Jan. - Feb., 2018
INDICATIONS 3
Here is a collection of items that appeared on the Waldorf Watch "news" page in January and February, 2018. The items appear in reverse chronological order: newest first, oldest last. To find a specific item, scroll down the page.
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I am the author of the Waldorf Watch commentaries, editorials, and explanatory notes you will find here. In them, I often generalize about Waldorf schools. There are fundamental similarities among Waldorf schools; I describe the schools based on the evidence concerning their structure and operations in the past and — more importantly — in the present. But not all Waldorf schools, Waldorf charter schools, and Waldorf-inspired schools are wholly alike. To evaluate an individual school, you should carefully examine its stated purposes, its practices (which may or may not be consistent with its stated purposes), and the composition of its faculty.
— Roger Rawlings
February 26, 2018
VISITING AND COMPREHENDING
WALDORF SCHOOLS
From Ithaca.com [New York State, USA]:
Growing Up With Waldorf School
By Jaime Cone
On a recent Thursday morning the Ithaca Waldorf School (IWS) gave a tour of its facilities to about seven interested locals who, in the space of less than an hour, were treated to songs in French, Chinese dance, and the recitation of an ode to farmers. It was just another average morning at the school, which incorporates creativity into nearly every lesson.
With a new addition just completed in December, the Ithaca Waldorf School is now positioned to have a classroom for every grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade by fall of 2019, a scenario the school hasn’t seen since 2015. “We couldn’t have done that without the extra space, as our enrollment has almost doubled in the past three years” said Arabez Smith, assistant to the director and project coordinator of the new construction....
The school currently has 85 students, including those enrolled in the early childhood program, which is designed for children as young as three years old....
Part of the construction was the addition of the “Great Room,” a large, open room with wood floors and high ceilings where the school can hold assemblies and the students can perform plays. In the morning the children start their day by singing together in the room....
On Dec. 1, one of the first activities the students ever did in the Great Room was a winter spiral, a ritual where evergreen branches are laid on the floor in in spiral formation. As each child walks through the spiral he or she carries an apple with an unlit candle at the center. In the center the candle is lit, and the student walks back through the spiral again, the effect being that the room gradually becomes brighter and brighter....
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Response:
A few comments on various matters may be in order.
1. Tours of Waldorf schools can be informative and even dazzling. But if you are told you are seeing "just another average morning at the school," you probably should be skeptical. You will be observing teachers and students who know they are being observed; quite possibly, they will have spent some time preparing to be observed. Waldorf schools, like all sorts of institutions everywhere, like to put on their best faces when visitors arrive. There's nothing necessarily nefarious about this, but you do need to bear it in mind. And you should realize, too, that Waldorf schools have a long history of concealing much from outsiders. For these reasons, a tour or two of a Waldorf school may not tell you much. [See, e.g., "Secrets" and "Visits".]
2. The Waldorf movement is international, and by some measures it is large. Many highly motivated Anthroposophists work hard to promote Waldorf education worldwide. There are about 1,100 Waldorf schools in the world. On the other hand, many Waldorf schools are tiny. Notice that the Ithaca Waldorf School, with its new, expanded facilities, has a grand total of 85 students. The school intends to expand further, if it can — just as most Waldorf schools do. But a typical Waldorf school is a fringe institution representing a fringe movement. You should consider this carefully before sending a child to a typical, small Waldorf school. Small schools have some advantages, but they also have some significant disadvantages. And these disadvantages can be magnified if a school is part of a fringe, mystical movement — as Waldorf schools are. [See, e.g., "Advice for Parents" and "Clues".]
3. Starting the day with song is a lovely idea. But you should know that, at a typical Waldorf school, many of these songs are hymns, and they are accompanied by prayers recited in unison by students and teachers. These prayers were written by Rudolf Steiner, and they contain elements of the Anthroposophical faith. While Waldorf representatives almost always deny it, the truth is that Waldorf schools are, generally speaking, disguised religious institutions, and their religion is Anthroposophy. [See, e.g., "Soul School" and "Schools as Churches". To read some Waldorf prayers and hymns, see "Prayers".]
4. The religious nature of Waldorf education infuses virtually everything that occurs at the schools. Consider the "winter spiral" ceremony conducted in the Ithaca great room. This event is common at Waldorf schools, and it is essentially a religious ritual. It is usually conducted in a darkened room, in a solemn, reverent manner. In truth, it is an observance of Advent. You may, of course, choose to send your child to a religious school. Many parents make this choice. But in the case of Waldorf schools, make sure you understand the sort of religion practiced there. And if you encounter a strange aura of denial within the school, masking the spirituality discernible within, put your guard up. If you suspect an effort at deception is being made, you may be right. [See such entries in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia as "Advent", "Spiral of Light", "denial", "secrecy", and "occult, occultism".]
— R.R.
February 24, 2018
WALDORF'S
FOUNDATIONS
From The Newtown Bee [Connecticut, USA]:
‘Foundations Of Waldorf Education’
Talk Slated For February 28
Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, 1 Jacklin Road, is scheduled to host a “Foundations of Waldorf Education” talk on Wednesday, February 28, in its Compass Hall, from 7 to 9 pm.
Learn more about the foundations and fundamentals of Waldorf education from early childhood through high school from Sunbridge Institute Director of Education Anna Silber. [Sunbridge Institute is a Waldorf teacher-training institution.]
The event is open to the public, but it will be most relevant for new and prospective Waldorf community members (teachers, parents, grandparents, staff, board members) and lovers of education. This talk is designed to provide a survey of the basis and the basics of Waldorf Education.
[2/24/2018 https://newtownbee.com/foundations-of-waldorf-education-talk-slated-for-february-28/]
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Waldorf Watch Response:
Waldorf schools often host such events, which are typically conducted by visiting luminaries from within the Waldorf movement. Attending can be highly informative, especially if you come equipped with knowledge the speakers may not expect you to possess. The speakers will almost certainly describe Waldorf in the most affirmative terms. They will likely conceal much while intending to reveal only a little. But if you come prepared, you should be able to push for candor — and you will recognize when the answers offered are misleading.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, laid out "the foundations of Waldorf education" in a series of lectures he delivered to the faculty at the first Waldorf school. These lectures are available today in the book THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE - Foundations of Waldorf Education.*
Steiner told the teachers things that Waldorf spokesfolks usually don't reveal to outsiders. Here are a few:
1. Waldorf education is religious. Waldorf teachers seek to establish connections to the "spiritual worlds;" they work in the name of "the spiritual powers" — that is, the gods.
“We can accomplish our work only if we [see it] as a moral spiritual task. Therefore, you will understand why, as we begin this work today, we first reflect on the connection we wish to create from the very beginning between our activity and the spiritual worlds ... [W]e wish to begin our preparation by first reflecting upon how we connect with the spiritual powers [i.e., gods] in whose service and in whose name each one of us must work.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, Foundations of Waldorf Education (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 33.
2. Having established ties to the gods who inhabit the spiritual worlds, Waldorf teachers try to continue, here on Earth, the work the gods began on high. Specifically, the teachers want to continue molding the students as the gods molded them during the kids' previous lives in the spirit realm.
“We want to be aware that physical existence is a continuance of the spiritual, and that what we have to do in education is a continuation of what higher beings [i.e., gods] have done without our assistance. Our form of educating can have the correct attitude only when we are aware that our work with young people is a continuation of what higher beings have done before [the children's] birth." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, p. 37.
