OBSERVING NATURE’S SECRET

Book excerpt: ‘[The student] should look at the world with keen, healthy senses and quickened power of observation, and then give himself up to the feeling that arises within him… This feeling penetrates the superficial aspect of things and in so doing touches their secrets.’ – Rudolf Steiner How can one progress from the ordinary, everyday vision of the senses to a perception of the subtle life- and spiritual forces around us – the very forces that shape nature? Basing his work on the research of both J. W. Goethe and Rudolf Steiner, Roger Druitt begins with the fundamental question, ‘What can you see?’ He presents a series of practical exercises for observing nature which, through diligent practise, allow for the maturation of subtle capacities of perception. Considering multiple species of leaves, for example, leads to the concept of ‘leaf’ itself. After this basic groundwork is established, steps can be taken towards a comprehension of further aspects, such as metamorphosis, gesture and type. Druitt demonstrates how this method – what he calls ‘anthroposophical phenomenology’ – can be applied in other fields of nature observation, opening the way for its use in all areas of life. In each case, whether working with bees, rocks, stars or colour, he shows how one can access the ‘individuality’ manifested in what is studied. Through a thorough step-by-step process we are led to the ultimate task: that of redeeming the beings of nature and of the earth itself.