ENCYCLOPEDIA
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eagle - also see bull; group soul; lion; man b) According to Steiner, one of the four group souls shared by humans at an early stage of evolution. Modern humans of varying kinds still reflect the influences of these souls. "One calls these four group souls by the names of the apocalyptic beasts: Bull, Eagle, Lion, Man. The Man, however, was at another stage of evolution than the man of today. The names are taken from the organization of the group souls ... The third group, with the mobile element that does not wish to know much of the earth, belongs to the group soul of the Eagle. They are the ones who can raise themselves above what is earthly ... As a rule, they had something which, in relation to the other bodies, was misshaped. They would have reminded you of people who have much psychism and believe in visions, and because they do not bother much about the physical, have something dried up, something stunted compared with the abundant force of the other two groups. They would have reminded you of the bird nature. 'I will hold back my Spirit,' that was the tendency of the eagle men." — R. Steiner. [See "Four Group Souls".]
Earth - also see Conditions of Consciousness; Earth consciousness; Gaia; Mother Earth; nature spirits a) The third planet from the Sun.
b) According to Steiner, the fourth Condition of Consciousness. Steiner taught that we began our evolution on or during Saturn (Old Saturn). We proceeded to Sun (Old Sun) and Moon (Old Moon). We now live on Earth, as you may have noticed. We will proceed to Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan. Each of these planetary stages is a form of evolution for the entire Earth and indeed for the entire solar system. Thus, Old Saturn was the first incarnation of Earth/solar system; Old Sun was the second; and so on. On or during each stage, we have had a new form or condition of consciousness. The point of it all is to develop an extremely high form of clairvoyant consciousness before the end of this process. By the time we evolve to Jupiter, we will have become gods, although only a lowly form, equivalent to angels. But by the end of our evolution, we will be God. [See "Matters of Form" and "Tenth Hierarchy".]
earth-water beings - also see Ahriman; cf. air-fire beings In Anthroposophical doctrine: Ahrimanic beings, dwelling below the surface of the Earth. “Turning now again to the beings whom I called Ahrimanic and who have their stronghold below the surface of the Earth — the earth-water beings — how do these compare with Jahve and the Mercury and Venus beings? ... The Ahrimanic beings wage war continually on Jahve and on the Venus and Mercury powers, and are determined to usurp from Jahve his rightful sovereignty." — R. Steiner. [See “Neutered Nature”.]
earthquakes - also see catastrophes; volcanos According to Steiner: we choose them or even cause them. “[T]he births which occurred during a time of frequent earthquakes were investigated [by clairvoyance]. It was found that all those born at about the time of an earthquake, though not exactly in its area, were, surprisingly enough, men of a very materialistic cast of mind. The earthquakes were not the cause of this; rather it was these strongly materialistic souls, ripe for birth, who worked their way down into the physical world by means of their astral will and let loose the forces of the Fire-Earth layer, which proceeded to shake the Earth at the time of their birth.” — Rudolf Steiner, AT THE GATES OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1986), lecture 14, GA 95. [See “Karma”.]
Easter - also see Christ; festivals The celebration of the resurrection of Christ, traditionally the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring in the northern hemisphere. At Waldorf schools, Easter is often observed as the Spring Festival. [See "Magical Arts".] For Steiner, the Christian festivals needed to be redefined in terms of “mystery knowledge” — that is, occult knowledge or, more precisely, his own teachings. ”The Festival of Easter is close upon us and we remember, perhaps, those Christmas lectures [of Steiner's] in which we endeavoured to grasp the meaning of Christmas in the light of the Mystery-knowledge. If from a higher vantage-point we think of the Christmas Festival on the one side and the Easter Festival, with its prospect of Whitsuntide, on the other, the relation between religion and Christianity, if rightly conceived, is brought in a most wonderful way before the eye of spirit.” — R. Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1956), Vol. 2, EASTER, lecture 6, GA 102. The strange contrast Steiner draws here between Christianity and religion results from his appropriation of the term “Christianity.” He taught that his own doctrines reveal the true Christ, the Sun God. Thus, when he spoke of Christianity he often (but not always) meant Anthroposophy, and he claimed that Anthroposophy is a science, not a religion.
Easton, Stewart C. (1907-1989) An Anthroposophical author and, at one time, General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
education - also see academic standards; curriculum; divine cosmic plan; knowledge; messianism; spiritualistic agenda; teachers; universities; Waldorf schools The "educational" goals of Waldorf schools are usually not consistent with the normal understanding of the term "education": they are inclined toward affirmation of occultism, specifically Anthroposophy. Education at such schools is subordinated to the teachers' messianic, spiritualistic agenda. [See "Foundations", "Underpinnings", and "Basement".] In particular, Waldorf schools see a crucial part of their mission to be supervising the incarnation of their students' invisible bodies. “This is precisely the task of school. If it is a true school, it should bring to unfoldment in the human being what he has brought with him from spiritual worlds into this physical life on earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS , Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1972), lecture 5, GA 235. Note that Steiner's statement does not mention knowledge. The purpose of education, Rudolf Steiner explained, is not to convey knowledge to children; it is to help children incarnate, unfolding the etheric bodies, astral bodies, and so on, that they brought with them from the spiritual worlds. [See “Incarnation” and “Higher Worlds”.]
ego - also see I a) In psychiatry, the mediating mental faculty that tests reality and allows a sense of personal identity.
b) In Anthroposophy, the spark of divinity bestowed on humanity by Christ; the divine "I am." Thus, the "ego" is the divine sense of self, the divine individuality that distinguishes humanity from lower beings, and that distinguishes each individual human from every other individual human. No one can perceive your ego except you yourself. Often, Steiner spoke of the ego as if it were a body analogous to the etheric and astral bodies, and in a sense it is so: It is a wrap given us. But in another, truer sense the ego is our essential human nature. "Man, in the form and figure in which he is now evolving, does not emerge until the fourth of the ... planetary embodiments [i.e., planetary stages of evolution] — the Earth proper. The essential feature of man's present form is that he consists of the four members: physical body, life-body [or etheric body], astral body and Ego. This form however could not have emerged at all, had it not been prepared by the preceding facts of evolution. The preparation took place through the gradual evolution, during the earlier planetary embodiment, of beings who had already three of the four members of the present human being, namely physical body, life-body and astral body. These beings, whom we may call in a certain respect the ancestors of man, had as yet no I." — R. Steiner. [See "Ego".]
ego body - also see astral body; ego; etheric body; I This is an alternate term for the ego or "I" — the third and highest of a human being's three invisible bodies. It can be seen only through clairvoyance. "The Ego-body appears to the clairvoyant as a blue hollow between the eyes, behind the forehead. When a person begins to work on it, rays stream out from this point." — Rudolf Steiner, AT THE GATES OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE, Notes from Answers to Questions (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1986), GA 95.
