December, '19
DECEMBER 23, 2019
GODS, AVATARS, THE SUN,
AND WALDORF EDUCATION
The religion underlying Waldorf education, Anthroposophy [1], is often mistakenly taken to be a version of Christianity. There are several reasons for this mistake, chief of which is the emphasis Anthroposophy places on Christ. Christ and Christmas are big in Anthroposophy — and at Waldorf schools. Nevertheless, it is wrong to confuse Anthroposophy with Christianity.
One enormous difference is this: Whereas Christianity is one of the worst's great monotheistic faiths, Anthroposophy is polytheistic. According to Rudolf Steiner — who founded both Anthroposophy and Waldorf education — there are nine ranks of gods. These ranks extend from gods who are only a bit more spiritually evolved than humans, to gods who are almost inconceivably more evolved [2].
Steiner sometimes used designations that make the ranks of gods seem more or less the same as the echelons of angels discussed by various theologians. So, Steiner sometimes called the gods of the lowest rank "angels," the gods of the next rank "archangels," and so on. But actually Steiner preferred other designations. Here are the names Steiner generally preferred, ranging from the designation for the lowest-ranking gods to the title for the highest-ranking gods: Sons of Twilight, Spirits of Fire, Spirits of Personality, Spirits of Form, Spirits of Movement, Spirits of Wisdom, Spirits of Will, Spirits of Harmony, and Spirits of Love [3]. Above or behind these many gods hovers the mysterious Godhead, Steiner said [4].
The difference between Christianity (monotheistic) and Anthroposophy (polytheistic) is perhaps most strikingly shown in a revision of the Lord's Prayer sometimes used by Steiner. In Christianity, the Lord's Prayer is the archetypal invocation Christ described for his disciples: It is the model believers should use in their own devotions; it shows how believers ought to address God [5]. The Lord's Prayer opens with the words "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." The altered prayer used by Steiner runs backward (e.g., it begins rather than ends with "Amen"), and it concludes with these words: "man separated himself from your realm, and forgot your names, you Fathers in the heavens" [6]. Note what has happened: A monotheistic prayer addressed to a single God has been reversed; it has become a polytheistic prayer addressing multiple gods ("Father" has become "fathers", and "name" has become "names").
Steiner taught that the many gods inhabiting the nine ranks have varied and distinct purposes. But he said that most of the gods are beneficent, working for the good of the cosmos in general and mankind in particular. However, Steiner said, not all gods are good. Some gods have destructive or oppositional intentions [7]. There are, in other words, evil gods in addition to good gods. Thus, Steiner sometimes made statements such as this:
“[W]e are watching the battle waged by the good gods against the evil gods....” — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 2 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1956), p. 251.
The gods, both good and evil, dwell mainly in regions beyond the Earth, Steiner taught. But occasionally, he said, gods descend from the sky, assume human form, and walk upon the physical Earth. When they do this, they become "avatars" [8]. Gods only rarely make this descent, Steiner said, but there have been several instances. And the most important instance, he said, was the descent of Christ:
“The greatest avatar being who has lived on earth, as you can gather from the spirit of the lectures given here, is the Christ, that Being Whom we designate as the Christ, Who took possession of the bodies [9] of Jesus of Nazareth in the thirtieth year of his life.” — Rudolf Steiner, CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN EVOLUTION: Avatar Beings (Anthroposophic Press, 1944), a lecture, GA 109.
Calling Christ an avatar changes the meaning of the New Testament considerably. Whereas Christians worship Christ as the Son of God, Steiner said Christ was actually one of the several different gods who have walked the Earth in a human body. So, even though Steiner says Christ was the most important avatar, Steiner's teachings actually diminish the stature of Christ. We see this reflected in statements sometimes made by Waldorf teachers. Thus, Waldorf teacher Joan Almon has given the following description of the purpose of Waldorf education:
"Waldorf education strives to create a place in which the highest beings [i.e., gods], including the Christ, can find their home....” — Joan Almon, WHAT IS A WALDORF KINDERGARTEN? (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 53.
Almon singles out Christ, but she also folds him into a host of gods: "the highest beings." In Anthroposophical belief, Christ is one of the many, many gods populating the cosmos, and he joined the procession of the several gods who have come to Earth as avatars.
This leads us to a pair of crucial questions: What sort of god was Christ before he became an avatar? And, when he descended to the physical Earth, where did he come from? Steiner's answers to these questions should shock Christians. Christ, he said, is the Sun God; he came down to the earth from his home not in heaven but on the Sun. Here are a few of the statements Steiner made on these questions:
◊ “The sun oracle of ancient Atlantis [10] had already prophesied the coming of Christ, of the Sun-God.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE PRINCIPLE OF SPIRITUAL ECONOMY IN CONNECTION WITH QUESTIONS OF REINCARNATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1986) lecture 1, GA 109.
◊ "After Zarathustra [11] had learned to look up to the sun and see in its aura the Sun God, he knew that this Sun God was no one else but the Christ-Spirit." — Rudolf Steiner, THE PRINCIPLE OF SPIRITUAL ECONOMY (Anthroposophic Press, 1986), lecture 10, GA 109.
◊ "The incarnation of the Christ, the sun spirit, in the body of Jesus of Nazareth was the great event which took place in the northern stream of peoples." — Rudolf Steiner, THE EAST IN THE LIGHT OF THE WEST (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1940), lecture 6, GA 113.
◊ “Had Christ not appeared on the earth, had He remained the Sun-God only, humanity on the earth would have fallen into decay.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1958), “World-Pentecost; The Message of Anthroposophy”, GA 226.
So Christ is the Sun God, the same god whom ancient people worshipped under a variety of names [12]. The critical thing to grasp, for the purpose of our current discussion, is this: Anthroposophy divides the Christian God (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) into three separate gods:
“The highest Ruler of Saturn, the Ego Spirit, appears to us as the Father God, and the highest Ruler of Sun, the Sun-God, as the Christ. Similarly the Ruler of the Moon stage of Earth appears to us as the Holy Spirit....” — Rudolf Steiner, ROSICRUCIAN WISDOM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), p. 100. [13]
To conclude our exploration of the meaning of Christmas as understood in Anthroposophy, we should return to the book CHRISTMAS - From the Work of Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, 2005). Here is a statement, and a Christmas verse, presented in the book. The speaker is Rudolf Steiner:
"I should like to convey in the following words what we should try to experience as Christmas feeling arising from our anthroposophical world conception...
"Triumphant in our deepest soul/ Lives the Spirit of the Sun;/ Quickened forces, set astir,/ Awake the feelings of His presence/ In the inner winter life./ Hope, impulse of the heart,/ Beholds the Spirit victory of the Sun/ In the blessed Light of Christmas,/ The sign of highest life/ In the winters's deepest night." — Rudolf Steiner, quoted in CHRISTMAS, p. 34.
Who or what is the "Spirit of the Sun"? Who or what lifts the gloom or winter with "His presence"? He is the Sun God. As we saw previously, He is "the highest Ruler of Sun, the Sun-God, [known to us] as the Christ." [14]
When Waldorf teachers and their pupils recite a verse such as this, they are giving voice to Anthroposophical dogma. They are participating — knowingly or not — in an Anthroposophical religious observance. For such is the meaning of Christmas as it emerges from the "anthroposophical world conception."
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".
[2] See "Polytheism".
[3] See the entries for these terms in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).
[4] See the Waldorf watch News item for December 21, 2019.
[5] See Matthew 6:9-13 and, for an abbreviated version, Luke 11:2-4.
[6] Here is the prayer: "Amen./ The evils hold sway./ Witness of egoity freeing itself./ Selfhood guilt through others incurred,/ experienced in the daily bread,/ wherein the will of the heavens does not rule,/ because man separated himself from your realm,/ and forgot your names,/ you Fathers in the heavens." [See "Was He Christian?".]
[7] See, e.g., "Evil Ones".
[8] See "Avatars".
[9] According to Steiner, fully evolved human beings have four bodies, three of which are invisible. [See "Incarnation".]
[10] Steiner taught that before our present stage of evolution, mankind lived on Atlantis. The "sun oracle of ancient Atlantis" was, according to Steiner, the seer on Atlantis (or the seer's temple) possessing knowledge of the Sun God. In general, Steiner taught that whenever humans have worshipped the Sun God, under whatever name, they have been worshipping the God we now know as Christ.
[11] Zarathustra was a Persian prophet, the founder of Zoroastrianism. Steiner taught that when Zarathustra gained knowledge of the Sun God, he was coming to know Christ.
[12] "Christ, the Sun God...was known by earlier peoples under such names as Ahura Mazda, Hu or Balder.” — Anthroposophist Margaret Jonas, Introduction to RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 5.
[13] Steiner taught that Rosicrucianism is the correct spiritual path for modern humanity. What he meant was Rosicrucianism as reconceived by himself: a form of Rosicrucianism that is essentially indistinguishable from Anthroposophy. [See "Rosy Cross".]
The "Moon stage of Earth," in Anthroposophical belief, was a prior incarnation of the solar system: Steiner called this stage Old Moon. [See "Old Moon, Etc."]
[14] Christ remained on the earth, as an avatar, for three years, according to Steiner. During that time, Christ united spiritually with the Earth, thus altering the course of Earthly — and human — evolution. Then Christ departed. But later, Steiner said, Christ returned to the etheric region around the Earth. This event, which Anthroposophists usually date around the year 1930, was Christ's "Second Coming" as foretold by Steiner. [See "Second Coming of Christ" in the BWSE.] Christians, unlike Anthroposophists, generally still anticipate the Second Coming — they eagerly look forward to it as a future event. E.g.,
"Second Coming, also called Second Advent or Parousia, in Christianity, the future return of Christ in glory, when it is understood that he will set up his kingdom, judge his enemies, and reward the faithful, living and dead. Early Christians believed the Advent to be imminent (see millennium), and most Christian theologians since then have believed that the visible appearance of Jesus may occur at any moment and that Christians should be ever ready for it. Such believers find evidence for the Second Coming in the Gospels (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21:5–26; John 14:25–29), in the Book of Revelation, and in other biblical and traditional sources. See also Last Judgment." — "Second Coming", ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA , December 23, 2019.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 21, 2019
TWO MIGHTY DEMONS
AT CHRISTMASTIME
Published by a Waldorf educational association, the book CHRISTMAS - From the Work of Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, 2005) presents a startling vision of the mid-winter Christian holiday. The contents of the book, drawn chiefly from Rudolf Steiner's writings and lectures, will strike many Christians as heretical. Other readers are likely to find the contents simply bonkers [1].
