SPIRIT OF THE HORSE
Myth and Legend – Class 8 – Middle Lesson
As a guardian of Class 8 (1981), I commissioned Susan Whitehead, she of the poetic eyes, to take this Literary Arts middle lesson, and as it turned out, all five units right up to Class 12. How my class benefited by this consistency; how the teacher became creatively fulfilled by being able to realize the whole 5-year Literary Arts program – and how relieved was I that I had a good – ‘specialist’ – teacher for my word-hungry teenagers!
The Literary Arts is the third strand of 3 in the Cultural stream of the middle lessons. These middles are designed to appeal to the heart forces of the students, unlike the more academic main lessons; in deference to this, Susan took a creative writing, or ‘Creative Word’, emphasis to this Myth and Legion unit.
The ‘cultural’ is the 2nd stream, that which awakens the astral or soul consciousness of the students. This becomes manifest by the teaching of the 3 ‘Arts’, stirring the unseen forces of will, feeling and thinking – Art History; Stage Arts and our own subject, Literary Arts.
Even though there is a middles/heart and cultural/soul mantle over this unit, there must be a thought-provoking – profound even – element to take the adolescents forward on their Word Journey. You can’t read a text without comprehending the idea behind it, otherwise no matter how sublime, it is mere gobbledygook to the reader – especially practical-minded teenagers. In their incipient intellectual awakening, they demand to know what they’re reading – and certainly writing.
Susan began by introducing a thread, a human observer, of the wonderful Myth and Legend path through the ages. It must be noted that this is not a history of literature lesson, but a sampling of the great evolution-advancing stores which have shaped our own, particularly Western, collective psyche.
So an imaginary character, Sayrah, was introduced; her name is a combination of the Mars (Spirit of Speech) sound Ay, and the Venus vowel, Ah – Love of Speech! Sayrah first met a world-changing writer, St. John, the Patron Saint of Writers. It was under his watchful eye that the students would pen their own creative efforts over the next 3 weeks, a divine schoolmaster indeed! John wrote as easily about the deep past ‘In the beginning was The Word’, as about the future, Revelations.
Another hidden sound element in Sayrah’s name is the S and R, Rudolf Steiner relegates these to Scorpio and Taurus respectively; that which in the Animal Circle create the ‘Thought Line’ (Taurus Sense of Thought, Scorpio, Quality of Understanding) – as well, Mars Ay lives in the House of Scorpio, and Venus Ah in Taurus! Whatever can be said of Susan as a high school teacher, she is never arbitrary!
Lucky duck Sayrah also met a Greek equivalent of the Word Arts, Calliope, Muse of Eloquence. As the ‘head’ or first muse, it is she who speaks the babe into earthly existence – again it is a case of ‘In the beginning was the Word’ – but from a pre-Christian perspective this time. However Calliope represents the spoken word, and Myths and Legends is more about writing, the John art.
Susan presented therefore a picture of the 12 Aspects of the Literary Word, the first being that of the movement word. This is a Dance, especially as a precursor to Eurythmy (Susan is an accomplished eurythmist). This incarnated in the legend of Shiva, Lord of Cosmic Dance – as he manifested in the Ocean of Flame, or the Will. That if Ancient India/Cancer, with its Quality of Initiative as Rudolf Steiner tells us, was expressed through the heroic tale of the Ramayana.
Then to Persia, with its inspired word, under the literary auspices of Gemini. The legend of Gilgamesh depicted this ‘light in darkness’; this timeless duality. Humankind was represented by the Sun Hero, Gilgamesh, and his hirsute Moon companion, Enkidu. The class read excerpts also from the Persian epic poem, The Shah Nameh – The Book of Kinds (The ‘Three Kings’ were Persian).
Egypt was the next port of call; and the Court of Akhenaton of the 18th Dynasty was visited. This unlikely sun-inspired pharaoh (Aton is the sun) was a wordsmith sublime. Here, with the mystery of hieroglyphics, was the picture word. The Sun Pharaoh’s ‘songs’ were the first to be transcribed onto papyrus and held in the halls of history. These, incidentally were written down against his wishes by a priestess. His view was that to write was ‘to kill the Word’. Shades of Rudolf Steiner – on both counts!
