October 31, 2018

ELVISH OBSERVANCES 

AT WALDORF   

From Pasadena Now [California, USA]:

Pasadena Waldorf School Sets Date for 

Magical Family Day at the 33rd Annual Elves’ Faire

Article and Photos courtesy of PASADENA WALDORF SCHOOL

What started as a small crafting fair at Altadena’s Farnsworth Park 33 years ago has now grown into the Elves’ Faire, one of the most popular family community events across Southern California. Parents, teachers, students, and staff at Pasadena Waldorf School have been preparing for months to host this popular community event….

The Faire features music, feasting, crafting, holiday shopping, medieval-style contests and games for children of all ages. The Elves’ Faire will take place this year on Saturday, November 17, 2018, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m…. 

In addition to magical family activities, the Elves’ Faire is widely known for unique holiday shopping….

[10/31/2018   http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/magical-family-day-at-the-33rd-annual-elves-faire/    This article originally appeared on October 30.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Waldorf schools stage lots of fairs, festivals, open houses, and other free events during the year. For the most part, these are PR exercises, aimed at enticing families to send their kids to this Waldorf school or that.

Fund-raising is also sometimes an objective.

The events are often fun, and sometimes they are slightly informative. But you should remember the PR nature of these events. You will see a Waldorf school or a Waldorf community only as it wants to present itself, not necessarily as it really is.*

Waldorf schools take these events very seriously. Sometimes teachers and students spend an enormous amount of school time preparing for these events. This, in itself, may tell you something about the academic standards found in Waldorf schools. (They are often low. Other things are considered more important.)

You may want to attend some of these events. You might enjoy yourself, and you might pick up some knowledge of the Waldorf way of thinking.

If you do go, try to look beneath the shiny surface. You may want to ask yourself, for instance, why a school would hold a "magical" medieval faire that features elves.

Partly, of course, a school could do this simply because such fairs can be colorful and entertaining. No harm in that.

But if you do a little research, you will find that Waldorf thinking is fundamentally backward. In the Waldorf worldview, medieval times were more spiritually enlightened than modern times — the medieval world was better. 

Also, the thinking behind Waldorf schooling — the faith called Anthroposophy — takes magic seriously. And it takes elves, or fairies, or gnomes, seriously.

You might want to look into these things.

*Note that the article in Pasadena Now is itself a bit of Waldorf PR. The article was provided by the Pasadena Waldorf School; it was not written by an objective reporter. 

◊

For information about the academic standards prevailing in typical Waldorf schools, see "Academic Standards at Waldorf".

For tidbits about the Waldorf fascination with the Middle Ages, see, e.g., the references to the knight Parzival in "Through His Eyes".

For the Anthroposophical take on magic, see "Magic" and "Magicians".

For the role played by gnomes in Waldorf belief, see "Gnomes". (And for info about fairies, elves, ghosts, and so forth, see "Beings".)

For a peek at Waldorf schools as they really are, see "Here's the Answer".

For an introduction to Anthroposophical thinking and its connection to Waldorf, see "Oh Humanity".

— R.R.

October 29, 2018

ANTHROPOSOPHY AND 

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Anthroposophists today — including those who run Waldorf schools — continue to embrace Rudolf Steiner’s preachings, such as those dealing with the demonic spirits Lucifer and Ahriman. The following is from the autumn, 2018, issue of the Anthroposophical magazine, New View: 

"[A]s Steiner describes, there is no binary struggle between good and evil, but humanity must find its path by holding the balance between the powerful influences of Lucifer, on the one hand, and Ahriman (or Mammon) on the other. Christ is the being who is able to hold the balance between these, thereby also making it possible for humanity to do so. Lucifer attempts to pull us in a purely one-sidedly spiritual direction, drawing us away from the earth and our commitment both to the earth and to humanity, and attracting us through (and into) illusion and an over-great focus on the self. Ahriman attempts to bind us solely to the earth and to a one-sidedly materialistic (or technological) relationship to it, rejecting spiritual realities, and attracting us through (and into) lies, deception and power and an over-great focus on the outer world." — New View (issue 89, October to December, 2018), p. 28.

The triumvirate of Lucifer, Ahriman, and Christ does indeed loom large in Anthroposophy. The Anthroposophical headquarters building, the cathedral called the Goetheanum [1], contains a monumental statue showing these three spirits in their proper relationship to one another.