Here is a prayer that appears early in the book:
"O cosmic spirit, let us be completely filled with the spirit that grows out of spiritual science [2], so that we may not fail to wrest from Ahriman and Lucifer that which can be of help to the earth, for its salvation and progress!" — CHRISTMAS - From the Work of Rudolf Steiner, p. 10.
Lucifer does not usually play a large role in Christmas rites. (As for Ahriman — we'll get to him in a minute.) Lucifer is a threatening, villainous figure whose presence would be out of keeping with traditional Christmas celebrations, which are usually meant to be bright and joyous. Still, Lucifer (unlike Ahriman) is generally recognized in mainstream Christian tradition. He is the Devil. He is Satan. [3]
Lucifer is also recognized in Rudolf Steiner's belief system, Anthroposophy [4]. But Steiner drew a distinction between the Devil and Satan. Effectively, Steiner divided Devil/Satan into two arch-demons, one called Lucifer, the other called Ahriman.
Steiner adapted the figure of Lucifer from Christianity, and he adapted the figure of Ahriman from Zoroastrianism [5]. An ancient Persian faith, Zoroastrianism evolved to become deeply dualistic: Its doctrines posit a cosmic struggle between a beneficent god of light (the Sun god, called Ahura Mazda), and an wicked god of darkness (the devil, called Ahriman).
Steiner taught that Lucifer and Ahriman both work to harm humanity, but they do so in different ways. Lucifer seeks to lure mankind into false forms of spirituality [6], while Ahriman seeks to lure us into complete, soul-destroying attachment to physical reality [7]. Lucifer would separate us from the true spirit realm by taking us into imaginary spirit realms, while Ahriman would separate us from the true spirit realm by convincing us that only physical existence is real. In general (although he waffled a bit), Steiner identified Lucifer as the Devil and Ahriman as Satan.
At this point, we should circle back to the prayer shown above. Note that the prayer refers to benefits Lucifer and Ahriman can provide us: "that which can be helpful." How can demons who aim to destroy us possibly be our benefactors? Steiner claimed it is possible. Both Lucifer and Ahriman hold out temptations that can be turned to good advantage, Steiner said — but we must "wrest" these benefits from the demons. Our proper relationship with Lucifer and Ahriman is essentially a struggle, a conflict; and we would surely lose this conflict if not for the spiritual champion who intercedes on our behalf. This champion is Christ [8].
A large statute, designed by Steiner, stands in the Anthroposophical headquarters building. It shows the proper relationship between Christ, Lucifer, and Ahriman.
[Public domain photo.]
A bit confusingly, there are two images of Lucifer and two images of Ahriman in the statue. But the basic situation is this: Christ stands erect and powerful, gesturing toward the two demons he must tame. Under his feet crouches the grotesque form or Ahriman, writhing within a materialistic cave. Meanwhile, beyond Christ's upraised arm (and hard to see, around the corner) is Lucifer, plunging upside-down out of the spirit realm. Christ is our champion, our savior, in that he interposes between the two arch-demons, mastering them, and thus protecting us from the worst potential of their demonic "gifts" [9].
This is the figure, Christ triumphant, who is celebrated at Christmas as conceived in Anthroposophy. This Christ is not exactly the Son of God — he is not exactly one person of the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) as worshipped in mainstream Christian denominations. Instead he is, surprisingly, the Sun God — the same god who has been worshipped under such names as Hu and Balder. He is, in other words, Ahura Mazda [10].
We will return to the question of Christ's identity in a future installment of this brief Christmas series. But let's end for today by noting that the prayer, above, is addressed to the "cosmic spirit." Don't jump to the conclusion that this spirit is God. There is no One and Only Supreme God in Anthroposophy. Whereas Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic faiths (they all worship, in various ways, the One and Only Supreme God), Anthroposophy is polytheistic, recognizing a vast number of gods [11]. Steiner taught that there are nine ranks of gods, and above these we may vaguely discern a nebulous "Godhead." This Godhead is the "cosmic spirit" to whom the prayer in question is addressed [12].
Mystics of many faiths have conceived of a Godhead or something similar. Belief in the absolute grandeur and power of God (or the gods, or divinity in any form) almost inevitably leads us to this concept. The ultimate creative force and prime mover of the universe, transcending space and time, is surely beyond our comprehension. We must humbly bow before this supreme mystery, the unknowable fountainhead of all that exists or may possibly exist. Steiner subscribed to the concept of such a fountainhead. The problem with this concept, from a religious perspective, is that it leads us toward atheism. If an unknowable Godhead looms above us, completely surpassing our understanding — then one thing we cannot understand is whether this spirit actually exists. (We cannot know anything about the Godhead, including whether the Godhead is real.) Steiner's teachings may take us, then, into what is sometimes called "mystical atheism" — we no longer believe in God, and we have no knowledge whatsoever about the Godhead [13]. We are left uncertain, uninformed, in the darkness.
Few if any Anthroposophists follow the logic of their faith to this extreme conclusion. They would probably consider it Luciferic. But there it is, a trap of unbelief implicit in Steiner's doctrines.
Merry Anthroposophical Christmas.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] See, e.g., the previous entry in this series of Christmas reports: "Rebirth in the True Spirit of Christmas", December 19, 2019.
It is important to realize that the book CHRISTMAS is addressed to Waldorf teachers. How to use the book is left for each teacher to decide.
[2] See "spiritual science" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE). In brief, for Anthroposophists, real "spiritual science" is Anthroposophy.
[3] Actually, the name originally applied to a mortal man.
"Lucifer ... an epithet for the King of Babylon. By some of the [church] fathers it was taken in conjunction with Luke 10.18 as a name for the devil ... [It] became the basis for the myth...that the devil is a rebellious angel cast into hell." — THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF WORLD RELIGIONS (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 588.
[4] See "Anthroposophy" in the BWSE.
[5] See "Zarathustra" and "Zoroastrianism" in the BWSE.
[6] See "Lucifer".
[7] See "Ahriman".
[8] Christ, Steiner said, is the Sun God. [See "Sun God".] Steiner also taught that in his conflict with Ahriman in particular, Christ is aided by the Archangel of the Sun, Michael. [See "Michael".]
[9] When the statue was nearly finished, Steiner realized that it was unbalanced. So he added supplementary, smaller figures of Ahriman and Lucifer next to Christ (again, Ahriman is lower, Lucifer is higher). Above these additional figures hovers a mysterious rock being, looking on impassively.
[10] See "Christ" and "Sun God" in the BWSE.
“Christ, the Sun God...was known by earlier peoples under such names as Ahura Mazda, Hu or Balder.” — Margaret Jonas, Introduction to RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 5.
[11] See "Polytheism".
[12] See "God".
[13] See "The Godhead" in the BWSE.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 19, 2019
REBIRTH IN THE TRUE
SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS
Waldorf schools around the world are observing Christmas.
Ho-hum, you may respond. What else is new?
But we shouldn't let Waldorf Christmas ceremonies pass without noting their unusual nature.
A good guide to the Waldorf take on Christmas is a brief book put out by the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America: CHRISTMAS - From the Work of Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, 2005). Within its pages, readers may learn that a proper Waldorf Christmas embodies numerous occult Anthroposophical doctrines, such as belief in reincarnation, and apprehension over the actions of the arch-demons Lucifer and Ahriman, and reverent contemplation of Christ's deep spiritual ties to the Sun.
As for reincarnation: Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner taught that human beings are engaged in a divinely assisted evolutionary process consisting of a long, long series of births and rebirths alternating between the spirit realm and the physical realm. Which is to say, we reincarnate. Reincarnation is not, of course, a Christian belief — it derives, instead, from Eastern faiths such as Hinduism. Yet reincarnation is central to the Anthroposophical worldview, including the Anthroposophical view of Christmas.
So, for instance, the book CHRISTMAS informs us that a true, probing examination of the New Testament may lead us to revise our thinking on a number of subjects, including reincarnation. This is tied to a central "riddle" in the New Testament: The various Gospel accounts of the birth and life of Jesus contradict one another in various ways.
"It may be that this riddle...can lead one to a different understanding of birth, incarnation, and reincarnation." — CHRISTMAS, p. 2.
Christians often speak about the need to be "reborn in Christ." There is certainly Biblical support for this concept. So, for instance, the New Testament includes these words:
"Unless one is born anew, one cannot behold the kingdom of God". — John 3:3.
This Biblical passage is cited on page 2 of CHRISTMAS. The standard Christian understanding of being "born anew" means accepting Christ as one's Savior, as through the process of baptism. But according to Anthroposophical belief, the primary meaning of being "born anew" is different: It centers on reincarnation. Rudolf Steiner taught that we are born, and then born again, and again, and again, as we renew ourselves through the long sequence of incarnations in the realm above and in the realm here below. [See "Reincarnation".]
The doctrines of incarnation and reincarnation arise in an extraordinary way in the Anthroposophical understanding of Christmas. Steiner said the explanation for inconsistencies between the Gospels is that, actually, these New Testament books tell us about two different young men named Jesus. One of the Jesuses (who came from the line of Solomon) had within him the reincarnated spirit of Zarathustra, while the other Jesus (who came from the line of Nathan) had within him the reincarnated essence of Buddha.
“[N]ot one but two Jesus-children were born ... The important thing is to understand clearly what kind of beings these two children were. Occult investigation [i.e., clairvoyance] shows that the individuality [i.e., the spirit] who was in the Solomon Jesus-child was none other than Zarathustra ... [Meanwhile] Buddha forces permeated the astral body of the Nathan Jesus-child.” — Rudolf Steiner, FROM JESUS TO CHRIST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), pp. 133-136. [See "Solomonic Jesus" and "Nathanic Jesus" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]
The story of Christmas, as conveyed by Steiner, may be summarized thus: A child named Jesus was born to a couple named Mary and Joseph. This child, who descended from the line of Solomon, had the reincarnated soul of Zarathustra. Meanwhile, not far away, a second Jesus was born, also to a couple (a different couple) named Mary and Joseph. This second child, who descended from the line of Nathan, had the reincarnated soul of Buddha. When the Solomon Jesus was 12 years old, he died in order that his soul (containing Zarathustra) could migrate into the body of the Nathan Jesus. So, now, the surviving Nathanic-Solomonic Jesus contained the essences of both Zarathustra and Buddha. When this Jesus reached the age of 30, the Sun God (Christ) descended from the Sun to the Earth and incarnated in Jesus's body (the body of the Nathanic-Solomonic Jesus). The Sun God remained here on Earth for a total of three years, after which he departed again. [See "Was He Christian?"]