ego consciousness - also see I The consciousness of individual spiritual selfhood. [See "Evil".] At prior stages of human development, the individual ego had not yet been fully established, and “ego consciousness” was then closer to a form or group consciousness. “Humanity started out from an ego-consciousness that was quite different from the one we know to-day. By ‘Adam’ we have to understand not a single human being, but an ego-consciousness that embraced several generations ... If you look back as far as to Adam, you see the ego-consciousness flow through generations for hundreds and thousands of years. But there is a still higher human consciousness, which was given to man in his primal quality as Man. This is the consciousness of humanity, the consciousness which embraces not only a few generations, but the whole of humanity. Then came the consciousness which belongs to generations, lasts for generations, and was finally individualised by man to his ‘I am’ [i.e., individual ego consciousness]. Man, therefore, already possessed the foundations for the ‘I am’ earlier, and for this reason Christ could say: ‘Before Abraham, was the “I am. ”’ That is the correct teaching of the occult school; it ought to read: ‘Before Abraham was the “I am.”’ ... Christ appeared on Earth to give humanity the forces which will enable men to achieve the highest ego-consciousness ia the Sixth Age [the age following ours]; He desires to prepare men for the ‘time which is not yet come’ ... [Otherwise] mankind would never have obtained-the individual ego.” — R. Steiner, THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Basle) (London Reference Library, 1942), lecture 8, GA 100.
egoism, egotism - also see War of All Against All a) The ethical theory that self-interest is the basis of morality.
b) According to Steiner, a profound error in modern humanity, leading to the War of All Against All and/or the black path. "The Seventh Age [i.e., a coming cultural epoch] ... extends from 5733 [AD] to about 7900 [AD] ... The age as a whole is [i.e., will be] dominated by Anglo-American culture, led by an abnormal Spirit of Personality who does not work for the progress of evolution ... [W]orld egoism also proceeds from the English-American people; through their inventions they cover the earth with a network of egoism fraught with evil ... This dominating egoism causes the drying up of regions where it is pursued ... Because by this time sufficient souls have the power to use the moon forces for the benefit of evolution, the moon again unites with the earth [sic] ... When the moon does unite, all the thoughts of the shadowy intellect which at present have no reality at once become substantial realities. There springs forth a terrible brood of beings, automata lying between the mineral and plant kingdoms, possessed of an overwhelming power of intellect. This swarm spreads over the earth as a ghastly network of spiderlike creatures ... The reunion with the moon brings the culmination of evil on earth. The whole Post-Atlantean epoch ends with the War of All Against All [sic]." — R. Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORETOLD BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2002), pp. 54-60. [See "All v. All".]
EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD Ancient Egyptian text containing magical spells intended to protect the dead in their journey through the hereafter. [See "Best".] ”How did Initiates at that time represent the life after death? It was their endeavour that men should experience after death — if only as a faint echo — what men experienced in olden times when they raised themselves up to that in which they felt as if hidden, to that supreme Being — the great Sun-Spirit. This is the meaning of what the ancient Egyptians called the judgment of the Dead; when the dead person appeared before his judge, who weighed his deeds. If these were found to be worthy he might, through the merit acquired in the physical world, become a part of the Being looked up to as God of Light, the Sun-God [whom we know as Christ]. This was the same being who was called Osiris. It was the journey to Osiris — the union with him that was imparted to the dead as a recollection of an actual previous evolutional condition. This is how we must understand what is contained in the Book of the Dead, that most remarkable record of the Egyptian people.” — R. Steiner, UNIVERSE, EARTH AND MAN (Harry Collison, 1931), lecture 10, GA 105.
eighth sphere - also see evil; evolution; hell; irreclaimable moon; Lucifer; perdition Theosophical term for a place of perdition, the Planet of Death; adopted by Steiner. “On the Old Moon certain pictures were present. These should have passed over to the Earth as something everywhere perceptible. But Lucifer and Ahriman retained them for themselves. Lucifer and Ahriman wrested from the Earth certain of its constituents and made them into Imaginations, so that these Earth-substances became, not Earthly formations, but Moon formations. Into our Fourth Sphere, therefore, there has been instilled a sphere that is really a Moon-sphere, but is filled with Earthly substantiality and is therefore a bogus creation in the Universe. To the seven Spheres, an Eighth, created in opposition to the progressive Spirits, has been added. The necessary consequence of this is that the Spirits of Form must do battle on the Earth for every morsel of substantiality capable of mineralisation, lest it should be wrested from them by Lucifer and Ahriman and borne into the Eighth Sphere ... All earthly being and existence are involved here. Lucifer and Ahriman strive unceasingly to draw from the Earth's substances whatever they can snatch, in order to form their Eighth Sphere which then, when it is sufficiently advanced, will be detached from the Earth and go its own way in the Cosmos together with Lucifer and Ahriman. Needless to say, the Earth would then pass over to Jupiter as a mere torso ... Therefore we ourselves are involved in the battle. Lucifer and Ahriman battle against the Spirits of Form, with the aim of wresting mineral substance from us everywhere.” — R. Steiner. [See "Sphere 8".]
[R.R. sketched based on one by Steiner.]
Einstein, Albert (1879-1955); Einsteinian physics The most important physicist since Newton, author of the special and general theories of relativity, among other seminal contributions; dismissed by Steiner. [See "Faculty Meetings".]
electricity - also see light According to Steiner, decayed or compressed light. Light is good, electricity is evil. The exploitation of electricity is demonic. [See "Millennium".] “[T]he opposite forces, the forces of good, will have to grow out of the opposition to evil, and man will have to draw the strength for this opposition out of spiritual sources. This will take place above all during the 5th epoch, when the exploitation of electric forces, which will assume quite different dimensions from those which they have assumed so far, will enable man to spread evil over the earth, and evil will invade the earth by coming in an immediate way out of the forces of electricity.” — R. Steiner, “The Overcoming of Evil”, ANTHROPOSOPHIC NEWS SHEET No. 7/8 (General Anthroposophic Society, 1948).
elemental beings - also see nature spirits Incorporeal beings residing in nature, the elements, etc. They lack real spirits, and they sometimes act in a hostile manner, although they are often used productively by the gods, Steiner said. The four major forms of elemental beings (also called nature spirits) are gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and undines. But there are a great many others, as well. [See "Beings" and "Neutered Nature".] ”[O]ther beings exist which are no longer visible to the physical senses, beings possessing body and soul. In various occult teachings they are often called elemental spirits. To call them elemental spirits shows the greatest possible ineptitude, for it is just spirit that they do not possess. It is better to call them elemental beings, and we shall see shortly why their bodies are not visible. In the meantime let us accept as a kind of definition that such beings consist of body and soul. Their existence is of course denied in our enlightened age, for man in his present phase of development cannot see them; one who wishes to see them must have progressed to a certain degree of clairvoyant consciousness. The fact that a thing is not perceptible does not mean, however, that it is not active in our world. The activity of these beings of body and soul plays very definitely into our world. What they do can very well be seen, but not the doers themselves.” — R. Steiner, THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS ON MAN (Anthroposophic Press, 1961), lecture 7, GA 102.