3. The purpose of Waldorf education is not to teach the students. It is to help the students to incarnate properly, so that their souls and spirits fit their physical bodies.
“The task of education, understood in a spiritual sense, is to bring the soul-spirit into harmony with the temporal [i.e., physical] body. They must be brought into harmony and they must be tuned to one another because when the child is born into the physical world they do not yet properly fit each other. The task of the teacher is to harmonize these two parts [the soul-spirit and the physical body] to one another."— Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, p. 39.
This is "the task of the teacher." Meditate upon that, please.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE contains many, many more surprises concerning "the foundations of Waldorf education." But just these first few tidbits may be enough to alert you. Waldorf education is, ultimately, suitable only for families who can embrace the religious doctrines of Anthroposophy.
Suggestion: Get a copy of THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, read it well, mark the passages that strike you, and bring the book to the meeting. Ask about the passages you've marked. Insist on getting clear answers.
[For a guided tour through the book, with commentary by yrs. trly., see "Oh Humanity".]
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Here's the chief point to absorb. Waldorf schools exist to enact the beliefs of a polytheistic religion, Anthroposophy. Waldorf teachers think they are serving the gods (plural: gods). Thus, during a faculty meeting, Steiner said this to the Waldorf faculty:
"[W]e are not here for our own sakes, but to carry out the divine cosmic plan. We should always remember that when we do something, we are actually carrying out the intentions of the gods.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 55.
FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER is another book you might want to study. [For a guided tour, see "Faculty Meetings".]
◊
But, you might ask, do Waldorf teachers today still believe what Steiner and his followers believed nearly a century ago?
Yes, indeed.
Here, for instance, is a statement made pretty recently by an experienced Waldorf teacher:
“Waldorf education strives to create a place in which the highest beings [i.e., gods]...can find their home.” — Joan Almon, WHAT IS A WALDORF KINDERGARTEN? (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 53.
And here is a pretty recent confirmation of the proposition that Waldorf teachers work to harmonize the kids' souls and spirits with their physical bodies:
“[E]ducation consists mainly in integrating the soul-spiritual members with the corporeal members." — Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1998), p. 68.
You should certainly consider attending a meeting called to discuss the foundations of Waldorf education. But you should probably do a little reading first.
[For more on all this, see, e.g., "Here's the Answer". To consider the low importance Waldorf schools attach to actually teaching the students, see "Academic Standards at Waldorf". To probe into the polytheistic nature of Anthroposophy, see "Polytheism".]
— R.R.
* The book is also available under the title STUDY OF MAN.
February 20, 2018
WALDORF AND
THE REAL WORLD
From The Saratogian [Saratoga Springs, New York, USA]:
Waldorf students explore
options through internships
Juniors at the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs will spend at least a week exploring a profession through internship placements from as local as [sic] Saratoga Springs to as far [away as] the United Kingdom during the final half of February.
Required at the school, students research a professional field of their choice during a significant portion of their year. The research process includes exploring their own strengths and interests, interviewing professionals in their chosen field and securing and completing their internship. Workshops are required for the students to attend on subjects ranging from posture and body language to budgeting and goal-setting.
In mid-March, the project ends with students publicly present their internship experience.
This year’s group has been investigating fields ranging from psychology to communications to defense....
[2/20/2018 http://www.saratogian.com/article/ST/20180219/NEWS/180219794]
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Waldorf Watch Response:
This would seem to be an admirably forward-looking effort by a Waldorf school. Such programs might help to offset the otherworldly tenor of Waldorf education, at least to some degree. One criticism often leveled at Waldorf schools is that they fail to prepare students for real lives in the real world. The problem arises principally from the fantastical belief system upon which Waldorf education is built: the occult religion called Anthroposophy.
Having students explore "their own strengths and weaknesses" during a "significant portion" of the junior year is admirable. And linking this to internships in chosen fields may certainly have benefits.
On the other hand, internships lasting just a week or so would seem to be far too short (the internships run for "at least a week"). Kids will gain little or no actual experience during such brief exposure to a field of work. Many schools nowadays focus far too much on preparing students for careers. Such schools threaten to become mere training facilities. The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs seems to avoid this error while possibly erring in the opposite direction.
Sometimes, when Waldorf schools implement apparently forward-thinking, real-world programs, these programs constitute a sort of disguise, hiding the spiritualistic, mystical nature of Waldorf education. As a result, these programs may be essentially hollow.
Waldorf whistleblower Grégoire Perra reports the following exchange that occurred during legal proceedings in a French courtroom:
"Mrs. Y. testifies with the evident mission of proving that Steiner-Waldorf schools contribute to modern society by preparing students to enter the most prestigious institutions.
"Mrs. Y: 'I am a teacher in a Waldorf school in the south of France, where we have developed an original and deeply innovative apprenticeship program. We are at the heart of modernity! We work in partnership with over 200 leading companies, including CNRS [The National Center for Scientific Research]! This is proof that our Waldorf students fit into society perfectly!'
"[Defense] lawyer: 'But, realistically, what do your students learn about business in a six-month program taken at the age of 15?'
"Mrs. Y: 'Well... They do internships in garages or bakeries....'" [See "My Life Among the Anthroposophists, Part 3".]
Many students at The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs evidently find internships at more eminent facilities than local garages and bakeries. On the other hand, their internships are usually far shorter than six months. The actual value of such internships may be equally moot.
[To consider the actual nature of Waldorf education, see, e.g., "Oh Humanity — The Key to Waldorf" and "Waldorf Now". To delve into Anthroposophy, see, e.g., "Everything — Steiner's Big Picture", "Knowing the Worlds", and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"]
— R.R.
February 14, 2018
WALDORF CENTENNIAL
From InsideHalton.com [Canada]:
Halton Waldorf School participates
in postcard exchange
in celebration of 100 years
Students at Halton Waldorf School are participating in a worldwide postcard exchange to kick off the 100th anniversary of Waldorf education next year.
Throughout this school year, students in 1,100 Waldorf schools from more than 80 countries are creating and sending a postcard to every other Waldorf school across the globe. Each postcard is being individually designed to show something about the student's country, school or self, while broadening their global perspective, according to a press release issued by the school.
The project will connect hundreds of thousands of students to one another through postcards which will be displayed by each school.
"Our students have been very enthusiastic about the Waldorf 100 Postcard Exchange," said Stephanie Ferguson, Waldorf promotions and outreach co-ordinator. "All of the postcards were preaddressed...."
[downloaded 2/14/2018 https://www.insidehalton.com/community-story/8131162-halton-waldorf-school-participates-in-postcard-exchange-in-celebration-of-100-years/]
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Waldorf Watch Response:
The first Waldorf school was created in Stuttgart, Germany, when Emil Molt — the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Factory — asked Rudolf Steiner to create a school for the children of his factory workers. The school opened in Septemper, 1919.
Steiner staffed the school with his faithful followers, adherents to his spiritual system, Anthroposophy. In meetings with these teachers, Steiner made the Anthroposophical nature of Waldorf education plain. (He was far less candid when addressing outsiders.)
◊ “As teachers in the Waldorf School, you will need to find your way more deeply into the insight of the spirit and to find a way of putting all compromises aside ... As Waldorf teachers, we must be true anthroposophists in the deepest sense of the word in our innermost feeling.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 118.