“[T]wo Jesus children were born. One was descended from the so-called Nathan line of the House of David, the other from the Solomon line. These two children grew up side by side. In the body of the Solomon child lived the soul of Zarathustra. In the twelfth year of the child's life this soul passed over into the other Jesus child and lived in that body until its thirtieth year ... And then, only from the thirtieth year onward, there lived in this body the Being [i.e., the descended Sun God] Whom we call the Christ, Who remained on earth altogether for three years.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE OCCULT SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA (Anthroposophic Press, 1968), p. 59.
That's a lot to absorb in one sitting, so let's end our discussion here. For now. In a coming installment or two, we may look further into the true identity of Christ (the Sun God), and perhaps we will briefly explore the activities of Lucifer and Ahriman. Stay tuned.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 16, 2019
LUCIFER ON THE MOON, AND
REJECTED LUNAR SACRIFICES
The belief system at the foundation of Waldorf education — Rudolf Steiner's "spiritual science," which he called "Anthroposophy" [1] — is rarely taught openly and explicitly to Waldorf students [2]. But this belief system pervades Waldorf culture as the implicit, all-justifying subtext in virtually all Waldorf classes and activities [3]. If we want to understand the Waldorf movement, we need to acquaint ourselves — to whatever degree we can — with Anthroposophy.
To this end, we do well to note events held by and for Anthroposophists. Here is the announcement for an Anthroposophical event scheduled for today in New York State, USA:
Sponsored By The Fellowship Community
Reading of
Inner Realities of Evolution
Monday, December 16, 8:00pm
Join us for a reading of "The Inner Aspect of the Earth - Embodiment of the Earth" from Rudolf Steiner's Inner Realities of Evolution.
Location: The Goethe Room in Hill Top House at the Fellowship Community, 241 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY.
Admission: Free; donations welcome.
Information: Call 845-356-8494 x2.
— Threefold Educational Center [http://www.threefold.org/events/index.aspx#spiritual_science_and_technology]
Waldorf Watch Response:
"The Inner Aspect of the Earth - Embodiment of the Earth" is the fifth of five lectures that constitute INNER REALITIES OF EVOLUTION. Taken together, the lectures provide an outline of cosmic evolution — from the beginning of time to our own day — as described by Rudolf Steiner: the successive incarnations of the solar system called Old Saturn, Old Moon, Old Sun, and Present Earth [4].
Because this history is so crucial in Anthroposophical belief, all five of these lectures are highly informative (if admittedly difficult to read). Here are two excerpts. Aside from a few very brief interpolations, I won't belabor the excerpts with elaborate explications and footnotes. Instead, I suggest you simply swim through these passages, experiencing them directly and at full force. This is Anthroposophical discourse as it emerged from its source, the self-described clairvoyant — and founder of Waldorf education — Rudolf Steiner.
From the third lecture:
"We know that the Luciferic beings [i.e., Lucifer and his minions] have invaded the domain of our earth humanity. It has repeatedly been necessary to draw attention to the fact that these beings are able to enter our astral body during the development of our earth because they did not, during the evolution of the Moon, reach the stage they ought to have attained. A commonplace comparison has often been used, that as in our schools some pupils remain behind, so even in the great cosmic evolution there are cosmic beings who, remaining behind in the stages of their own evolution, subsequently interfere with the evolutionary stages of other beings, with a result similar to that produced by the Luciferic beings, who lingered behind on the ancient Moon. We might easily suppose these to be faulty beings actually injurious to the evolution of the world; for why did they linger behind? Such a thought might occur to us. The thought, however, which we should entertain is this: that man would never have attained his freedom, or the capacity for individual initiative action had not the Lucifer beings remained behind on the Moon. So that on the one hand man owes to the Lucifer beings the fact that he has in his astral body passions, emotions, and desires driving him constantly down from a certain height into lower parts of his nature. But, on the other hand, if man were incapable of wickedness, unable to err from good through the forces of the Lucifer beings in his astral body he could not act freely, or possess what we call freewill, freedom of choice. We must therefore admit that to the Luciferic beings we owe our freedom. The deduction to be drawn from this is that the one-sided view is not valid that claims that they only lead man astray; their remaining behind must be regarded as something beneficial, as something without which he could never have acquired his human dignity, in the true sense of the word." [https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA132/English/RSPC1953/19111114p01.html]
And from the fifth lecture (the one that will be read this evening in the Goethe Room):
"We have shown that a particular advance in evolution was brought about through the willingness of certain Beings [i.e., lower-ranking gods] to sacrifice, but that their sacrifices were rejected and thrown back [by higher-ranking gods], and we learnt to recognise in the rejected sacrifice one of the principal factors in the ancient Moon-evolution. One of the most important points in that evolution is the fact that during that period sacrifice was to be offered by certain Beings to Beings even more exalted, and that it was renounced by them; so that, as it were, the smoke of the sacrifice offered by the ancient Moon-Beings pressed up to the higher Beings but was not accepted by them; and that this was sent back as substance into the Beings who had desired to offer it up. We also saw that much of the peculiar character of the Beings belonging to ancient Moon consisted in their feeling within themselves what they had wished to send up to the higher Beings as sacrificial substance. We saw, indeed, that this, which aspired, but was unable to ascend to the higher Beings, remained behind within the Beings themselves — and that thereby was developed in certain Beings, in the Beings of the rejected, the force of Longing. We have still, in all that we experience in our own souls as longing, a legacy from the bygone events on ancient Moon when those Beings found their sacrifice rejected. In a spiritual sense the whole character of the ancient Moon-evolution, its whole spiritual atmosphere, may be described in many respects by saying that Beings were present there who desired to offer sacrifice, but found that this sacrifice was not accepted because the higher Beings resigned it. The peculiar feature of the spiritual atmosphere of ancient Moon was: the rejected sacrifice. And the rejection of the sacrifice offered by Cain, which symbolically represents one of the starting points of the evolution of earthly humanity, appears as a kind of recapitulation of this peculiar feature of the ancient Moon evolution taking place in the soul of Cain, who sees that his sacrifice is not accepted." [https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA132/English/RSPC1953/19111205p01.html]
[For more about central issues touched on in these excerpts, see "Old Moon, Etc.", "Lucifer", "Freedom", and "Old Testament".]
Waldorf Watch Footnotes
[1] See "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).
[2] Usually, Anthroposophical concepts and beliefs are conveyed indirectly. [See "Sneaking It In".] There are exceptions, however: Sometimes, zealous Waldorf teachers lay Anthroposophy explicitly on their students. [See "Out in the Open".] In either case, Waldorf education can become an effective indoctrination in Anthroposophy. [See "Indoctrination".]
[3] See, e.g., "Soul School" and "Spiritual Agenda".
[4] See entries for these terms in the BWSE.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 14, 2019
TAKING CHARGE
FROM THE GET-GO
Rudolf Steiner stated that Waldorf teachers should "take over" children from their parents. The teachers could then offset the parents' influence on their kids. Speaking to teachers at the first Waldorf school, Steiner said this:
"You will have to take over children for their education and instruction — children who will have received already (as you must remember) the education, or mis-education given them by their parents." — Rudolf Steiner, THE STUDY OF MAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), p. 16. [1]
Of course, Waldorf teachers could minimize the unfortunate influence of parents if the teachers were to take charge of children soon after the kids are born. Steiner said such a procedure would "almost" be proper. Speaking again to teachers at the first Waldorf school, he stated:
"Given the difficult, disorderly, and chaotic conditions of our time [2], it might almost be preferable from a moral viewpoint if children could be taken into one’s care soon after birth.” — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 2 (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 69.
Steiner's careful qualification ("almost") has largely been set aside in the Waldorf movement today. Waldorf teacher-training programs today often prepare teachers to begin working on children virtually from the moment of birth. Here, for instance, is a recruitment pitch posted by the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Toronto, Canada:
"Become a Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher
"THREE PATHS:
"Birth-to-Seven Full-Time
"Birth-to-Seven Part-Time
"Birth-to-Three Part-Time."
Note that each path begins at the birth of the prospective Waldorf student.
Here are excerpts from the description of the "Birth-to-Three" path:
"Course of Study
"Anthroposophical understanding of the development of the human being from birth to adulthood, based on the research of Rudolf Steiner and other contemporary sources [3]
"Essentials of Waldorf Early Childhood Education as outlined by the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) from birth to seven years [4]
"Guidelines for Preparation of Teachers Working in the First Three Years as outlined by WECAN [5]
"Development of the inner life of the teacher [6] through biography work, artistic activities, singing, Eurythmy [7], festival celebrations [8] and meditative practice
"Creating a nurturing environment for the child’s life forces to offset the impact of the modern milieu [9] in such areas as nutrition, life style, and media exposure [10]...."
— https://www.rsct.ca/Birth-to-Three
Here are the requirements for admission to the program:
"Prerequisites for Admission
"• Currently a practising teacher in a Waldorf early childhood setting (letter from employer required) [11]
"• Foundations in Anthroposophy Certificate course [12]
"• Completion of the preparatory reading list [13]"
— https://www.rsct.ca/Birth-to-Three
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] "Education," as Steiner uses the word here, is virtually all-encompassing, covering any formative effects one may have on a child. A synonym would be "upbringing."
A different translation of Steiner's statement uses somewhat different terms: Waldorf teachers will "receive" children who have "undergone" an "upbringing" that may have included parental "neglect":
"You will be teaching children (of course, children of a particular age) and you must consider that you will be receiving these children after they have undergone the upbringing (or perhaps the neglect) of their parents during the first period of their lives." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIPNS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE - Foundations of Waldorf Education I (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 36.
The most troublesome "neglect," Steiner indicates, centers on parents' failure to grasp the essentials of Anthroposophical/Waldorf belief.
[2] Much of the Waldorf approach is founded on a rejection of modern life ("the difficult, disorderly, and chaotic conditions of our time").
