Here is a collection of items that appeared on the Waldorf Watch "news" page during January, 2020. The items appear in reverse chronological order: newest first, oldest last. To find a specific item, scroll down the page.

I am the author of the Waldorf Watch commentaries, editorials, and explanatory notes you will find here. In them, I often generalize about Waldorf schools. There are fundamental similarities among Waldorf schools; I describe the schools based on the evidence concerning their structure and operations in the past and — more importantly — in the present. But not all Waldorf schools, Waldorf charter schools, and Waldorf-inspired schools are wholly alike. To evaluate an individual school, you should carefully examine its stated purposes, its practices (which may or may not be consistent with its stated purposes), and the composition of its faculty. 

— Roger Rawlings

JANUARY 31, 2020

"SAVED" STEINER SCHOOL

MAY NOT GROW AFTER ALL

[Photo by Jamie Hawkins.]

Failed Waldorf schools don't give up the ghost easily [1]. They struggle to survive, or to rise from the grave. They reincarnate. They change their names. They change their locations. They change their masks. But they don't die.

Until they do. (Sometimes.) [2]

Waldorf or Steiner schools are typically run by zealous devotees of Rudolf Steiner. And, like their leader, these devotees tend to believe that matters of supreme importance — including the spiritual survival of humanity — hang in the balance. Steiner put it this way:

"The Waldorf school must succeed; much depends on its success. Its success will bring a kind of proof of many things in the spiritual evolution of humankind that we must represent ... Let us especially keep before us the thought, which will truly fill our hearts and minds, that connected with the present-day spiritual movement [i.e., Anthroposophy] are also the spiritual powers [i.e., the gods] that guide the cosmos." — Rudolf Steiner, PRACTICAL ADVICE TO TEACHERS, Foundations of Waldorf Education, II (Anthroposophic Press, 2000), p. 189.

Waldorf schools promote mankind's "spiritual evolution." They work to prove the truths of Anthroposophy ("the present-day spiritual movement"). They do this in service to "the spiritual powers that guide the cosmos." Letting a Waldorf school die would be virtually an act of sacrilege — it would be a betrayal of the gods whom Waldorf teachers serve [3]. 

As described by Steiner, Waldorf schools are holy institutions that advance the divine plan and majestic intentions of the gods:

“Among the faculty, we must certainly carry within us the knowledge that we are not here for our own sakes, but to carry out the divine cosmic plan. We should always remember that when we do something, we are actually carrying out the intentions of the gods, that we are, in a certain sense, the means by which that streaming down from above will go out into the world.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, Foundations of Waldorf Education, VIII (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 55.

In their determination to survive, some failing Waldorf/Steiner schools in the United Kingdom have cast their lot with an educational organization that, up to the present, has specialized in running Hindu schools: the Avanti Schools Trust [4]. This may or may not prove to be a shrewd strategy. Avanti may succeed in salvaging these schools, but it may do this in part by ditching the Steiner curriculum and methods [5]. The remaining Steiner staffs at these schools are likely to fight fervently against such changes, but they may lack to power to prevail. Avanti is now in charge [6].

Energized by its own spiritual impetus, Avanti has big plans. It aims to greatly increase its presence in British education. Avanti runs seven "Hindu faith" schools in the UK, and it has now added four "community" or "non-denominational' schools to its roster [7]. Three of these latter schools are Steiner academies that Avanti seeks to rescue and remold.

But even Avanti, despite its vision and resources, may yet stumble. As reported here recently, there has been a significant exodus of students and staff from the Steiner school Avanti acquired in Exeter [8]. That school had previously been called Steiner Academy Exeter; it is now named Avanti Hall Exeter. 

Regardless of the departure of so many students and teachers, Avanti had planned to expand the school. But now this plan has been put on hold, at least temporarily.

Here are excerpts from an article in today's Devon Live [Devonshire, England]:

Decision deferred over plans for 

former Steiner School to expand 

despite drop in pupil numbers 

By Anita Merritt

A final decision on plans to expand what was Exeter's failing Steiner School, despite a drop a recent drop in pupil numbers, has been deferred.

Last June it was announced the school, which was rated ‘inadequate’ in October 2018 after serious failings were highlighted [9], was being taken over by Avanti Schools Trust (AST) and it would no longer be run with a Steiner ethos...

[T]he trust has been consulting with parents to increase pupil numbers from 720 to 1,020.

However, it is believed the school is under subscribed at the moment as pupils and staff have left the school for a variety of reasons.

The trust has not confirmed to Devon Live how many pupil and staff members have left...

Today the trust has confirmed its expansion plans, which have been met with a mixed reaction, have not been given the go ahead yet.

Mike Younger, chair of Avanti Schools Trust Board, said: "...[P]roposed changes to the school were put to the Regional School Commissioner (RSC) for the South West for decision ... The RSC SW office has decided to defer a final decision on the proposed changes"... 

The trust has previously stated in its expansion consultation report that it is hoped improvement to the school will see numbers will rise again..

The response from the [RSC] said: "The proposal looks to expand a school that has been judged inadequate and...there is insufficient evidence of improvement. The Department for Education are clear that their aspiration is that only good or outstanding schools are expanded [10]"....

[1/31/2020    https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/decision-deferred-over-plans-former-3786350]

The nub of the issue is that the Steiner/Avanti school in Exeter has not yet shown that it has improved. Rudolf Steiner Academy Exeter was judged to be a failing school, and Avanti Hall Exeter still staggers under that dismal legacy.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] See, e.g., "RSSKL".

[2] See "Failure".

[3] See "Here's the Answer".

[4] See https://avanti.org.uk.

[5] See "The Waldorf Curriculum" and "Methods".

[6] See "Rebrokered free schools won't keep Steiner ethos, says new trust" — Schools Week, October 22, 2019.

[7] See https://avanti.org.uk/our-schools/.

[8] See "Steiner School Crisis: An Effort to Reassure", January 27, 2020 — scroll down.

[9] "Inadequate" is a failing grade — it is the lowest evaluation issued by inspectors from the UK government's Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).

Devon Live previously gave this summary of the problems at Steiner Academy Exeter:

"The former Steiner school [in Exeter] was shut down for more than a week following a visit from inspectors in October 2018 who discovered a catalogue of failings at the school including leadership being 'dysfunctional at every level', kindergarten pupils being physically restrained by teachers, and a lack of support for vulnerable children.

"Its Ofsted inspection highlighted serious inadequacies in leadership, quality of teaching and safeguarding. The school was found to be 'inadequate' in every area inspected.

"Other concerns raised by the watchdog included teachers being subjected to regular physical assaults by pupils, the needs of children with special educational needs not being met and a lack of evidence that safeguarding checks have been made when employing new members of staff...." — "Former Steiner school reassures parents after pupil losses following takeover", Devon Live, January 27, 2020.

[10] "Outstanding" is the highest evaluation awarded by Ofsted; "Good" is the next-highest evaluation. 

The UK Department for Education aims to allow schools to expand only if they have been judged good or better. Reports indicate that no inspected Steiner school in the UK meets this standard. So, for instance:

"[According to] Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman...six of the nine [Steiner] schools inspected — across the state and private sector — were judged to be ‘inadequate’ and three were ‘requires improvement’, with none as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’." — "Ofsted demands investigation into Steiner education following failures", Schools Week, January 31, 2019; reprinted in Heart Teaching. 

The Schools Week article was updated, and it then included the following:

"Amanda Spielman wrote to Damian Hinds, the education secretary, on Thursday after snap inspections of nine Steiner schools – state and private – found six were 'inadequate' and three 'requires improvement' ... Spielman demanded an investigation into whether the Steiner philosophy – which advocates a holistic approach to education based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner – is contributing to the failures." — "Ofsted handed power to inspect all Steiner schools following failures", Schools Week, January 31, 2019.

— R.R.

JANUARY 29, 2020 

STEINER CRISIS 

MAKES THE BEEB 

The collapse of one of the oldest Steiner schools in the United Kingdom (UK) is now receiving national and, indeed, international news coverage. The British Broadcasting Corporation — the fabled BBC, the "Beeb" — has issued a report.

Wynstones School — a Steiner boarding school in Gloucestershire — was established in 1937. It had been a fixture in the Steiner educational firmament. But now it has shut down after school inspectors found glaring flaws in its operations [1].

The shuttering of Wynstones follows turmoil and closures at others UK Steiner schools [2], including one that was nearly as venerable as Wynstones. Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, which opened in 1949, closed in March, 2019, after inspectors exposed numerous problems there [3].

The Steiner/Waldorf movement is firmly established in several countries (especially Germany), and it has spread to nations on all continents except Antarctica. But the movement has suffered intermittent setbacks, with a number of schools forced to close and other struggling to stay in business [4]. Critics have argued that such difficulties reflect systemic flaws in the Waldorf approach. The current plight of Steiner schools in the UK may be the movement's most dire moment of truth thus far [5].

Here are excerpts from the BBC's report on the closing of Wynstones School:

Wynstones School

[Google]

Wynstones Steiner School 

closed over 'widespread failures' 

A Steiner school has closed after education watchdog Ofsted [6] found "serious and widespread failures", including children being restrained.

Wynstones Steiner School, a boarding school in Whaddon near Gloucester [7], was rated inadequate as "significant safeguarding concerns" were found [8]...

The independent school's trustees said "robust action" would be taken so the school can reopen [9].

The school teaches students aged three to 19.

The Ofsted report published in November 2018 found untrained staff "had restrained children on two occasions" [10]...

"This poor practice leaves children and staff at risk," the report said.

The inspectors said the school's safeguarding culture was "weak", as "leaders, managers, staff and trustees do not protect children from harm".

"Leaders and managers have failed to ensure effective management of safeguarding matters," the report said...

In a progress monitoring report, published by Ofsted in October 2019, it stated the trustees "maintain effective oversight of safeguarding practice" at the school, but the overall outcome stated it did not meet all of the independent school standards [11] that were checked during this inspection.

A spokesman for the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship said a further inspection on 20-21 January identified new failures in safeguarding processes [12]....

[1/29/2020    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-51279950    This article originally appeared on January 28.]

o

For previous BBC coverage of Steiner education, see 

"BBC & SWSF".

o

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] See "Ongoing Steiner Crisis: 'Damned' School Closes", January 28, 2020 — scroll down.

[2] See, e.g., "S. A. Exeter", "RSSKL", and "Inadequate".

[3] See "Liberal school that's just too liberal: Top £10,000-a-year Steiner school is ordered to close amid child safety fears after series of damning inspections", The Daily Mail, September 3, 2017.

[4] See, e.g., "Waldorf Growth, Waldorf Decline", June 25, 2018.

[5] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[6] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education — or, to give its full name, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills. [See "Ofsted": https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted.]

[7] Gloucester is a city in southwestern England; Whaddon is a village south of Cloucester.