On to Greece – so much a Word civilization; here Susan characterized the rhythmic word, with its heightening of language consciousness through the 12 Cosmic Rhythms, from the short-long iamb in Cancer; short-short pyrrhic, Leo – and so on right around to the long-short-short dactylus in Gemini. Even the names of the rhythms contain the particular short, long combinations – Capricorn trochee is long-short. Homer of course was a father lode for the myths and legends of Ancient Greece; the Iliad and Odyssey – ahhh!
‘Ahhh’ indeed is the spoken word of Rome; to the avid listeners of an Ovid, or other orator on the steps of some forum; it was not what was said, but how it was delivered. Sayrah learned the eloquence arts of declamation and recitation in the presentation of the various myths and legends of Rome, such as the founding of the city by Romulus and Remus under the protection of their lupine guardian.
How can one present a panorama of myth and legend without a visit to the master of the art, the Old Testament. The vary saga of the Rise and Fall of Israel over the ages constitutes one of the world’s greatest legends – following is a snippet form the Book of Amos, first of the classical prophets, 8th Century B.C., which the students learned to recite in monumental tone (Chapter 9 Verse 11):
“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breachers thereof: and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.” …hmmm! This was the prophetic word, ancient prophesy or new? We’ll see. Hail the new David, giant slayer, harp player – dancer before the Ark.
Dancer? Well, Rudolf Steiner did tell us that David was the Hebrew expression of Hermes, or Mercury! What a favorite this was of Susan, Movement Artiste, as she and I were married in St. David’s Church Palm Beach, way back in 1965! Even Literary Arts teachers are allowed a little spiritual nepotism now and then!
The Middle Ages gave us the written word; again this was mainly of the Scriptures, but telling a myth of a different kind, the New Testament. Until historical records are produced which prove the existence of Jesus, this remarkable story must remain in the misty realm of myth. And probably a good thing too; it does not rely on its historical veracity for its power (the pedants do enough damage as it is!), but the content of the teachings and great spiritual events therein.
A brief discussion into the hallowed halls of the Dominican Order gives one an impression of how these learned monks, such as Thomas Aquinas (13th Century), gave the world wisdom through the power of pen. This is beautifully symbolized by the ‘Angelic monk’s’ symbol, a light-radiant star. His scholarship was combined with a deep humility, a rare combination indeed – Thomas Aquinas exemplified the very essence of creative writing.
Sayrah used Holbein’s famous painting of ‘Erasmus Writing’ to demonstrate to the class correct writing posture and gesture. Erasmus was penning the first words of the Mark Gospel, that of form! In this, as in many other instances in this unit, the visual arts are used to illuminate the literary. The Renaissance is the conceptual word.
Renaissance consciousness is no-where more exemplified than with the greatest of Renaissance – and probably the world’s – literary masters, Shakespeare. He gave birth to new, as well as re-birth to old, myths and legends; giving us the dramatic word. Here it can be pressed on the students that they too can be myth-makers. After all, someone or other created – invoked – every myth and legend from our illimitable treasury – ‘Maybe one of you will one day create a new myth that changes human consciousness!’ said Susan/Sayrah.
Such did 18th Century German playwright, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who took the timeless tale of Faust, he whose soul was up for sale to the devil. He, and other Age of Reason writers, gave the world the philosophic word; an important phase in the descent of the Logos to earth. It was impressed on the students how we are all Fausts at some time in life, perhaps in putting money before morality, or pragmatism before principle.
A contemporary of Goethe was Novalis, who gave us the astonishing revelation that science and art are brothers – truth in beauty and beauty in truth – the poetic word perhaps.
And what of modern myth-makers, like H.G. Wells with this War of the Worlds and Jules Vern’s Time Machine? Not a prophetic, as in the Old Testament sense, but certainly a prescient word. At this same time a writer of little renown was penning the occult word for a def-dumb-blind humanity, Rudolf Steiner himself! His Mystery Plays will one day be recognized as presenting the majesty of higher worlds, no less perspicacious than Goethe or Dante even. Written for the form of the language as they are, they can only truly be appreciated in the original German – alas!