◊ “Among the faculty, we must certainly carry within us the knowledge that we are not here for our own sakes, but to carry out the divine cosmic plan. We should always remember that when we do something, we are actually carrying out the intentions of the gods, that we are, in a certain sense, the means by which that streaming down from above will go out into the world.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 55.
Although the religious nature of Anthroposophy is usually disguised (Anthroposophists prefer to call their system a "science" rather than a religion), nonetheless Steiner sometimes spoke honestly with the Waldorf faculty:
◊ "[T]he Anthroposophical Society...provides religious instruction just as other religious groups do." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 706.
◊ "The position of teacher becomes a kind of priestly office, a ritual performed at the altar of universal human life." — Rudolf Steiner, THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 23.
Of all the social outreach efforts made by Anthroposophists — these include Anthroposophical medicine and biodynamic agriculture — Waldorf education has attained the greatest success. Wildly inflated claims are often made for the number of Waldorf schools in the world today, sometimes reaching 5,000 or more. The actual total is approximately 1,100. Even this lower number represents significant popular acceptance of Waldorf education (even though the schools are generally small). There are Waldorf schools on all continents except Antarctica.
But Waldorf's success is troubled. Most parents who send their kids to Waldorf schools do not understand the occult underpinnings of the schools. The same is almost certainly the case for most government officials who approve the opening of such schools. Waldorf schools almost always hold their cards close to the vest. They work toward Anthroposophical aims, but they do this covertly.
As in most things, Rudolf Steiner set the example for Waldorf secretiveness. As he told teachers at the first Waldorf school:
“[W]e have to remember that an institution like the Independent Waldorf School with its anthroposophical character, has goals that, of course, coincide with anthroposophical desires. At the moment, though, if that connection were made official, people would break the Waldorf School’s neck." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 705.
Waldorf schools today generally still have the same worry; they generally continue to disguise their "anthroposophical character" and their "anthroposophical desires."
[For more on Waldorf secretiveness, see "Secrets".]
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Somewhat surprisingly, Waldorf schools
take their name from the product
of Emil Molt's factory: Waldorf-Astoria Cigarettes.
— R.R.
February 12, 2018
DEFINING THE
INDEFINABLE
From the website of The Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain:
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a modern spiritual path that cherishes and respects the freedom of each individual. It recognises however, that real freedom is actually an inner capacity that can only be obtained by degrees according to the spiritual development of the individual. The striving for this capacity, and the corresponding spiritual development, can be greatly assisted through a scientific study of the spiritual nature of humanity and the universe. Such a study is available in the writings and lectures of Rudolf Steiner — an initiate of the twentieth century. Steiner called his study — spiritual research or Anthroposophy.
Anthroposophy is thus not only the spiritual path to freedom, it is also a scientific study of the spiritual knowledge gained on this path. For Steiner, Anthroposophy was the path that could 'lead the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the universe'. And he showed that it is a path that is capable of inspiring many cultural innovations — in education, agriculture, medicine, architecture, science and the arts — and much else.
[downloaded 2/12/2018 http://www.anthroposophy.org.uk/index.php]
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Waldorf Watch Response:
This definition is typical of representations made by Anthroposophical organizations worldwide, including Waldorf schools. It reveals a little and conceals a lot.
Actually, Steiner's followers often deny that Anthroposophy can be defined. They consider Anthroposophy to be a form of "science" that objectively studies the spirit realm, and because new discoveries about the spirit realm may be made at any moment, the content of Anthroposophy can never be fully pinned down. This is, arguably, true enough — but it is also, quite clearly, a dodge. Even if we accept the premise (which is false) that Anthroposophy is a science, nonetheless the term "Anthroposophy" can be defined. Consider an analogy. New discoveries are being made daily in the science of physics, but this does not stop us from defining the word "physics." Likewise, we can define "Anthroposophy" even while the practitioners of this "science" carry on their "researches." So, we can say that "Anthroposophy" is a purported science that uses the purported faculty of clairvoyance to study the spirit realm. (Anthroposophy turns out to have no real content, since clairvoyance is a delusion. But we needn't insist on this insight while making a simple definition.) In practice, Anthroposophy is the body of mystical beliefs arising principally from the occult writings and lectures of Rudolf Steiner.
Let's look at some elements of the definition offered by the Anthroposophical Society, as quoted above.
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1) Freedom. Anthroposophists like to claim that they advocate freedom; they claim to provide a path toward the enlargement of human freedom. But notice that the "freedom" they advocate is internal and subjective; it has little to do with actual human liberty, if by this we mean the ability to exercise the power of choice in the wide world. Anthroposophical freedom is "an inner capacity that can only be obtained by degrees according to the spiritual development of the individual." Anthroposophical freedom is freedom from, not freedom for. You free yourself from low impulses, false ideas, and so forth. This may be important and valuable, but it is not what most people mean by freedom. Moreover, the nature of "low impulses", "false ideas," etc., is moot. For instance, false ideas from an Anthroposophical perspective are all ideas that do not conform to the occult beliefs embraced by Anthroposophists. Steiner taught that there is really only one path forward for humanity now, and it is Anthroposophy. You may "freely" choose Anthroposophy and receive the benefits of this choice, or you may "freely" reject Anthroposophy and suffer the dire consequences (essentially, you will lose your soul). This paradigm actually abolishes freedom. You can choose to join Steiner or you can choose to commit spiritual suicide. That's some choice, isn't it? (No. It is not.)
◊
2) Science. We have already looked into this matter, but it deserves further attention. The idea that we might gain objective knowledge of the spirit realm is, of course, highly alluring. It would mean finding answers to life's deepest questions, such as what is the purpose of life, why are we here, and what happens to us after we die? We would all like to have solid answers to such questions. Usually people turn to religion for such answers, of course; and, in reality, Anthroposophy itself is a religion, but it is an odd religion that denies it own nature. It claims to be a science. But this claim is manifestly untrue. Anthroposophy hinges on clairvoyance, which does not exist. If you doubt this, take a careful look at the results of Anthroposophical "research" — look into the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and his followers. You will find that many are preposterous, and a large number are clearly untrue. We cannot directly test Steiner's teachings about the spirit worlds, but we can judge the corollaries that apply to the physical universe. (Steiner said that spirit imbues everything, so the physical universe is reality part of the spiritual universe.) The "clairvoyance" exercised by Steiner and his followers leads them to make error after error after error, Their clairvoyance is, at best, erroneous. But, in fact, it is less reliable than that. It is nonexistent. No convincing proof of clairvoyance has ever been established; no sold evidence for the existence of clairvoyance has ever been produced. Instead, over and over, professed clairvoyants have been shown to be frauds. The dream of clairvoyance may dazzle us, but it remains nothing but a dream. No one is clairvoyant. And the consequence for Anthroposophy is plain. Sadly, Anthroposophy is a sham.
◊
3) Cultural innovations. The Anthroposophical path leads to no real freedom and it entails no real knowledge. But this path is followed by Anthroposophists who seek to implement "cultural innovations" in fields such as "education, agriculture, medicine," etc. Anthroposophy is a revolutionary movement that wants to reform everything. Fine. But reforming human institutions on the basis of a sham worldview is, surely, not the best way to proceed. You should think long and hard before embracing any Anthroposophical cultural initiatives. When choosing a doctor, for instance, you almost certainly should bypass Anthroposophical MDs. Anthroposophical "medicine" is, by and large, quackery. Likewise, in choosing a school for your children, you should be highly skeptical of Waldorf schools. They are, generally, occult academies that exist to promote (quietly, clandestinely, but persistently) Anthroposophy. All Anthroposophical cultural efforts have that goal: They all exist to promote Anthroposophy. Unless you can wholeheartedly — and whole-mindedly — embrace Anthroposophy, you should pass them by.