[8] "Inadequate" is the lowest assessment issued by Oftsed inspectors; it means a school has, overall, received a failing grade. Wynstones School was, apparently, rated inadequate primarily due to its failure to properly safeguard or protect its students. According to Ofsted, "safeguarding children" is defined as:

"• protecting children from maltreatment

"• preventing impairment of children’s health or development

"• ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

"• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes" 

[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-safeguarding-policy/ofsted-safeguarding-policy]

Understandably, Ofsted and the press have tended to emphasize safeguarding in their reports. Nothing is more essential than protecting children, after all. But Ofsted inspectors have also found many other problems at Steiner schools, ranging from poor teaching to dysfunctional management. [See, e.g., "Steiner School Crisis: An Effort to Reassure", January 27, 2020.]

[9] Whether the school will actually reopen is doubtful. Steiner/Waldorf schools are typically run by devout followers of Rudolf Steiner. These committed followers vigorously resist the closure of their institutions; they almost always fight on, even when their cause seems hopeless. [See, e.g., "RSSKL".]

[10] These two episodes were not, evidently, isolated occurrences — the inspectors found them to be part of a pattern of "serious and widespread failures."

[11] See the Department for Education's "Independent School Standards": https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/800615/Independent_School_Standards-_Guidance_070519.pdf.

Ofsted is part of the UK government's Department for Education. [For an overview of the department, see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education.]

[12] This is serious; potentially, it may spell doom. A school that has closed under pressure — whether or not it has been officially ordered to close — may be unable to reopen. 

When Ofsted finds problems at a school, it conducts additional inspections to evaluate progress — or lack of progress — by the school in implementing remedies. Failure to fix the problems can lead to a school being placed in "special measures" (emergency procedures meant to force improvement). If the problems still persist, the school may be officially ordered to close.

"What exactly does ‘special measures’ mean?

"When schools are graded inadequate, there are two possible categories they can fall into.

"Special measures is the worst of the two, the other being ‘serious weaknesses’.

"[Special measures] means that the school is failing to provide its pupils with an acceptable standard of education, and is not showing the capacity to make the improvements needed.

"Serious weaknesses schools aren’t currently providing good enough education, but inspectors feel leaders have shown they know what must be done to turn things around." — Chronicle Live, January 26, 2017 [https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/what-special-measures-mean-what-12510894].

Press reports have indicated that Ofsted may contemplate widespread closure of Steiner schools.

"Ofsted warns Steiner schools could face closure 

due to 'deep concerns' over child safety and standards

"The Education Secretary must investigate and consider shutting down Steiner schools due to 'deep concerns' they are failing to protect children and provide a decent education, the schools watchdog has said.

"In a letter to Damian Hinds, Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, warned of common weaknesses in the schools, resulting in children receiving a poor quality of education...

"Ms Spellman said six of the nine Steiner schools inspected by Ofsted were found to be 'inadequate', while the remaining three were deemed as 'requires improvement'.

"And she raised questions as to whether the failures across the schools were the 'result of the underlying principles of Steiner education'...

"She insisted the Government must 'take enforcement action to close down all inadequate Steiner schools that fail to improve rapidly'...." — inews.co.uk, January 31, 2019 [https://inews.co.uk/news/education/ofsted-calls-steiner-schools-closed-deep-concerns-142723].

Contesting an official closure order is possible, but chances of success are slim. Efforts to circumvent an official closure order (making a clever end run, or otherwise circumventing official orders) are also unlikely to succeed. [See, e.g., "RSSK 2" and "Langley Hill".]

— R.R.

JANUARY 28, 2020

ONGOING STEINER CRISIS: 

"DAMNED" SCHOOL CLOSES

Proponents of Waldorf education frequently claim that their movement is flourishing; they say it is spreading rapidly [1]. There is some truth in this proud assertion — some. But the claim overlooks a countervailing reality. The Waldorf track record includes a long litany of schools that have crashed to earth [2].

The toll of Waldorf failures in particularly marked, just now, in the United Kingdom (UK), where devastating inspection reports have knocked the props out from under several Waldorf schools — or Steiner schools, as they are usually called across the pond [3].

Here are excerpts from a report appearing today in a British newspaper, telling of a Steiner school that has closed, at least temporarily. Whether the school will be able to reopen someday, in some form, is currently unclear [4].

From The Stroud News and Journal [Glouchestershire, England]:

[Photo by Paul Nicholls]

Wynstones School closes 

following damning Ofsted report

By Leigh Boobyer

WYNSTONES School has closed following a damning Ofsted report.

The Steiner Waldorf school, which is located in Whaddon, on the outskirts of Gloucester...has been closed weeks after education watchdog Ofsted [5] found it had 'serious and widespread failures'.

Wynstones Steiner School, an independent boarding school in Whaddon, was rated 'inadequate' [6] by Ofsted in November after inspectors reported 'significant safeguarding concerns' [7].

Ofsted’s website says the school has been closed, and a spokesman for the Trustees said 'robust action' will be taken to tackle the issues with an aim to 'enable the school to re-open safely.'

'SERIOUS AND WIDESPREAD FAILURES'

An Ofsted report published in November found that untrained staff 'had restrained children on two occasions', after the school assured Ofsted that no restraints had occurred...

The report, which followed an inspection on November 27 to 29, said: "The safeguarding culture in the school is weak. Leaders, managers, staff and trustees do not protect children from harm. Statutory safeguarding guidance is not fully understood or followed.

"Leaders and managers have failed to ensure effective management of safeguarding matters.

"The arrangements to deal with welfare concerns are too fragmented. Too much work is undertaken in isolation and it is not coordinated effectively..."

At the November inspection...Ofsted said the boarding school’s strengths were providing children with 'good quality accommodation' [8], children said that it was a good school [9], and leaders and managers have a 'good understanding about private fostering arrangements' [10]...

Wynstones Steiner School teaches a range of mixed-gendered students from three to 19 years old.

[1/28/2019    https://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/18191961.wynstones-school-closed-following-damning-ofsted-report/]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] E.g., "Waldorf is among the fastest growing educational movements in the world." — The Association of Waldorf Schools in North America [https://www.waldorfeducation.org/waldorf-careers]. Waldorf websites often repeat this claim. Indeed, they are often state the claim more categorically, as in this case: "Waldorf Education is the fastest growing independent educational movement in the world." — Marin Waldorf School [http://www.marinwaldorf.org/new-page-64]. Usually, however, the claim is made without providing any evidence to support it .

[2] See, e.g., "Failure".

[3] Various designations are applied to schools that operate on the basis of Rudolf Steiner's educational doctrines: Waldorf schools, Steiner schools, Steiner-Waldorf schools, and so on. In general, the designation applied to a particular school is less telling than the degree of the faculty's devotion to Steiner and his preachments.

For coverage of the emergency confronting Steiner schools in the UK these days, see "The Steiner School Crisis".

[4] The ardent Steiner followers who typically run Steiner/Waldorf schools are unlikely to accept the closure of any of their institutions; they will almost always strive to continue promoting their spiritual-cultural crusade. So, for instance, leaders of Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley — which was closed months ago — have worked ceaselessly to reverse their school's demise. [See "RSSKL".]

[5] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education. The inspectors who have found so many faults in UK Steiner schools are, for the most part, Ofsted representatives.

[6] This is the lowest evaluation made by Ofsted — it indicates a school is failing as an educational institution.

[7] "Safeguarding" means protecting students from harm. Several UK Steiner schools have been faulted for poor safeguarding, and this issue has usually been stressed in press reports. However, the schools have also been faulted for significant problems in other areas, such as quality of teaching. [See, e.g., yesterday's report: "Steiner School Crisis: An Effort to Reassure", January 27, 2020.] Indeed, the news article in today's Stroud News and Journal suggests that the problems at Wynstones may extend beyond safeguarding: It refers to "widespread failures."

[8] As a boarding school, Wynstones must provide acceptable living arrangements for the boarding students.

[9] What the kids mean is unspecified. Children may enjoy a school even if (or perhaps in part because) it has low academic standards. Waldorf schools often place little academic pressure on students. [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf".] 

[10] A boarding school may serve, in effect, as a foster parent, filling in for a student's actual parents.

Such an arrangement may be particularly congenial for a school that seeks to fulfill Rudolf Steiner's stated intention that Waldorf teachers should replace parents as the most important adults in children's lives. [See, e.g., "A New Blog Opens Eyes", January 24, 2020.]

— R.R.

JANUARY 27, 2020

STEINER SCHOOL CRISIS: 

AN EFFORT TO REASSURE 

In an ongoing drama that may have grave implications for the Waldorf school movement worldwide, Steiner schools in the United Kingdom (UK) have been taking a beating. A dire atmosphere has been churned up as government inspectors unearthed severe and evidently systemic failings in many of these schools. Some UK Steiner schools have closed or are trembling on the brink; others are struggling to make changes that may appease the inspectors; and some have grasped a dubious lifeline thrown to them by an organization that specializes in running Hindu schools. [1]

The Avanti Schools Trust [2], which operates seven "Hindu faith" schools in the UK, has taken charge of Steiner schools in Bristol, Exeter, and Frome [3]. Faculty and trustees at these schools evidently hoped Avanti would shield the schools while enabling them to continue operating more or less as they had done previously: as committed Steiner schools. But Avanti evidently has other plans. The price exacted by Avanti may mean changing these schools beyond recognition. In brief: The "saved" Steiner schools may become something quite different from genuine, Anthroposophy-based Steiner institutions [4].

An article today at DevonLive [Devonshire, UK] reports on the situation at the "saved" Steiner school in Exeter. Here are excerpts:

Former Steiner school reassures parents 

after pupil losses following takeover 

By Anita Merritt

Reassurances have been given to parents whose children remain at Exeter’s former Steiner School after an unknown number of children have moved to other schools following its takeover.

Last June it was announced the school, which was rated ‘inadequate’ [5] in October 2018 after serious failings were highlighted, was being taken over by Avanti Schools Trust (AST) and it would no longer be run with a Steiner ethos [6].

Avanti is running a curriculum review to determine what influence, if any, the Waldorf principles which underpin Steiner education will have. It is due to be completed in March.

In the meantime, an unconfirmed number of pupils and staff have left the school, prompting its new acting principal Jason Wood to write to concerned parents [7]...

In the letter he said: "Uncertainty can create a range of negative emotions and thoughts and anxieties can be transmitted collectively. Thank you to the parents who have contacted me to express their concern...

"We too are concerned that some of our community of parents and students has left, but we respect their decisions and wish them all the best...

"I hope the [curriculum review] process inspires you and all our parents, staff and students that we can create together, a unique and rich curriculum [8]....”

ATS [sic: AST] has taken over three state Steiner academies in the south west – Exeter, Bristol and Frome – after all three were placed in special measures by Ofsted [9].

The trust said it would change the names of the schools to remove any reference to Steiner, and is reviewing a previous suggestion that the new names carry the tagline 'inspired by Waldorf principles'. This will be decided after the curriculum review is complete...