This is the statue housed at the Goetheanum. 

The standing figure is Christ, the Sun God. 

Below his feet crouches Ahriman, 

and above his right shoulder impends Lucifer. 

There are other figures in the statue

(including a second Ahriman and a second Lucifer), 

but these three represent the key paradigm 

posited by Steiner. 

[Public domain photo; color added.]

Accounting for the existence of evil is a persistent problem for theologians. How can a loving God — or, in polytheistic faiths such as Anthroposophy [2], how can beneficent gods — allow evil to exist? We see horrors and atrocities, acts of wanton violence and evil, perpetrated daily in our country and in countries all around the globe. Why do the good spirits of the cosmos allow evil to run riot like this? Are they powerless to prevent it?

Steiner’s solution, as a rule, was to assert that there is really no such thing as “evil.” Rather, he said, there is imbalance. We fall into error when we become unbalanced in either of two directions. If we yield too much to the temptations of Lucifer [3], we become ensnared in a false form of spirituality. If we yield too much to the temptations of Ahriman [4], we become ensnared in excessive materialism. The solution is to follow the example of the Sun God, Christ [5], who stands between the two tempters. Through the intervention of the Sun God, we can receive the benefits of the dangerous gifts offered to us by Lucifer and Ahriman, but we will not succumb to the damage these gifts can inflict if we lose our sense of perspective and proportionality. [6]

Steiner was not entirely consistent about all of this. He often indicated that Lucifer, Ahriman, and other demons or oppositional gods are in fact evil. He sometimes spoke of evil as a real and destructive phenomenon, not merely as a loss of balance. [7] So, Steiner sometimes made statements such as the following. Evil people must be separated from good people [8], and in the future a cataclysmic war will be fought between the good and the evil.

“Consider that through evil separating from good, the good will be immeasurably strengthened, and that after the great War of All against All [9] the good will have to make every possible effort to salvage and rescue the evil, during the period in which this will still be possible.” — Rudolf Steiner, EVIL (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 194.

A statement like this has real meaning only if good and evil are real, and opposite, phenomena. Logically speaking, this means that evil does actually exist — it is not merely a type of imbalance.

At a minimum, Anthroposophists believe, we should realize that Lucifer, Ahriman, and other dark spirits have intentions that certainly seem evil. Ahriman, in particular, is a dreadful figure in Anthroposophy. 

A bust of Ahriman by Steiner. 

There can be little doubt that 

this represents an "evil" figure.

[Public domain photo; color added.]

Ahriman wishes us ill. Steiner taught that when humans seek to reach moral, spiritual levels of existence, we must overcome Ahriman. This was true for ancient spiritual aspirants, and it remains true for us now. 

"[We face] the spiritual opposition of Ahriman – who sought (and seeks) to keep people bound to the outer material phenomena and to prevent them passing through these to the deeper spiritual realities of which they are the physical expression.” — Richard Ramsbotham, NEW VIEW (issue 89), p. 29.

Ahriman “sought” to hinder us, and he still “seeks” to do so now. Much of the evil in the world today, Anthroposophists believe, has been produced by Ahriman, who seduces humanity into a deeply materialistic existence, bound up with earthly matters and divorced from the spirit realm.

It is up to each individual to decide whether Anthroposophical teachings about the nature and sources of evil make sense. The Anthroposophical view of evil hinges on belief in the Sun God, Lucifer, and Ahriman. Only if you believe in these beings will you find much wisdom or comfort in Anhroposophical dogma. 

Many people would say the Anthroposophical view is both unrealistic and useless. It does not describe conditions or forces that actually exist in the real world, and thus it is useless to us as we confront the problems that must be resolved in the real world. Nevertheless, Anthroposophists believe Steiner, and such belief underlies much of what happens within Waldorf schools as the teachers try to steer their students through the tribulations of earthly existence. [10]

◊ • ◊

[1] See the section about the Goetheanum in "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"

[2] See "Polytheism".

[3] See "Lucifer".

[4] See "Ahriman".