elemental world - also see nature spirits; cf. elementary world; supersensible world The natural, material world. [See "The Center".] ”Such a development [i.e., developing an organ of clairvoyance] gives one the feeling that an organ has awoke to a particular region of the supersensible [i.e.,spiritual] world. One feels as if one's elemental [i.e., physical] body were in a kind of sleep with regard to the supersensible world ... We always carry this body about with us, but it is a sleeping body. With the strengthening of the life of our soul the awakening begins ... In the elemental world itself there is nothing that can aid the soul to bring about this awakening ... Free movement in the supersensible world can be attained by the soul through nothing that is found in the elemental environment.” — R. Steiner, A ROAD TO SELF-KNOWLEDGE (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1956), Fifth Meditation, GA 16.
elementary kingdoms - also see astral body; Conditions of Life; etheric body Three of the seven Conditions of Life, according to Steiner. The lowest three of these are "elementary kingdoms". These contain the forces that become manifest in physical, etheric, and astral bodies. [See "Almost the End".] ”The occultist says that men today stand in the mineral kingdom. What does this mean? Because a man understands only the mineral kingdom, he can only control this kingdom. Using minerals, he can build a house, a clock, and other things because they are subject to mineral laws. For various other activities he does not have this capacity. He cannot, for example, form a plant from out of his own thinking. To be able to do this he would himself have to exist in the plant kingdom. Some time in the future this will be the case. Today men are creators in the mineral realm. Three other kingdoms, the elementary kingdoms, have preceded this; the mineral kingdom is the fourth. All told there are seven.
“Men stand in the fourth kingdom. Only here do they reach their actual consciousness oriented to the outer world. On the Moon they were still operating in the third elementary kingdom, on the Sun in the second, and on Saturn in the first. In the future on Jupiter, they will be able to create plants as today they are able to construct a clock. Everything visible in creation stands in the sign of the four. There are many planets that are not to be seen with physical eyes, such as those in the first, second, and third elementary kingdoms. Only when such a planet within creation enters the mineral kingdom can it be seen. Four is, therefore, the number of the cosmos or of creation. With the entrance into the fourth condition a being becomes fully visible to eyes that can see external things.” — R. Steiner, OCCULT SIGNS AND SYMBOLS (Anthroposophic Press, 1972), lecture 3, GA 101.
elementary world - also see soul world; cf. elemental world The first higher world we enter when ascending into the cosmos. “The ascent into the Macrocosm [i.e., the spiritual cosmos] leads the candidate for Initiation first of all into what has been called in Spiritual Science the Elementary World [i.e., the soul world] ... [T]he outer and inner aspects of the Elementary World differ somewhat from each other. Studying our own being with ordinary, normal human consciousness and not with clairvoyance, we find certain qualities which belong partly to our soul and partly to our outer constitution; these are the qualities of our temperament. We classify them as the melancholic, the phlegmatic, the sanguine and the choleric ... [W]hen a man passes into the Macrocosm he does not feel as if he were confronting objects as in physical existence but as if he were within every object in the Elementary World; he feels united with it.” — R. Steiner, MACROCOSM AND MICROCOSM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969), lecture 7, GA 119. [See "Higher Worlds".]
elements - also see temperaments Fundamental substances. Modern science recognizes more than a hundred. Anthroposophy (accepting ancient teachings and rejecting modern science) recognizes four: earth, air, fire, and water. [See "Neutered Nature".] As he often did on a wide array of subjects, Steiner affirmed an ancient concept — in this instance, the four elements — but also asserted that only he correctly understood that subject. Thus, in the following passage, we find a characteristic feature of Steiner’s prose, his use of quotation marks to distance himself slightly from the very topic he is discussing affirmatively. “[W]hen a man rises in the way indicated yesterday into the Elementary World where he has a true perception of what are usually called the ‘Elements’ — earth, water, air and fire — he also becomes aware that his own corporeality — including the higher members — is built out of this Elementary World ... Now strangely enough, there exists in the Elementary World a mysterious relationship between the aforesaid four elements and the four temperaments, between the melancholic temperament and the element of ‘earth’, between the phlegmatic temperament and the element of ‘water’, between the sanguine temperament and the element of ‘air’, and between the choleric temperament and the element of ‘fire’. This relationship is expressed in the fact that the choleric man has a stronger inclination to merge with beings living in the ‘fire’ of the Elementary World than with the others; the sanguine man is more inclined to merge with the beings living in the element of ‘air’; the phlegmatic man with the beings living in the element of ‘water’; and the melancholic man with the beings living in the element of ‘earth’.” — R. Steiner, MACROCOSM AND MICROCOSM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1968), lecture 7, GA 119.
Elohim - also see gods; Jehovah; Spirits of Form a) God (singular).
b) Gods (plural).
“Elohim, singular Eloah, (Hebrew: God), the God of Israel in the Old Testament. A plural of majesty, the term Elohim—though sometimes used for other deities, such as the Moabite god Chemosh, the Sidonian goddess Astarte, and also for other majestic beings such as angels, kings, judges (the Old Testament shofetim), and the Messiah — is usually employed in the Old Testament for the one and only God of Israel, whose personal name was revealed to Moses as YHWH, or Yahweh. When referring to Yahweh, elohim very often is accompanied by the article ha-, to mean, in combination, ‘the God,’ and sometimes with a further identification Elohim hayyim, meaning ‘the living God.’