◊
I have made a bunch of sweeping assertions, above. I've moved along fast, as is necessary in a brief "news" commentary. But scads of documentation are available, if you'd care to dig in. See, e.g., "Freedom", "Steiner's 'Science'", "Clairvoyance", "Here's the Answer", "Oh Humanity", "Steiner's Blunders", "Steiner's Quackery", and "Threefolding". Those offerings should at least provide food for thought.
— R.R.
February 10, 2018
WALDORF AND
TECHNOLOGY
From The Times [London, UK]:
Tech-free schools for children of Silicon Valley
[by] Ben Hoyle, Los Angeles
February 10 2018, 12:01am, The Times
The Waldorf School of the Peninsula is small, exclusive and packed with the children of Silicon Valley executives who love the role that technology plays in the pupils’ education there. That is, it plays no role whatsoever.
Instead children at the $25,000-a-year elementary school in Los Altos, California, are learning to explore the world through physical experiences and tasks that are designed to nurture their imagination, problem-solving ability and collaborative skills.
Pencils, paper, blackboards and craft materials abound while tablets, smartphones and other personal electronic devices are banned from the classrooms until they are teenagers studying at the middle and high school campus nearby. Even then technology is only introduced slowly and used sparingly....
There are 130 US schools in the [Association of Waldorf Schools of North America], which follows the century-old teachings of the philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Many of them are concentrated in the Bay Area technology hub around San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
[Waldorf spokeswoman Beverly] Amico sees no contradiction. “It’s a very attractive option for people in the tech world for their children,” she said. “All employers, tech world or not, are looking for graduates these days that can think independently, take initiative, are capable of collaborating, have curiosity and creativity.”
The approach contrasts starkly with the new classroom orthodoxy in most American schools where children are spending more and more time staring at screens in lessons....
[2/10/2018 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tech-free-schools-for-children-of-silicon-valley-jbh637vwp]
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Response:
The article in today's Times repeats arguments made previously in other articles in other publications. My answer will necessarily be repetitious, too. If, in reading the following, you come upon points you've seen before, please just skip ahead.
◊
There are, of course, good reasons to minimize the amount of time kids spend "staring at screens." And we should not be surprised if a few executives in high-tech companies want to give their kids a break from the whirring, buzzing, flashing world that such executives are themselves creating: the world of computers and virtual reality and 24/7 interconnectedness.
There are good reasons for turning off the screens sometimes. But if you decide you want to reject or minimize something that seems potentially harmful to your own children, make sure you don't unwittingly choose something that is even more harmful. Waldorf education, despite all its obvious attractions, is potentially much more harmful.
Waldorf education is indeed based on the "century-old teachings" of Rudolf Steiner. But what are these teachings? In a nutshell, they are a mystical mixture of superstition and ignorance. They are occult fantasy. They are benighted, backward, and false.
Children who get sucked into the Waldorf belief system — the religion called Anthroposophy — may remain trapped there all their lives.
Steiner is sometimes called a "philosopher," and he did begin his public career publishing some works that might be termed philosophical. But he soon left the field of rational thought and plunged into esoteric, mystical fantasization. He became, by his own admission, and occultist. Thereafter, he wrote and spoke of his "occult research," and he made assertions such as this:
"In occultism...we speak of the Mars half of Earth evolution and of the Mercury half." — Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), p. 79.
"In occultism, we." Steiner was an occultist.
There's a vast amount we could say about all this, but let's focus on the specific issue of high technology. Steiner deplored it, and Waldorf schools today generally avoid it. Why? In a word: Demons.
(And, in another word: Automatons.)
Steiner taught that steam engines and other technological gizmos (the most advanced he knew of) enable demons to materialize on Earth.
“When we build steam-engines, we provide the opportunity for the incarnation of demons ... In the steam-engine, Ahrimanic demons [i.e., the arch-demon Ahriman and his minions] are actually brought to the point of physical embodiment.” — Rudolf Steiner, “The Relation of Man to the Hierarchies” (ANTHROPOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT, Vol. V, Nos. 14-15, 1928).
Steiner's followers have extended this fear of techn-borne demons into their approach to today's high-tech appliances, such as TVs and computers.
"[W]hat has been said here about the steam engine applies in a much greater degree to the technology of our time ... [T]elevision, for example. The result is that the demon magic spoken of by Rudolf Steiner is spreading more and more intensively on all sides ... [T]he most varied opportunities for a virtual incarnation of... demons are constantly on the increase." — Anthroposophist Georg Unger, “On ‘Mechanical Occultism’” (Mitteilungen aus der Anthroposophischen Arbeit in Deutschland nos. 68–69, 1964).
TV's: Demons. Computers: Demons:
"With the achievement of the stored program computer, it begins to be possible to talk in terms of a (macrocosmic) incarnation vehicle capable to sustaining the being of Ahriman." — David B. Black, THE COMPUTER AND THE INCARNATION OF AHRIMAN (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1981), p. 33.
Steiner taught that technology will turn humans into automatons. The only defense, he argued, is his own mystical belief system, Anthroposophy.
“[W]ithout new spiritual impulses [i.e., those of Anthroposophy], technology would not only dominate outer life, but would overpower and numb us ... [M]en would turn into something like living automata.” — Rudolf Steiner, quoted in THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND: From the Work of Rudolf Steiner (Temple Lodge Publishing, 1993), p. 9.
We should certainly shield youngsters from excessive immersion in mind-spinning high-tech razzle-dazzle. We should teach them to live richly rewarding lives in the real world, not imaginary lives in tech-contrived virtual worlds. But the occult Waldorf worldview does not offer a real alternative to the virtual universe. The occult Waldorf worldview is superstitious, fantastical, and false. It is, itself, profoundly disconnected from reality.
And it is offered not as a game or mere entertainment, but as the essential guide to life, the Truth by which we should all live. Waldorf schools exist to steer children in that direction.
Your children deserve better than that.
◊
To delve into the nature of Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, see, e.g., "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?", "Spiritual Agenda", and "Schools as Churches".
To consider the harm that Waldorf schools can inflict, see, e.g., "Cautionary Tales", "Who Gets Hurt", and "Mistreating Kids Lovingly."
To investigate Steiner's occultism and the Waldorf view of technology, see, e.g., "Occultism", "Ahriman", "Spiders, Dragons and Foxes", and relevant entries in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia, such as "technology", "media policies", "automatons", and "demons".
To learn how Anthroposophy is insinuated into the Waldorf classroom, often without the knowledge or approval of the students' parents, see, e.g., "Sneaking It In" and "Indoctrination".
— R.R.
◊
P.S.
Demonic Devices
(An Appendix)
The claims made for Waldorf schools tend not to change much. Consequently, the rebuttals tend to be repetitive, too. I wind up trotting out passages from Anthroposophical texts that I have trotted out before.
But many other Anthropop/Waldorf passages are available. On the subject of technology, here are a few additional revealing statements. Anthroposophists — including many Waldorf teachers — really do think this way.
◊ "Whatever the merits of certain inventions, they show the face of Ahriman. Under such headings one could consider all sorts of mechanisms but in particular such appliances as television, radio, cinema and the thousand and one things dependent on electricity." — Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER - An Introduction to his Spiritual World-view, Anthroposophy (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 131.