The former Steiner school [in Exeter] was shut down for more than a week following a visit from inspectors in October 2018 who discovered a catalogue of failings at the school including leadership being 'dysfunctional at every level', kindergarten pupils being physically restrained by teachers, and a lack of support for vulnerable children.

Its Ofsted inspection highlighted serious inadequacies in leadership, quality of teaching and safeguarding. The school was found to be 'inadequate' in every area inspected [10].

Other concerns raised by the watchdog included teachers being subjected to regular physical assaults by pupils, the needs of children with special educational needs not being met and a lack of evidence that safeguarding checks have been made when employing new members of staff....

[1/27/2020    https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/former-steiner-school-reassures-parents-3776370]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[2] Avanti's website is https://avanti.org.uk.

[3] See "Inadequate: Bristol, Frome, and..."

[4] See "Avanti and Steiner — How Far Will They Go?", October 24, 2019 — scroll down to this article.

[5] "Inadequate" is the lowest grade assigned by official UK education inspectors — it is a failing grade.

[6] At least some Steiner representatives seem to have been surprised by Avanti's professed intention to change the Steiner schools significantly. [See "Changed Steiner Schools — No Longer Steiner at All?", October 23, 2019.]

[7] The number of departures is not stated, but it has evidently been large enough to trigger widespread concern.

[8] Full-bore Steiner schools generally adhere closely to the standard Steiner/Waldorf curriculum. [See "The Waldorf Curriculum".] If the "saved" Steiner school In Exeter winds up with a significantly changed curriculum, it may indeed no longer be a genuine Steiner school.

[9] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education. The inspectors who have found fault with many Steiner schools are Ofsted officials. "Special measures" are emergency steps instituted with the goal of making rapid improvements at failing schools.

[10] The school was thus found to be failing in virtually every way a school could possibly fail: The school's management ("leadership") was inadequate, the teaching was inadequate, and the protection of students ("safeguarding") was inadequate.

— R.R.

Anthroposophical medicine — a form of alternative medicine [1] — is often practiced in and around Waldorf schools [2]. Stemming from Rudolf Steiner's occult preachments, Anthroposophic medicine often veers from good practice and, indeed, good sense [3].

Here are a few samples of Steiner's medical wisdom:

◊ Imaginary bodies: “With pneumonia, the cause is always in the astral body [a nonphysical body that incarnates at the time of puberty]; pneumonia can occur in no other way.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE TEMPLE LEGEND (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1997), p. 60.

◊ Astrological influences: “We must ask ourselves: In what constellation were we living when in the nineties [i.e., 1890s] the present influenza epidemic appeared in its benign form? In what cosmic constellation are we living at the present moment? By virtue of what cosmic rhythm does the influenza epidemic of the nineties appear in a more acute form today?" — Rudolf Steiner, FROM SYMPTOM TO REALITY IN MODERN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1976), p. 89.

◊ Numerology: "Five is the number of evil ... When, one day, medicine will make use of this, it will be able to influence beneficially the course of illness. Part of the treatment would be to study the illness in its development on the first and fifth days after its onset, on the separate days at the fifth hour past midnight, and again during the fifth week. Thus it is always the number five that determines when the physician can best intervene." — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SIGNS AND SYMBOLS (Anthroposophic Press, 1974), p. 42.

◊ Phrenology: “When a person becomes afflicted with shrunken kidneys, which can occur when the kidneys' activity is deficient, you can see an indentation here on the head ... You can see in every person who has kidney disease this indentation in the head." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM COMETS TO COCAINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2001), p. 241.

◊ Think your way to stronger bones: “The ashes that a thought leaves [4] strengthen bones, and so people with rickets do better if they think abstractly.” — Rudolf Steiner, FROM THE CONTENT OF ESOTERIC CLASSES (transcript, Rudolf Steiner Archive), GA 266, 3-14-08. (If that statement doesn't suit you, try this: “Rickets in children can be improved through appropriate geometric study." — Rudolf Steiner, ESOTERIC LESSONS 1904-1909 (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 291. [5])

And so on.

o

CHARLIE HEBDO is a popular and influential French satiric magazine [6]. In its current issue, the magazine aims its satirical fire at Anthroposophic medicine. Here are extended excerpts:

SCIENCE

Esotericism taught at Strasbourg University

By Antonio Fischetti

The University of Strasbourg provides training in Anthroposophic medicine. Based on esoteric, foggy concepts, this creed leads, among other things, to the treatment of cancer with injections of fermented mistletoe. [Such medicine is] a dangerous infiltration of occult spiritualism into what should be a temple of rational thought.

There are all sorts of weird ways to medicate yourself. Some people ingest granules derived from skunk bladder liquid; others prefer pumpkin poultices; still others prefer yogurt laced with bee sperm. We are accustomed to seeing pseudo-therapies of this kind pushed by more or less loony groups. But when such therapies are spread by public universities, the situation is much more worrisome. And yet, as part of its continuing education offerings, the University of Strasbourg offers courses in Anthroposophic medicine...

To shed some light on this dark tunnel, let's get to know Anthroposophy [7]. It is an esoteric and spiritual doctrine developed by the Austrian Rudolf Steiner at the beginning of the 20th century [8]. It claims to be a "wisdom of man" — the etymological meaning of the word — that is close to nature. But Anthroposophy is not only a theory, it also has very concrete applications, for example in education (with the famous Steiner schools, regularly singled out for their sectarian aberrations [9]) or agriculture (biodynamics, based on mysterious astrological influences [10]).

"Sickness is a blessing"

...[T]o penetrate Anthroposophical claptrap, let's listen to Grégoire Perra, one of the fiercest opponents of this movement. He knows what he's talking about, because his parents placed him in a Steiner school when he was a kid and he taught in one of these schools for a long time, before finally distancing himself from Anthroposophy. Since then, he has ferociously denounced this pseudo-wisdom (his denunciations led Anthroposophists to file several lawsuits against him, along with a smear campaign on social networks) [11]. In short, then, as reported by Grégoire Perra: "Anthroposophists say women should not cut their hair too short, as this would aggravate their aggressiveness. And freckles are a sign that you were an idiot in your previous life. And we shouldn't wash ourselves too much, since this would wear out our etheric powers [12]..."

What can Anthroposophical rantings produce in the medical field? As you might expect, conventional drugs are banned — not officially banned, but banned in practice. Patients who believe in Anthroposophical medicine often do not seek treatment, or they treat themselves. Anthroposophical doctors indeed believe in the forces of self-healing, which means disease should not be attacked in the classic sense, intervening to eliminate an illness.

In Anthroposophy, illness is seen as a divine endowment linked to karma [13]. If you fall ill, you should see the disease as a "blessing" that will help you to overcome your sins [14]. Preventing illness from expressing itself hinders the karmic process and increases your risk of having even more serious problems in a future life [15]. For Anthroposophists, continues Grégoire Perra, a disease allows "a form of improvement of one's deep being. The Anthroposophical doctor does not so much seek to cure his patient of his illnesses as to allow him a kind of salvation through the elevation of his soul."

Hence, it is not surprising that vaccination is unpopular in the Anthroposophical community. Officially, Anthroposophical doctors are not completely opposed vaccination, but Grégoire Perra pierces through this facade: "They say they are no longer opposed to vaccination, but in practice I have seen them make false vaccination certificates [16]." By the same logic, antibiotics are also banned, because they would hinder karma, and "as far as possible, surgery should also be avoided". Anthroposophical doctors, however, may practice homeopathy [17]...

Mistletoe to cure cancer

Grégoire Perra suffered from bruxism, a disorder that causes grinding of the teeth during sleep: "I went to see an Anthroposophical dentist, and he told me to massage my calves every night, because teeth are reincarnations of the feet and legs." During his years in Anthrosophy, Grégoire Perra saw all sorts of crazy prescriptions being made. For example, one doctor "told a person suffering from severe depression to eat salads specially crushed with a machine from Germany"... Or another doctor who, in order to treat a child with a severe ear infection, told him to "put fried onions in his ear".

For more serious cases, such as cancer, Anthroposophists have a miracle cure: mistletoe. To be precise, they rely on extracts of fermented white mistletoe that are injected near tumours. Why mistletoe? ... In Anthroposophical belief...the human being has a "physical body" — that's fine — but above that, an "etheric body" associated with the plant kingdom... and also "astral body" associated with the animal kingdom ... And mistletoe is both a vegetable being and an animal being...which is why it would help to fight cancer [18] ... Here we are confronted with full-out occult nonsense...

[T]he problem with this kind of therapy is that it often diverts patients from real treatments. "In addition to" quickly becomes "instead of" ... [S]ays Grégoire Perra: "When they are criticized, Anthroposophical doctors say that they only provide a complement [to conventional medicine]. But with their patients, they may suggest that Anthroposophical treatments can be enough..."

[M]edicine...must follow a rational approach based on solid evidence. The fact that a university offers courses in Anthroposophic medicine causes the line between reason and magical thinking to blur. There is no need for this, especially in the present context, when rational thinking is increasingly under attack from obscurantist delusions.

[1/25/2020    https://charliehebdo.fr/2020/01/sciences/esoterisme-enseigne-fac-strasbourg/    This article originally appeared on January 24. Translated by Roger Rawlings, leaning heavily on DeepL Translator.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] Alternative medicine is often dubbed "so-called alternative medicine," a tag that yields the acronym "SCAM". [See, e.g., "2010-2019, a decade in so-called alternative medicine (SCAM)", Skeptics Amalgamated.]

[2] See, e.g., A WALDORF GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH (Floris Books, 2018).

[3] See "Steiner's Quackery".

[4] I.e., the physical residue produced by a thought. (But here's a thought: What Steiner says here is pure bunk.)

[5] Steiner had great faith in geometry. Thus, for instance: 

 “Basic geometric concepts awaken clairvoyant abilities.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOURTH DIMENSION: Sacred Geometry, Alchemy, and Mathematics (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 92.

[6] See, e.g., "Charlie Hebdo".

[7] See "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE) — scroll down.

[8] See "What a Guy".

[9] See "Waldorf schools" in the BWSE. Also see, e.g., "He Went to Waldorf".

[10] See "Biodynamics - Or Fill Those Cow Horns".

[11] See "Grégoire Perra". For Perra's life story, see "My Life Among the Anthroposophists".

[12] See "etheric force(s)", "etheric man", "etheric senses", etc., in the BWSE.

[13] Belief in karma is integral to Anthroposophy. [See "Karma".]

[14] For Steiner's teachings on sin, see "Sin".

[15] Belief in reincarnation is integral to Anthroposophy. [See "Reincarnation".] Steiner taught that if you do not undergo a needed disease in one life, you will need to undergo it — or something similar, possibly worse — in a future life. [See "Steiner's Quackery".]

[16] I.e., when vaccinations are required, Perra alleges, Anthroposophical doctors may refuse to comply. Instead, they may issue false documentation indicating that a patient has been vaccinated when, in fact, s/he has not.

[17] Steiner affirmed homeopathy in some, but by no means all, cases. 

