As we celebrate Ita Wegman’s 150th birthday, we will look at photographs, at her letters and writings. But what if we also think of Ita Wegman’s hands? What were her hands like? Were they large or small, strong, soft, sensitive, fast, or slow? What were the hands and feet like of this special being who learned and practiced physiotherapy before medicine, who developed the art of rhythmical massage, and worked with the first anthroposophic nurses to develop external applications? These hands did a lot. They continuously worked to sense and meet the healing needs of each new situation.
Even when there were many outward reasons to stop, retreat, or reconsider, Dr. Wegman leaned into the next activity. For considering her life in an expanded way, we might turn to a picture from Steiner: “You need to think away the head and the trunk and instead consider everything that your hands and legs do… You see, every time you do anything with your hands something happens elsewhere. You engage in activities and come into contact with other beings… if you were to draw a picture of what your hands and feet, arms and legs enact in the course of your life (and it would be a very lively picture!), you would discover a complicated map.”1 This picture, he says, shows a map for future activity into the next life.
What kind of map can we imagine for dear Dr. Wegman? What are all the things she did? She was so active, attentive, practical with those hands and feet.
It feels like they are still guiding us.
