 ADVICE "Practical" Guidance from the Top "[I]t is better to cultivate sound common sense in education than to enter into experimentation...." — Rudolf Steiner, PRACTICAL ADVICE TO WALDORF TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 2000), p. 88. When deciding whether to send your children to a Waldorf school, you may want to consider the practical advice that Waldorf teachers try to follow. All of the following quotations come from PRACTICAL ADVICE TO WALDORF TEACHERS, containing guidance Rudolf Steiner gave.  Think about what it may mean for children to be “educated” by people who accept the concepts in these quotations. What, for example, do Waldorf teachers mean by such concepts as common sense? What is their view of the world? What is their concept or reality? Here’s one indication: Waldorf teachers think that Atlantis really existed and we lived there. [1] They think that we are all now living in the fifth historical period since the destruction of Atlantis: "[W]e are still working out what is necessary for the fifth post-Atlantean age, especially in terms of education." [p. 24] For this reason, much of Steiner's "advice" boils down to doing things the Anthroposophical way; that is, bearing Steiner's occult doctrines in mind.  Waldorf teachers also find significance in the zodiac and astrology, and they think that human beings evolved on or during Saturn, Sun, and Moon phases, and we will proceed to a Vulcan stage: "You know that the spot of the sunrise in spring appears to advance slightly every year. After 25,920 years, the sun has moved around the whole ecliptic ... How is our life ingrained in the universe? Our average life span is seventy-two years. Multiply this by 360, and you arrive again at 25,920. You can imagine that in a Platonic year — the cosmic revolution of the sun — our human life span is but a day. Thus we can regard what is depicted as a year in the universe as one breath in our human life span and see our human life span as a day in the great cosmic year. Accordingly, we can revere even the smallest process as an image of the greater cosmic process. If we look at the whole process more closely, we find in the Platonic year — that is, in what happens during a Platonic year — an image of the process of evolution from the old Saturn through the Sun, Moon, and Earth stages and right up to the Vulcan stage." [pp. 25-26.]
According to Steiner, we are intimately connect to our ancient planetary stage of evolution, and we are connected to a community of beings beyond the Earth. The cosmos teems with intelligent beings, Steiner said, including the populations of the Moon, Mars, etc. "All that occurs in our life between waking and sleeping expresses the ancient Moon period of evolution, the present Earth evolution, and the future Jupiter evolution. This expresses all that makes us members of what exists beyond our earth." [p. 26]
Waldorf teachers believe that humans have four bodies: a physical body and three invisible, incorporeal bodies: "We must be aware that, in a growing child, the I and the astral body develop gradually and that, owing to heredity, the etheric and the physical bodies are there to begin with. "It would be good to consider this: the physical and etheric bodies, in particular, are always cultivated from the head down ... The I-being and astral body, on the other hand, are formed from below upward when the child’s whole being is encompassed by education. A strong feeling of the I arises, for example, when we offer children elementary eurythmy between their third and fourth years." [pp. 13-14]
Art classes at Waldorf schools are meant to unleash mystic powers within the students. This is connected to karma: A central tenet in Steiner’s doctrines is that human beings are reincarnated, over and over, and during each life we work out our destiny or karma. (Apollonian and Dionysian spiritual streams are associated with the gods Apollo and Dionysis, whom Steiner said really exist.) "We have to say that the educational influence we exert through the musical element must consist in creating a harmony of the Apollonian element with the Dionysian element welling up out of the human being’s nature. In the same way that the deadening influence must be enlivened by the sculptural, pictorial element, something that is intensely alive in the musical element has to be damped down so that it does not affect the human being too strongly. This is the feeling with which we ought to teach music to the children. "We must recognize that, through the workings of karma, a person’s nature develops with a bias toward one side or another." [p. 39]
Waldorf teachers see cosmic significance in their relationship with their students. "The fact that you are present to teach these children ... and the fact that you will do what is necessary in this regard, indicates that this group of teachers and this group of children belong together in terms of karma." [p. 29]
Waldorf teachers are supposed to follow a divine cosmic plan that they understand but that almost no one else does. They work in service of the divine cosmic powers. These are gods — Waldorf teachers believe in Jesus, angels, and other beings that many parents will find acceptable; but the teachers also believe in many heretical ideas, such as the existence of a vast panoply of gods. Anthroposophy is polytheistic. Steiner expected Waldorf teachers to embrace such doctrines fully, and to fully believe in the images they use to convey spiritualistic lessons to their students. In this sense, Waldorf teachers are passionate true believers. Parents may wonder whether teachers should be giving spiritual instruction at all — isn’t this the role of the parents and/or clergy? Waldorf schools are religious institutions, and the religion they advance is Anthroposophy. "As a simple example, let’s say that I wish to teach a child about the continuation of the soul’s life after death. I would only deceive myself and never make it clear to the child if I taught only theories about it. There is no concept that can teach a child under fourteen about immortality. I could say, however, “See this chrysalis; it is empty. Once there was a butterfly inside, but it crept away.” I could also demonstrate the process of how metamorphosis happens. It is good to show such things to children. Then I make a comparison: “Imagine that it is you who are the chrysalis. Your soul is inside you, and later it will emerge just as a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.” This, of course, is rather naively stated. 