[3] Waldorf teacher training usually includes a heavy dose of Anthroposophy (the clairvoyant "research" Steiner and his followers have conducted into spiritual matters). Indeed, training to become a Waldorf teacher is often, to a large extent, indistinguishable from studying to become an Anthroposophist. [See "Waldorf Teacher Training".]
The "contemporary sources" mentioned are primarily recent Anthroposophists — Steiner's followers nowadays. Only Steiner and his devote adherents can give the "Anthroposophical understanding of the development of the human being from birth to adulthood." This understanding is suggested in the following chart:
Event - Age
Birth of physical body - 0 years (natal day)
Full incarnation of etheric body - 7 years (marked by loss of baby teeth)
Full incarnation of astral body - 14 years (marked by puberty)
Full incarnation of "I" - 21 years (adulthood)
Full incarnation of sentient soul - 28 years (development of spirit self)
Full incarnation of mind soul - 35 years (development of life spirit)
Full incarnation of consciousness soul - 42 years (development of spirit body)
[See "What We're Made Of".]
[4] WECAN is the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. For WECAN's description of their approach, see, e.g., http://www.waldorfearlychildhood.org/wecan.php.
[5] See, e.g.,
• Michaela Glöckler, THE DIGNITY OF THE YOUNG CHILD: CARE AND TRAINING FOR THE FIRST THREE YEARS (WECAN Books, 2013)
• Patzlaff, et al., THE CHILD FROM BIRTH TO THREE IN WALDORF EDUCATION AND CHILD CARE (WECAN Books, 2011)
• Margaret Ris and Trice Atchison, A WARM AND GENTLE WELCOME - NURTURING CHILDREN FROM BIRTH TO AGE THREE (WECAN Books, 2012).
[6] The inner or spiritual life is meant to be developed, essentially, through the practice of Anthroposophy — for instance, through using meditations and prayers written by Rudolf Steiner. [See "Power Words", "Breathing Spirit", and "Waldorf Teacher Training".]
[7] This is a form of spiritual dance devised by Steiner. Waldorf teachers and students are usually expected to participate in such dancing. [See "Eurythmy".]
[8] These are seasonal festivities that contain elements of religious observance. [See the section "Festivals" in "Magical Arts".]
[9] To expand on a point raised earlier: Anthroposophy generally considers the modern world to be spiritually destructive. Steiner and his followers have typically looked into the distant past for antidotes to modern life. [See, e.g., "The Ancients".] One consequence is that Anthroposophists tend to reject modern science and scholarship — in a word, knowledge. [See, e.g., "Science" and "Materialism U.".]
The concept of "life force," by the way, is distinctly non-modern. [See "life force" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]
[10] Waldorf schools often have an extremely negative view of modern technology, including televisions, computers, and the Internet. [See, e.g., "Spiders, Dragons and Foxes".] The schools often have "media policies" that severely limit students' exposure to modern technology, even at home. [See "media policies" in the BWSE.]
[11] Whereas the poster shown above seems to solicit applications from any and all potential recruits, the WECAN program for 0-3 teachers is restricted to individuals who are already deeply versed in the Waldorf approach. Many if not all of these individuals are likely to be Anthroposophists.
[12] Such a certificate attests that the applicant has studied — and likely adopted — the Anthroposophical belief system.
[13] Such reading lists are usually dominated by Anthroposophical texts such as those cited above and the works of Rudolf Steiner.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 12, 2019
◊ NEWS BRIEFS ◊
MYSTERY PLAYS, OCCULT THERAPIES,
AND BLANK-FACED WALDORF DOLLS
1.
From The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript [New Hampshire, USA]:
Annual medieval pageant
‘The Shepherds’ Play’
in Peterborough Monday
[Courtesy photo.]
The lifesharing communities of Four Winds, Tobias and Plowshare Farm [1] will perform the annual medieval pageant of “The Shepherds’ Play” on Monday, Dec. 16 and Friday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Union Congregational Church in Peterborough [2]...
The play is an abridged version of the Oberufer “Shepherds’ Play”, a medieval mystery play [3] which carries a unique history. It comes through a pristine folk tradition in which the roles were passed down within families over many generations. It is a tale of the simple shepherds coming together and leaving their flocks on a cold and dark night to follow that compellingly bright star which brings them to a warm stable filled with wonder and faith...
Karl Julius Schroer, a professor who studied German folklore.....discovered these plays in Oberufer [4]. Dr. Schroer was a teacher and friend of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education...
It was Shroer’s intention to preserve this spiritual inheritance from ancient times [5]. The Oberufer plays are now performed each year in many languages in Waldorf schools all over the world [6]....
[12/12/2019 https://www.ledgertranscript.com/arbrShepherdsPlay-ml-121219_-31034304 This article originally appeared on December 10.]
2.
From The Sopris Sun [Colorado, USA]:
Helios Center brings
light and color to therapy
By Jeanne Souldern
Helena Hurrell, director of the Helios Center in Carbondale [7], has spent much of her life studying and offering therapies that she says, “help nurture the soul.”
One such offering will be a “Candle-light Viewing of Raphael’s Madonnas in a Healing Sequence” from 7 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec 14 at the Helios Center...
Participants will spend time in contemplation and meditation viewing, by candlelight, 15 images of Madonna and Child...
The adoption of Raphael’s Madonna images as part of a healing therapy came after a meeting between philosopher Dr. Rudolf Steiner [8] and a physician, Dr. Felix Peipers [9]...
Steiner founded the Anthroposophical Society and may be best-known for the educational philosophy he developed, known today as Waldorf education.
In a lecture, Steiner said of Raphael’s Madonna images, “the Madonna is the supreme representative of the Eternal Feminine for Western souls — the wisdom of Sophia [10], the compassion of Kwan Yin [11]”...
Hurrell...works as an art therapist at the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork [12]....
[12/12/2019 https://www.soprissun.com/2019/12/11/helios-center-brings-light-and-color-to-therapy/ This article originally appeared on December 11.]
[A festive Waldorf doll crafted by Amber Wasson. (Nov. 123, 2019)
Photo by Zachary Snowdon Smith/The Cordova Times.]
By Zachary Snowdon Smith
Crafter Amber Wasson has made more than 50 Waldorf dolls. Unlike Raggedy Ann, these dolls don’t smile — their faces are almost totally neutral, with a few centimeters of stitching standing in for eyes and a mouth. But these aren’t just odd-looking stocking stuffers: they’re designed as workout equipment for the imagination [13].
Waldorf dolls are associated with Waldorf education, a popular alternative method of schooling. The first Waldorf school was opened in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educator, writer and mystic. Since then, Waldorf education has grown into the largest independent school movement in the world, according to an information sheet from the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America [14] ... Waldorf education puts developing imagination and creativity ahead of academic pursuits like reading and math, on the theory that a well cultivated imagination will lay the groundwork for later understanding of those academic subjects [15].
Waldorf dolls usually feature very minimalist faces, with small, expressionless features [16]. This requires children to exercise their imaginations in order to project emotions onto the doll while playing. A Waldorf doll’s body is flexible and allows it to assume various postures. Unlike a Barbie or G.I. Joe figure, whose role is clearly defined by uniform and accessories, a Waldorf doll requires greater intellectual effort [17] for satisfying play [18]....
[12/12/2019 https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2019/12/11/blank-faced-dolls-stimulate-young-imaginations/ This article originally appeared on December 11.]
Waldorf Watch Footnotes
[1] These are Camphill communities — residential communities that seek to aid individuals with special needs. The communities implement the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. [See "Camphill" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE)].
"Four Winds Community follows the Anthroposophical 'healing education' philosophy and teachings of Rudolf Steiner, the educator and humanitarian who founded the Waldorf School Movement and inspired the formation of a worldwide movement of social and therapeutic communities." — http://fourwindscommunitynh.org.
"Tobias Community is a place to live and grow, centered on the needs of three people with disabilities ... Our work is guided by the humanistic philosophy of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)...." — http://www.tobiascommunity.com.
"Plowshare Farm is an attempt to be responsive to the social, human, spiritual and ecological challenges of our times ... As an anthroposophic lifesharing community affiliated with the worldwide Camphill Movement, we enjoy a vibrant spiritual life...." — https://www.plowsharefarm.org.
[2] Peterborough is a town in south-central New Hampshire.
[3] Mystery plays are pageants depicting spiritual mysteries or spiritual phenomena and truths. A medieval form, the traditional mystery play related Biblical stories or dramatized the lives of saints. Such plays are often performed in Anthroposophical institutions, including Waldorf schools.
The Shepherds' Play is the first in a sequence of plays often between Advent and Epiphany. The play focuses on the shepherds to whom angels announced the birth of Jesus.
"In the [Waldorf] school where I teach, there is an annual production of 'The Shepherds' Play,' a medieval nativity play put on by the teachers. This play is a tradition deeply woven into the fabric of many Waldorf schools ... The play is about Christmas. But more broadly it is about the renewal of light in the depth of winter, the light of the world, the spiritual light within." — Waldorf teacher William Ward, "Is Waldorf Education Christian?".
Steiner wrote four new mystery plays embodying his own occult vision: THE PORTAL OF INITIATION, THE SOUL'S PROBATION, THE GUARDIAN OF THE THRESHOLD, and THE SOUL'S AWAKENING. These plays have little to do with the Bible but a great deal to do with clairvoyance and humanity's struggle against the demon Ahriman. [See "Plays".]
[4] Oberufer was a village in what is now Slovakia.
[5] The belief system underlying Waldorf education, Anthroposophy, places great emphasis on ancient spiritual traditions and teachings. [See "The Ancients".] Special importance is assigned to Norse myths, the mythology of Northern Europe, including Germany. [See "The Gods".]
[6] The performances are essentially religious observances. This tends to belie the usual claim that Waldorf schools are not religious institutions. [See, e.g., "Schools as Churches".]
[7] Located in the town of Carbondale, the Helios Center describes itself in these words:
"We currently offer individual one hour sessions in Metal Color Light Glass Therapy and Anthroposophical Art Therapy. Nurturing Arts is also available for adults who are wanting to work artistically within a group setting." .— https://www.helioscenter.org/about.html.