“Though Elohim is plural in form, it is understood in the singular sense. Thus, in Genesis the words, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth,” Elohim is monotheistic in connotation, though its grammatical structure seems polytheistic. The Israelites probably borrowed the Canaanite plural noun Elohim and made it singular in meaning in their cultic practices and theological reflections.” — "Elohim." ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011. Web. 18 May. 2011.
c) Gods four levels above man, according to Steiner. “[W]e come next to the hierarchy who are called ‘Revelations,’ Exusiai ... The Spirits of Light belong to the order of the Powers or Revelations. We know that Yahve [Jehovah] had six companions who separated off the sun. Yahve himself went with the moon which reflected the sun's light to the earth, but he is a companion of the other Elohim ... The whole structure in which man is embedded, the guidance of the planet and what occurs on it is the affair of the Revelations or Powers. For the whole present evolution of humanity could not have gone on without, on the one hand, the accelerating sun forces, and, on the other, the hindering moon forces.” — R. Steiner. [See “Polytheism”.]
elp - see elves
elves - also see dwarfs; fairies; goblins a) A common name for some nature spirits; fairies or variants of fairies.
b) The uncondensed form of man, according to Steiner, and/or nature spirits. "[O]ur brain connects us with certain elemental beings, namely those elemental beings that belong to the sphere of wisdom ... To etheric observation, this [aura] hovers in the immediate vicinity of our head. The I lives in it, and alongside the I are found the elemental beings of the myths and sagas. There they are called elves, fairies, and so on." — R. Steiner. [See “Beings”.]
emotion - also see subjectivity; cf. thinking Feelings, emotions, link us to the spirit realm, according to Steiner — to know the spirit realm, we should use our hearts far more than our heads. At best, thinking helps us to understand the lowly physical realm. "[T]hinking is oriented to the physical plane. Feeling really has a connection with all the spiritual beings who must be considered real." — R. Steiner. [See "Reality and Fantasy".] Steiner said that children between the ages of 7 and 14 live primarily through their feelings. (Before then, they were largely guided by will; after 14, thinking becomes predominant (although it needs to be moderated by emotion and will). He also said that Asians, being spiritually immature compared to whites, live emotional lives. ”One race [i.e., black] ... has the instinctual life, the life of instinct. At a higher level, man [i.e., the Asian] has ... the emotional life that sits in the chest. And we Europeans ... have thought that sits in the head.” [Rudolf Steiner, “Color and the Human Races”. See “Forbidden”.] At Waldorf or Steiner schools, Anthroposophy is taught primarily on an emotional rather than intellectual level — students are led to feel about things as Anthroposophists feel about them. [See “Spiritual Agenda”.]
empiricism a) The theory that all knowledge comes from sensory experience.
b) One of the seven world outlooks, according to Steiner. "Empiricism signifies a soul-mood which simply accepts whatever experience may offer. Through all twelve constellations one can be an empiricist, a man with a world-conception based on experience." — R. Steiner. Steiner associated each of the seven outlooks with one of the seven “sacred planets.” The planet of empiricism is the Sun. [See “Philosophy”.]
enemies Steiner saw foes all around, in both the visible and invisible worlds. He urged his followers to share this view. “[T]he Anthroposophical Movement is of a nature that attracts enemies ... [W]hat was cast in the mould of love has called forth bitter enmity. Our misfortune has unleashed a veritable hailstorm of ridicule, contempt and hatred, and the willful distortion of truth that has always characterized so large a part of our opposition is especially typical of the situation now, with enemies creeping out of every corner and spreading deliberate untruth ... I have been warning for years that we will have to reckon with a constantly growing opposition, and that it is our foremost duty to be aware of this and to be properly vigilant. It was always painful to have to hear people say that our enemies in this or that quarter seemed to be quieting down. This sort of thing is due to people's willingness to entertain illusions, unfortunately all too prevalent among us.” [See "Enemies".]
English (as a subject) - also see literature; mythsThe Waldorf literature curriculum emphasizes fairy tales, myths, and other works consistent with Anthroposophical doctrines. The works studied in class often seem unobjectionable — literary classics (such as THE DIVINE COMEDY) or at least standards (such as MY ANTONIA). But when carefully selected by Waldorf teachers who then carefully guide the class work centered on such literature, spiritualistic meanings suggesting Anthroposophical beliefs can be teased out of the readings. [See "Oh My Word" and "Fairy Tales".] In other cases, books, stories, or poems with clear connections to Theosophy or Anthroposophy may be selected: novels such as THE THREE CANDLES OF LITTLE VERONICA or collections such as THE WALDORF BOOK OF POETRY. Modern literature is generally avoided and even abhorred. [See "Ex-Teacher 9".]
enlightenment a) Spiritual awareness.
b) Modern consciousness, derived from the Enlightenment (European intellectual movement emphasizing reason and individualism, 17th-18th Centuries) — Steiner used this term in this sense, sometimes, pejoratively. [See "Clairvoyant Vision".]
c) Distinct from his other use of the term: a stage of initiation, according to Steiner. [See "Inside Scoop".] “The three stages which the above-mentioned tradition specifies, are as follows: (1) preparation; (2) enlightenment; (3) initiation. It is not altogether necessary that the first of these three stages should be completed before the second can be begun, nor that the second, in turn, be completed before the third be started. In certain respects it is possible to partake of enlightenment, and even of initiation, and in other respects still be in the preparatory stage ... [Through certain exercises] the organs of clairvoyance are formed ... The organs thus formed are spiritual eyes. The student gradually learns, by their means, to see something like soul and spirit colors ... Spiritual science describes that which, for clairvoyant organs, flows from the stone, as blue, or blue-red; and that which is felt as coming from the animal as red or red-yellow. In reality, colors of a spiritual kind are seen. The color proceeding the plant is green which little by little turns into a light ethereal pink. The plant is actually that product of nature which in higher worlds resembles, in certain respects, its constitution in the physical world. The same does not apply to the stone and the animal. It must now be clearly understood that the above-mentioned colors only represent the principal shades in the stone, plant and animal kingdom. In reality, all possible intermediate shades are present. Every stone, every plant, every animal has its own particular shade of color. In addition to these there are also the beings of the higher worlds who never incarnate physically, but who have their colors, often wonderful, often horrible. Indeed, the wealth of color in these higher worlds is immeasurably greater than in the physical world.” — R. Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Anthroposophic Press, 1947), chapter 2, “The Stages of Initiation”, GA 10.
epochs (“great” epochs) - also see root races; cf. cultural epochs or ages In Anthroposophy: seven extended periods of evolution on Earth, associated with root races: Polarian, Hyperborean, Lemurian, Atlantean, Post-Atlantean, Sixth (Seals), Seventh (Trumpets). These “great” epochs should not be confused with cultural epochs, which are “ages” within the current great epoch. “We are living in the fifth period [i.e., cultural epoch or age] of the fifth great epoch; we have still to live through two more periods [i.e., cultural epochs] of this great epoch. Then will follow the seven periods of the sixth great epoch and then the seven periods of the seventh great epoch.” — R. Steiner. [See “Epochs”.] The periods of the sixth and seventh great epochs are not cultural epochs, per se. The periods in the sixth epoch are “regions of soul”; those in the seventh are “realms of spirit”.
esoteric, esotericism - also see gnosticism; initiation; occult; Rosicrucian Knowledge, beliefs, and/or practices known to only a few. Anthroposophists have increasingly turned to this term, having become embarrassed by the term "occult". Thus, for instance, the title of Steiner's major book, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE, has been changed to AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE. Numerous Steiner books have had the word "occult" in their titles; but others have used the word "esoteric." [See "Occultism".] “Anthroposophists themselves have historically used both 'esoteric' and 'occult', often enough interchangeably. Steiner's works frequently use both terms, and the same is true for many of his followers. In recent years, some anthroposophists have begun to shy away from the word 'occult', but that was not the case within the original anthroposophical movement in the first half of the 20th century.” — P. Staudenmaier. [See “I Went to Waldorf”.]
