Goethe and the Power of Rhythm

Essential reading for those who already know about Goethe but who are interested in knowing more about the rhythms of his life, as well as for those who know nothing about him. The author shows that the trajectory of his life follows closely the 18 1/2 year rhythm representing the cycle of the moon around the ecliptic. This is fascinating in view of Goethe's intimate identification with the processes of nature, especially the metamorphosis of life emerging from death. There are periodic crises in Goethe's life, often an illness from which he emerges with a renewed creative vigour. Many people get stuck in this process and do not renew themselves. The fundamental movement is represented by the outbreath of growth and expansion and the inbreath of contraction and concentration. The plant rhythmically expands to produce the fruit, and the seed inside the fruit is the contracted form that will lead to a fresh expansion. The book can be read at a number of levels, both as a biography and as a more universal pattern present in all lives, even if unconsciously.