◊ “The exploitation of electric forces — for example in information and computing technologies — spreads evil over the Earth in an immense spider's web. And fallen spirits of darkness [i.e., demons]...are active in this web.” — Richard Seddon, THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND (Temple Lodge Publishing, 1996), p. 24.
◊ “[T]he whole computer and Internet industry is today the most effective way to prepare for the imminent incarnation of Ahriman ... The net of ahrimanic spider beings developing out of the internet around the earth...will serve [Ahriman] particularly effectively and offer him extremely favorable potential to work.” — Sergei O. Prokofieff, "The Being of the Internet"; see, e.g., The Philosophy of Freedom, downloaded 2/10/2018.
◊ “The twentieth century saw massive scientific and technological breakthroughs into the ahrimanically-pervaded domains underlying the material world. These ahrimantic breakthroughs culminated not long ago in the rise of the personal computer and the creation of the World-Wide Web.” — Bruce McCausland, COPING WITH EVIL (SteinerBooks, 2006), p. 152.
◊ "The elemental beings [i.e., nature spirits] responsible for the processes of birth and death...have become evil ... Before the time of radar, television, and computers, Rudolf Steiner prophesied that these elemental beings would enter our time with an abundance of inventions ... [These represent] the forces of evil." — Helmut von Kügelgen, "Threshold Experiences of Children and Adults in the Present Time", Research Bulletin, Research Institute for Waldorf Education, Fall/Winter 1999, Issue #37.
◊ "[W]e encourage families to significantly limit or discontinue exposure to television, movies, video games, computers and other entertainment media. At the very minimum, we expect families to maintain a no-media policy during the school week." — Media policy, Chicago Waldorf School, downloaded August 28, 2017.
◊ “[T]he tendency to mechanize music, to fragment it through the use of technology, [is] an ahrimanic inspiration ... Computer music is a further atomization of the being of music.” — Magda Lissau, THE TEMPERAMENTS AND THE ARTS (The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 2003), p 110.
◊ "Speaking of ‘intelligent machines’ that would appear in the future, Steiner presents a broad context that illustrates the multitude of challenges human beings will face ... Rudolf Steiner addresses...the secret of the ‘geographical’ or the ‘ahrimanic’ doppelgänger ... Based on his spiritual research, Rudolf Steiner discusses this doppelgänger or ‘double’ in the wider context of historic occult events relating to ‘spirits of darkness’ [i.e., demons or evil gods]. Specific brotherhoods [i.e., secret societies] seek to keep such knowledge to themselves in order to exert power and spread materialism." — Publisher's description, Rudolf Steiner, THE ELECTRONIC DOPPELGÄNGER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2016).
◊ “So what did Steiner have to say about television? Nothing. There were no televisions in his time. But, he said enough about early childhood education that we can surmise what his views on the tube would have been. These reasons center on Steiner’s view of the astral body [one of the invisible bodies that incarnate during childhood] … The scenes [on TV], the lack of imagination involved, and the topics covered on most channels would obviously bring on the astral stage of the body at an early age [i.e., premature incarnation of the astral body]. This was one reason that television was banned from Waldorf schools.” — “What Did Steiner Say About Television?’, WALDORF HOMESCHOOLERS, June 23, 2011.
◊ "Many [TV news] items amount to outright deceit. Sometimes shots of people are shown wearing summer clothes...but the interview is taking place with a reporter who is in a country that is experiencing winter ... Illusions are lies, and of all the media, television must surely be the Beelzebub [i.e., it is Ahriman]...." — Gilbert & Sylvia Childs, YOUR REINCARNATING CHILD (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 144.
◊ "Every cognizant, conscious parent [should] be nothing less than filled with righteous indignation and wrath [and s/he should] find the moral courage to throw their own diabolical TV device out the window. Now! Today is the day, and this is the hour!" — Joseph Chilton Pearce, Introduction to Keith Buzzell's THE CHILDREN OF CYCLOPS (Waldorf Publications, Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 2015), p. 19.
◊ "Little do we realise the effects of modern living. When nature, especially the mineral, is broken down, the elemental beings belonging to the progressive Hierarchies [i.e., ranks of gods] are driven out, and when we then reassemble the material into a machine according to laws thought out with our intellect, we substitute Ahrimanic beings. When we sleep — and our will is always asleep — our ego and astral body are outside the physical [body], right within all the creakings and jerkings of the machinery around us, which are then brought back on waking into the physical and etheric bodies, as if crushing them to pieces. We cram ourselves with Ahrimanic beings!" — Richard Seddon, THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND (Temple Lodge Publishing, 1996), pp. 23-24.
Etc.
— R.R.
February 7, 2018
WALDORF, PRACTICAL ARTS,
AND THE RUBICON
From Pasadena Now [California, USA]:
Pasadena Waldorf School Third Graders
Learn Practical Arts Firsthand
Article...courtesy of PASADENA WALDORF SCHOOL
The Pasadena Waldorf School (PWS) third grade class recently took a field trip to Wellema Hat Shop in Altadena. The trip is part of the third grade curriculum, focusing on practical arts. Practical arts are a mainstay in Waldorf Education. While all PWS classes from Preschool to High School weaves practical arts into the curriculum, the stronger focus in grade three gives the children of that age an understanding of how things come into being and a respect for the creations by others. When students engage in practical arts it instills in them a sense of confidence and accomplishment that will carry through into adulthood. The PWS third grade practical arts curriculum includes once-a-week lessons in cooking, building or gardening, along with several field trips throughout the year to local artisans in and around Los Angeles introducing the children to artisanal professionals....
[Downloaded 2/7/2018 http://www.pasadenanow.com/pasadenaschools/pasadena-waldorf-school-third-graders-learn-practical-arts-firsthand/#.WnsdsmaZNTY]
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Response:
This article — provided by a Waldorf school and printed, evidently unedited, by a compliant local newspaper — is fairly typical of Waldorf PR. It paints a pleasing picture that omits far more than it reveals about "Waldorf "Education."
Waldorf schools profess to educate the whole child — head, heart, and hands. This is, in theory, fine. But you should know that the "whole child" as conceived in the Waldorf worldview is a mystical being, one who
◊ is in the process of incarnating three invisible bodies
◊ possesses 12 senses
◊ has lived on Earth many times before (reincarnation is a basic Waldorf belief)
◊ has a karma
◊ has an astrological identity
◊ stands at a particular evolutionary level reflected by the child's race
◊ is on the path toward developing clairvoyance
and so on and so forth. This is the Waldorf view of childhood. [See "Holistic Education".]
Introducing children to practical arts such as hat-making is part of the Waldorf effort to educate the "hands" — that is, the practical physical body. This is, in theory, fine. But bear in mind that time spent educating the hands is probably taken from time that might be spent educating the head. Waldorf education is deeply anti-intellectual. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, disparaged the brain and brainwork, and his teachings on these matters still rule in Waldorf schools. [See "Steiner's Specific".]