Metal color light glass therapy entails gazing at colored glass panels (having metal oxides or chlorides in the glass) similar to those found in the Anthroposophical headquarters, the Goetheanum. [See the section "The Goetheanum" in "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".]
[8] Although Steiner's supporters like to refer to him as a philosopher or scientist, in fact — as he himself acknowledged — he was an occultist, i.e., a mystic who claimed to possess secret or hidden spiritual knowledge. [See "Occultism".]
[9] A follower of Steiner, Dr. Peipers had a clinic where he led viewings of the Madonna for therapeutics purposes. [See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, CALENDAR 1912/13 (SteinerBooks, 2003), p. 8.]
[10] In Steiner's teachings, Sophia is the divine female principle. [See "Goddess".]
[11] In Buddhism, Quan Yin as an enlightened spirit associated with compassion.
[12] Roaring Fork is a town in Colorado. The Roaring Fork River is a tributary of the Colorado River.
The website for the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork is https://www.waldorfschoolrf.com.
For an introduction to Anthroposophical therapies employed in and around Waldorf schools, see, e.g., the section "The Powerful Effects of Art" in "Waldorf Rx", December 1, 2019.
[13] Waldorf schools place great emphasis on imagination. According to Steiner, imagination is a precursor to — or even a first stage of — clairvoyance. [See "imagination" in the BWSE.]
[14] The claim is inaccurate. There are about 1,100 Waldorf schools in the world. By comparison, there are about 20,000 Montessori schools. [See "Waldorf Gains, Waldorf Losses", November 14, 2019.]
[15] Waldorf schools have typically had low academic standards. [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf".]
[16] Often, the dolls have no facial features at all.
[17] In general, Waldorf schools downplay intellect. Steiner taught that the intellect is generally a destructive faculty.
“The intellect destroys or hinders.” — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 233.
[See, e.g., "Steiner's Specific". Also see "intellect" in the BWSE.]
[18] For more about Waldorf dolls, see, e.g., "Coming Undone".
— R.R.
DECEMBER 10, 2019
CHANGING THE WORLD
ONE WALDORF AT A TIME
Proponents of Waldorf education are planning ahead. Here is an announcement of an event scheduled for the middle of 2020:
CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF WALDORF EDUCATION
LEARN TO CHANGE THE WORLD
EDUCATION INNOVATION SUMMIT
June 23-26, 2020
HOSTED BY CHICAGO WALDORF SCHOOL...
Save the date for June 22-25, 2020, in Chicago!
This conference, jointly sponsored by AWSNA [1], the Alliance [2] and WECAN [3], closes the year’s activities in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Waldorf Education [4]. It will share the lessons learned up to the present and set the stage for the next 100 years of collaboration within the movement [5].
Seeding the Future: “Learn to Change the World” Trailer [6]
The world gets better one person and one action at a time. “Seeding the Future” provides a glimpse into the principles of Waldorf education, an education that fosters concern for others, connection to the world, and the capacity to be in service to society. This video short is a trailer to the international film, “Learn to Change the World”....
[12/10/2019 http://www.allianceforpublicwaldorfeducation.org/news/waldorf-2020-conference/]
Waldorf Watch Response:
The Waldorf movement does indeed aim to change the world. Waldorf education is the largest and most influential segment of the overall Anthroposophical movement, a revolutionary spiritual enterprise that seeks to remake all human institutions in conformity with Rudolf Steiner's occult teachings. [7]
The goals of Waldorf education, as given in the above announcement, are noble — if somewhat anodyne ("an education that fosters concern for others, connection to the world, and the capacity to be in service to society"). But this description omits the actual core of the Waldorf effort. Remaking institutions in conformity with Anthroposophy boils down to spreading Anthroposophy far and wide — that is, spreading the religion devised and promulgated by Rudolf Steiner. While its followers generally refer to Anthroposophy as a "spiritual science," in fact Anthroposophy is an occult religion. [8]
In this regard, it may be helpful to consider an item posted by Humanists UK:
KEEPING THE FAITH – ARE STEINER SCHOOLS RELIGIOUS?
“Stop taking parents for mugs. Stop pretending that Anthroposophy is not promoted or taught in the schools, as if it were somehow unimportant. Be honest.”
Are Steiner schools religious? It’s rare to find a straightforward answer to this question and it is one the [Steiner] movement itself struggles with. Usually the question is answered along the lines of not adhering to any particular faith or denomination but instead cultivating a more vague form of spirituality and ‘reverence’ for nature.
The Steiner educator Eugene Schwartz was unequivocal on the place of religion:
‘I’m glad my daughter gets to speak about God every morning: that’s why I send her to a Waldorf school… I send my daughter to a Waldorf school so that she can have a religious experience. So that she learns something about reverence. So that she learns something about respecting a higher being… To deny the religious basis of Waldorf education…[in order] to satisfy public school superintendents, or a talk show host, or a newspaper reporter, is very, very wrong. And the Waldorf leadership, I would say, are waffling on this matter. I would say we are religious schools.’
But what kind of religion is he talking about? The truth is that Rudolf Steiner took Christianity as his starting point [9] but developed his own very different interpretation of the place of Christ in the history of humanity and in his central doctrine of Anthroposophy. As a result he’s equally derided for this by both secularists and mainstream Christians [10]....
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] AWSNA is the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.
[2] I.e., the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education.
[3] WECAN is the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America.
[4] The first Waldorf school was opened in 1919, in Stuttgart, Germany.
[5] The Waldorf movement is part of the Anthroposophical movement. Other major branches of the Anthroposophical movement include Anthroposophical medicine, Anthroposophical agriculture (biodynamics), and the Camphill residential community movement.
[6] "Seeding the Future" is a brief promotional video, essentially an advertisement for the documentary film "Waldorf 100: Learn to Change the World", which seeks to present Waldorf education in the best light possible. Waldorf public relations efforts have become increasingly sophisticated over the years. [See "PR".]
One of the Waldorf proponents who makes a short statement in "Seeding The Future" is Marianne Williamson, who is currently a candidate for the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party in the USA.
[7] See "Threefolding". Also see "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.
[8] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".
[9] Anthroposophy is sometimes mistaken for a Christian denomination, but in fact it is quite different from Christianity. Among the differences: Anthroposophy is polytheistic; it draws many of its teachings from Hinduism and other Eastern religions; the "Christ" revered in Anthroposophy is the Sun God. [See "Was He Christian?" and "Sun God".]
[10] Faith Schoolers Anonymous, https://faithschoolersanonymous.uk/category/steiner-schools/.
Written by Mark Hayes, "Keeping the Faith" originally appeared at Hayes' website, Steiner's Mirror.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 8, 2019
ART, INCARNATION, AND
THE CHRISTMAS ARCHANGEL
To understand Waldorf education, we need to consider how Waldorf teachers are trained — and, specifically, how they are trained to think.
Here is the announcement of an upcoming event at a Waldorf teacher training center in California, USA:
Coming into Being: Supporting
the Incarnation Process Through Art...
BACWTT [1] Healing Through Art II...
The second installment of the Healing Though Art [2] course will focus upon the incarnation process [3]: how this can be seen in art [4], and how art can be helpful in being healthily present in the body on Earth [5]. We will concentrate on developing a sense for the expression of the human spirit as it finds its place in the sheathes of the body [6], and practice artistic exercises that address specific incarnation qualities [7]. Working with this theme during the winter season and the Holy Nights [8], we will be able to connect to the archetypal incarnation gesture of birth and the influence of the Archangel Gabriel [9].
December 30, 2019 – January 3, 2020, 9am-4pm; Cost: $400
Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm....
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] BACWTT is the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training, in Santa Rosa, California.
[2] Waldorf schools place great emphasis upon the arts. The reasons are occult. Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner taught that the arts have healthful spiritual effects. [See "Magical Arts".] Various types of art "therapies" are emphasized in Anthroposophical medicine, which is often practiced in and around Waldorf schools. [See, e.g., "Waldorf Rx", December 1, 2019.]
[3] In Waldorf belief, childhood is a period during which individuals descending from the spirit realm to Earth gradually incarnate four distinct bodies — the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the ego body or "I". [See "Incarnation".] Waldorf education is designed to assist children to incarnate well and fully. So, for instance, we find statements such as this, made by a Waldorf teacher:
"Waldorf education is based upon the recognition that the four bodies of the human being [the physical, etheric, astral, and ego bodies] develop and mature at different times.” — Roberto Trostli, RHYTHMS OF LEARNING: What Waldorf Education Offers Children, Parents and Teachers (SteinerBooks, 2017), p. 4.
Note that Waldorf education is "based" on this concept.
[4] I.e., how it is reflected (consciously or not) in art.
[5] I.e., the physical human body or the entire four-part human form.
To live "healthily" on Earth, according to Waldorf belief, means finding a proper relationship with the Earth and with the spirits who work upon or through the Earth.
Steiner taught that the Earth is a living entity that has consciousness and emotions. He told Waldorf teachers to say things like the following to their students:
“Just think, children, our Earth feels and experiences everything that happens within it ... [I]t has feelings like you have, and can be angry or happy like you.” — Rudolf Steiner, DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 132.
Steiner's conception of the Earth is not unlike the Gaia hypothesis, which conceives the Earth to be a self-regulating organism. But Steiner's vision is more occult and anthropomorphic. So, for instance, Steiner taught that the various levels of the Earth's interior have moral, spiritual, and emotional characteristics. Thus, he said the following about the sixth layer of the Earth:
“The Fire Earth is intimately connected with the human will. The Fire Earth produced the tremendous eruptions that brought the Lemurian epoch to an end [Lemuria was a continent that sank before Atlantis, Steiner taught; humans caused both disasters; the Fire Earth acted in accordance with our will]. At that time the forces which feed the human will went through a trial which unleashed the fire catastrophe that brought the Lemurian epoch to an end ... The Fire Earth is made essentially of feeling and will. It is sensitive to pain and would cry out if stepped on. It consists entirely of passions.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH: An Esoteric Study of the Subterranean Spheres (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2006), pp. 27-31.
Steiner's account of Lemuria, like his description of the Earth's inner layers, has no basis in science.
[6] According to Waldorf belief, a "sheath" is a protective covering that is sloughed off when the corresponding body (physical, etheric, astral, or ego) is incarnated. Each sheath is, in effect, an incorporeal womb within which a body gestates. We are born four times as our four sheaths produce our four bodies, Steiner taught.