[5] See "Sun God" and "Was He Christian?" One contemporary Antroposophist has written this: "Christ, the Sun God, who was known by earlier peoples under such names as Ahura Mazda, Hu or Balder, has now united himself with the earth and its future evolution.” — Margaret Jonas, Introduction to RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 5. Discussing the incarnation of the Sun God on Earth, Steiner said this: “Had Christ not appeared on the earth, had He remained the Sun-God only, humanity on the earth would have fallen into decay.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1958), “World-Pentecost; The Message of Anthroposophy”, GA 226.

[6] Steiner said that Christ is our prototype, our representative. We should endeavor to be like him. [See "Prototype" and "Representative/Group".]

[7] See, e.g., "Evil Ones", "Sin", and "Hell." On one occasion, speaking about current events, Steiner said “[W]e are watching the battle waged by the good gods against the evil gods.” — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. II (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974), p. 251. [See, e.g., "Evil".]

[8] Steiner taught that spiritual evolution entails casting off backward, abnormal, and/or recalcitrant types. The most evolved individuals evolve to still higher levels, while the cast-off individuals remain behind. [See, eg., "Evolution Anyone?" and "Embedded Racism".]

[9] See "All vs. All". After the War of All Against All, Steiner says, the good will endeavor to redeem the evil.

[10] See, e.g., "Soul School", "Serving the Gods", and "Spiritual Agenda".

— R.R.

October 28, 2018

DAILY PRACTICES, OUR SENSES, 

AND SAINT MARTIN 

Announcement of an upcoming event at the Waldorf School of San Diego [California, USA]:

Foundations of Early Childhood and the Inner Work of Teaching 

WISC [Waldorf Institute of Southern California] - San Diego, CA 

Saturday, November 3, 2018 from 8:30 AM to 5:15 PM PDT [Pacific Daylight Time]

at 

Waldorf School of San Diego 

3547 Altadena Ave, San Diego, CA 92105 

Please join us for a wonderful and nutritive experience with three local and esteemed Early Childhood Teachers as they share how to integrate simple daily practices for centered teaching as well as learn the importance of movement for the evolution of the four development senses. Close the day with a Martinmas craft while learning about the yearly rhythms and festivals

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

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Announcements made by Waldorf schools and Waldorf associations tend to be written in a sort of code. If we learn the code, we generally find Anthroposophical religious doctrines lurking just below the surface of such announcements.

Here are explications of a few of the points expressed in the announcement above.

1. Daily Practices    Waldorf teachers are often — not always, but often — practicing Anthroposophists. Indeed, being a practicing Anthroposophist is sometimes deemed a requirement for becoming a true Waldorf teacher. So, for instance, we find this statement in Waldorf literature:

"Waldorf teachers must be anthroposophists first and teachers second." — Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 166.

The "daily practices" Waldorf teachers should undertake (the "inner work" mentioned in the title of the upcoming workshop) involve studying and meditating upon prayers, mantras, and spiritual invocations penned by Rudolf Steiner. So, for instance, if you go to the WISC website, you will find the following statement that tells us about the practices that will be discussed in the workshop:

"In this workshop you will be introduced to the varieties of verses [i.e., prayers], meditations and inner work exercises that can weave into your life in a comfortable and natural way as you work with the young child." — http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=zagbvycab&oeidk=a07efsh7d0k14019fe2

Almost all such "verses, meditations and inner work exercises" used by Waldorf teachers and Anthroposophists come from Rudolf Steiner. For an overview of such material, see "Power Words". For a discussion of Waldorf "verses," see "Prayers".

2. Our Senses   The Waldorf view of human nature is esoteric, mystical, and comprehensibly unscientific. Yet this view forms the basis of Waldorf education. [See "Oh Humanity".]

Most people think that humans have five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste). This is not quite a complete catalogue of our senses, but — for most purposes — it suffices. Steiner, however, taught his followers that human beings have twelve senses. The regular five senses are tucked into this list, but many of the remaining seven Steiner-defined senses are imaginary at best. 

These are our senses and the signs of the zodiac under which they are should be listed, according to Steiner (astrology is present in most Waldorf/Steiner beliefs):

Physical Senses 

touch (Libra) 

life sense (Scorpio) 

self-movement sense (Sagittarius) 

balance (Capricorn) 

Soul Senses 

smell (Aquarius) 

taste (Pisces) 

vision (Virgo) 

temperature sense (Leo) 

Spirit Senses 

hearing (Cancer) 

language sense (Gemini) 

conceptual sense (Taurus) 

ego sense (Aries) 

[See "What We're Made Of".]

