Inspired by the theory of the twelve senses by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, and the work Pansophia by John Amos Comenius.
Touch, the sense of life, the sense of movement and the sense of equilibrium connect us to the body. These are physical bodily senses.
Touch
Through touch we are made aware of the boundaries between our surroundings and ourselves. By touching, we experience the world – the Great World, from which we were separated on our path toward individuality. If we hold a stone in our hands, for example, we marvel at the beauty of the world. With the help of our sense of touch, we experience our corporeality and reconnection with the Cosmos.
Sense of life
Pain draws our attention to our separation from nature. Through the sense of life, we learn how to control our impulses. Our sense of life helps us to feel compassion and has cultural properties. If we are hungry, for example, we are capable through force of will to share our food with another person. The common experience of pain is healthy.
Sense of movement
Through our supersensory volition, we are already where we imagine being before making a movement. Prior to raising a cup of tea, we imagine it in a thought immediately beforehand. The sense of movement is related to will and volition. It is the sense that guides us through life and shapes our destiny. If we learn to notice the events that come to us, we are leading our lives in the right direction.
Sense of equilibrium
This sense reflects the moral weight of the characteristics of man. In order to find equilibrium in our lives, we are constantly shaping our attitudes. A composed attitude is a prerequisite for equilibratory movement in life. Our distinctive manifestation emerges from a clear attitude. Our self is formed. What is hidden in this sense is deeply human. It is our ability to connect with another person even despite our attitude.
Smell, taste, sight and our sense of heat connect us to the world. Through them, we experience the properties of things. They are mental senses.
Smell
Aromas and stenches overpower us. We forget about ourselves for a little while. Smell is a basis of human morality, where we are able to distinguish pleasant from unpleasant. When man cultivates this ability, he refines his sense for what is morally acceptable. It is a journey from instincts to a conscious assessment of what we will do and how we will behave.
Taste
With taste we must oblige the ingested material. It’s always up to us what we decide to taste. Through taste, we ingest into ourselves a judgment, an experience that we become. Taste is related to man’s ability to ingest only as much as he can handle – both in the sense of food and in the mental sense. We are satiated not only by bread, but also by words. Culture comes to us with the help of a cultivated language – a soul-enriching future.
Sight
The most basic mental motion takes place in the eyes. When we see colours, it influences our mood. Sight also contains within it the quality of equilibrium. Maintaining one’s equilibrium while blindfolded is significantly more difficult. But sight also takes something from us. Let’s try closing our eyes and noticing how our other senses become more acute. Sight is also related to the human ability to overcome one’s impulses and passions.
Sense of heat
Heat has both physical and mental aspects. On a tangible level, for example, we experience the surface temperatures of various materials differently. We experience mental heat as a mother’s embrace, or when we truly devote ourselves to someone. Heat contains within it a dynamic element, and leads to movement. We all know how tracks can stretch apart in the hot sun. In the same way, joy, fervency and mental heat lead to dance and the desire to move. Heat has the ability to regenerate and to heal.
Spiritual senses, through which we can do something with ourselves. Hearing, the sense of word, the sense of another’s thoughts and the sense of another’s self are the senses that contribute to the creation of human culture, art and the social aspects of life.
Hearing
In order to truly hear something, we must exert ourselves. And we also must keep quiet and listen if we want to hear… The beautiful tones of musical instruments penetrate through to our soul. The speech of another comes to us as well. Through our ability to consciously become quiet, we cultivate within ourselves the qualities of social sensitivity, and we learn to listen to others.
Sense of word
It is the sense that enables us to understand the contents of speech. We can thus understand the meaning of words and language. Thanks to this sense, we can distinguish speech from music and other sounds. Speech and typical words express content, concepts and also moods – the moods of whole nations and ethnic groups. Through the perception and formation of speech, we sense something superior to the other senses. One can develop one’s sense of word by cultivating speech, studying national literature, culture and folklore.
Sense for another’s thoughts
Thought is situated higher than speech. Through this sense, the words of others become comprehensible for us; we understand them. It is possible to empathise with what another person is saying. If we want, we are able to comprehend another person, to understand his thoughts. When we consciously step back and let our own thoughts recede, we allow the thoughts of another person to enter. It is an imaginative sense.
Sense for another’s self
It is a human sense, where we are able to perceive another person as his own individual. Is what we perceive of the other really his distinctive character? If we discover it, it’s a source of inspiration for us. Developing this sense helps us decide which person we want to have accompany us through the stages of our lives. We thus recognise whether they mean it seriously and sincerely – whether the person really stands by what flows (is spoken) to us as a personality with his or her own self.
Text by Oldřich Hozman