Note, too, that time spent learning about old-fashioned, artisanal occupations — excellent as this may be — is probably taken from time that might be spent preparing children for life in the modern, high-tech world of the 21st century. Waldorf schools are generally averse to modern technology in all its forms, from television to computers. In a word, Waldorf schools are often backward. Whatever your own views on modern technology may be, this matter — which affects whether a child leaves school prepared for real life in the real world — deserves careful thought. [See, e.g., the entries for "technology" and "media policies" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]
Concerning the question of real life in the real world, consider this. In Waldorf belief, third graders stand at a critical juncture. Having incarnated their "etheric bodies," they are preparing for the incarnation of their "astral bodies." [See "Incarnation".] Moreover, they are engaged in "crossing the Rubicon" — they have either made the crossing already or they are about to do so:
“Between their seventh and ninth birthdays a metamorphosis in thinking takes place and children begin to form their own mental images. This development is accompanied by a further distancing of the self from the world. Usually the impact of this separation begins to effect the emotional life of children shortly after the ninth birthday (between the age of 9 1/3 and 11 2/3), and is known in Steiner circles as the ‘crossing of the Rubicon’.” — The Steiner Approach to Child Development (Steiner Education Australia, 2011).
Waldorf schools often lure children into attractive but fantastical views of life and the world. Considerable damage may result. [See, e.g., "Who Gets Hurt".]
One more point. Waldorf schools usually claim to respect the individuality of all children, but in fact they tend to describe children as marching together in lockstep, reaching various mystical stages of development on a fixed timetable. Thus, we find the onset of "crossing the Rubicon" specified with considerable exactitude: It comes between "the seventh and ninth birthdays." Yes, some individual variation is possible within this rigidly specified timespan, but not much. And, surely, you should ask yourself if the very concept of "crossing the Rubicon" makes any sense, no matter when a child presumably approaches it. [See the entry for "crossing the Rubicon" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]
Taking third graders to a hat maker's shop is fine. It can be genuinely educational. But in order to understand "Waldorf Education," we need to see past pleasing Waldorf PR. Everything in Waldorf schools derives, ultimately, from the mystical doctrines of Rudolf Steiner and his devoted followers. [See, e.g., "Waldorf Now", "Today", "Today 2", etc.]
— R.R.
February 3, 2018
WALDORF: TRUTH, BEAUTY,
GOODNESS, & HEALTH
The following is listed at the website of AWSNA (The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America), announcing an upcoming event at an American Waldorf school:
Kolisko Hawaii
Truth, Beauty and Goodness:
The Future of Education, Healing
Arts and Health Care
A conference with Michaela Glöckler,
international and local presenters.
February 17-20, 2018
Honolulu Waldorf School
[downloaded 2/3/2018 https://waldorfeducation.org/RelId/652559/ISvars/default/Article.htm]
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Response:
This is a fairly representative example of the way the Waldorf movement likes to present itself to the world: a barrage of lofty language expressing high-flown ideals. And, often, the appealing language is accompanied by eye-catching, spiritualistic artwork.
"Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Health." Who could possibly oppose any of that? No one, of course.
But with Waldorf, it is always wise to look below the surface.
The "Truth" underlying Waldorf is Anthroposophy, the occult religion concocted by Rudolf Steiner. And Anthroposophy is the source of all the "Beauty," "Goodness", and "Health" (or "Healing Arts and Health Care") affirmed within the Waldorf / Anthroposophical community. If you cannot embrace the religion of Anthroposophy, Waldorf will almost certainly prove to be — sooner or later — wrong for you and your family. [See, e.g., "Is Anthroposopjhy a Religion?" and "Schools as Churches".]
The "Healing Arts and Health Care" affirmed in and around Waldorf schools boil down to the quack medicine created by Steiner, so-called Anthroposophical medicine. Like all forms of quack medicine, it is distinctly dangerous. [See "Steiner's Quackery".]
The chief presenter of the upcoming event at the Honolulu Waldorf School is Michaela Glöcker. She is an Anthroposophical MD and a prominent promoter of Steiner's medical teachings. If you want to get a sense of her work, you should dip into any of her numerous essays and books. Here is an example. (You may find the going difficult, but please plug along. To get a feel for Anthroposophy, you need to consider how Anthroposophists talk and write. For assistance, you might refer to The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia — e.g., such entries as "Lucifer" and "Ahriman".)
"The body is a carrier of the ‘I'-consciousness [i.e., the consciousness made possible by the human spiritual ego] and it is a carrier of developmental possibilities. Both are there.
"There are two beings [i.e., two demons], Lucifer and Ahriman, who do not like these components at all. Lucifer does not want us to have awareness of the world around us. He wants us to enjoy ourselves, mirror ourselves, and develop aberrations from healthy self-awareness that go toward egoism. Like Lilith [Adam's first wife, a demon], we are not so nice as women if Lucifer tempts us.
"Men can do this in their own way. This is where Luciferic temptation comes in. Lucifer is a microcosm interested in small things. Lucifer is happy with vanity. Life has to be fun and joyful, where we can take pride in ourselves and show off.
"Rudolf Steiner once came onto the [Waldorf] school playground in Stuttgart and said that there were two ladies sitting in front of the school who could not be allowed in. A teacher who went to look saw no one. But Rudolf Steiner explained that the two he saw sitting there were vanity and the craving for power.
"Ahriman, on the other hand, has a deep hatred and lack of understanding for destiny. People are only numbers to him. Everyone is exchangeable to him ... Rudolf Steiner told physicians that Ahriman wants to kill karma. We cannot use a more accurate concept. We have to listen to it and ponder on it. Ahriman wants to kill destiny because it [karma] makes development possible. Grand Ahrimanic powers focus on the earth, on the solid, the rational, the mathematical."
— Michaela Glöcker, "From Unborness to 'I' Consciousness", GATEWAYS, Newsletter of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, Fall 2012, No. 63.
◊
As for the eye-cartching, prismatic art usually found in Waldorf schools, it is almost invariably mystical. According to Rudolf Steiner, the whole point of art is to be transported by beauty out of our world and into the worlds of the many, many gods above us. [To dig into these matters, at least a little, see "Magical Arts", "Higher Worlds", and "Polytheism".]
— R.R.
January 7, 2018
ANTHROPOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS
OF THE WALDORF IMPULSE
Coming up later this month at Sunbridge Institute, a Waldorf teacher-training center in the USA:
Waldorf Weekend
Friday, January 26, 2018 @ 7:00 pm - Saturday, January 27, 2018 @ 5:30 pm
A weekend workshop on the foundations and fundamentals of Waldorf Education from early childhood through high school....
Open to all, but especially relevant for new and prospective Waldorf community members (teachers, parents, grandparents, staff, board members) and lovers of education, our popular Waldorf Weekend workshop is designed to provide an in-depth and experiential survey of the basis and the basics of Waldorf Education.
In addition to exploring the Waldorf curriculum from early childhood through high school, your [sic] workshop includes a discussion of Rudolf Steiner’s insights in human development and a look into the anthroposophical underpinnings of the Waldorf impulse....
Cost
$220 (includes Saturday snacks & lunch, and a $25 non-refundable registration fee)
[downloaded 1/7/2018 http://www.sunbridge.edu/event/waldorf-weekend-2/]
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Response:
It is important to understand that Rudolf Steiner's occultism (the creed consisting of his "insights") remains the basis for Waldorf education today. This is often downplayed when Waldorf schools recruit new families into the fold, but it is the key to everything about Waldorf education.
Another way to put this is that the Waldorf movement is built on the foundation provided by Anthroposophy (the "Waldorf impulse" stands on "Anthroposophical underpinnings"). And what is Anthroposophy? It is the creed mentioned above: It is the occult, mystical worldview created by Rudolf Steiner, drawing from Theosophy and other spiritual movements. Steiner's followers refer to Anthroposophy as a "spiritual science" — but in fact it is a gnostic, New Age religion.
