Courage as Transformative Power

Dear Friends,

First of all, I want to say thank you for being willing to share in this work, to aid us in the art of
personal and social development, which we can say is the most important art form.

Our lives are works in progress, changing and transforming through time, unless we rigidly identify with certain perceptions, feelings, and habits. But even the most obstinate rigidity will change over time. When we speak of biography, we are really speaking of destiny.

 Bio-Graphia — life-writing — writing our lives 

What we think, feel, and do in our lives becomes inscribed, thus becoming what we design for what comes next in our lives— our destiny.

We all have questions that stay with us and keep us up at night, and affect important decisions we have to make. Do you want to take a new direction in life? Are you in the middle of a crisis, and wonder how and why you got into the dark spot you’re in? Do you simply want to understand others, or to be understood? These kinds of questions are starting points for embarking upon biographical work.

When we question the meaning of life, or feel stuck in a mid-life crisis, or a crisis at any other time in life, feel trapped by parenting, by a job, a relationship, or a substance, biography work will give new perspectives, energy, and enthusiasm when we realize that not only do we have all that is necessary to direct our lives, but that each of us, from the beginning, is the author who has written the plot of our life’s story. This is key to understanding our life’s purpose and intention.

Inscribed above the entrance of the temple of the Ancient Greek Delphic mysteries, was the admonition, “Know Thyself.” From this same stream, Plato said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Biography means “life-writing,” in which we are always engaged through simply living. For those of us who recognize the truth in Plato’s statement, we feel impelled to be aware of what we are “writing.” But, in daily life, are we always aware of what is being “written” into our being?

Since Covid quarantine lock downs, their aftermath, and ensuing social questions brought different things to different people; for some people, feeling inconvenienced and trapped, fearful and worried, developing intensified habits of binge watching movies and TV series, making inane videos, numbing out in various ways, or filling the calendar with activities, just to to fill time. Others took the time to relax to rethink what is most important and meaningful in their lives, and became creative in some way. All-in-all,  it created space for more questioning. The events of our catalytic modern age give rise to all sorts of questions about personal, social, and political life. For many individuals, such questions do not need to be spurred by such a trying time, but here we are. And, whoever we are, and however we live our lives, change will come about. More and more, people are finding the need to muster courage to be able to stand in the face of ever-mounting challenges.

The fundamental characteristics of being human:

Thinking————— Feeling—————Willing

Thinking can determine feeling and willing, feeling can determine thinking and willing, and willing can determine feeling and willing.

The two fundamental experiences in our feeling life are sympathetic and antipathy — what we like and what we don’t like

Sympathy —————— Discernment——————— Antipathy

To the degree we practice discernment, we strengthen the experience of knowing ourselves. To know oneself we attain degrees of peace and courage. The chemistry of this leads to meaningful connection.

PeaceKnow Thyself    Courage

Meaningful connection

The word “courage” is from the French word “cuer”, which is from the Latin, “cor” meaning heart/corazon—one’s center

The Threefold Human Being and Courage

To understand courage anthroposophically, we must consider the threefold nature of the human being:

• Thinking (nerve-sense system): Courage clarifies thought, preventing paralysis by fear.
•  Feeling (rhythmic system): Courage harmonizes emotion, transforming anxiety into resolve.
•  Willing (metabolic-limb system): Courage activates the will, enabling moral action.

Courage is the bridge between feeling and will—it is the moment when the soul chooses to act, even when the outcome is uncertain.

Courage and the “I” Organization

Rudolf Steiner teaches that the “I” (or ego) organization is the spiritual core of the human being. Courage arises when the “I” penetrates the astral body, transforming instinctual fear into conscious strength. The “I” must illuminate the shadow—not banish it, but stand within it. Courage is the Michaelic force that allows the soul to confront challenges with discernment and love.The human being must become a warrior of the spirit—not through domination, but through uprightness.

What is called embodied cosmic courage is the strength to stand in truth, to wield the sword of discernment, and to face spiritual darkness without flinching. This cosmic, or Michaelic courage is moral clarity, the ability to see through illusion; spiritual resolve to act from conscience; and inner uprightness to stand firm in love. This is not the courage of conquest—it is the courage of redemption.

Courage as a Transformative Virtue

Steiner’s twelvefold virtue path includes courage as a transformative force. Though not named directly in the monthly cycle, it is implicit in virtues like:

•  Devotion leads to Sacrifice (April): Courage to offer oneself

•  Compassion leads to Freedom (August): Courage to feel deeply and act freely

•  Patience leads to Insight (October): Courage to wait and understand

Courage is the flame beneath all virtues—it is what allows them to be lived, not merely admired.

One person who embodied such courage, Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And, there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”

The opposite of cowardice is foolhardiness, and it too is born of vanity, and concern for what is politic or secure. Courage is the balance of soul in which one decidedly acts regardless of fear.

Every time we act courageously, we change within. It is these changes within ourselves that attract others to us, make certain others attractive to us, thus changing the nature of our relationships.  I Leave you with this blessing: “May your courage be quiet, your redemption deep, and your soul steadfast.”

Here are some suggested contemplations and activities which you may do alone, or with a trusted other person. Enjoy!

1. Contemplate; 
“What does courage mean to me?”

2. Imagination 

•  Prompt: “What karmic weight am I ready to transform?”

•  Visualize that question into an imagination of climbing the soul’s mountain.

3. Dual Teachings 

•  Anthroposophic segment: Courage as moral will

•  EA segment: Saturn’s karmic architecture and Capricorn’s climb

4. Self Dialogue or, if willing, with another

•  Prompt 1: “Where have I avoided responsibility?”

•  Prompt 2: “What does redemption look like in my life?”

5. EA-inspired exercise:

• Map your Pluto, Polarity Point, Lunar Nodes, and Saturn placements and reflect on your karmic task — sign (ruler and sign and house), house, and aspects.

6. Contemplation: 

“I climb with courage. I redeem through truth.”

For Our Time                                                                  

We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what comes out of the future. We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations about the future.

We must look forward with absolute equanimity to everything that may come. And we must think only that whatever comes is given to us by a world-directive, full of wisdom.

It is part of what we must learn in this age, namely, to live out of pure trust, without any security in existence – trust in the ever-present help of the spiritual world.

Truly, nothing else will do, if our courage is not to fail us. And let us seek the awakening within ourselves, every morning, and every evening.

Materials list 

Crayons or pastels

Colored pencils

Pencils

Paper (3 per person)