Esoteric School — also see School of Spiritual Science; Theosophy A school of hidden spiritual knowledge established by Rudolf Steiner in 1904, while still a Theosophist. The school formally disbanded after World War I, but remnants of it were incorporated in the School of Spiritual Science, which Steiner founded in 1923, after breaking with Theosophy and establishing Anthroposophy as a separate spiritual movement.
ether - also see etheric body; etheric forces; etheric nature; etheric realm; living thoughts a) Diethyl ether: colorless, odorless gas; an anesthetic and solvent.
b) A concept from discarded science: the medium for light, once thought to fill the universe.
c) Poetic: air, upper atmosphere.
d) Spiritualized b & c. Steiner taught that the invisible universe above the material plane is filled by a universal ether; sometimes he also seemed to say that the physical universe is filled with an ether. [See "Steiner's Blunders".] “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. There, in the cosmic ether, are contained all the living thoughts there are.” — R. Steiner. [See “Thinking”.]
etheric, the - see etheric realm; also see Soul World
etheric body, etheric form, etheric organism - also see astral body; I In Anthroposophy: the first of our nonphysical bodies. The etheric body is a constellation of life forces; it is also called the life-body or formative-forces-body. The living formative forces of this body sculpt the individual physical body. The etheric body incarnates (i.e., is born) at about age 7, an event marked by the replacement of baby teeth by adult teeth. Once this body develops itself adequately, its forces power the knowledge-acquiring faculty called imagination (the first stage toward clairvoyance). Plants and animals have etheric bodies, too. “The mineral forces are perceived by man by means of his bodily senses ... Man, however, does not perceive the manifestations of the life-force through the ordinary senses ... [T]he various species of plants and animals created by the life-force — not merely the individual plants and animals — are present for man as objects of perception as soon as the necessary organ unfolds within him. An entirely new world opens out to him through the unfolding of this organ [of clairvoyance] ... In each plant and animal he perceives, besides the physical form, the life-filled spirit-form. In order to have a name for this spirit-form, let it be called the ether body or life body [or “formative-force body”] ... The ether body is an organism that preserves the physical body from dissolution every moment during life. In order to see this body, to perceive it in another being, the awakened spiritual eye is required. Without this ability its existence as a fact can still be accepted on logical grounds, but it can be seen with the spiritual eye just as color can be seen with the physical eye.” — R. Steiner. [See "Our Parts".]
In Waldorf belief, a fully incarnated human has four bodies, shown here schematically: the physical body (red), etheric body (blue), astral body (yellow), and "I" (gold). [R. R. sketch based on one by Steiner.]
etheric forcesa) Electromagnetism.
b) According to Steiner and his followers: supersensory powers mediated by or associated with ether. They make themselves felt in the physical realm, in ways that conventional science does not comprehend. “Recently I flew one day from Louisville to Chicago, and on the plane we were given a little booklet as an introduction to the meteorological phenomena which we could see. There it was stated that 'the clouds are suspended by an uprush of cold air.' But as everybody knows, cold air does not rush up. It may do so in front of a mountain, but there is nothing flatter than the country between Louisville and Chicago. There is nothing to induce an uprush of cold air. How, then, are those clouds suspended? It is by the action of the etheric forces.” — Anthroposophist A. Heidenreich, THE RISEN CHRIST AND THE ETHERIC CHRIST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969). Anyone with even elementary knowledge of meteorology or, indeed, physics will immediately see the fallacies in Heindenreich's statement.
etheric movement - also see astrology; eurythmy Movements in the dance form called eurythmy, giving physical expression to laws or meanings found in the etheric realm. "Speech has its own laws, as music does, which eurythmists have to obey. These laws are found in our etheric body and eurythmy is thus an art of etheric movement. The vital, life forces that surge through our etheric bodies include the forming power of the zodiac and planets. These can be made visible through their corresponding eurythmy gestures." — Eurythmy.org, FAQ.
etheric nature - see body nature; four-, seven,- and nine-fold natures of man The second subdivision of body nature, according to Steiner. [See "What We're Made Of".] Our etheric body manifests our etheric nature. The etheric is higher than the physical, and it confers higher capacities. Still, to enter the spiritual realm, we must leave both physical and etheric behind, since they are bound to our Earthly lives. Truly religious individuals have always risen above the physical and etheric. “Religion in its original meaning is based on that experience whereby man feels himself independent not only of his physical and etheric nature, the cause of his existence between birth and death, but also of the Cosmos, in so far as this has an influence on such an existence.” — R. Steiner, COSMOLOGY, RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1943), chapter 1, GA 25.
etheric plane - see etheric realm
etheric realm - also see Christ, second coming; ether; Soul World The supersensory realm above the physical level of reality; the etheric realm is located within the universal spiritual ether, according to Steiner. [See "Oriphiel".] Christ’s second coming has already occurred in the etheric realm, or so Steiner taught. It is in the etheric realm that new powers of clairvoyance become possible. “[H]uman beings can acquire the new faculty of perception [a form of clairvoyance] in the etheric realm — a certain number of human beings to begin with, followed gradually by others, because humanity will have 2,500 years in which to evolve these faculties increasingly.” — R. Steiner, THE REAPPEARANCE OF CHIRST IN THE ETHERIC (Anthroposophic Press, 1983), lecture 1, GA 118.
"The etheric realm begins with the first state of ether — the ‘fire-ether’ or simply ‘fire’. Fire or warmth, regarded by modern physics merely as motion and non-substantial, is the first state of the ether. The second is the ‘light-ether’, or simply ‘light’. And the third state — sound, tone, or number — is one that is not revealed to man in its original form at all; it is only a reflection, as it were a shadow of this ether that can be perceived in the physical world as tone or sound. Behind external ‘sound’, however, there lies something of a finer etheric nature, something spiritual. Physical tone or sound is a mere phantom of spiritual tone, of ‘sound-ether’ or also ‘number-ether’. The fourth etheric realm is the ‘life-ether’ — that which underlies actual ‘life’." — R. Steiner, THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964), lecture 7, GA 114.
See "Higher Worlds".