'You can talk about this for a long time. However, if you yourself do not believe that the butterfly is an image of the human soul, you cannot accomplish much with children by using this analogy. You should not allow yourself the false notion that this whole idea is merely a contrived comparison, which it is not; it is a fact presented to us by the divine, cosmic order ... Our relationship to reality must be such that, out of our own comprehension, we bring to children’s souls more than an arbitrary picture of the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, for example, and instead present something we ourselves understand and believe in as given by divine cosmic powers." [p. 16]
In a Waldorf school, young children should be exposed over and over to myths, legends, and fairy tales. This may seem harmless. But Steiner taught that all such mystical tales contain clairvoyant truth. Clairvoyance is the power that supposedly enabled Steiner to learn about the divine cosmic plan, etc. Waldorf students are led toward clairvoyance by having their imaginations stimulated — according to Steiner, imagination is a low form of clairvoyance. Even in first grade, even in lessons concerned with language skills, Waldorf students are nudged toward imagination and the cosmic beings it supposedly reveals. "Above all, we must try to cultivate as much simple speaking and conversation with the children as possible during the first year. We read aloud as little as possible, but instead prepare ourselves so well that we can bring to them in a narrative way whatever we want to tell them. Then we seek to reach the point where the children are able to retell what they have heard from us. We avoid using passages that do not stimulate the imagination and make as much use as possible of texts that activate the imagination strongly, namely, fairy tales — as many fairy tales as possible." [pp. 168-169]
The cosmic beings include good gods and evil gods, giants, dwarfs, ghosts, phantoms, demons, zeitgeists, and others. Ahriman and Lucifer are the two main demons. Here is Steiner arguing in favor of independent schools; I’ll include the footnote included in the text. Steiner says that state control of education can cause humans to fail in the mission assigned to us in the divine cosmic plan. (Our mission is to evolve so high that ultimately we become God.) "It is truly awful to consider the possibility that in the future, elected parliaments will meet and decide questions of education based on the recommendations of those whose only reason for involvement is their sense of democracy. If things develop in this way, as they are now doing in Russia, the earth would lose its task and have its mission withdrawn; it would be expelled from the cosmos and fall to Ahriman." [p. 27] [2]
Some Waldorf doctrines can seem pleasing. Teachers should treat each student with respect, since each human is a cosmic spirit, a cosmic “mystery.” We are not mean mechanisms. Respecting each child is surely good. But must it be based in occultism? In Waldorf schools, it is. Waldorf schools do not pursue education in any ordinary sense. Waldorf teachers consider themselves to be on a cosmic mission, serving the gods. This concept should “permeate” a school, Steiner said. "If you cannot manage to see every human being as a cosmic mystery, you will not get beyond the sense that people are no more than mechanisms, and if such a feeling were cultivated, it would lead to the downfall of earthly culture. On the other hand, earthly culture is raised only when we permeate education with the feeling that the whole human being has cosmic significance. And this cosmic feeling arises only when we regard the content of human feeling as belonging to the period between birth and death. Human thinking indicates the period before birth, and what exists in the human will points to what comes after death as a seed for the future. As the threefold human being stands before us, first we see what belongs to the time before birth, then we see what lies between birth and death, and, third, we see what awaits us after death. Our life before birth enters our existence as images, and the seed of what lies beyond death exists within us even before death." [p. 28]
Some Waldorf doctrines can seem pleasing. And some can seem nutty. They are all part of the same package, a collection of occult, “clairvoyant” beliefs. "There is a distinction between the service rendered by feet and legs when they carry the body and that rendered by the hands and arms that do not work for the body but for the world. This difference between the egoistic service of the feet and the selfless service of the hands that work for the human being’s environment should be made clear to the children at an early stage ... [W]e teach the children as much as possible about the natural history of the human being. And only then do we continue with the rest of natural history, first to the animal kingdom ... You should describe the cuttlefish in a way that gives the children a feeling for its sensitivity ... It is bias that causes people to imagine that their heads are the most perfect part of themselves. It is certainly structured in a most complicated way, but it is really just a metamorphosed cuttlefish ... The human being is most perfect in the limbs." [pp. 95-98.] Steiner generally downplayed the head and brain. Real knowledge, he said, does not come from the brain — it comes from clairvoyance, which we perfect through development not of our brains but of our "organs of clairvoyance." The implications for the education of the young are severe. Don't develop the brain; develop other organs that, in reality, do not exist.