[To look into all this, perhaps as preparation for attending the Waldorf Weekend workshop, you might consult "Oh Humanity - The Key to Waldorf", "Occultism", and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"]
◊
Here are a few statements about the nature of Waldorf education. These statements come to us from within the Waldorf/Anthroposophical community:
◊ “[Waldorf] education is essentially grounded on the recognition of the child as a spiritual being, with a varying number of incarnations behind him, who is returning at birth into the physical world.” — Anthroposophist Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), pp. 388-389.
◊ “Waldorf education strives to create a place in which the highest beings [i.e., the gods]...can find their home....” — Anthroposophist Joan Almon, WHAT IS A WALDORF KINDERGARTEN? (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 53.
◊ “[T]he purpose of [Waldorf] education is to help the individual fulfill his karma.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 52.
◊ "Waldorf education is a form of practical anthroposophy...." — Waldorf teacher Keith Francis, THE EDUCATION OF A WALDORF TEACHER (iUniverse, 2004), p. xii.
◊ "Waldorf teachers must be anthroposophists first and teachers second." — Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 166.
[For more on these matters, see, e.g., "Here's the Answer", "Waldorf's Spiritual Agenda", and "Sneaking It In".]
— R.R.
January 5, 2018
WALDORF, AND TECHNOLOGY,
AND DEMONS
From the e-paper LiveMint:
...[R]eports of the negative effects of social media on the mental and physical health of our youth and children can’t be ignored — shorter attention spans due to increasingly digitalized lifestyle.
Interestingly, some of Silicon Valley’s top executives send their children to Waldorf School of the Peninsula, where they don’t introduce screens until the eighth grade. Even Steve Jobs in an interview in 2010 during the launch of the iPad had told a journalist that his family limited how much technology his kids use at home.
It’s no surprise then that in the last couple of years, we have witnessed the revival of old-school [analogue] gadgets like the Polaroid and Fujifilm instant cameras and turntables....
[1/5/2018 http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/iYAxCEJMFkr1NYC8UP3giP/Break-free-from-FOMO-this-new-year.html]
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Response:
Waldorf schools generally deplore modern technology, to one degree or another. Here LiveMint repeats points that are often raised in pro-Waldorf news accounts.
◊ Spending too much time online can be bad for kids.
◊ Some Silicon Valley execs limit the use of high-tech gizmos at home.
◊ Some Silicon Valley execs send their kids to Waldorf schools.
◊ People are getting nostalgic for the good old analogue days.
◊ And so on.
How should we respond to all this? What does it tell us, pro or con, about Waldorf schools?
There are certainly good reasons to steer kids away from excessive use of high-tech stuff. Excessive use of anything is bad. That's what "excessive" means. (Excessive use of low-tech or even no-tech stuff would also be bad, if we take the word "excessive" literally.)
And we shouldn't be surprised if technology honchos want to unplug their children, at least a little. They know that their kids will grow up in a heavily tech-centered culture. They themselves are helping to create that culture. They themselves advocate that culture. So it makes sense for them to want their kids to chill out, at least a little.
But none of this means that the Waldorf aversion to modern technology makes much sense. There may be good reasons to shield kids from today's "digitalized lifestyle," but the Waldorf reasons for spurning modern technology are not good. The Waldorf reasons are (to put this bluntly) bonzo. Primarily, the Waldorf reasons center on a fear of demons.
Here are a few samples:
◊ “In constructing steam engines an opportunity is...provided for the incarnation of demons ... In steam engines, Ahrimanic demons [1] are brought right down to the point of physical incorporation ... [W]hat has been said here about the steam engine applies in a much greater degree to the technology of our time ... [T]elevision, for example. The result is that the demon magic spoken of by Rudolf Steiner is spreading more and more intensively on all sides ... It is very necessary that anyone who aspires towards the spiritual should realise clearly how the most varied opportunities for a virtual incarnation of elemental beings [2] and demons are constantly on the increase." — Anthroposophist Georg Unger, “On ‘Mechanical Occultism’”, 1963; posted at the Rudolf Steiner Archive in November, 2014.
◊ "Whatever the merits of certain inventions, they show the face of Ahriman. Under such headings one could consider all sorts of mechanisms but in particular such appliances as television, radio, cinema and the thousand and one things dependent on electricity." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER - An Introduction to his Spiritual World-view, Anthroposophy (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 131.
◊ “The exploitation of electric forces — for example in information and computing technologies — spreads evil over the Earth in an immense spider's web. And fallen spirits of darkness [3]...are active in this web. [4]” — Anthroposophist Richard Seddon, THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND (Temple Lodge Publishing, 1996), p. 24.
◊ “[T]he whole computer and Internet industry is today the most effective way to prepare for the imminent incarnation of Ahriman [5] ... The net of ahrimanic spider beings developing out of the internet around the earth...will serve [Ahriman] particularly effectively and offer him extremely favorable potential to work. [6]” — Anthroposophist Sergei O. Prokofieff, "The Being of the Internet"; see, e.g., PACIFICA JOURNAL, Anthroposophical Society of Hawai'i, No. 29, 2006.
◊ "The elemental beings responsible for the processes of birth and death were in earlier times in the services of higher spiritual beings [7] ... This is no longer the case ... For us they have become evil ... Before the time of radar, television, and computers, Rudolf Steiner prophesied that these elemental beings would enter our time with an abundance of inventions ... These inventions, which increasingly fill our world, need to be balanced by the faculty of imagination. [8] This is the secret to how we can deal with the forces of evil. [9]" — Waldorf teacher Helmut von Kügelgen, "Threshold Experiences of Children and Adults in the Present Time", Research Bulletin, Research Institute for Waldorf Education, Fall/Winter 1999, Issue #37.
There are good reasons to be at least a little leery of modern technology. When addressing the public, Waldorf spokespeople are likely to refer to these reasons. But the underlying Waldorf reasons (which are usually kept hidden, but which are far more important to the Waldorf attitude) are something else.
◊ • ◊
By the way, we might reflect on this oddity: LiveMint is an e-paper. The only people who can read LiveMint's cautionary words about modern technology are people who move around on that terrible network, the World Wide Web.
We might also reflect on the nostalgia some people apparently have now for analogue technological devices, such as Polaroid cameras. Nostalgia is a common human attitude, but would Rudolf Steiner accept the proposition that analogue gizmos are less demonic than digital gizmos? Remember that even steam engines are demonic, according to Anthroposophical teachings. Indeed, even manual typewriters (dating from the late 19th century) are fearful, according to Steiner. Indeed, even that newfangled contrivance called an abacus (dating from about 3000 BCE) is fearful, according to Steiner.
◊ "We can clearly see what is happening inside the human body once we have reached the stage of clairvoyant imagination. In objective seeing such as this, every stroke of a typewriter key becomes a flash of lightning. And during the state of imagination, what one sees as the human heart is constantly struck and pierced by those lightning flashes." — Rudolf Steiner, SOUL ECONOMY: Body, Soul and Spirit in Waldorf Education (Anthroposophic Press, 2003), p. 146.
◊ "The calculator [abacus] has been introduced. I do not wish to be a fanatic, and the calculator may have its usefulness; from certain points of view, everything in life is justifiable. But much of what might be gained from the use of invented calculating machines can be achieved equally well by using the ten fingers or, for example, by using the number of students in the class. Do not misunderstand if I say that, when I see calculators in classrooms, from a spiritual point of view it strikes me as if I were in a medieval torture chamber." — Rudolf Steiner, ibid., p. 173.