The senses available to beings in the etheric realm. They "correspond closely with our earthly senses, and function similarly, but there appear to be important extensions of senses, difficult for us to comprehend, plus telepathy as a normal means of communication.” — THE STEINERBOOKS DICTIONARY OF THE PSYCHIC, MYSTIC, OCCULT.
etheric sphere - see etheric realm
etheric world - see etheric realm; spirit world(s)
Eunicke, Anna (1853-1911) Rudolf Steiner's first wife, who was startled by his shift into occultism. [See "What a Guy".]
Anna Eunicke. [Public domain.]
Europe - see Europeans; Central Europe According to Steiner, the home of the generally most highly evolved descendants of the Atlanteans. [See "Clues".]
The European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (ECSWE) Coordinating and certifying authority for Waldorf schools in Europe.
Europeans - also see Aryans; Caucasian race; Central Europe; Germany According to Steiner, the "Jupiter race: the product of powers on/in Jupiter. Europeans are highly evolved, Steiner said — higher than other races. [See "Rankings".] "We then pass over into the domain of Europe and we find in the Europeans, in their basic character, in their racial character, the Jupiter men.” [See “Lecture”.] "The people had been prepared but, to a certain extent, they had forgotten what had prepared them. They had been prepared out of the ancient northern Mysteries. But they had forgotten the meaning of the ancient northern Mysteries. To discover, out of the inner meaning of the northern Mysteries, that deep secret of how the feeling for Jesus entered into European soul life it is necessary to go very far back indeed. These northern Mysteries were founded on something utterly different from the foundation of the Mysteries of Asia Minor, the Mysteries of the South. These Mysteries of the North were founded on something that was more intimately bound up with the life of the stars, with nature, with the earth's growth forces, rather than that which was shown in the symbols of a temple. Mystery-truths are not the trifles certain mystic sects play around with today. Mystery-truths are grand and powerful impulses within human evolution." — R. Steiner, THE KARMA OF UNTRUTHFULNESS, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1988), lecture 8, GA 173.
eurythmy - also see arts; larynx A form of dance intended to connect the dancer to the spiritual realm. Invented by Steiner' it is usually compulsory at Waldorf schools. Eurythmy is "visible speech" — that is, its movements are meant to give form to the inner meaning of language. This has deep significance, in the Anthroposophical view, because our words and indeed or thoughts create living spiritual beings who exist in the spirit realm — or so Steiner taught. Eurythmists should experience bodily the spiritual essence of transcendent Truth. Waldorf students who perform eurythmy are (usually without being told) engaged in a new version of temple dancing. Eurythmy is Anthroposophical worship in action. [See "Eurythmy".] “Eurythmy has grown up out of the soil of the Anthroposophical Movement, and the history of its origin makes it almost appear to be a gift of the forces of destiny ... Eurythmy must be accounted one of the many activities arising out of the Anthroposophical Movement, which have grown up in such a way that their first beginnings must be looked upon as the result of the workings of destiny ... It is the task of Anthroposophy to bring a greater depth, a wider vision and a more living spirit into the other forms of art. But the art of Eurythmy could only grow up out of the soul of Anthroposophy; could only receive its inspiration through a purely Anthroposophical conception.” — R. Steiner, A LECTURE ON EURYTHMY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1967), GA 279.
Eurythmist. [PINNACLE, 1964, Waldorf School of Adelphi University.]
Eve - also see Adam; Sophia a) According to the Book of Genesis, the first woman. "If we trace back men's blood-relationship, their bodily relation, to that original human couple, Adam and Eve, who once lived on earth as the first physical personalities, the primal forebears of mankind, and if we must therefore say that the blood flowing in men's veins goes back to that human pair, we can ask: Where must we look for the origin of the most precious gift bestowed on our soul, that holiest, most valuable gift, which accomplishes in the soul never-ending marvels and makes itself known to our consciousness as something higher than the ordinary ego within us? For the answer we must turn to what arose from the grave on Golgotha. In every human soul that has experienced an inner awakening there lives on what then arose, just as the blood of Adam and Eve continues to live in the body of every human being.” — R. Steiner, “Faith, Hope, and Love” (THE GOLDEN BLADE 194, Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1964) GA 130.
b) According to Steiner, "Eve" is the distaff half of human nature, splitting off during Lemuria. “Steiner indicates that the Adam and Eve event occurred during Lemuria, the 15000-year period prior to the evolution and destruction of Atlantis.” — Anthroposophist Robert. A. McDermott. Adam and Eve were the primordial humans who — unlike other humans of that time — were dense or sturdy enough to remain on Earth while others departed for other planets. “[H]uman beings were of course soul/spiritual beings, and for this very reason they could not unite with the earth materiality ... because, while the moon was still united with the earth, this was too coarse. So it came about that the great majority of human souls had to relinquish their union with the earth ... Some soul/spirits were more suited to pursue their evolution on Saturn for the time being, others on Mars, others again on Mercury and so on ... So what we call our human soul condition went through an evolution on the neighboring planets of our earth ... [But] by no means all human soul/spirits left the earth. What we might describe as the toughest souls were able to go on using earthly matter, and remain united with it. I have even mentioned that in a surprising way there was a principal human couple who survived the densification of the earth. Spiritual investigation impels us to accept what to begin with seems incredible, that there was such a couple as Adam and Eve, as the Bible tells us, and that the races which arose on the return of the soul/spirits from the cosmos came about through their union with the descendants of this couple.” — R. Steiner. [See "Genesis".]
evil - also see abyss; Ahriman; Antichrist; Asuras; bad souls; demons; double; eighth sphere; Fall; hell; Lucifer; sin; cf. morality a) Immorality.
b) Sin.
c) Violation of divine intent (Steiner shares this view).
d) According to Steiner, evolutionary retardation or anachronism; although many Anthroposophists claim that Steiner's teachings are wholly bright (all beings will be redeemed), evil actually plays an important role in Anthroposophical doctrine. [See "Evil".] “People will have to know all the forces that the soul must summon up in order to overcome the powers of evil, or to transform them into good impulses ... The good and evil forces in man could to a great extent influence the health and illness of other people, and consequently also birth and death ... [D]uring our own epoch, the 5th post-Atlantean epoch, people will have to struggle with evil in the same elemental way in which they struggled with birth and death during the Atlantean age; particularly through the control of the different forces of Nature, the impulses that lead to evil will send their influences into the world in an immense, gigantic form. And the opposite forces, the forces of good, will have to grow out of the opposition to evil, and man will have to draw the strength for this opposition out of spiritual sources. This will take place above all during the 5th epoch, when the exploitation of electric forces, which will assume quite different dimensions from those which they have assumed so far, will enable man to spread evil over the earth, and evil will invade the earth by coming in an immediate way out of the forces of electricity ... [T]hose who wish to take in spiritual impulses will find the points of attack for the opponent forces and the points of issue for the impulses which have to develop out of the resistance offered to evil.” — R. Steiner, “The Overcoming of Evil”, THE ANTHROPOSOPHIC NEWS SHEET, No. 21-22 (General Anthroposophic Society, 1947), GA 273.