[7] Incarnation "qualities" are essences or impulses associated with various stages of incarnation. In Waldorf belief, artistic exercises can augment these qualities and thus aid in the process of incarnation.
[8] These are the twelve nights following Christmas.
"In Anthroposophy...the nights between the nativity and the epiphany, roughly December 25th (some say the 24th) to January 6th, are thought to be the time when the veils are the most thin between the spirit realm and the human realm. These nights are the best time of year to set intentions, to plant seeds, and to go inward in prayer and meditation. Each of the Holy Nights represents a month of the following year. When close attention is paid during these days, sometimes people get a brief glimpse into their upcoming year." — "The Holy Nights", http://www.globalpeaceprayer.com/the-holy-nights.html.
[9] Waldorf schools generally hold elaborate, and reverent, Christmas ceremonies. But the religion underlying Waldorf education is not Christianity; it is Anthroposophy, which — in sharp contrast to Christianity — is polytheistic. [See "Polytheism".] Steiner taught that there are nine ranks of gods. Archangels (or Spirits of Fire, Agnishvattas, Solar Pitris) are gods two spiritual levels higher than humanity. In Waldorf belief, Gabriel is the Archangel of the Moon. As one of the four Archangels who oversee the seasons of the year, Gabriel exerts particular influence in winter, Steiner taught; this influence is balanced by Gabriel's effects in midsummer.
"We have learnt to know Gabriel as the Christmas Archangel. He is then the cosmic Spirit; we have to look up above to find him. During the summer Gabriel carries into man all that is effected by the plastic, formative forces of nourishment. At midsummer they are carried into man by the Gabriel forces, after Gabriel has descended from his cosmic activity during the winter to his human activity in summer, when his forces stream through the Earth and it is winter on the other side." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUR SEASONS AND THE ARCHANGELS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1968), lecture 5, GA 229.
The BACWTT training course described here, held during the Holy Nights, will enable the attendees to "connect to...the influence of the Archangel Gabriel." Making connections with the gods is important for Waldorf teachers, since the teachers' role, Steiner said, is to represent the gods here on Earth:
“Among the faculty, 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 (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 55.
Waldorf schools are, fundamentally, Anthroposophical religious institutions. [See "Schools as Churches".] Parent who are not Anthroposophists should consider this carefully before sending their children to Waldorf schools.
So: a snapshot of Waldorf teacher training.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 6, 2019
SOME STEINER PARENTS
REBEL OVER CHANGES
Efforts to rescue failing Steiner schools in the United Kingdom [1] may be foundering.
Three inadequate Steiner academies — in Bristol, Exeter, and Frome [2] — have been taken over by Avanti Schools Trust, an educational organization that has specialized in administering Hindu schools [3]. There have been doubts about whether the marriage of Steiner and Hindu institutions would work out. Crucial, from the Steiner perspective, is the question whether Avanti would allow the Steiner schools to remain true to their Anthroposophical roots [4].
Today there are indications that at least some parents who want Steiner schooling for their kids are dissatisfied with changes that have occurred under Avanti [5]. These parents are reportedly removing their children from the Avanti/Steiner schools and, in some instances, turning to home schooling instead.
The following is from Bristol Live [Bristol, UK]:
Parents turning to homeschooling
after Steiner Academy Bristol taken over
By Emma Grimshaw
At least 27 families have decided to homeschool their children after Steiner Academy Bristol was taken over by a trust which sponsors state-funded Hindu schools, this year.
Fred Ehresmann is one of a cohort of parents whose families have left the academy during the first half of the autumn term after it was transferred to Avanti Schools Trust.
The senior university lecturer [6] said he noticed a worrying change in his daughter's confidence and happiness since Avanti took over at the beginning of this academic year [7]...
Fred...has teamed up with 11 other families, who all left the Fishponds academy [8], to homeschool their children.
They pay two Steiner teachers to tutor their kids three days a week between 9am to 3pm at their home...
Although he is enjoying the new arrangement, Fred said he did feel frustrated it had come to this.
"We all wanted the Steiner school to stay how it was [9]," said Fred. "It was a very slow and painful process watching it all unravel. Ella had had a wonderful Kindie experience [10] and we were really happy with the school [11]."
Avanti Trust took over the academy following a damning Ofsted report last year [12] which said pupils at the school 'were not safe' [13].
The school was graded as inadequate in every area of inspection [14], meaning Ofsted put it into special measures [15]...
[12/6/2019 https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/parents-turning-homeschooling-after-steiner-3606244]
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] See "The Steiner School Crisis".
[2] See "Inadequate: Bristol, Frome, and...".
[3] Avanti describes itself at its website https://avanti.org.uk.
[4] See, e.g., "Steiner Name Changed — Other Changes to Come", November 20, 2019.
[5] Other parents have appreciated the changes made by Avanti. [See, e.g., "Some Parents Pleased by Avanti's Changes", November 8, 2019.]
[6] In UK colleges and universities, the rank of senior lecturer stands above that of lecturer and below that of associate professor. (The rank of professor stands above that of associate professor, and above professor is that rank of dean.)
[7] Fred Ehresmann is identified elsewhere in the article as a "specialist in child development," which would seem to give his views particular weight. At the University of the West of England, Bristol, he is described as specializing in "mental health." According to the University, "There are no publications available for Mr Fred Ehresmann" [https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/FredEhresmann]. Ehresmann has, however, published some writings in nonacademic media [e.g., https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/parenting/parenting-the-teenage-brain-a-user-s-guide-1.3582136]. Ehresmann is an active proponent of Steiner schooling [see https://www.fishpondsvoice.co.uk/outcry-from-parents-as-ofsted-says-steiner-academy-is-failing], and he served as class representative for Class 2 at Steiner Academy Bristol [https://steineracademybristol.org.uk/files/5215/1240/7057/Parents_Bulletin_19.11.17_1.pdf]. He has a website: The Barefoot Parent [http://barefootparent.com/about-barefoot-parent/].
[8] The school is located in Fishponds, a suburb of the city of Bristol.
[9] Of course, parents who like what Avanti has done were presumably less satisfied with the school as it had been.
[10] I.e., experiences in the Steiner kindergarten.
[11] Some students thrive in Steiner schools, at least at the emotional level. There is often a warm, nurturing atmosphere in these schools, with an emphasis on artistic activities and free play. Academic pressures are usually low, which may especially benefit students who have learning difficulties or emotional difficulties. On the other hand, critics say that academic standards at Steiner school are too low, meaning the education provided in substandard. [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf".]
[12] School inspectors found that several Steiner schools in the UK failed to protect or safeguard their students adequately. [See "child safety" in the Waldorf Watch Annex Index.]
[13] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education. Ofsted has sent inspectors to Steiner schools throughout the UK and issued reports on their findings.
[14] "Inadequate" is the lowest evaluation issued by Ofsted — it is a failing grade. Finding a school inadequate "in every area of inspection" is genuinely — as the article says — a "damning" result. A school could not do worse.
[15] "Special measures" are emergency provisions meant to produce rapid improvements in failing schools.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 5, 2019
YULETIDE AND THE AVATAR
AT WALDORF WINTER FESTS
Waldorf schools celebrate multiple festivals throughout the school year [1]. In many cases, these events seem utterly innocuous. Consider the Christmas commemorations held annually in Waldorf schools. Throughout most of the Western world, Christmas is celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike. Christmas has very nearly become a secular event, focused more on Santa Claus and gift-giving than on the birth of the Christ child. Consequently, when a Waldorf school announces its plans to observe Christmas, the matter may excite few if any questions.
The following is from HudsonValley360 [New York State, USA]:
Experience the Magic of the Holidays
at Hawthorne Valley School’s Annual
Yuletide Fair [2]
The Parent Teacher Association of Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School (HVS) and the HVS community are hard at work preparing for the ANNUAL YULETIDE FAIR AND GINGERBREAD HOUSE AUCTION to be held on Saturday, December 7th, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ... The school assembly hall will be transformed into a winter wonderland ... Dozens of artisan vendors will fill the school’s classrooms with beautiful handcrafted items — you’re sure to find the perfect gifts for everyone on your holiday shopping list!
Waldorf Watch Response
The belief system that underlies Waldorf education, Anthroposophy [3], contains many remarkable beliefs concerning the significance of the Yule or Christmas. Many of these beliefs remain tucked out of sight at typical Waldorf Christmas festivals — but they are present in the hearts and minds of true-believing Anthroposophists, some of whom work as teachers in Waldorf schools [4].
The most remarkable of these beliefs concerns the identity of Christ. According to Anthroposophists, Christ is the Sun God [5].
"Christ, the Sun God, who was known by earlier peoples under such names as Ahura Mazda, Hu or Balder, has now united himself with the earth and its future evolution.” — Anthroposophist Margaret Jonas, in the introduction to a collection of Steiner lectures, RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 5.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, taught that Christ saved humanity by reviving our understanding that our true home is the spirit world:
“Had Christ not appeared on the earth, had He remained the Sun-God only, humanity on the earth would have fallen into decay. Increasingly men would have come to believe that material things alone exist, that the sun and the stars are material bodies. For men had forgotten altogether that they themselves had descended from a pre-earthly existence, from the spirit-world of the stars.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1958), “World-Pentecost; The Message of Anthroposophy”, GA 226.
Anthroposophy is polytheistic [6] — it teaches that Christ is the god of the Sun just as other gods dwell on or around other planets and stars. The Father God, for instance, is the god of Saturn.
“The highest Ruler of Saturn...appears to us as the Father God, and the highest Ruler of Sun, the Sun-God, as the Christ.” — Rudolf Steiner, ROSICRUCIAN WISDOM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), p. 100.
When Christ descended to the Earth, he became one of the numerous avatars [7] who have incarnated on the Earth, Steiner averred.
"[G]reat spiritual Beings, the Avatars, descend and incarnate in human bodies from time to time when men are in need of help ... All the Avatars have brought redemption to mankind through power from above, through what has streamed down through them from spiritual heights to the earth. But the Avatar Christ...has shown us how the forces of redemption, the forces whereby the Spirit becomes victor over matter, can be found in ourselves." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING, Vol. 2 (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1956), lecture 7, GA 109.