"Many illnesses cannot be cured homeopathically, many must be cured allopathically. Remedies must be prepared differently ... [T]he allopath works principally on the stomach, intestines, kidneys; there he is successful. Homeopathy is successful when the source of the illness is in the head, as in influenza. Many illnesses have their origin in the head." — Rudolf Steiner, COSMIC WORKINGS IN EARTH AND MAN (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1952), lecture 2 [https://wn.rsarchive.org/GA/GA0349/19230217p01.html].

In homeopathy, patients are treated with potions that are so extremely diluted that, physically, they are nothing but water. Precious few illnesses — in the head or elsewhere — can be cured with water alone.

Allopathy is essentially conventional medicine, using drugs that counteract a patient's symptoms. But, contrary to Steiner's assertions, allopathic doctors do not focus predominantly on ailments in the "stomach, intestines, kidneys." 

[18] Mistletoe's extraordinary properties may perhaps be attributed to its extraterrestrial origins.

“[M]istletoe does not belong to our earth, it is alien." — Rudolf Steiner, THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN (Anthroposophic Press, 1993), p. 99.

— R.R.

JANUARY 24, 2020

A NEW BLOG 

OPENING EYES 

From time to time, individuals who became ensnared in Waldorf schools and/or Anthroposophical communities have created blogs on which they recount their experiences [1]. A new blog of this type, written by "Marianne Dubois," has now appeared in France. The author has posted some introductory material, and she has promised to add further installments in coming weeks. The resulting chronicle may reward careful study [2].

Here is how Grégoire Perra — one of Europe's leading Waldorf critics — describes the new blog on his own site, La Vérité sur les écoles Steiner-Waldorf {The Truth About Waldorf-Steiner Schools}:

Marianne Dubois is a young mother who had enrolled her son in a Steiner-Waldorf school. She reports being told the following by her son after he had received a few weeks of Steiner schooling: "Mom, I have to stop loving you!" This statement reveals a lot about an aberrant sectarian movement [3] that seeks to break family ties as soon as possible in order to create other ties, artificial and destructive [4]. But Marianne's story does not stop there: She found herself trapped in an entire village of Anthroposophists, from which she escaped only with great difficulty...

Indeed, there are currently village communes in many places in France where Anthroposophists reign as lords and masters [5], a mastery they achieve under the guise of creating eco-villages conforming to the spirit of the times...

For those who settle in communes where Anthroposophy prevails — to the point of becoming slyly omnipresent and hegemonic — there is a gradual realization that they are dealing with something strange and unhealthy. But if they dare to make a few criticisms or alert the authorities when they witness suspicious events, life can quickly become hell for them or even turn out to be physically dangerous.

Marianne Dubois is one of those people who found themselves in such places and who courageously assumed their civic responsibilities, sometimes paying a high price for this audacity, but refusing to lower their eyes and submit...

Let us specify here that "Marianne Dubois" [6] is a pseudonym. Anthroposophists will waste their time if tomorrow morning they start activating their networks to seek out and harass every Marianne Dubois on Earth. Anthroposophists took such action when they believed they could identify an individual in one of my articles, although I had taken care to modify certain information so that this individual would not be recognized or frightened. Despite my efforts, however, one of my former classmates — who had done nothing — was contacted by the agents of the Waldorf School Federation in France. As in a bad spy film, these agents abused an innocent party without even realizing it, proud of having been able to identify and brandish what they called false testimony on my part, when in fact I had simply employed an elementary protective measure.

[1/24/2020    Le témoignage de Marianne Dubois sur Arte    This item was originally posted on January 19. Translation by Roger Rawlings, leaning heavily on Google Translate, https://translate.google.com.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] See e.g., "Waldorf Education — One Family's story", http://sylviaashton.tripod.com/waldorfeducation/.

[2] See "Rituels d'ascension" {Ascension Rituals}, https://mariannedubois.wordpress.com.

The blog is written in French, which can be an obstacle to us in the English-speaking world. However, free Internet services can produce roughly accurate translations. See, e.g., Google Translate, https://translate.google.com, DeepL Translator, https://www.deepl.com/translator, and Microsoft Translator, https://www.bing.com/translator. Cut and past text onto these pages, a few paragraphs at a time.

The same process can be used to unravel the mysteries of Perra's website, https://veritesteiner.wordpress.com, which is also written in French.

[3] Rudolf Steiner said Waldorf teachers should supplant students' parents as the most important adults in the students' lives. Waldorf teachers should aim to offset the influence of the parents, he said:

"You [Waldorf teachers] 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. 

Steiner also said that, ideally, Waldorf teachers would take control of children almost immediately after the infants emerge from the womb:

"[I]t 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.

Unfortunately, Steiner implied, this is not possible in the normal scheme of things.

[4] Critics often allege that Anthroposophy is a cult. Anthroposophists vehemently deny the charge, but the experiences of newcomers who enter Anthroposophical circles tend to substantiate it. Here, for instance, are excerpts from a report by a new teacher who, taking a job at a Waldorf school, lodged with one of the established teachers at the school:

"...As I was walking in with my first box of things my new housemate confronted me about my belongings. She was upset that I had so many books and made it clear that I had to keep them locked away in my bedroom!  After that first encounter everything I did seemed to be horrible in her eyes. She didn’t like the medicine I took; it was made in a lab. I needed to go to anthroposophical doctor and use only natural medicines. She didn’t like the clothes that I wore; they weren’t all cotton and dyed with natural dyes. She didn’t like me talking on the phone even though it was in the kitchen and belonged to the house; the phone was a tool of [the devil] Ahriman...

"...[T]here were teacher gatherings and study groups at our house often ... [A]ll the teachers were passionate and really believed in what they were doing ... For many of the teachers, the only science or history they knew were what they learned in their Waldorf teacher training courses. Then came the statement that clarified all their misinformation for me. I was told, 'Steiner had exceptional powers, he saw the future, he knew the truth. If you truly need to learn, you need to study and follow Steiner. Steiner is all anyone ever needs to know'...

"[P]arents should be told that their children will be taught religious beliefs while they are in a Waldorf school. They need to know what these religious beliefs are, and they need to know that they will take precedence over their child’s individual needs and interests. Parents also need to know that their children will not be academically on par with many of their peers unless they take to breaking with Waldorf guidelines and teach them academics at home [emphasis by the author]." — See "Ex-Teacher 5", https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/ex-teacher-5.

For more on the religious nature of Anthroposophy, see "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?", https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/is-anthroposophy-a-religion. To examine whether religious beliefs — specifically, Anthroposophical religious beliefs — are conveyed to Waldorf students, see, e.g., "Schools as Churches", https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/schools-as-churches, and "Waldorf's Spiritual Agenda", https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/spiritual-agenda.

[5] Anthroposophical hamlets — sometimes centered around Waldorf schools — have been established in various nations. Often, these settlements are called "Camphill communities." [See "Camphill" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia — scroll down.]

For a first-person account of being raised in Camphill communities, see "Growing Up Being Made Sick by Anthroposophy", http://www.waldorfcritics.org/articles/Smith-Hald.html. 

For Grégoire Perra's account of his own experiences at a Camphill settlement, see the section "Camphill Summer" in "My Life Among the Anthroposophists", https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/my-life-among-them.

[6] Ideally, all individuals who report about their experiences in Waldorf schools or other Anthroposophical organizations should give their actual names. Credibility is diminished when pseudonyms are used. However, as Perra indicates, Anthroposophists have sometimes hounded their critics, denouncing them in the most vituperative terms and harassing them in various painful ways. For this reason, the use of pseudonyms sometimes becomes an understandable precaution. [See, e.g., "Coming Undone", https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/coming-undone.]

— R.R.

JANUARY 21, 2020

SAVING CHILDREN FROM

JUST WHAT, PRECISELY?

Ahriman, as depicted by Rudolf Steiner.

[Public domain photo; color added.]

Waldorf school frequently have "media policies" meant to minimize students' use of technological devices such as computers, smartphones, televisions, and so forth. The strictures extend from school to the home — students are supposed to stay unplugged most of the time, during school hours and elsewhen [1].

Often, the rationale for such policies is presented in plausible, mild-manner terms. And, often, presentations of this rationale make reference to published reports describing the harm high-tech gizmos may inflict on children. So, for instance, a Waldorf school in Massachussetts, USA, has posted the following statement (ironically or otherwise, the statement appears on the Internet):

Our Screen-Free Approach 

We are often asked why we don’t use computers for instruction...and why we recommend a screen-free life for our students at home ... 

Technology can be a wonderful tool, which is why our middle school students learn to touch-type and use the Internet for research. However, the promise of technology in education has fallen far short of its aims — while study after study warns of the harm technology and media use pose for children, particularly during the early years of critical brain development....

[Downloaded 1/21/2020    Waldorf School of Lexington, https://thewaldorfschool.org/media]

Waldorf media policies derive, ultimately, from fears Rudolf Steiner expressed concerning modern technology. Strikingly, Steiner drew a connection between technological devices and fearsome spirits including demons. (Steiner lived in the late 19th and early 20th century — he died in 1925 — so his understanding of "modern" technology was confined to devices such as steam engines. But even these relatively simple gadgets worried him.)

“When we build steam-engines, we provide the opportunity for the incarnation of demons ... In the steam-engine, Ahrimanic demons [2] are actually brought to the point of physical embodiment.” — Rudolf Steiner, “The Relation of Man to the Hierarchies” (ANTHROPOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT, Vol. V, Nos. 14-15, 1928).

In the years since Steiner's death, his followers — confronted with far more sophisticated tech devices — have extended his warnings to these devices. 

◊ "[W]hat has been said here about the steam engine applies in a much greater degree to the technology of our time ... [T]elevision, for example. The result is that the demon magic spoken of by Rudolf Steiner is spreading more and more intensively on all sides ... [T]he most varied opportunities for a virtual incarnation of elemental beings [3] and demons are constantly on the increase." — Anthroposophist Georg Unger, “On ‘Mechanical Occultism’” (Mitteilungen aus der Anthroposophischen Arbeit in Deutschland nos. 68–69, 1964).

◊ "[I]nformation and computing technologies [spread] evil over the Earth in an immense spider's web. And fallen spirits of darkness [4]...are active in this web.” — Anthroposophist Richard Seddon, THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND (Temple Lodge Publishing, 1996), p. 24.

◊ "When we consider computer technology, it is apparent...that we are dealing with an externalized ahrimanic doppelgänger [5] ... The computer is a cold machine with a very high level of intelligence and an uncompromising will ... Those who will seek to introduce the Antichrist [6] as the Christ are...seeking to exploit electricity and the Earth's magnetism in order to generate [evil] effects throughout the world." — Anthroposophist Andreas Neider in the introduction to a collection of Steiner lectures, THE ELECTRONIC DOPPELGÄNGER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2016), pp. 8-18.

Perhaps we should bring this discussion back down into some semblance of reality. There have certainly been many articles published in recent years warning that children spend too much time staring into electronic screens and roaming through the mazes of the Internet. But the concerns that have been expressed (even those that avoid references to demons and elemental beings) have very likely been overblown.