Whether you find Waldorf beliefs and attitudes attractive or not, remember that Rudolf Steiner’s doctrines are still very much alive in the schools. The book from which I have been quoting consists of lectures Steiner delivered in 1919, long ago. However, the book was published in 2000, as part of the “Foundations of Waldorf Education” series. Like the other books in the series, it is used to guide the educational programs in today’s Waldorf schools. - Compilation and commentary by Roger Rawlings [1] On this page, I use the term “Waldorf teachers” to mean teachers who accept the doctrines of Rudolf Steiner. Some Waldorf schools employ a certain number of teachers who are not adherents of Rudolf Steiner, but often such teachers are a small minority. [2] Ahriman is the name given a spiritual being who wants to hold humanity in a hardened, material state and no longer evolving. Lucifer is Ahriman’s counterpart, who tempts humankind to disembody spiritually, thus “evolving” too quickly and becoming overly emotional. Rudolf Steiner posited the Christ as mediator and balance to these two retarding forces.  The allure and nuttiness of Anthroposophy are inseparable threads in the same design. [R. R., 2010.] Here are items from the Waldorf Watch "news" page: "Steiner education, also known as Waldorf education.... "Works for all children irrespective of academic ability, class, ethnicity or religion; "Takes account of the needs of the whole child – academic, physical, emotional and spiritual; "Is based on an understanding of the relevance of the different phases of child development... [etc.]" [9-10-2011 http://naturalmothersnetwork.ning.com/profiles/blogs/on-national-literacy-day-we-ask-what-is-steiner-education] This is typical of the sort of disinformation that is often served up to promote Waldorf schooling. Unless a description of Waldorf schooling includes references to the occult, higher worlds, gods, and other Anthroposophical doctrines, you know that much is being concealed. (Sometimes this is inadvertent, because the writer doesn't know much about the bases of Waldorf education.) Let's consider ethnicity, for instance. The Waldorf system is built on the idea that north/central Europe is the home of the highest, most evolved humans — sometimes called Aryans. The culture of these white people — much of which is reflected in their ancient myths (Norse myths) — is the highest on Earth. Other, darker peoples are less evolved.