evil souls - also see bad souls; great sin Evil exists, Steiner taught, and some humans are evil — they are "abnormal," committing the "great sin" of failing to keep apace with human evolution. They are materialistic and wicked. ”[M]aterialistic souls incarnate, drawn sympathetically by volcanic phenomena ... And these births can in their turn bring about new cataclysms because reciprocally the evil souls exert an exciting influence on the terrestrial fire.” — Rudolf Steiner, AN ESOTERIC COSMOLOGY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1978), chapter 16, GA 94.
evolution - also see divine cosmic plan; future; past; planets a) In science: development, through natural selection, of features having survival benefit.
b) In Anthroposophy: development through enactment of the good gods' plan; progressive elevation of consciousness. [See "Evolution, Anyone?"] “Besides the physical nature revealed to the senses, there is a concealed spiritual nature — a hidden spiritual environment. This surrounding spiritual world, of which only the veriest surface is apparent to sense-perception, carries even now in its womb man's future evolution. Just as we bear within us in mighty pictures the entire past and are ourselves the outcome of those pictures, so in the concealed life of nature there works and weaves that which, in its further unfolding as world-evolution, will bring us our future. Thus we can set before us these weighty words: Man bears within him the past of the world; the outer world is the bearer of his future ... [A]ll that flows to a man's head from his breast and heart, is an outcome of the past. This could become what it now is in man only because — as we have already said — innumerable divine generations of the spirit have worked upon it, through the metamorphoses of cosmic-planetary bodies. In my [book] OCCULT SCIENCE I have pointed out how a Saturn-evolution, a Sun-evolution, a Moon-evolution, preceded in turn the Earth-evolution in which we are living and during which the Saturn-, Sun- and Moon-evolutions have been recapitulated. We are now rather past the middle of the actual Earth-evolution, the evolution of man on Earth.” — R. Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 12, GA 227.
evolution of consciousness - also see clairvoyance; evolution; exact clairvoyance; imagination; inspiration; intuition; planetary conditions A basic tenet of Anthroposophy is that humanity is evolving upward through higher and higher stages of consciousness or cognition. If we live wisely and well, we move to higher forms of consciousness during our present lives, during our lives after death, and during our future evolution on other planets. Imagination, for instance, is the form of consciousness we will perfect on Jupiter.
The following is from is an Anthroposophical description of the Steiner book THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS: "In these comprehensive lectures, given to an English audience, Rudolf Steiner explains how it is possible to develop higher faculties of consciousness — Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition. A particularly vivid description is given of one's life after death and the progress of the individual through the planetary spheres where tasks and goals for future incarnations are prepared in cooperation with the spiritual beings of the Hierarchies [i.e., gods]. The lectures culminate in the call for humanity to gradually take in hand its own destiny through the conscious and free development of spiritual capacities." [The Rudolf Steiner Archive.]
Inspiration is higher than imagination, and intuition is higher still. Essentially, these are all stages of "exact" or "strict" clairvoyance: "Conscious Intuition, therefore, the highest development of strict clairvoyance, actually consists in arresting the actions which a sleep-walker is instinctively compelled by the Moon-forces to perform. Anyone who brings about this metamorphosis does not give himself up to the physical forces of the Moon but holds them in check within himself. Thus he is enabled to devote himself intuitively to the relevant spirituality; that is, he attains to Intuition." [Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS, lecture 7, GA 227.] This is what lies behind the emphasis Waldorf schools place on imagination, inspiration, and intuition.
exact clairvoyance - also see clairvoyance The cognitive power Steiner claimed — clairvoyance so precise that it yields undeniable results; it is the proximate goal for Anthroposophists and Waldorf teachers. [See "Exactly" and "The Waldorf Teacher's Consciousness".] “Clairvoyance, which is the basis of the modern science of initiation, has always existed ... In our age the methods are entirely built, as in external science, upon the continuous and full control of the individuality and personality; in the soul life there must be control in every stage and in every step taken by the new candidate for initiation. Hence in speaking of exact clairvoyance in connection with the modern science of initiation we use the word ‘exact’ as it is used in the term ‘exact’ science.” — R. Steiner, KNOWLEDGE AND INITIATION — COGNITION OF THE CHRIST THROUGH ANTHROPOSOPHY (Steiner Book Center, 198?), lecture 2, GA 211.
excarnation - see death; reincarnation; cf. incarnation The opposite of incarnation: leaving earthly life; death. “An essential point is that the Archangels cannot work down into purely physical conditions, such as the configuration of mountain-ranges and the like; these are the work of higher, more potent Beings. Therefore we have the wanderings of people, guided by their Archangels to seek the ‘promised land’ they need, and — which is also an important thing to note — the coming and going of the Archangels themselves, their incarnation and excarnation, so to speak. For an Archangel is not at all times working as the folk-spirit of a nation upon Earth. There are times when the Archangel withdraws into another state of consciousness (then the nation He belonged to passes away from earthly history); after an intervening time He may return again, to ensoul another nation in a new historic epoch.” — G. A. Kaufmann, THE SOULS OF NATIONS (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1938), lecture 2.
exercises, spiritual - also see initiation; mantras; meditations in Anthroposophy; prayers Steiner specified exercises, meditations, mantras, and prayers for his followers to use. [See "Power Words".] Steiner taught that by following his directions, individuals can develop reliable clairvoyant powers of the sort he claimed to possess. He presented the necessary spiritual exercises in his book KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT. A newer edition is titled HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS. These exercises are the essence of the spiritual discipline Anthroposophists follow, and they are sometimes prescribed for Waldorf school students. [See "Serving the Gods".]
exogamy - also see blood; racism Mating outside one's tribe, ethnic group, or race; deplored by Steiner. According to Steiner, exogamy or race mixing caused humanity to lose its clairvoyant awareness of the spirit realm, a loss that brought us to our present, benighted form of consciousness. “Modern science has discovered that if the blood of one animal is mixed with that of another not akin to it, the blood of the one is fatal to that of the other. This has been known to occultism for ages ... Just as this mingling of the blood of different species of animals brings about actual death when the types are too remote, so, too, the ancient clairvoyance of undeveloped man was killed when his blood was mixed with the blood of others who did not belong to the same stock. The entire intellectual life of today is the outcome of the mingling of blood.” — R. Steiner. [See “Blood”.]