Here are excerpts from an article published in The New York Times this week. It deals with the handheld computers known as smartphones:

Panicking About Your Kids’ Phones? 

New Research Says Don’t 

A growing number of academics are challenging assumptions 

about the negative effects of social media and smartphones on children. 

By Nathaniel Popper

It has become common wisdom that too much time spent on smartphones and social media is responsible for a recent spike in anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, especially among teenagers.

But a growing number of academic researchers have produced studies that suggest the common wisdom is wrong.

The latest research, published on Friday by two psychology professors, combs through about 40 studies that have examined the link between social media use and both depression and anxiety among adolescents. That link, according to the professors, is small and inconsistent.

“There doesn’t seem to be an evidence base that would explain the level of panic and consternation around these issues,” said Candice L. Odgers, a professor at the University of California, Irvine...

The new article by Ms. Odgers and Michaeline R. Jensen of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro comes just a few weeks after the publication of an analysis by Amy Orben, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, and shortly before the planned publication of similar work from Jeff Hancock, the founder of the Stanford Social Media Lab. Both reached similar conclusions.

“The current dominant discourse around [smart]phones and well-being is a lot of hype and a lot of fear,” Mr. Hancock said. “But if you compare the effects of your phone to eating properly or sleeping or smoking, it’s not even close.”

Mr. Hancock’s analysis of about 226 studies on the well-being of phone users concluded that “when you look at all these different kinds of well-being, the net effect size is essentially zero”....

[1/21/2020    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/technology/kids-smartphones-depression.html    This article originally appeared on January 17.]

The belief system at the root of Waldorf education, Anthroposophy [7], is in many ways backward-looking. It generally finds more "wisdom" in the beliefs of ancient peoples than in modern science and scholarship [8]. Steiner's followers will grab hold of any contemporary work that can be interpreted as supporting their beliefs, but they generally ignore the vast array of modern scholarship that tends to refute those beliefs [9].

The worries Waldorf teachers express about modern inventions are, in all likelihood, baseless. This would seem to be so even though most modern inventions run on electricity, which Steiner feared down to his toes.

"[E]vil will invade the earth by coming in an immediate way out of the forces of electricity.” — Rudolf Steiner, “The Overcoming of Evil”, ANTHROPOSOPHIC NEWS SHEET No. 7/8 (General Anthroposophic Society, 1948), GA 273.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] See "media policies" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE) — scroll down.

[2] In Anthroposophy, Ahriman is a major demon. [See "Ahriman".] Ahrimanic demons are Ahriman himself and the minor demons who work on his behalf.

[3] In Anthroposophy, these are "nature spirits" — incorporeal beings who dwell within the four elements of nature (earth, air, water, and fire). The elemental beings within the "element" of earth, for instance, are gnomes, aka goblins. [See "Neutered Nature".] (Note that Steiner affirmed the ancient belief that there are really just four elements. This is just one indication of the backwardness of Anthroposophical teachings.)

[4] I.e., fallen angels, demons. [See "Spirits of Darkness" in the BWSE.]

[5] i.e., an incarnated double of Ahriman. [See "doppelgänger" in the BWSE. Also see "Today 6".]

[6] According to some Christian teachings, the Antichrist is the spiritual opposite — and personal opponent — of Christ; the Antichrist is prophesied to will appear at the end of the world. In Anthroposophy, Ahriman is sometimes seen as the Antichrist, although Steiner generally assigned this role to a different dark spirit: Sorat. [See "Bad, Badder, Baddest".]

[7] See "Anthroposophy" in the BWSE.

[8] See, e.g., "The Ancients" and "Materialism U."

[9] E.g., "We [Anthroposophists and Waldorf teachers] certainly have no difficulty in rejecting most of the world's recognized authorities, along with the orthodoxies of politics, economics, medicine, science, art, agriculture and education that they represent — except when they just happen to fit in with something that we are pushing. As a group we believe that we have access to knowledge [i.e., Anthroposophy] that puts us in a superior position, and the tendency to let this feeling of superiority show is one of the most off-putting features of the anthroposophical personality." — Keith Francis, THE EDUCATION OF A WALDORF TEACHER (iUniverse, 2004), pp. 60-61. [See "His Education".]

— R.R.

JANUARY 19, 2020 

GETTING GOODISH PRESS: 

STEINER IN THE TIMES 

Two articles in today's Sunday Times [London, UK] include positive references to Steiner schools. Both articles are by the same reporter, and both deal with an array of independent schools in Scotland — including Steiner schools (otherwise known as Waldorf schools). Here are excerpts:

1.

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Bring the curtain down on career blues

Education imbues pupils with confidence on their 

future prospects — and helps them find their forte

[By] Gabriella Bennett

It is common for students to feel unsure about their plans after school ends...

A good starting point is for children to contemplate their interests and skills, then build on these with the help of staff who can highlight opportunities within appropriate industries...

A broad curriculum means more chance to test the waters with subjects students may not have originally considered...

A broad curriculum is...in operation at the Edinburgh Steiner School. Its main lesson programme, which underpins a Steiner education, offers more than 100 “topic blocks”, where subjects such as architecture, geology and surveying are studied for two hours a day over four weeks....

[1/19/2020    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/bring-the-curtain-down-on-career-blues-737bc5sfl]

Waldorf Watch Response

"Main lessons" constitute a major component in the Waldorf approach [1]. But they were not instituted to assist students in selecting a career. Instead, they are a response to Rudolf Steiner's tenet that education should be rhythmical [2]. So, as The Times' article indicates, subjects are presented in intensive but brief "blocks": A subject such as geology is studied for up to two hours every morning for a few weeks (usually three or four weeks), and then that subject is dropped for many months [3]. Later, the subject may arise again for another intensive but brief period.

One advantage to this arrangement is that students are exposed to a wide variety of subjects, as the Times indicates. Also, boredom is potentially alleviated because no subject dominates for long: If some students dislike geology, they need endure it for only a few weeks before it is replaced by a wholly different subject (ancient history, perhaps, or chemistry, or...).

One disadvantage to this arrangement is that students may not master any of the subjects studied in these blocks. A subject arises; perhaps it ignites a child's interest; and then — hey, presto — it vanishes. The child never gets to dig deeply into the subject or to spend the time needed to truly comprehend it.

A related disadvantage is that children may be deprived of the opportunity to advance to higher levels of work. A child may learn a little about geology in, say, sixth grade. But thereafter s/he is exposed to many other subjects in rapid succession, with geology fading from memory. Many months later, when geology is presented again, the child may need to start virtually from scratch again, having forgotten much or perhaps all of the material covered previously.

2.

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Doing a number on maths

Showing how figures and equations relate 

to real life helps to break down barriers to learning

[By] Gabriella Bennett

Fear, rage and despair are just three emotions felt by children as young as six as a result of mathematics anxiety, according to a recent study...

[A] new way of tackling maths in the classroom is being ushered in...

Showing how maths exists [sic] in everyday scenarios — such as splitting a bill in a restaurant, or measuring a wall to find out how much paint a decorator needs — exemplifies to pupils that numbers and figures relate to real life [4]...

Role play connects students at the Edinburgh Steiner School with the world of numbers. Bringing maths to life with games, lively conversation and — crucially — the imagination is at the heart of the Steiner approach.

“The kindergarten experience integrates mathematical concepts through the preparation of food and setting the table, providing an opportunity to weigh, measure, count and use numbers,” says Sarah Miller, communications executive of the school. “An eight-year-old acts out the part of a ‘minus gnome’ from the story told by the teacher. Aged 11, pupils are given £1 to start a fundraising business project, writing a business plan and selling the handmade items on a stall. At 13, pupils sculpt a hexagon in clay, deepening their work on geometric solids”....

[1/19/2020    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/doing-a-number-on-maths-l63kchppx]

Waldorf Watch Response

Helping kids overcome math anxiety is surely a worthwhile goal. For many children, aversion to math is a major problem — it can cause kids to drop out fo school even when they are doing well in their other subjects.

So finding ways to make math fun or at least comprehensible is highly desirable. But, of course, care must be exercised: Schools need to adopt strategies that are not only enjoyable but that actually teach mathematical concepts and operations. A math class that is fun but intellectually barren does kids no good in the long run. Thus, sculpting a polygon may be fun, but doing so may not teach kids more about these forms than they can gather by studying pictures or models presented in a traditional math class. Likewise, a child may certainly enjoy play-acting the part of a gnome to accompany a story told by a teacher, but unless that story includes actual, specific mathematical instruction, little if anything in the way of real math learning will be achieved.

There are also deeper reasons to worry about the Waldorf approach as described by The Times. Consider the emphasis on imagination, for instance. Imagination is indeed "at the heart of the Steiner approach." But it is imagination of a particular kind. Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner taught that imagination is a precursor to, or even an initial stage of, clairvoyance [5]. Steiner claimed to be clairvoyant, and he said that most Waldorf teachers are also clairvoyant or they at least accept the reports of their colleagues who are clairvoyant [6]. In emphasizing imagination, Waldorf schools do not overtly try to foster clairvoyance in the students, but they nudge the students in that direction [7].

Then again, consider gnomes. Amazing as it may seem, Rudolf Steiner taught that gnomes are real — they really exist [8]. Figures of gnomes are frequently found in Waldorf classrooms precisely because these cute little creatures represent an article of faith in the Waldorf religion, Anthroposophy [9]. Waldorf schools rarely teach Anthroposophical doctrines overtly to their students — but they often sneak Anthroposophy into class indirectly [10]. Indeed, Waldorf education may accurately be described as a form of covert, subtle indoctrination in Anthroposophical beliefs and practices [11].

Thus, The Times's account of math instruction in Steiner schools raises several concerns. Whether Steiner schools teach math well is by no means the most troubling of these concerns [12].

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] See "main lesson" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE) — scroll down.

[2] See "rhythm" in the BWSE.

[3] See "block teaching" in the BWSE.

[4] Such exercises hardly represent "a new way of tackling maths in the classroom". Such exercises have been commonplace in math textbooks for a great many years.

[5] See "imagination" in the BWSE.

[6] 

"Not every Waldorf teacher has the gift of clairvoyance, but every one of them has accepted wholeheartedly and with full understanding the results of spiritual-scientific [i.e., clairvoyant] investigation concerning the human being." — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 2 (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), pp. 224-225. [See "The Waldorf Teacher's Consciousness".]

[7] The problem in all this, of course, is that clairvoyance is a delusion — it does not exist. [See "Clairvoyance".]

[8] See "Gnomes".

[9] For an overview of this religion, see "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".

[10] See "Sneaking It In".

[11] See "Indoctrination".

[12] Quite understandably, reporters — even reporters for prestigious news operations such as The Times — are often uninformed about the real but hidden nature of Waldorf schools. Steiner and his followers have long emphasized the need to maintain secrecy when dealing with outsiders. [See "Secrets".]

— R.R.