And what of our own time? John Lennon, Bob Dylan and others were studied to try and comprehend the new myths of such eternal verities expressed through Imagination and Blowing in the Wind respectively. Those modern ideas which seem to be destined for immorality might be the imaginative word. Rudolf Steiner did say that ‘Imaginative cognition’ was the newly emerging faculty of the age! But where is the Australian Word? This is covered in the Class 8 main lesson, Australian Literature, so to avoid repetition, is not taught here.
So to some of the more practical elements presented to Class 8 over this 3-week Myth and Legend middle lesson: there were exercises n dictionary use, spelling, dictation, usage, word groupings and etymology. Of particular interest was the origin of the students’ own names – the Hebrew Adam means ‘red earth’, not bad for this ‘Son of Dust’, as the father of humankind is referred to in occult circles!
Sayrah showed the students how to create their own myth from a story already written by Mother Nature; take any natural process, say for the forming of a pearl, and transform it, via various artistic and nature-accurate personifications.
The sand which trespasses into the shell might be Eddie Whirl; Mother Milky being the calcium process of nacre-forming; the pearl shell itself, La Pelle La Pearl. This particular myth is the actual – hidden if for little children – biography of La Pelle. Quite superb and original stories can be created this way, stories which are not only richly imaginative, but contain a fabric of scientific truth. This is truly integrated learning – truth in beauty, beauty in truth!
The students also enjoy vocabulary extension, such as finding the origin of the names of the seasons, zodiac signs, months and days of the week; the last represent the 7 astrological planets – Wednesday is Wodensday; Woden is the Norse god equivalent to Roman Mercury – in Latin this was ‘Mercurri Dies’. In French it is still Mercredi. And don’t miss a segment on synonyms and antonyms, they love it!
Also it is good to give a glossary of ‘story’ words; especially in determining the subtle difference between a: fable; tale; fairy story; report; narration; chronicle; saga; log; anecdote; short story; parable; biography; bestiary; obituary; gospel; folk tale; myth; legend; novel; epic; yarn – and so on.
A good exercise is to encourage the students to be foretellers of the future; get them to write a prophesy of how the world will be in, say, the year 3000 – a technological, space-age wonderland? Or a holistic, back to paradise one. As such they all become Jules Verne for a time, finding how hard it is to create an unknow future – in Verne’s and Wells’ case, self-fulfilling perhaps?
This is in harmony with their contemplative Saturn natures, as 14-year-olds are in their 7-year Odyssey through adolescence. Saturn can peer through the mists to the deep past; and in the highest visionary sense, forward into the future.
In the spirit of new myth-making, the students created their own, based on a horse; this timeless symbol of intelligence (cosmic if winged) was a recognition by Sayrah of this strongly emerging faculty in high school.
To enter into the smell, sights and sheer power of inquilinity, the class visited the Spanish Dancing Audelusian Stallions, where the eye-misting beauty of these magnificent creatures subsequently inspired some truly remarkable new legends, myths, tales, poems – whatever! Some of there were even prophetic, like the short verse over the page form one talented student:
DREAMHORSE
Love is the Spirt of the horse
So fiery, yet with remorse
Sorrow is the horses’ nose
Smelling terror that comes, and goes
Compassion in the horse’s eyes
Mysterious, deep, intelligent, wise
Freedom is the horse’s mane
Free in love, from terror and pain.
Free indeed
The children would have already had fun with onomatopoeia (Fr. ‘name make’) words, like: “splish, splash, rumble, rustle and currawong”. But what of phonaesthemes (‘sound I see’)? These are words that sound, not like their sound, but their content – their, um, look? Nature? Feel? A short list will describe it better:
Sludge; greasy; gruff sounds rude; gnarled feels twisted; any prickle is sharp; dollop; glint; glow. Speed phonaesthemes often begin with Z – zoom, zing, zip, sap; with SW heralding a slower rhythm – swing, swirl, swoop, swoosh. Have the class explore the SN words – not a pretty picture, so to speak! Of course the wisdom embodied in Eurythmy give the spiritual background to this interesting phenomenon.
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