extrasensory perception (ESP) - also see clairvoyance The ability to perceive things without relying on the physical senses. [See "ESP".] Belief in ESP is widespread, but despite extensive efforts to investigate claims of ESP, there is little or no solid evidence that we possess any such ability. “Some think that everyone has ESP; others think it is a talent that only special folks have. Some think that animals or plants have ESP ... The existence of ESP and other paranormal powers such as psychokinesis (PK), are disputed, though systematic experimental research on these subjects, known collectively as psi, has been ongoing for over a century in a field known as parapsychology. Most of the evidence for ESP, however, is anecdotal. The anecdotes consist of two parts: the experience itself and the interpretation of it. A story may be true, but the attempt to make sense or give psychic meaning to the story often seems to the skeptic to exceed the bounds of reasonableness.” — Robert T. Carroll, THE SKEPTIC’S DICTIONARY [http://skepdic.com/esp.html]
Exusiai - also see Spirits of Form According to Steiner, gods four levels above man. [See "Polytheism".] ”[Man] is a part of the supersensible world, a world where, in the first place, we find Beings called in Christian esotericism, Angeloi or Angels; these are the Beings standing next above man. Above them come the Archangeloi or Archangels, then the Archai or Spirits of Personality. Above these again are the Exusiai, Dynamis and Kyriotetes, and still higher are the Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. We have thus a Hierarchical order of nine kinds of Beings one above the other, the lowest of which is man.” — EXCURSUS ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1937), lecture 4, GA 124.
- F -
FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, Vols. 1 & 2 An invaluable behind-the-scenes look at Waldorf education - notes and transcripts of faculty meetings presided over by Rudolf Steiner at the first Waldorf school. [See "Faculty Meetings".]
fairy tales - also see fairies; legends; myths According to Steiner, accounts of true clairvoyant visions had by people in olden times; stressed in early grades at Waldorf schools. The Waldorf interpretation of fairy tales — like the Waldorf interpretation of myths and Biblical stories — is peculiar. Here, for instance, is a Waldorf teacher’s explanation of “Hansel and Gretel”: “The story portrays spirit and soul descending into a physical body and ascending again, enriched, to the spiritual world ... The story could also be looked upon as an initiation process. Soul and spirit are engaged in developing higher organs ... Yet another interpretation would be to consider the story as one of human evolution. With the expulsion from Paradise the human being enters the material world. Through his experiences he regains the faculty of spiritual perception in a new way and regains his spiritual home enriched.” — R. Wilkinson. The story, in other words, is packed with occult doctrines. Telling the story in a Waldorf class is meant to convey these doctrines, if only indirectly. [See "Fairy Tales".]
fairies - also see gnomes; goblins; nature spirits The fair folk, small shy spiritual beings; a form of nature spirit; also, general term for all nature spirits, which Steiner assures us really exist. "[O]ur brain connects us with certain elemental beings, namely those elemental beings that belong to the sphere of wisdom ... To etheric observation [i.e., clairvoyance], this [aura] hovers in the immediate vicinity of our head. The I lives in it, and alongside the I are found the elemental beings of the myths and sagas. There they are called elves, fairies, and so on." [See "Beings".]
faith - also see religion; cf. critical thought Anthroposophists generally claim that Anthroposophy is not a religion because it does not require faith, but in fact enormous faith is required to accept Anthroposophical doctrines. Steiner stressed the importance of faith. “[T]he forces expressed in the word ‘faith’ are necessary to the soul. For the soul incapable of faith become withered, dried-up as the desert ... If we do not possess forces such as are expressed in the word ‘faith’, something in us goes to waste." [See "Faith".]
faith body - see astral body
fall of man and other beings - also see abyss; animals; evil; fallen Angels; good and evil; hell; Lucifer a) The result of sinfulness, loss of Eden.
b) According to Steiner, to "fall" is to become overly hardened, materialized. "There is a tension between two poles of reality. There are the pristine world of spirit ... and the over-condensing world ... This 'abnormal' 'fall', in becoming gross and more rebellious — as with the 'Luciferic' spirits in the Moon phase — also becomes more independent and developed ... [The] ascent of consciousness accompanies the condensation into subtle matter and 'fall' into 'abnormal' or gross matter." [See "Lucifer".] “Abnormal,” in Anthroposophical argot, means failing to follow the proper evolutionary path. Abnormal spirits or beings lag behind the normal spirits or beings.
fall festival - see festivals Often at Waldorf schools: the observance of Michaelmas as conceived in Anthroposophical doctrine. Religious observances at Waldorf schools are often disguised in this manner. "At the request of non-Christian families, some schools have given their Festival celebrations and pageants more generic names, so that Michaelmas becomes the Fall Festival and the Advent Garden is called the Spiral of Light. In situations where it is not possible to soften or eliminate the 'Christian message,' e.g. a performance of the Shepherds’ Play, parents may keep children home on the day of its performance ... On both the macrocosmic and microcosmic levels we ignore the world of nature at our peril. The Christian Festivals and their renewal and expansion as described by Steiner, provide a vital and comforting space in which children and adults alike can renew and expand their relationship with the earth and its relationship with the sun, moon, and stars." — Waldorf teacher Eugene Schwartz. [See "Magical Arts".]
fallen angels, fallen spirits - also see Ahriman; asuras; fall of man; Lucifer Spiritual beings who have fallen from higher realms to lower (cf. Christ and other avatars, good gods who have come to lower realms for beneficent purposes). Lucifer is the foremost fallen angel, according to traditional Christian teachings. According to Anthroposophical teachings, the fallen angels who cause harm on Earth may be perceived — inaccurately — as Lucifer. More accurately, they are luciferic beings, the minions of Lucifer. "Man takes the Christ-force into himself, because he voluntarily receives it, and no one can receive it who does not do so voluntarily. This has only been made possible for man because he has become human upon earth, because he was called to grow into man on earth. The fallen Angels who have spread over the earth as Lucifer, are in a different position. These ought really to have become men on the Moon; they have remained behind in their development, hence they can enter the astral body but not the Ego.” — R. Steiner. [See "Lucifer".]
family soul - also see group soul; race soulAccording to Steiner, a real being: the soul of a family. "In the truest sense, every individual receives his allotted task from his family, national or racial Group Soul." [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf".]
farming - also see biodynamic gardening and farming Steiner prescribed special techniques for a spiritually "correct" form of organic agriculture. These techniques involve astrology and magic. “[O]btain your burned mouse-skin [powder] at the time when Venus is in Scorpio ... [S]prinkle it over your fields ... Provided it has been led through the fire at the high conjunction of Venus and Scorpio, you will find this an excellent remedy ... [M]ice will avoid the field.” — Rudolf Steiner, AGRICULTURE COURSE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1958), p. 113. [See "Biodynamics".]
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