R. Steiner, Speech Eurythmy Course. GA 275, 10th Lecture, 7th July 1924
Automatic translation, Authorized translation

Forms that Arise from the Essence of the Human Being

So, first, today we will attempt to start from the essence of the human being, to search for the forms that can arise from the essence of the human being, and then proceed further and ask ourselves: Which sounds can be imagined with these corresponding forms? ...

Now you see a number of gestures. These gestures actually represent the whole human being in their entirety; one could say, the whole human being, though split into twelve individual elements, but still the whole human being.

You could also imagine that a person would perform these gestures one after the other. If you imagine that a person would perform these gestures consecutively, you would see even more clearly that in fact, in this way, by performing all these gestures, the human being expresses themselves in a profoundly strong manner.

Let us now go through this human being. Let's begin here (Gesture IV).

Scorpio

Please imagine this as representing that element in the human being that is primarily intellect, reason. Let us deeply engrave this into our soul: Here we have the gesture, which is the expression of understanding, of reason.

Leo

Now, look at this gesture (I): it radiates sun-like that which one could call the element of enthusiasm, the element that particularly has its origin in the chest. So, we can say: Gesture IV: Head; Gesture I: Chest, enthusiasm.

Taurus

Now we move here (Gesture X). Here we have: the head embraced by the right arm, the left hand covering the throat. Here we have everything that is the expression of the will in the human being – the word must be silent – when the person stands and represents the will; all that we have here is what the will expresses, what can become action. So, we can say: Limbs, Will, Action.

So, basically, we now have the three parts of human nature: intellect, feeling, will.

Aquarius

Now we also have the gesture which summarises all that we have. Look at how this one seeks balance (Gesture VII).

It seeks balance between all others. You can imagine that the arms also move like this (moving up and down), so that balance is sought. So, here balance is being sought; the whole human being is seeking balance. We can say, the human being as such, or also the human being in the balance of their three forces of thinking, feeling, and willing. I will just write: the human being in balance. Take these terms I am writing here as something very significant.

Sagittarius

Now we move to the others. If you move from the thinking human being to the one seeking balance, then between both you have what one reaches from thinking after something has been thought through. Where does one go from thinking? To decision. So Gesture V is the decision, the thought that wants to be realised in reality.

Capricorn

Now we come to this gesture (VI). Here you can see from the gesture that something significant is taking place. This (Gesture IV) is only the thought. It may be very clever, but it does not have to be realised. It does not even have to reach the point of becoming a decision. This is the thought; however, it can still fail due to external circumstances. Here (Gesture VI) it struggles with the external circumstances: The confrontation of the thought with the world. This must then be processed within the whole human being; then the human being in balance, who has confronted the world, can carry out their actions after having dealt with the world.

Libra

Now we move from reason to the other side. How is it before one forms a thought? It should lead to reason. Before one forms a thought, we have the weighing of the preconditions of a thought. So, you see here (Gesture III) in this gesture the weighing of the preconditions of the thought.

Pisces

And now we proceed to Gesture VIII:

Here you can see in the gesture that the event has made an impression on the person themselves. They have performed the event, and the event has made an impression on them; it has become their fate. So, we can say (see diagram): the event has become fate.

Now we have exhausted the human being in their elements all around. You can see, one can represent the human being in twelve elements and find gestures corresponding to these twelve elements.