This chapter, the longest of the work, can be read almost as a separate entity, in which Bely connects sounds of vowels and consonants to eurythmic movements and likewise to words constructed from those sounds and concepts therefore related by sound or developed via sound. It is his ultimate statement on the original correspondence of sound and sense.

The sound of "a." Bely draws here significantly on the art of eurythmy as described by Rudolf Steiner in numerous places. Eurythmy, an art form in which sounds are expressed by movements of dancers/performers, does have a one-to-one relationship between vowel sounds and gestures. The gesture for "a" for example is an extension of the arms outwards. A good introduction to eurythmy in English can be found in Rudolf Steiner, Eurythmy as Visible Speech, trans. Vera and Judy Compton-Burnett (London:1984). Ultimately I would like to offer scans of the different movements.

white Bely in Russian is "white." This was the pen name of Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev. Note that Bely's assignment of colors to vowels does not always correspond to those of Steiner, who sees "a" as blue-violet." (Eurythmy, 111). Michael Leber of the Eurythmeum in Stuttgart described it as "blue tears flowing over a red veil."

"a" before "kh" is shock. Literally "the letter 'a' is fear [strakh] before the letter 'kh'."

sound of "e" is -- yellow-green. Steiner describes "the sound e, the pale yellow combined with a certain amount of green." (Eurythmy, 111).

a crossing of the arms. The eurythmic gesture for the sound "e" is the arms crossed over one another: "a coming to consciousness."

sound "i" The color associated with "i" is dark blue. The gesture for this sound is an outstretched right arm extended toward the sky.

Luciferism Russian [motsiferizm].Steiner writes extensively on the Luciferic spirits who brought to mankind "the possibility of error, of evil." (Occult Science, 206). I have been unable to find any reference to "motsiferism." I have replaced it with "Luciferism" assuming a misreading of an initial Russian "l" plus the letter "iu."

"i-a"; this is "I am" Russian for "I am" is pronounced [ya] or [ia].

Ganymede In Greek mythology, a Trojan boy of great beauty snatched away by an eagle to become the cup bearer of Zeus.

Theoria Greek "contemplation of beauty."

red-orangy "o" The gesture for this sound is making a circle around the world to embrace it. It is characterized by a sympathetic rosy-golden color.

sounds "u" This sound was described to me as "getting ready to jump into cold water." The arms are straight down tight to body, or extended straight up. It is characterized by cold dark colors.

"y" The Russian vowel "ery" is in fact a vowel created by moving the high frontal "i' toward the rear of the mouth where "u" isi normally pronounced.

"KH" The eurythmic gesture for German "ch" is arms extended with palms toward the face fanning in air.

Isus Khristos Russian spelling of "Jesus Christ."

carmine is a strong vivid red color. There is also carminic acid.

chrimson, crimson Russian [khrasen, krasen]. Bely's transition from "chr" to crimson does not seem based on any linguistic fact.

"CH" and "S"; oxygen -- this is "S"; hydrogen is -- CH. I have chosen to transliterrate the Russian guttural sound normally written KH as CH to arrive at Christos. There seems to be a confusion of fonts and symbols in the Russian.

vitalization Russian [zhizn'] = life.

the Russian words for sphere [shar] -- and ashen heat [zhar]

sheer. Bely uses a series of Russian words containing the sound [sh]. and [shirina]=breadth, [shirota]=width, [rasshirenie]= expansion [zhar]=heat

str What follows are numerous Russian words related only by the combination of the sounds "s, t, r."

Strahl German "ray."

dendron From the Greek for "tree" also shares the combination of "d" and "r" in the Slavic [drevo] for "tree."

The Bo tree of Buddha Also known as the bodhi tree, where Buddha sat and meditated seeking enlightenment. Bely also uses an extended tree metaphor in his article, "Aaron's Rod."

Goethe Metamorphosis of Plants (Metamorphose der Pflanzen, 1790). Bely addresses the issue of Goethe in a book published in 1916.

Elixir the elixir of life, a substance believed to maintain life indefinitely, or capable of curing all ills.

Isaiah 1:18 "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." "Wenn eure Sünde auch blutrot ist, soll sie doch schneeweiß werden, und wenn sie rot is wie Scharlach, soll sie doch wie Wolle werden."

Luciferian growth Steiner writes extensively of the evil influence of Lucifer on mankind.

Goethe's prototypes of animals Goethe had extensive scientific writings dedicated to the search of the Ur- or original animal form. Steiner provided significant commentary to Goethe's writing on the subject as early as the 1880s. See his Goethes Weltanschauung republished in the Gesamtausgabe 6 (Dornach: 1990). There is also Goethe's poem "Metamorphose der Tiere." I am grateful to the colleagues at the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung in Dornach for their assistance on this point.  

ether This is both a chemical compound and the regions of space beyond the earth's atmosphere. It is also used in particular way in the writings of Rudolf Steiner.

phosphorus Latin Phosphorus is the morning star, from Greek "bringing light." Also a highly inflammable chemical element.

silica Russian [kremen] = flint. In its place I use the English silica from Latin silex, silic- "hard stone, flint." This paragraph represents a very close, and therefore successful in my mind, approximation of Bely's glossolaly in action across languages.

elementarity Russian [stixiinost'] meaning "spontaneity" is derived from [stikhij] "element" cognate with the Greek "stoikheion" "element.'"

ether body This is Bely's translation of Steiner's "´Åtherleib." It is rendered in English in various ways: "ether,", "etheric." It should not be confused with the "ethereal." the adjective derived from "ether" not in Steiner's works.

Nietzsche Bely wrote about Nietzsche and like many of his generation was familiar with Nietzsche's, Die Geburt der Tragoedie. I have not found the specific reference to "symbols . . . without words."