Let's consider "the needs of the whole child" as conceived by Rudolf Steiner and his followers. The "whole child," in Waldorf belief, is a complex being. S/he has twelve senses, s/he will be born four times, s/he will develop three invisible bodies (the etheric body, the astral body, and the "I"), s/he has a karma, s/he embodies one of four temperaments (phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, melancholic), s/he has an astrological sign and its attendant horoscope, s/he has a dark spiritual double (doppelgänger), s/he will develop invisible organs of clairvoyance if she evolves properly, s/he has a heart that does not pump blood, s/he has a brain that is not the seat of cognition, and so on. Educating the "whole child" — head, heart, and hands — certainly sounds good. But as always when dealing with Waldorf, you should look below the surface of any fine-sounding phrases you are offered. [See "Holistic Education".] The "phases of childhood development," according to the occult theories behind Waldorf schooling, run from • birth to age 7, • age 7 to age 14, and • age 14 to age 21. During the first phase, children exist in a dreamy memory of the spirit worlds from which they came to Earth. This condition lasts until the "etheric body" incarnates, an event signaled by the loss of baby teeth. (Plants and animals also have etheric bodies.) “Waldorf education is based upon the recognition that the four bodies of the human being develop and mature at different times ... According to Steiner, one of the indicators of the birth or emancipation of the etheric body is the loss of the child's baby teeth, which takes place at the age of seven.” — Waldorf teacher Roberto Trostli, RHYTHMS OF LEARNING: What Waldorf Education Offers Children, Parents & Teachers (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 4-5. Note that Waldorf education is "based" on these weird concepts The second phase of childhood, according to Waldorf belief, finds children still unable to think very much; instead, they are deeply emotional. They have imaginative powers (an early stage of clairvoyance) and will develop intuitive powers (a higher stage of clairvoyance). This phase ends when the "astral body" incarnates, an event signaled by puberty. (Animals also have astral bodies; plants do not.) The third phase finds children slowly developing the ability to think, including intellectual thought — but such thinking is superficial and unreliable. [See "Steiner's Specific".] Clairvoyance is the reliable form of cognition, and children approaching adulthood can develop powers of inspiration, the third stage of clairvoyance. The third phase of childhood ends at age 21, when the "I" incarnates. (The "I" is divine human spiritual selfhood. No animal or plant has an "I", and no human can see your "I" except yourself.) [See "Incarnation".] These are some of the beliefs that lie behind fine-sounding Waldorf PR. Unless they make perfect sense to you, you will probably find Waldorf unsatisfactory.
"Anthroposophy seeks to help individuals to find their spirit dimension and a new relationship with nature and technology, and most of all, with their fellow human beings, in a conscious way. Anthroposophy does not claim to be a religion or a thought system which one claim all phenomena [sic]. Nor does it provide the answers to all personal problems." [9-17-2011 https://www.stmarys.nsw.edu.au/library/secured/arc/contents/other/othant.htm] Anthroposophists almost always claim that their ideology (which undergirds Waldorf education) is not a religion. Instead, they say, Anthroposophy is a spiritual science — it is a method that provides direct, scientifically accurate knowledge of the spirit worlds. This method involves the use of clairvoyance to consult the Akashic Record (an invisible celestial storehouse of knowledge written on akasha, i.e. starlight or a universal ether). There are a few problems with these claims. • Anthroposophy is totally unscientific. • Indeed, it is a religion. [See, e.g., "Steiner's 'Science'" and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] • Moreover, the faculty Anthroposophy depends upon, clairvoyance, does not exist; it is a delusion, a technique of self-deception. [See, e.g., "Clairvoyance", "Why? Oh Why? Oh Why?", and "Fooling Ourselves".] • And, of course, there is no such thing as the Akashic Record. [See "Akasha".]* Let's focus on the central issue. Is Anthroposophy a religion? Centering on a panoply of good and evil gods, Anthroposophy goes far beyond the acquisition of "spiritual knowledge." Anthroposophy is a synthesis of various religions, combining teachings from Theosophy, Gnostic Christianity, and Hinduism, with admixtures of other religions including Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. The practice of Anthroposophy entails faith, reverence, prayers, meditations, spiritual guides, observances, and other religious identifiers. It lays out the path to spiritual improvement for its adherents, and it threatens spiritual loss and perdition for everyone else. Anthroposophists believe that they are on the side of the gods, and they believe that their critics are on the side of the demonic powers. Anthroposophy is a religion. Well, but does the religion of Anthroposophy crop up inside Waldorf schools? Certainly. To give one quick example: Students in Waldorf schools typically begin each day by reciting aloud, in unison, prayers written by Rudolf Steiner. [See "Prayers".] This would be inexplicable if the school were, as they usually claim, nondenominational and nonsectarian. Waldorf schools exist to spread a religion, and that religion is Anthroposophy. “One of the most important facts about the background of the Waldorf School is that we were in a position to make the anthroposophical movement a relatively large one. The anthroposophical movement has become a large one.” — Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p.156. What does the Anthroposophical movement do? "[T]he Anthroposophical Society ... provides religious instruction just as other religious groups do." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 706.
 Study of a detail from a painting intended for a ceiling in the Anthroposophical headquarters: "The Egyptian Initiate" — see THE GOETHEANUM CUPOLA MOTIFS OF RUDOLF STEINER (SteinerBooks, 2011), p. 145. [R. R., 2011]. |