The twelve senses 

It was Rudolf Steiner who first proposed that there are twelve senses. His theory on senses was later expanded by various authors, including Appli, Kranich, Schoorel and Soesman.

It is important to develop and use as many of your senses as possible because each sense reveals another aspect of the sensory reality. Sensory perception also forms the basis of your relationship with yourself, your surroundings, and the people around you. If you want to learn to observe well, you must use your senses comprehensively and frequently. With practice, you will find yourself observing more and more, as the different senses complement each other.

There is a relationship between sensory perception, and health and vitality. Your vitality increases if you observe intensively and perceptively. At the same time, the healthier and more vital you are, the more intensive and perceptive your observations.

Steiner's twelve senses can be grouped into three categories. He distinguished senses which relate to the perception of:

• your body: the senses of touch, of life, of movement, of balance
• the external world: smell, taste, sight, temperature
• the immaterial, spiritual world: hearing, speech, thought, ego

Will, feeling, thought

• The first four senses, the lowest, are called physical senses, or senses of the will because they are used to perceive one's own body.
• The middle four senses are the senses of feeling. Observations made with these senses arouse feelings. These senses are also reflected in our language: a tastefully furnished house, a sourpuss, hard to swallow, heart-warming, cold thought.
• The last four senses, the highest, focus particularly on the other. These are the spiritual or knowledge senses, and they are used in the observation of other people.

12345678910
1112131415 »