Steiner taught that the Sun God became an avatar when he incarnated in the body of a human being named Jesus. But the story is more remarkable than that. According to Steiner, there were actually two Jesus children, one of whom contained the soul of Zarathustra while the other contained the essence of Buddha. These two Jesuses merged — one Jesus died, so that his soul could enter the other Jesus. The result was a combined, super Jesus — containing both Zarathustra and Buddha — who became a fit vessel for the Sun God to inhabit.
◊ “[T]wo Jesus children were born. One was descended from the so-called Nathan line of the House of David, the other from the Solomon line. These two children grew up side by side. In the body of the Solomon child lived the soul of Zarathustra. In the twelfth year of the child's life this soul passed over into the other Jesus child and lived in that body until its thirtieth year [8] ... And then, only from the thirtieth year onward, there lived in this body the Being Whom we call the Christ, Who remained on earth altogether for three years [9].” — Rudolf Steiner, THE OCCULT SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA (Anthroposophic Press, 1968), p. 59.
◊ “[N]ot one but two Jesus-children were born ... The important thing is to understand clearly what kind of beings these two children were. Occult investigation [10] shows that the individuality who was in the Solomon Jesus-child was none other than Zarathustra ... Buddha forces permeated the astral body [11] of the Nathan Jesus-child.” — Rudolf Steiner, FROM JESUS TO CHRIST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), pp. 133-136.
To delve into the things, you might consult "Was He Christian?" and "Christmas".
Merry Yuletide.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] See, e.g., "Waldorf Festivals and Their Meaning", November 23, 2019.
[2] The Yule is Christmas; Yuletide is the Christmas season. Waldorf schools may hold Christmas ceremonies such as carol sings late in December, around the actual date of Christmas. But the schools may also hold Yuletide or mid-winter festivals — in anticipation of Christmas — earlier in the month.
[3] See "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).
[4] See, e.g., "Here's the Answer".
[5] See "Sun God".
[6] See "Polytheism".
[7] See "Avatars".
[8] Steiner sometimes referred to the resulting super-Jesus as the "Solomonic-Nathanic Jesus." This human contained the essence of both Zarathustra and Budda. [For more on those two spiritual masters, see "Zarathustra" and "Buddha" in the BWSE.]
[9] Hence, the Sun God dwelled in the same body that contained the essence of both Zarathustra and Budda.
[10] i.e., use of disciplined clairvoyance.
[11] See "astral body" in the BWSE.
— R.R.
DECEMBER 1, 2019
◊ Keeping Up with What They Read ◊
WALDORF RX
One way to keep abreast of beliefs and practices within the Waldorf movement is to study documents produced by agents of that movement, especially works produced during the last few years. Internal documents, intended only for insiders, are naturally the most revealing, but they are also the most difficult to obtain. Waldorf/Anthroposophical publications aimed at a general audience are less reliable — they are often couched in defensive, euphemistic language that conceals at least as much as it reveals. Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner taught that much inside or occult knowledge should be withheld from the uninitiated. [See, e.g., "Secrets".]
A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH, published in 2018, outlines medical treatments advocated in and around Waldorf communities. It is written, at least in part, for the general public, yet it contains some revealing indications of occult Anthroposophical beliefs. Much of the book conveys more-or-less accurate, mainstream medical lore. But woven throughout the text are Anthroposophical medical beliefs that have essentially no basis in modern scientific or medical knowledge. Instead, these beliefs arise from the mystical and esoteric teachings at the heart of Anthroposophy. Many of the resulting therapies are likely to be useless or, in the worst cases, potentially injurious.
Here are a few excerpts from the book, along with my responses given in footnote form.
From chapter 9, about the major medical scourge of our time:
Cancer...
Anthroposophic treatment
To complement the child's treatment with conventional medicine [1], it is essential to support their healthy life forces [2], emotional balance and individuality [3] with a view to increasing their autonomy and forces of resistance [4] ... Central to anthroposophic treatment is mistletoe therapy [5] ... It can be administered either by injection...or as oral drops [6]....
— Drs. Michaela Glöckler, Wolfgang Goebel, Karin Michael, A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH (Floris Book, 2018), pp. 164-165.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] The authors acknowledge that conventional medicine has made great strides in curing cancer. They say this is "a clear success for modern medicine", and they advise "children with cancer should be treated according to standardised therapeutic proctols" — p. 163. Unfortunately, they proceed to add Anthroposophical recommendations having little if any validity.
[2] The concept of "life force" has been rejected in virtually all areas of modern medicine, but it persists in Anthroposophical medical doctrine. [See "life force" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]
[3] In Anthroposophy, the concept of "individuality" — development of a strong spiritual ego or "I" — is deemed extremely important. [See "Ego".] This is essentially a religious belief, not a scientifically founded hypothesis.
[4] There is little or no scientific basis for thinking that one can fend off cancer by cultivating "autonomy and forces of resistance," particularly if the "forces" are conceived as subjective (mental or spiritual) processes rather than physical processes.
[5] Rudolf Steiner taught that mistletoe can be used to cure or treat cancer. [See "mistletoe" in the BWSE.] There is scant scientific basis for this teaching. [See, e.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK77840/.] Indeed, some research suggests that mistletoe therapy may be harmful.
"Proponents of anthroposophic medicine make two claims about mistletoe. Firstly, they claim that regular injections of mistletoe extract improve the natural course of cancer by slowing down or stopping tumour growth. Secondly, they say that such extracts improve the quality of life in patients with cancer ... [N]either of the above two claims is supported by good evidence ... A wide range of serious adverse reactions have been noted ... [M]istletoe extract may enhance the proliferation of some cancers ... [M]istletoe has been tested extensively as a treatment for cancer, but the most reliable randomised controlled trials fail to show benefit, and some reports show considerable potential for harm." — Edzard Ernst, British Medical Journal, 12/23/06 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761165/].
[6] The most common mistletoe preparation used in Anthroposophic medicine has long been Iscador. Advocacy of this preparation seems to be declining among at least some Anthroposophical doctors today, but the preparation remains widely available. [Concerning Iscador, see, e.g., https://www.iscador.com/en/mistelpraeparate/beschreibung.html.]
o
From chapter 13, "Promoting Health and Preventing Illness":
A holistic approach to working with illness
Rudolf Steiner described human beings as functioning across four levels [1]:
• The physical body...
• The life (or etheric) body [2]...
• The soul (or astral) body [3]...
• The spirit (self or 'I') body [4]...
Children come into the world as soul-spirit beings [5] with the task of 'incarnating' into their bodies ... The role of medicine and education [6] is to create conditions that permits the healthiest possible incarnating process.
— A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH, p. 237.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] Steiner was the founder of Anthroposophy, Anthroposophical medicine, and Waldorf education, among other initiatives. As Anthroposophical physicians, the authors of A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH are strongly inclined to accept Steiner's teachings as truth. There would be little real reason to allude to Steiner otherwise. (Mainstream medical texts rarely if ever mention Steiner, except occasionally to criticize him for such recommendations as the use of mistletoe to fight cancer.)
[2] Steiner taught that a fully incarnated human being has four bodies, only one of which — the physical body — is visible. The life body or etheric body, is a constellation of formative forces; it incarnates around age seven, Steiner said. [See "life body" and "etheric body" in the BWSE.]
[3] The soul body or astral body, a constellation of soul forces, incarnates around age 14, Steiner said. [See "soul body" and "astral body" in the BWSE.] Steiner differentiated between soul and spirit. [See the entries for these terms in the BWSE.]
[4] The spirit body or the "I" is a constellation of spirit forces; it incarnates around age 21, Steiner said. [See "spirit body", "ego," "ego body", and "I" in the BWSE.]
The problem with all this, of course, is that the nonphysical bodies do not exist. They are fantasies. Yet they are central to Anthroposophical/Waldorf belief and practice. As such, they constitute a fatal flaw in Anthroposophical/Waldorf practices.
[5] In Anthroposophical teachings, the "soul-spirit" (or "spirit-soul") is the combined soul and spirit. Steiner taught that each fully incarnated human being has both a soul and a spirit. [See "soul" and "spirit" in the BWSE.]
[6] Note that, in Anthroposophical belief, the roles of medicine (Anthroposophical therapy) and education (Waldorf education) are the same: to "create conditions that permits the healthiest possible incarnating process." [See "Incarnation". Also see such texts as Michaela Glöckler's EDUCATION AS PREVENTIVE MEDICINE (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2002).]
One important corollary is that the purpose of Waldorf education is not to provide a good, academically sound education. The purpose is to help kids incarnate properly. [See, e.g. "Here's the Answer", "Waldorf's Spiritual Agenda", and "Academic Standards at Waldorf".]
You might think that the role of medicine is to preserve good health by eliminating diseases. You might think that the role of education is to give students reliable knowledge about the real world. But the Anthroposophical view is different.
o
More from the same chapter:
A holistic approach to working with illness [continued]
Childhood illnesses play an important part in working through and individualising specific parts of the body [1]...
Illnesses with high fevers, like scarlet fever, measles or roseola, are primarily an indication that the 'I' and its warmth activity are intervening in functions of the life body [2]...
Diseases that involve significant swelling of lymph nodes or glands allow children [3] to get a grip on their life body processes...
If we attribute symptoms exclusively to germs...the most important questions remain unanswered [4]....
— A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH, pp. 237-238.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] In Anthroposophical belief, childhood diseases are helpful — they are blessings: They assist children in overcoming harmful inherited attributes (attributes handed down by their parents), so that the children become more fully themselves as distinct individuals. [See, e.g., BLESSED BY ILLNESS (Anthroposophic Press, 1988), by Anthroposophical physician and Waldorf teacher L.F.C. Mees.]
[2] This intervention is deemed to be productive — burning away, as it were, unsound physical characteristics or dispositions. (This is the "warmth activity" of the "I" in such diseases.)
[3] Again, the effects of the disease are deemed beneficial. The diseases "allow" children to make progress in the process of incarnation (they "get a grip on their life body processes.")
[4] Anthroposophical medicine does not deny the existence of germs, but it minimizes their importance. The real reasons we develop diseases are deeper, Steiner taught. (For instance, we contract childhood diseases in order to perfect our incarnation on Earth.)
o
From a later section in chapter 13:
The powerful effects of art [1]
Modelling therapy
The creative activity of modelling [2], sculpting and carving directly stimulates and regulates the sculpting, formative functioning of the life body [3]...
