatically in the Vertical: North-SouthWhat are the polarities that have built our continent? In the Norththe land is broad and extended and has the most differentiation, but peopleare the most contracted. In the South where the land is pinched and contracted,the people are, generally, open and warm. Tourist advertisementstout southern hospitality. The North has water in abundance. The South hasone major river, the Mississippi.There are also polarities built into the continent’s geography. In theSouth where warmth prevails, we have the strongest contraction of the landmass. In the North where the cold contracts nature, we have the greatest extensionand differentiation. In the North, water abounds and is held in bogs,lakes, and ponds. In the South, we find the deltas of two major rivers, the34