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Keeping the Light Alive!

Monthly articles demonstrating Rudolf Steiner’s  relevance to today’s world

Adrian Anderson PhD., author of books and articles on anthroposophy

July 2018: Pisces and the sense of touch

A fascinating aspect of anthroposophical wisdom is that we human beings are regarded as having 12 senses, and that these have been developed in past Ages, by the 12 zodiac influences. Rudolf Steiner tells us that the sense of touch is governed by Pisces. But he points out that the sense of touch has two sides to it: the first one is purely  physical. Through our skin’s capacity to register impressions of surfaces of objects, we become aware of the texture and surfaces of that object.  

The second aspect is a higher sensing ability, a capacity of our soul. This ‘soul-touching’ ability consists of a subtle registering upon our consciousness, that is upon our aura, of the presence of another living being (or a thought or a feeling). This is a subtle intuitive awareness, which will be more developed in the future, and it forms the basis of what we call clairvoyance. In effect, it is about the soul being aware of beings and energies in its environment; one could say, on the 'skin' of the aura. It is understandable that Piscean people often have a slightly psychic nature.

To improve our sense of touch we can try, whenever we reach into a darkened clothing cupboard, to sense, just by the touch, whether the garment is made of cotton, or cotton/polyester, or silk, or linen or linen/cotton, or pure wool, or wool with viscose, and so on. 

One way to develop the higher sense of touch can be through trying to sense the presence of  colours. We can have a variety of bright, coloured panels, and have a friend put these, at random, in front of us, while we have our eyes shut. We can try to inwardly sense which colour we are being exposed to. 

To work with the influence of Pisces, is a valuable soul-exercise for everyone, regardless of where on the globe we live. But it is especially valuable for those living in the northern hemisphere, since that hemisphere is going through the Age of Pisces (AD 1413 - 3573), which  means that the cultural-life is influenced by Pisces. For those of us who are living in the southern hemisphere, it is now the Age of Virgo. But more about that intriguing theme next month. 

To read more about the 12 senses and the zodiac, see my Rudolf Steiner Handbook. To read more about the qualities of the Piscean personality, see my Horoscope Handbook: a Rudolf Steiner Approach. For Rudolf Steiner’s profound meditative verse on this sun-sign, see my The Lost Zodiac of Rudolf Steiner. 
These books are available on the Book Depository, Amazon, etc.




All the best,

Adrian A.