Painting therapy
Handling colour tones and moods in painting harmonises the collaboration between the life and soul bodies [4]...
Music therapy
Musical laws and their relationship to air (as vehicle of sound) corresponds [sic] to the activity of the soul body, which is also musical in character [5]...
Speech therapy
Through artistic speech and speech therapy, the "I" is directly activated [6]...
Curative eurythmy [7]...
Curative eurythmy is...helpful in treating movement, hearing and visual disorders because it helps the child's soul penetrate the body more completely [8]....
— A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH, pp. 242-244.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] In Waldorf belief, all arts have potent spiritual effects. For this reason, arts are emphasized in Waldorf education. [See "Magical Arts".]
There is, in the real world of real medical care, such a thing as art therapy. By creating art, people with emotional problems may learn to express themselves, for instance. But the "modelling therapy," "painting therapy," and so on described here are not real medical care. They are mystical fantasies having claimed effects on nonexistent "bodies" such as the life body. (Read on.)
[2] "Modelling," in the sense used here, is shaping figures in clay, wax, or other pliable media.
[3] Steiner taught that the life body (or etheric body) molds and shapes the physical body. Here we are told that the activity of modeling is therapeutic — it "stimulates and regulates" the actions of the life body. It has this effect, allegedly, because it mimics and thus reinforces the actions of the life body.
[4] By bringing the "life body" into better collaboration with the "soul body," Anthroposophical therapists hope to heal the physical body. The endeavor is vain, however — the life body and soul body cannot be brought into closer collaboration, nor can they affect the physical body, for a clear reason: The life body and soul body are phantasms, they are not real.
Anthroposophical doctors prescribe the therapeutic use of color in drawing as well as in painting. Here is one mother's report about Anthroposophic use of colors for their purported therapeutic effects:
"Our nine-year-old was gravely ill, depressed, and had lost a lot of weight, because she refused to eat. The Anthroposophic doctor made a diagnosis: my child had lost the will to live. He announced one of the potential cures — we were to give our daughter red, yellow, and orange crayons to color with! I looked at my husband in disbelief ... During this encounter with the Anthroposophic doctor, I had an epiphany of sorts. After paying him his fee of $50, we left the school and I turned to my husband and said with certainty, 'We are in a real live cult!'" — Sharon Lombard, "Spotlight on Anthroposophy [http://www.waldorfcritics.org/articles/lombard_sharon_csr0202j.htm].
[5] Steiner taught that when we sleep at night, our soul body and spirit body leave Earth and sojourn in the spirit realm, where they hear celestial music. A musical composer, Steiner said, is guided by his memories of celestial music when he creates his earthly compositions.
“When a man falls asleep, his astral body [i.e., his soul body] goes out from his physical body, his soul then lives in the devachanic [i.e., spiritual] world. Its harmonies make an impression on his soul ... The composer...takes his model from the spiritual world. He has in himself harmonies which he translates into physical terms. That is the secret connection between the music which resounds in the physical world and the hearing of spiritual music during the night....” — Rudolf Steiner, quoted in ART INSPIRED BY RUDOLF STEINER, by John Fletcher (Mercury Arts Publications, 1987), p. 136.
There is, in the real world of real medicine, such a thing as music therapy. But Anthroposophical music therapy is based on fantasies.
[6] Just as Anthroposophists believe modelling stimulates the life body, they believe speech therapy stimulates the ego body or "I".
[7] Eurythmy is a form of spiritual dance — in essence, a type of temple dancing — devised by Rudolf Steiner. [See "Eurythmy".] Steiner said eurythmy connects us to the spirit realm.
"In having people do eurythmy, we link them directly to the supersensible [i.e., supernatural] world." — Rudolf Steiner, ART AS SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 247.
Eurythmy is usually a required activity for students in Waldorf schools.
"Eurythmy is obligatory. The children must participate. Those who do not participate in eurythmy will be removed from the school." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 65.
[8] Anthroposophists believe eurythmy would benefit everyone (such as every student in a Waldorf school), but they think it has special therapeutic value for people who suffer from "movement, hearing and visual disorders." Eurythmy achieves its beneficial effects, Anthroposophists believe, through mystical means: It helps the soul to perfuse the physical body ("it helps the [patient's] soul penetrate the body").
o
From chapter 14, which is devoted to the subject of vaccination:
Possible side effects of vaccinations [1]
Minor reactions
• Headache
• Fever
• Local reddening, swelling
• Tiredness
• Crankiness
Severe reactions
• Cramps
• Abscesses
• Allergic reactions, even allergic (anaphylactic) shock [2]
• Apathy, over-excitability, shrill crying
Complications [3]...
• Neuritis [4]
• Meningitis [5]
• Encephalitis [6]
• Guillain-Barré syndrome [7]
• Further autoimmune diseases [8] are suspected, like multiple sclerosis [8], type 1 diabetes [10], rheumatism [11] and increase in allergic sensitivities and autism [12].
• Vaccine-induced illness [13] can occur after vaccination with live vaccines [14]. The disease the vaccine is designed to prevent manifests in a weakened form, as in vaccine-induced measles [15].
— A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH, p. 262.
Waldorf Watch Footnotes:
[1] Steiner did not rule out vaccination in all situations, but he warned of serious problems potentially caused by vaccination. Chiefly, he was concerned that vaccines could interfere with karma, prevent proper incarnation, and destroy the soul. [See "vaccination" in the BWSE.] Anthroposophical doctors today rarely cite Steiner's objections explicitly, but they offer long lists of possible harms that vaccines may allegedly inflict, lists such as the one we find here. Anthroposophists' deeper objections to vaccination, however, are generally those outlined by Steiner.
There is little scientific basis for any of the Anthroposophical objections to vaccination, either the superficial ones (such as causing crankiness) or the "deeper" ones (such as destroying the soul). Importantly, there is little basis for believing that vaccination can cause any of the fearful diseases listed below. (Read on.)
[2] This is an extreme allergic reaction that may be fatal.
[3] A medical "complication" is a secondary condition that may worsen a pre-existing condition.
[4] This is an inflammation of peripheral nerves; it is often painful, and it may cause loss of function.
[5] This is an inflammation of the meninges (membranes enclosing the brain and spinal cord); it may be fatal.
[6] This is an inflammation of the brain — potentially an extremely serious condition.
[7] This is an acute disorder of the peripheral nerves that often causes paralysis of the limbs.
[8] These are disorders of the immune system, in which the body attacks itself or opens itself to infection.
[9] This is a chronic illness, often progressive, affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
[10] This is an incurable disease in which the body is unable to produce insulin in the pancreas. Major organs in the body may be damaged as a result.
[11] The term "rheumatism" is applied to various diseases causing pain and inflammation in joints, fibrous tissues, and muscles.
[12] Autism is a developmental disorder. Anti-vaccination activists often blame vaccines for causing autism, although there is little or no valid scientific basis for this claim. From the Mayo Clinic:
"Vaccines do not cause autism. Despite much controversy on the topic, researchers haven't found a connection between autism and childhood vaccines. In fact, the original study that ignited the debate years ago has been retracted" [https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/vaccines/art-20048334].
[13] Vaccines rarely cause illnesses, and any side effects they produce are usually mild. Again from the Mayo Clinic:
"Any vaccine can cause side effects. Usually, these side effects are minor — a low-grade fever, fussiness and soreness at the injection site. Some vaccines cause a temporary headache, fatigue or loss of appetite. Rarely, a child might experience a severe allergic reaction or a neurological side effect, such as a seizure. Although these rare side effects are a concern, the risk of a vaccine causing serious harm or death is extremely small. The benefits of getting a vaccine are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children" [https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/vaccines/art-20048334].
This is a key point: Vaccines rarely if ever cause diseases. They rarely if ever cause injury. "Vaccine-caused illness" is, by and large, little more than a myth. "[T]he risk of a vaccine causing serious harm or death is extremely small." Parents may quite naturally recoil at the possibility that a vaccine could ever cause harm or death (death!). But if parents, quite understandably, want to completely protect their children from harm or death, then they should never — for instance — drive them in an automobile, or allow them to cross a road, or feed them any food on which they could possibly choke (which is essentially all foods).
[14] Vaccines introduce into the body substances that stimulate the body to produce antibodies, which provide protection from diseases. Live vaccines use a weakened (or attenuated) form of the germs that cause specific diseases. But these weakened agents rarely if ever cause disease. They prevent disease. (Read on.)
[15] Protection from measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) is provided by the MMR vaccine. The vaccine does not cause measles ("vaccine-induced measles"). From the Infectious Diseases Society of America:
"Fact: The vaccine does not cause measles. While the vaccine is made from a live virus, it is weakened so that it doesn’t cause the disease, but rather causes your immune system to recognize the virus and develop immunity to it. Because their immune system is working hard after vaccination, some children who get the vaccine can have mild symptoms such as a fever or rash, but it’s not measles, just the body building immunity to the measles virus so that they don’t get sick if they’re ever exposed" [https://www.idsociety.org/public-health/measles/myths-and-facts/].
What is true of measles and measles vaccine is generally true of other diseases and their vaccines. So, for instance, smallpox is not caused by smallpox vaccines — it is prevented by smallpox vaccines. [See, e.g., the World Health Organization's webpage, "Smallpox vaccines": https://www.who.int/csr/disease/smallpox/vaccines/en/.]
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
"Q: Can a child actually get the disease from a vaccine?
"A: Almost never. With an inactivated (killed) vaccine, it isn’t possible. Dead viruses or bacteria can’t cause disease. With live vaccines, some children get what appears to be a mild case of disease (for example, what looks like a measles or chickenpox rash, but with only a few spots). This isn’t harmful, and can actually show that the vaccine is working. A vaccine causing full-blown disease would be extremely unlikely. One exception was the live oral polio vaccine, which could very rarely mutate and actually cause a case of polio. This was a rare, but tragic, side effect of this otherwise effective vaccine. Oral polio vaccine is no longer used in the U.S." [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/tools/parents-guide/parents-guide-part4.html].
Nothing in life is completely safe. Not riding in a car. Not crossing a street. Not eating a meal. Vaccination is, by and large, among the safest things we do to children. Indeed, it is not only safe — it increases safety by protecting children from dangers (diseases) that could harm or kill them. Vaccines are not 100% safe (what is?), nor are they 100% effective (what is?). But they come close.
— R.R.