JANUARY 16, 2020

◊ NEWS BRIEFS ◊

1.

From the Daily Herald [Provo, Utah, USA]:

Work begins on nature- and arts-based 

Saratoga Springs charter school

By Braley Dodson

Utah County’s first Waldorf charter school [1] is starting to become a reality.

Mountain Sunrise Academy’s leaders celebrated the future Saratoga Springs school’s groundbreaking Saturday several months before the school is scheduled to open this fall, and a couple of weeks before it will hold an enrollment lottery...

Mountain Sunrise Academy will undergo a multiyear accreditation process to become recognized as a Waldolf [sic] school, utilizing a century-old educational model [2]....

[1/16/2020    https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/saratoga-springs/work-begins-on-nature--and-arts-based-saratoga-springs/article_65f00050-69f6-5a93-a5f4-d22029558b4f.html    This article originally appeared on January 13.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] Charter schools are, in effect, private schools that is funded by the government or by taxpayers. Formally operating within the public school system, charter schools follow their own curriculums using their own methods. (The degree of latitude afforded charter schools varies from one jurisdiction to another.)

[2] The first Waldorf school opened in 1919. The century-old model referred to is, of course, the Waldorf model. Some Waldorf-style charter schools may follow the Waldorf model only loosely, but those that receive Waldorf accreditation are tightly bound to the Waldorf movement.

2.

From the Napa County Register [California, USA]:

Napa school district proposes moving 

Stone Bridge charter school 

to Mt. George campus

[By] Howard Yune

A Napa County charter school that has sought a new home for years may find it at another school slated to close this summer.

Tuesday afternoon, the Napa Valley Unified School District announced it would offer the Stone Bridge School the chance to move into the Mt. George Elementary campus starting in August...

Since the 2014 quake exposed the vulnerability of Stone Bridge’s Carneros site [1], attempts to move the academy to the Yountville school or a new site at Old Sonoma Road have fizzled. The search has been complicated by Stone Bridge’s unique needs as a Waldorf school following a low-technology curriculum [2] heavy on hands-on learning, which in Carneros has included programs like an on-site farm for students to raise chickens and produce [3] – a feature difficult to copy in an urbanized area....

[1/16/202    https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-school-district-proposes-moving-stone-bridge-charter-school-to/article_05282f88-6ca6-51de-be7b-6e4ff4574242.html    This article originally appeared on January 14.]

[1] California is subject to frequent earthquakes. Stone Bridge School currently stands near an earthquake fault and a pipeline carrying natural gas.

[2] Waldorf schools are generally averse to modern technology as embodied, for instance, in televisions, computers, and other electronic devices. [See "Spiders, Dragons and Foxes".]

[3] Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner devised a form of organic agriculture called biodynamics. [See "Biodynamics".] Waldorf schools often have biodynamic gardens on their grounds; students are often required to work in these gardens.

3.

From Seven Days [Burlington, Vermont, USA]:

A Cult Awareness Educator Helps Survivors 

by Sharing Her Own Cautionary Tale 

By KEN PICARD

[C]ult awareness educator Gerette Buglion [is a] writer and teacher who works with former cult members and their families and friends to help them process their experiences...

Buglion speaks and writes about cults from firsthand experience. Beginning in the 1990s, she and [her husband], a licensed mental health counselor, spent more than a decade in a Vermont-based cult. The group, she said, "slowly eroded my capacity for independent thought, emotional security and spiritual freedom."

Buglion, 58, is a Long Island native [1] ... A Waldorf school teacher for 18 years, she and her husband discovered the Vermont-based group, which she refers to as the "Center for Transformational Learning," led by a teacher she calls "Doug." (For legal reasons, Buglion doesn't use the leader's real name or that of his organization)...

When someone is emotionally or psychologically unstable, Buglion explained, sometimes the rigid rules of a cultic group provide a healthier alternative to other lifestyle choices, such as substance abuse or self-harm.

Is Buglion saying that psychological instability and past traumas make people more susceptible to cults? On the contrary, there's only one precondition for falling under cultic influence that she feels comfortable identifying: being human.

"A lot of people believe It'll never happen to me," she said. "But I would have said that, too, and I spent 18 years in one [2]."

[1/16/2020    https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/a-cult-awareness-educator-helps-survivors-by-sharing-her-own-cautionary-tale/Content?oid=29413454     This article originally appeared on January 15.]

[1] Long Island is in New York State, south of Vermont.

[2] While Anthroposophists reject the label, some authorities tag Anthroposophy as effectively a cult, centered on the figure or Rudolf Steiner (who died in 1925). So, for instance, Cult News 101 has entries focusing on Anthroposophy, Steiner schools, and Waldorf schools. [See, e.g., https://www.cultnews101.com/search?q=anthroposophy.]

— R.R.

JANUARY 13, 2020

FORGOTTEN PAST HAUNTS 

TODAY'S ANTHROPOSOPHY 

Perhaps the most controversial issue swirling around Anthroposophy [1] concerns Rudolf Steiner's racial teachings [2]. Closely connected to this is the issue of alleged ties between Anthroposophy and extreme right-wing, racist political movements [3].

Historian Peter Staudenmaier has written extensively on these subjects [4]. He points out that today many Anthroposophists — perhaps unaware of Anthroposophy's history — profess admiration for predecessors who were deeply involved with Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany. As one example, Staudenmaier points to the recent publication by an Anthroposophical press of books written by Massimo Scaligero (1906-1980).

Here is part of a message Staudenmaier posted recently at the Waldorf Critics website:

"[Someone] asked me recently about the current state of research on Italian anthroposophist Massimo Scaligero, a favorite among some of Steiner's followers today. SteinerBooks continue to publish Scaligero's works; they apparently just published an English translation of his autobiography a couple months ago. His admirers seem consistently uninterested in and unaware of Scaligero's background. This is particularly true of his record during the Fascist era, when Scaligero was a vocal antisemite and a staunch proponent of what he called 'integral racism,' combining spiritual racism and biological racism into an integrated whole. In addition to promoting esoteric versions of racism and antisemitism, Scaligero consistently advocated a closer alliance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, calling in his words for a 'united Aryan front' against the common enemy." — Peter Staudenmaier, "Massimo Scaligero and anthroposophy's neglected history" [1/13/2020   https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/31938   This message was posted on January 12.]

Staudenmaier argues that many Anthroposophists fail to understand the real nature of their movement at least in part because they ignore Anthroposophy's history:

"The fact that so little of this [historical information]...is known among admirers of Scaligero and Steiner unfortunately tells us something revealing about esoteric approaches to revered figures and to the past in general. Learning more about anthroposophy's neglected history could help Steiner's followers understand their own movement better." — Peter Staudenmaier, ibid.

Here are some of Scaligero's books published in recent years by Lindisfarne Books, an imprint of the Anthroposophic Press:

THE LOGIC AGAINST HUMANITY

The Myth of Science and the Path of Thinking

(Lindisfarne Books, 2017)

From the publisher's description: 

"The Logic against Humanity is considered by many to be Massimo Scaligero’s most important work. It examines the difficulties faced by modern-day philosophers and scientists who employ 'discursive' thinking [5] to explain the mystery of human existence. 'Discursive' thinking, which [embodies] the inherent limitations of rationalism and scientific presumptions, is viewed by Scaligero as a form of mental disorder, widely prevalent in today’s culture [6] ... Massimo Scaligero insists that a 'science of thinking' must be engendered within humanity — thinking that transcends the limits of conceptual elaboration — science enlivened continuously by the living being from which it arises [7]."

FROM YOGA TO THE ROSE CROSS 

(Lindisfarne Books, 2019)

"Using an autobiographical form as his framework, the author shows how the experience of Yoga [8] is actually the most esoteric path — that of the Rose Cross [9] — when taken to its ultimate conclusion by flowing into a 'modern' initiatory path that manifests formally as Spiritual Science [10]."

THE LOGOS AND THE NEW MYSTERIES

(Lindisfarne Books, 2019)

"In this powerful guidebook, Massimo Scaligero describes in detail the esoteric path of thinking [11], which allows us to reach beyond our bondage to sensory perception and the physical view of reality, to realize our true cosmic connection with the Logos [12], the living Christ [13]."

THE SECRETS OF SPACE AND TIME

(Lindisfarne Books, 2013)

"This masterly book by Massimo Scaligero...teaches us how to enter and recognize the spiritual reality [14] behind and within what we objectify as space and time [15]. Those who read The Secrets of Space and Time with meditative effort [16] will be well rewarded with profound insights about the true nature of the world around us."

A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF MEDITATION

(Lindisfarne Books, 2015)

"Rudolf Steiner often emphasized the importance of meditation practice for the self-development of students of Anthroposophy. In his writings and lectures, he offered various instructions for approaches to meditation and for strengthening qualities needed to unfold our latent spiritual capacities [20].

"In this accessible book, Massimo Scaligero — a lifelong student of Rudolf Steiner and Spiritual Science —systematically illumines Steiner’s practices [21]...."

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] An occult religion, Anthroposophy provides the vision that undergirds Waldorf education. [See "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE) — scroll down.]

[2] See "Steiner's Racism"

[3] See "Sympathizers?"

[4] See, e.g., Staudenmaier's book BETWEEN OCCULTISM AND NAZISM: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era (Brill, 2014).

[5] I.e., logical argumentation, as opposed to intuitive affirmation. Steiner and his followers generally disparage science, logic, intellect, and indeed brainwork. [See, e.g., "Steiner's Specific".]

[6] Anthroposophists and fascistic thinkers generally share an antipathy to modern society and modern science. (Arguably, some apologists for fascism have been leaders in the deconstruction movement, which generally denies that statements have any absolute or definite meaning. One advantage of this position, for fascists or former fascists, is that their objectionable statements cannot be held against them since these statements have no actual meaning.)

[7] This is essentially a description of Anthroposophical "thought" — intuitive, imaginative, clairvoyant. [See "Thinking" and "Thinking Cap".]

[8] Steiner affirmed yoga as one of the paths leading to spiritual initiation. [See "Yoga".]

[9] This is a reference to Rosicrucianism, which Steiner said is the correct spiritual path for modern humans. He meant Rosicrucianism as redefined by himself, a form of Rosicrucianism that is virtually indistinguishable from Anthroposophy. [See "Rosy Cross".]

[10] "Spiritual science" is, putatively, the antidote to modern, physical science — it is the true, objective study of the spirit realm through spiritual/clairvoyant consciousness. As Steiner used the term, "spiritual science" is Anthroposophy. [See "spiritual science" in the BWSE.]

[11] This is Anthroposophical thought, as mentioned above.

[12] See "Logos".

[13] Christ, according to Steiner, is the Sun God who descended to Earth and incarnated in a human body for a period of three years. [See "Sun God" and "Was He Christian?"]

[14] According to Steiner, there are two "higher worlds" above or behind the physical level of existence. [See "Higher Worlds".] Those worlds are inhabited by a plethora of gods. [See "Polytheism".]