No. Put away your old Polaroids. And your typewriters. And you abacuses. Ahriman lurks within and behind. Beware.
— R.R.
◊ • ◊
Waldorf Watch Footnotes
[1] In Anthroposophy, Ahriman is a terrible demon. [See "Ahriman".] "Ahrimanic demons" are Ahriman and his demonic sidekicks.
[2] In Anthroposophy, "elemental beings" are nature spirits such as gnomes who reside within the forces of nature. [See "Neutered Nature".]
[3] In Anthroposophy, "spirits of darkness" are demons or evil gods. [See "Evil Ones".]
[4] This is a good example of Anthroposophical "logic." Steiner taught that demons will one day create a vast, Earth-encircling network of evil forces. And there will be horrible spiritual "spiders" racing around in that vast "web." He was talking about things that will happen in the far distant future. But today, technology has created the World Wide Web. Aha! And racing around on this web are "spiders" (programs that browse the World Wide Web to create indexes). Aha! A web! Spiders! So Steiner's clairvoyant wisdom is affirmed! Aha!
That today's Web and spiders have nothing to do with Steiner's prediction is conveniently overlooked. [For more on these matters, see, e.g., "Spiders, Dragons and Foxes".]
[5] Steiner taught that the demon Lucifer incarnated on Earth in the past, and the demon Ahriman will incarnate on Earth on day soon. [See "Lucifer" and "Ahriman" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]
[6] Here, the World Wide Web and its spiders are explictly equated with the far-distant web and spiders that Steiner predicted.
[7] I.e., good gods. Anthroposophy is polytheistic. [See "Polytheism".]
[8] i.e., clairvoyant wisdom. In Anthroposophy, "imagination" is the first stage of clairvoyance and/or the first stage of preparation leading to clairvoyance. [See "imagination" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] Fundamentally, this is why imagination is stressed in Waldorf schools.
[9] I.e., modern technology arises from — and embodies — the forces of evil. To combat evil, we need the imaginative powers of clairvoyance that Anthroposophy (and Waldorf education) help us to develop. "This is the secret to how we can deal with the forces of evil."
January 2, 2018
STEINER AND THE
HOLY NIGHTS
The following is by Kristina Kaine, writing at the Huffington Post. It is the tenth of a series of messages by Kaine, describing the twelve Holy Nights [1] of the Christmas Season from an Anthroposophical perspective. In this message, Kaine describes night of January 2-January 3, 2018: tonight.
Not all Anthroposophists would agree with all of Kaine's assertions, but her messages nonetheless open a window onto the worldview that prevails in and around Waldorf schools. This is one way that Anthroposophists, including many Waldorf teachers, mark the ending of an old year and the beginning of a new year. [2]
Holy Night Ten
January 2-3 – Libra [3]
The night in which the greatest sacrifice grows from service: learning to listen to the inner voice and the signs of divinity [4], and to hear them obediently.
Mystery [5]: the voice calling in us through our various incarnations. [6] Its clarity grows through sacrifice and decision.
- [from] Rudolf Steiner’s indications for the Holy Nights given to Herbert Hahn. [7]
...Are we willing to listen to the inner voice? If so, what will we hear? We don’t hear the sound of voices we are used to hearing in the world. We have to look beyond what appears to us as matter and hear the voice behind physical appearances. We can practice this when we are in nature, we can contemplate the shape of a plant or an animal and wonder at the way it speaks to us. Everything speaks to us in its own way. Rudolf Steiner explains:
“But this means that through Spiritual Science [8] we must again learn to perceive a spiritual reality in everything that is of a material nature — a spiritual reality behind stones, plants, animals, human beings, behind clouds, stars, behind the sun. When through what is material we again find the Spirit in all its reality, we also open our soul to the voice of Christ [9] who will speak to us if we are willing to hear Him.” 17.5.1923
...Rudolf Steiner could read the Akashic Record [10]....
[1/2/2018 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/holy-night-ten_us_5a4b232de4b0d86c803c792b]
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Waldorf Watch Footnotes
[1] Associated with the "twelve days of Christmas" — sometimes called "Christmastide" — the twelve Holy Nights begin with Christmas Eve and they end with the eve of Epiphany. (The eve of Epiphany is sometimes called "Twelfth Night.")
[2] Kaine lists the first ten of twelve Holy Nights thus: #1, Dec. 24-25, Capricorn; #2, Dec. 25-26, Aquarius; #3, Dec. 26-27, Pisces; #4, Dec. 27-28, Aries; #5, Dec. 28-29, Taurus; #6, Dec 29-30, Gemini; #7, Dec 30-31, Cancer; #8, Dec. 31-Jan. 1, Leo; #9, Jan. 1-2, Virgo; #10, Jan. 2-3, Libra.
For another Anthroposophical account, see, e.g., "In Consideration of The Holy Nights of Christmas", by Mary Stewart Adams [http://www.rudolfsteiner.org/fileadmin/regions/central/The_Holy_Nights_of_Christmas.pdf]. Adams focuses on the winter of 2014-2015.
[3] Anthroposophy and Waldorf education have many enduring ties to astrology. [See, e.g., "Astrology" and "Waldorf Astrology".] Steiner indicated that each of the twelve Holy Nights is associated with one of the twelve astrological constellations.
[4] In Anthroposophical belief, the "inner voice" is the sound of "living thoughts" implanted in the soul by the gods during one's sojourn in the spirit realm between earthly incarnations. These divine thoughts, marks of the gods' solicitude and indications of our own divine nature ("signs of divinity"), are also carried to us on the cosmic ether. “The cosmic ether, which is common to all, carries within it the thoughts; there they are within it, those living thoughts of which I have repeatedly spoken in our anthroposophical lectures, telling you how the human being participates in them in pre-earthly life before he comes down to Earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, CURATIVE EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999), p. 37. [See "Thinking".] To hear silent sounds, the aural equivalent of clairvoyance — sometimes called "clairaudience" — is sometimes said to be required. "[I]n clairaudience we hear the sound which expresses [an object's] innermost being and rings forth as a tone in the universe that is distinct from all others." — Rudolf Steiner, AN ESOTERIC COSMOLOGY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974), lecture 14, GA 94.
[5] Steiner's teachings deal largely with spiritual mysteries, which he claimed to penetrate. (He wrote a series of "mystery plays" that are often performed by his followers. In the plays, Steiner attempted to give dramatic form to many of his teachings about spiritual mysteries. [See "Plays".])
[6] Anthroposophists believe in reincarnation; they believe we evolve through a long series of incarnations. [See "Reincarnation".]
[7] Herbert Hahn (1890-1970) was a German Anthroposophist. An associate of Rudolf Steiner, he taught at the first Waldorf school.
[8] For Anthroposophists, "spiritual science" — the objective study of the spirit realm — is Anthroposophy. This "science" depends on the disciplined use of clairvoyance. [See the entries for these terms in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]
[9] In Anthroposophy, Christ is the Sun God. [See "Sun God".]
[10] The Akashic Record (also called the Akashic Chronicle) is purportedly a celestial storehouse of knowledge, written on the cosmic ether called "akasha." Various mystics have claimed the ability to read the Record through their use of clairvoyance. [See "Akasha".]
— R.R.