[15] Space and time presumably define, and are limited to, the physical level of existence: the physical universe.

[16] Meditation is central to Anthroposophical practice, which aims at the development of clairvoyant powers. Steiner gave instructions for such practice in his book KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AT ITS ATTAINMENT. [See "Knowing the Worlds".]

[17] This is a typical example of Anthroposophical discourse, which may deflect rational analysis. Steiner taught that the human brain does not produce thought; rather, it receives thoughts from on high, much as a radio receives broadcasts. Proper thoughts are "living thoughts," he said — they emanate from the gods (and from ourselves when we are attuned to the gods) as living essences. [See "living thoughts" in the BWSE.]

[18] According to Anthroposophy, the core of our "inner essence" is our spiritual ego or "I". [See "Ego"; also see "I" in the BWSE.]

[19] These are perilous times, Anthroposophist believe; the fate of humanity and, indeed, the fate of the entire created cosmos hangs in the balance. Our own spirits (or the spirits — the gods — on high) require us now to move to Anthroposophy: the initiatory path that enables us to "experience of our inner essence" so that we may fulfill the gods' grand plan. [See "divine cosmic plan" in the BWSE.]

[20] Our spiritual capacities should continuously evolve to higher and higher levels, Steiner taught. [See "evolution of consciousness" in the BWSE.]

[21] "Steiner's practices" are, chiefly, the Anthroposophical meditative procedures laid out by Rudolf Steiner. [See, e.g., "Power Words". For an overview of Anthroposophy, see "Everything".]

— R.R.

JANUARY 11, 2020

VACCINE FACTS 

VS. FANTASIES 

Waldorf schools are often centers of anti-vaccination belief and practice. [See "vaccination" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

Anyone who questions the value of vaccination should certainly consider an op-ed piece published this week in The New York Times. Here are some excerpts:

You Are Unvaccinated and Got Sick. 

These Are Your Odds. 

Comparing the dangerous effects of three diseases 

with the minimal side effects of their corresponding vaccines.

By Peter J. Hotez [vaccine scientist and pediatrician, author of VACCCINES DID NOT CAUSE RACHEL'S AUTISM]

Vaccines prevent diseases, and being unvaccinated carries a risk. Last year, the World Health Organization ranked vaccine hesitancy, a “reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines,” among the top 10 health threats worldwide...

To state it bluntly, being unvaccinated can result in illness or death. Vaccines, in contrast, are extremely unlikely to lead to side effects, even minor ones...

As vaccination rates have fallen, highly contagious illnesses like measles have resurged globally. For instance, measles is now widespread in several European countries. In Samoa, a Pacific island nation of about 200,000 people, almost 5,700 measles cases have been recorded since September, resulting in at least 83 deaths. Almost all of those who died were young children...

Measles Risks: Pneumonia, Infection, Death

The United States eliminated measles in 2000, but in 2019 the number of cases increased greatly, largely because of public resistance to receiving the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine...

[T]he risks of side effects from a measles-mumps-rubella vaccination are vanishingly small, especially compared to the devastating effects of measles.

The measles virus is highly contagious, and is often the first childhood infection to return after vaccinations decline. And measles is a serious disease. The 2018-2019 measles epidemic in New York City resulted in 52 hospitalizations...

In the first nine months of 2019, nearly 1,250 measles cases were reported nationwide, the highest number in 27 years. Among those cases, 89 percent were in patients who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status...

[The risk of harm from vaccines is very low. E.g.,] we have overwhelming evidence from at least six studies involving more than one million children that measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations do not cause autism...

Flu That Sickened 1 in 7 Americans

The 2017-18 influenza epidemic was an especially bad one, resulting in an estimated 45 million illnesses nationwide, according to the C.D.C. [the Centers for Disease Control]. An estimated 810,000 people were hospitalized and 61,000 people died, including 643 children. The majority of children who die from influenza have not received the flu vaccine.

Even though influenza ranks among the leading killers of Americans, many choose not to vaccinate...

The risk of a severe reaction from the flu vaccine, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome...is tiny, roughly equal to the likelihood of being hit by a lightning strike...

Deadly Cervical Cancer vs. Fainting

Australia is positioned to effectively eliminate cervical cancer over the next two decades, through a vaccination campaign and increased cervical screenings. The United States is not even close to that goal because the rates of vaccination for HPV, or human papillomavirus, among teenagers has been low in many states...

The HPV vaccine has also been a target of a misinformation campaign, with books and internet posts asserting that the vaccine causes teenage depression and suicide. But there is no evidence of such links...

Thousands of young women in this country are being condemned to cervical cancer (and both men and women to throat, anal and other cancers) by being deprived of the HPV vaccine, which is both highly effective and safe....

[1/11/2020    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/opinion/vaccine-hesitancy.html    This op-ed originally appeared on January 9.]

— R.R.

JANUARY 9, 2020

◊ NEWS BRIEF ◊

HOLY DAYS 

AT WALDORF 

Although Waldorf schools almost never openly admit to being religious institutions, the real nature of these schools is reflected in the religious observances that occur in and around them. So, for instance, we find accounts such as the following, submitted (perhaps injudiciously) by a Waldorf school and published in Pasadena Now [California, USA]:

Pasadena Waldorf School Celebrates 

Santa Lucia - Scandinavian Festival of Lights 

By PASADENA WALDORF SCHOOL | Photos by RON HAMAD

On Friday, Pasadena Waldorf School (PWS) celebrated Santa Lucia, a Scandinavian festival of lights that brightens the longer nights at the start of the winter season. It also celebrates the life of Santa Lucia, an Italian saint known for her kindness and love.

At PWS, they have two Lucias this year, the oldest 8th grade girls, joined by the 2nd grade class, as they visited every class from parent-child to high school....

[1/9/2020    http://www.pasadenanow.com/pasadenaschools/pasadena-waldorf-school-celebrates-santa-lucia-scandinavian-festival-of-lights/#.XhdKuC2ZNTY    This article originally appeared on January 7.]

Observances of this sort are sometimes initiated by individual Waldorf schools, but frequently they are promoted by large Waldorf or Anthroposophical organizations. So, for instance, the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America currently has the following reminder on its website:

FEB 2, 2020    Chandlemas / St. Brigid's Day 

[1/9/2020    https://www.waldorfeducation.org/news-resources/events-calendar]

A little background may be in order.

◊ "St. Lucy, Italian Santa Lucia...virgin and martyr who was one of the earliest Christian saints to achieve popularity ... Because of various traditions associating her name with light, she came to be thought of as the patron of sight ... In Sweden, St. Lucia’s Day...the eldest daughter of the family traditionally dresses in a white robe and wears as a crown an evergreen wreath studded with candles." — ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANICA, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Lucy.

◊ "Candlemas, also called Presentation of the Lord...commemorating the occasion when the Virgin Mary, in obedience to Jewish law, went to the Temple in Jerusalem both to be purified 40 days after the birth of her son, Jesus, and to present him to God as her firstborn ... By the middle of the 5th century the custom of observing the festival with lighted candles had been introduced, and the name Candlemas developed from this custom." — ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANICA, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Candlemas.

◊ "St. Brigid of Ireland...virgin and abbess of Kildare, one of the patron saints of Ireland ... Little is known of her life but from legend, myth, and folklore."  — ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANICA, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Brigit-of-Ireland.

Waldorf Watch Response:

The religion at the heart of the international Waldorf movement may seem to be Christianity, but in fact it is a different faith: It is Anthroposophy. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".]

The religious nature of Waldorf schools becomes apparent when we delve into Anthroposophical literature. Thus, for instance, Rudolf Steiner — the founder of both Waldorf education and Anthroposophy — made statements such as these:

◊ “[T]he Anthroposophical Society…provides religious instruction just as other religious groups do.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER - Foundations of Waldorf Education VIII (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 706.

◊ “It is possible to introduce a religious element into every subject, even into math lessons. Anyone who has some knowledge of Waldorf teaching will know that this statement is true.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHILD's CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE - Foundations of Waldorf Education XVI (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 94.

◊ “This is what we must carry in our souls as [Waldorf] teachers ... Every word and gesture in my teaching as a whole will be permeated by religious fervor." — Rudolf Steiner, THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION - Foundations of Waldorf Education XVIII (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), pp. 64-65.

Waldorf teachers and students of the Waldorf system have also made similar statements, for instance these:

◊ “One question that is often asked is: ‘Is a Waldorf school a religious school?’ ... It is not a religious school in the way that we commonly think of religion ... And yet, in a broad and universal way, the Waldorf school is essentially religious.” — Waldorf teacher Jack Petrash, UNDERSTANDING WALDORF EDUCATION (Nova Institute, 2002), p. 134.

◊ "I think we owe it to our [students'] parents to let them know that the child is going to go through one religious experience after another [in a Waldorf school] ... [W]hen we deny that Waldorf schools are giving children religious experiences, we are denying the whole basis of Waldorf education … [W]e are schools that inculcate religion in children.” — Waldorf teacher Eugene Schwartz, “Waldorf Education — For Our Times Or Against Them?” (transcript of talk given at Sunbridge College, 1999).

◊ “One could say that Waldorf education has a hidden agenda. Its curriculum is described in terms common to public schools in general; arithmetic, writing, reading ... But in Steiner schools the dimensions of these subjects are threefold: they are artistic, cognitive, and religious." — M. C. Richards, TOWARD WHOLENESS: Rudolf Steiner Education in America (Wesleyn University Press, 1980), p. 164.

◊ “Waldorf education strives to create a place in which the highest beings [i.e., the gods], including the Christ, can find their home….” — Waldorf teacher Joan Almon, WHAT IS A WALDORF KINDERGARTEN? (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 53.

At most Waldorf schools around the world, each day begins with students and teachers reciting prayers aloud and in unison. There can hardly be a clearer indication of the religious nature of Waldorf education. [See “Prayers”.]

Waldorf schools stage many festivals during the year. Often, these are given innocuous names such as "Fall Festival" of "Mid-Winter Festival." But almost always a religious element can be found within these events, which often coincide with church holy days. [See “festivals” in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).] Occasionally actual church services are held in and around Waldorf schools. [See “Waldorf Worship”.]

True Waldorf schools — those that are deeply committed to Rudolf Steiner's visions — are fundamentally religious. They are, in other words, Anthroposophical. [See "Anthroposophy" in the BWSE. To explore the profound differences between Anthroposophy and Christianity, see "Was He Christian?", "Polytheism", and "Sun God".]

— R.R.

JANUARY 5, 2020

WONDROUS WEBINARS: 

ANTHROPOP ANSWERS 

Here is a listing for Anthroposophical webinars as currently presented on the website of the Anthroposophical Society in America. (I have added explanatory footnotes.)

Webinars, Current & Recorded

Anthroposophic initiatives work deeply with life's opportunities and challenges. Our growing webinar stream reaches into health, education, the environment, the course of life, the meaningful year, self-development, community, society. New webinars are announced in the blog and by email. Visit the store to see our recorded webinars: audio, video, and often great support materials like slides. Examples:

• The Challenge of Evil, with Bastiaan Baan; how to know evil, how to confront evil, how to redeem evil [1].

• Michaelmas: Hearts are Beginning to Have Thoughts, as well as other webinars on the sacred and meaningful year [2].

• The Art of Human Becoming, as well as Phases of Life, on biography and social art [3].

• Challenges & Gifts of Aging, and Healing Forces, with anthroposophic medical experts [4].

• Death & Meaning: the Sacred Gateway [5].

• Strengthening Foundations of Inner Work: Lisa Romero [6].

• Who are the Honeybees? Spikenard Bee Sanctuary [7].

• The Spirit of Money: Steinerian economics, three types of money, money & biography [8].

• The Story in Our Stars, with Mary Adams [9].

[Downloaded 1/5/2020    https://anthroposophy.org/webinars-events/]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] Steiner's followers sometimes tout their worldview as wholly positive, finding good in everything. Evil, they say, is an illusion: It does not exist. But, in fact, Steiner often spoke of evil, and the question of how to expose and defeat evil is a major Anthroposophical preoccupation. [See, e.g., "evil", "evil beings", "evil gods", etc., in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[2] In Anthroposophy, Michael is the Archangel of the Sun. [See "Michael".] A warrior god, Michael fights on behalf of his master, Christ the Sun God. [See "Sun God".] Michaelmas — the feast of St. Michael — occurs on September 29. At Waldorf schools, Michaelmas is often celebrated in disguised form as a "fall festival." [See the section on festivals in "Magical Arts".]

[3] According to Anthroposophical belief, being "human" means evolving to a particular spiritual condition. Not everyone born to human parents is human, Steiner taught. 

"Imagine what people would say if they heard that we say there are people who are not human beings. Nevertheless, these are facts." — Rudolf Steiner. FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 650.

Still, Steiner said, most people alive today are human. Additionally, he said, other beings have been human during other phases of cosmic evolution. So, for instance, Steiner said that the gods whom we often refer to as "Angels" were human during the Old Moon phase. [See "Old Moon" in the BWSE.]

[4] Probably the most controversial of all the products of Rudolf Steiner's doctrines is Anthroposophical medicine. Although Anthroposophical doctors sometimes employ modern medical techniques, many of their practices lie outside established medical norms. [See "Steiner's Quackery".]

[5] Like other religions, Anthroposophy wrestles with the meaning of death. Steiner taught that when we die, we do not go to our ultimate reward or doom (we do not go to heaven or hell), but rather we sojourn for a while in the spirit realm and then we incarnate again on the physical plane of existence. He taught that we reincarnate over and over as we evolve upward or downward. [See "Reincarnation".]

[6] "Inner work," for Anthroposophists, is the reverent, meditative effort to improve oneself and thus to evolve to higher levels of spiritual consciousness. Steiner gave instructions for such work in many of his writings and lectures, including the foundational book KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT. [See "Knowing the Worlds".]

[7] Like some other religions, Anthroposophy finds spiritual profundity in bees and their works. [See "Bees".]

“The group soul of a beehive is a very high level being ... [Y]ou might almost say it is cosmically precocious. It has attained a level of evolutionary development that human beings will later reach in the Venus cycle [i.e., the next stage of cosmic evolution].” — Rudolf Steiner, BEES (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 176.

[8] Anthroposophy seeks to discover the spirit in all things, including money. Anthroposophy is a revolutionary movement that seeks to remake all human institutions — including financial institutions — in accordance with Rudolf Steiner's occult preachments. [See "Threefolding".]

[9] Astrology is woven through much of Anthroposophy. [See "Astrology".] The stars, Steiner taught, influence and even control many aspects of earthly existence. The stars' influence can be inward, affecting human consciousness, but it can also be outward, affecting physical phenomena upon the Earth. For instance, the stars hold islands in position (otherwise, the islands would float around aimlessly). So Steiner said, anyway.

“With the students, we should at least try to [show that] an island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars. In actuality, such islands do not sit directly upon a foundation; they swim and are held fast from outside.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 607.

Waldorf schools do not, generally, teach students such things. (Steiner himself decided they probably shouldn't.) But this is one of the marvels — Great Britain swims in the sea — that Anthroposophists believe. Indeed, Steiner said that continents also float in the sea:

“The continents swim and do not sit upon anything. They are held in position upon the earth by the constellations [i.e., stars]. When the constellations change, the continents change, also." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 618.

— R.R.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“Genuine fairy tales portray reality ... [T]heir content portrays soul experiences, cosmic truths, the process of the individual’s development, the elemental world, folk wisdom and apocalyptic imaginations.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE INTERPRETATION OF FAIRY TALES (Henry Goulden, 1984), p. 7.

JANUARY 3, 2020

STEINER, NOT DISNEY: 

WALDORF FAIRY TALES 

Let's begin the new year quietly.

The following is from an item in Patch.com, announcing an event planned for this evening at an American Waldorf school:

Children and the Fairy Tales 

from Spiritual Science

[By] Andrew Linnell, Neighbor

Event Details

Fri, Jan. 3, 2020 at 7:30 PM 

The Waldorf School, 739 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA, USA

The great fairy tales are told in a powerful, creative language, we’ve mostly forgotten. If we want to follow the inner movements of fairy tales appropriately, we have to learn to experience vividly their mighty images. This involves concentrated inner work that helps us to follow other spiritual texts, such as the Bible or the works of Rudolf Steiner....

[1/3/2020    https://patch.com/massachusetts/lexington/calendar/event/20200103/734159/children-and-the-fairy-tales-from-spiritual-science]

Waldorf Watch Response:

Waldorf education makes extensive use of fairy tales. Kids in Waldorf schools are told many dazzling fairy tales along with legends, myths, and other fabulous narratives. This can all seem delightful. Who doesn't love fairy tales and their ilk? (Think Disney flicks. Think Marvel Comics.)

But in this as in most other matters, we would do well to peer beneath the glittering Waldorf surface.

Waldorf education is based on the fantastical doctrines spun by Rudolf Steiner. He called these doctrines "Anthroposophy" [1] and he claimed that they constitute a modern "spiritual science" [2]. In fact, however, Anthroposophy is an occult religion [3].

Steiner taught that Anthroposophy is a living worldview, one that may develop and grow as its practitioners make new clairvoyant discoveries about the spirit realm [4]. In fact, however, Anthroposophists spend much of their time studying Rudolf Steiner's books and lectures, which they treat as virtually sacrosanct. Note how the above announcement elevates Steiner's works to a level equivalent to the Bible. Anthroposophists follow "spiritual texts, such as the Bible or the works of Rudolf Steiner."

According to Steiner, fairy tales are true accounts of clairvoyant visions that ancient peoples had in their sleep:

“Fairy tales are...the final remains of ancient clairvoyance [5], experienced in dreams by human beings who still had the power ... All the fairy tales in existence are thus the remnants of the original clairvoyance.” — Rudolf Steiner, ON THE MYSTERY DRAMAS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1983), p. 93.

Steiner said much the same about myths (especially the myths of Northern Europe):

“Myths...are the memories of the visions people perceived in olden times ... At night they were really surrounded by the world of the Nordic gods of which the legends tell. Odin, Freya, and all the other figures in Nordic mythology [6] were...experienced in the spiritual world with as much reality as we experience our fellow human beings around us today [7].” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 198.

When kids in Waldorf schools are told fairy tale after fairy tale and myth after myth, they are being subtly indoctrinated in the occult belief system of Anthroposophy. So, for instance, here's how a Waldorf teacher describes the "real" meanings of the fairy tale commonly called "Hansel and Gretel". The story has multiple layers of meaning, the teacher says, all of which conform to Anthroposophical dogma:

“The story portrays spirit and soul [8] descending into a physical body and ascending again, enriched, to the spiritual world [9] ... The story could also be looked upon as an initiation process [10]. Soul and spirit are engaged in developing higher organs [11] ... Yet another interpretation would be to consider the story as one of human evolution [12]. With the expulsion from Paradise [13] the human being enters the material world. Through his experiences he regains the faculty of spiritual perception in a new way [14] and regains his spiritual home greatly enriched [15].” — Roy Wilkinson, THE INTERPRETATION OF FAIRY TALES (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1997), pp. 13-14.

We're starting the new year quietly, so let's leave it at that. The central purpose of Waldorf education is to subtly prime kids to embrace the Steiner religion, Anthroposophy [16].

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] See "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE) — scroll down to the entry for Anthroposophy.

[2] See "spiritual science" in the BWSE — scroll down.

[3] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".

[4] Clairvoyance is fundamental to Anthroposophy. Unfortunately, clairvoyance does not exist, which means there is no real basis for Anthroposophy. [See "Clairvoyance".]

[5] Steiner taught that ancient peoples had innate, primitive powers of clairvoyance. [See "atavistic clairvoyance" in the BWSE.]

[6] These are Norse myths, which occupy an especially significant place in Waldorf belief. [See "The Gods".]

[7] Steiner taught that at night, while we sleep, the higher portions of ourselves rise into the spirit realm where they encounter the gods. Specifically, our astral bodies and our spiritual egos rise into the spirit realm while our physical bodies and etheric bodies remain asleep on Earth. 

"This is how we are at night. We are two people in the night." — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 102.

[See the entries for "astral body", etc., in the BWSE. The spiritual ego is more properly called the "I".]

[8] Anthroposophy differentiates between spirit and soul. [See "spirit" and "soul" in the BWSE.]

[9] Reincarnation is a basic Anthroposophical belief. [See "Reincarnation".] Steiner taught that we evolve through a long process of reincarnations, alternating between lives in the spirit realm and lives on the physical plane of existence.

[10] I.e., occult initiation — gaining access to secret spiritual wisdom. Such initiation is a key goal for Anthroposophists. [See "Inside Scoop" and "Knowing the Worlds".]

[11] These are incorporeal organs, especially organs of clairvoyance. [See "organs of clairvoyance" in the BWSE.]

[12] According to Steiner, we and the cosmos are evolving toward higher and higher spiritual conditions. [See "evolution" and "evolution of consciousness" in the BWSE.]

[13] This is a reference to the biblical account of Adam and Eve. Waldorf discourse often moves readily from fairy tales and myths to the Bible and the works of Rudolf Steiner. The Anthroposophical understanding of biblical narratives is as strained as the Anthroposophical understanding of fairy tales and myths. [See, e.g., "Old Testament".]

[14] "Spiritual perception" is clairvoyance. Steiner taught that humanity has generally lost its old clairvoyant powers, but he said he could teach his followers a new, "exact" type of clairvoyance. [See "Exactly".]

[15] This is the core myth of Anthroposophy: In our evolution, we have descended from the spirit realm to our present life in the physical realm. But if we follow Steiner's guidance, we will reascend in a more highly evolved condition. [See the "historical narrative of Anthroposophy" in the BWSE.]

[16] See "Indoctrination" and "Sneaking It In".

— R.R.