The "foundational senses" are the four physical senses identified by Steiner.

3. Festivals   The Waldorf school year is punctuated by a series of seasonal festivals. Many of these correspond, approximately, to religious holidays marked in Christian calendars: Christmas, Easter, and so forth. However, the actual beliefs underlying the Waldorf festivals veer far from anything you will find in the New Testament. Waldorf beliefs, derived principally from Rudolf Steiner, are occult and pagan. [See "Occultism" and "Pagan".] Thus, for instance, the "Christ being" revered in Anthroposophy is not the same Son of God worshipped by mainstream Christians. The Anthroposophical Christ is the Sun God, otherwise known as Apollo or Hu or Bladr. [See "Sun God".]

Martinmas or St. Martin's Day occurs on November 11. The observance of Martinmas, as reconceived by Rudolf Steiner, constitutes one of the festivals usually held in Waldorf schools:

"St Martin — festival on 11 November in honour of St Martin ... In many Waldorf schools this festival involves making lanterns ... [Then] the children go out into the street or a park, processing [sic] with their lanterns and singing St Martin songs [i.e., hymns] ... As Jesus is born at Christmas, [the] inner light shines out from each individual [as symbolized by the lanterns]." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), pp. 104-105.

Festivals and processions such as these are clearly religious. Waldorf schools are in fact, at their core, religious institutions. But the religion of the Waldorf movement is not Christianity — it is Anthroposophy. [See, e.g., "Schools as Churches".]

When the religious content of Waldorf festivals is downplayed, the schools tend to emphasize traditional, folkloric, or pseudoscientific beliefs instead. The "yearly rhythms" of the seasons may then be given prominence. Steiner taught that the earth, as a living being, breathes in and out once each day and, in a different sense, once each year. Here's how one of his followers has expressed this doctrine:

“The earth breathes, [it] takes one breath every twenty-four hours, breathing in during the afternoon, and breathing out in the morning ... The earth obeys also another annual rhythm, breathing out in the spring and breathing in again in the autumn ... [T]hese supersensible facts are of the greatest importance in anthroposophical (biodynamic) agriculture [and other practices].” — Anthroposophist Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), p. 287.

◊

Perhaps we should note one other matter in passing. Enrolling in a workshop run by three "esteemed Early Childhood Teachers" may sound attractive. You should realize, however, that any workshop held by a Waldorf school will almost certainly have, as an unannounced goal, the promotion of both Waldorf education and Anthroposophy. The only qualification cited by WISC for these three teachers is that they are actively involved in the Waldorf movement.

"Megumi Caverly came to the United States from Japan in 1995 to study Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education, graduating from Rudolf Steiner College in 1999. She has been teaching Kindergarten at Sanderling Waldorf School for many years ... Anna Masters is a WISC graduate ... Anna is now lead kindergarten teacher at The Waldorf School of San Diego. Elizabeth Heald first trained as a public school teacher before discovering Waldorf education and graduating from WISC. She has been successfully teaching kindergarten at the Waldorf School of San Diego for several years." — http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=zagbvycab&oeidk=a07efsh7d0k14019fe2,

— R.R.

October 27, 2018

HONORING, AND BUCKING UP, 

THE DEAD 

From The Santa Cruz Sentinel [New Mexio, USA]: 

Waldorf students to honor ancestors 

Students and teachers at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School will join in “Honoring Our Ancestors,” a ceremony on Thursday in the Redwood Grove and observe Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, a tradition from Mexico. 

“By remembering the dead, we keep them as a part of our community,” school staff said in an announcement about the event.... 

[10/27/2018     https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2018/10/26/coast-lines-waldorf-students-to-honor-ancestors/    This story originally appeared on October 26.] 

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Waldorf teachers and their students often endeavor to maintain close relationships with the dead. Indeed, one publication put out by a Waldorf educational association deals with this very subject. It is WORKING WITH THE DEAD, published by the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America.

[Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, 2003.]

Written for use by Waldorf teachers, the book says young Waldorf students should be taught to "serve the dead." This can be done, for instance, by having the kids celebrate "death days" much as they celebrate birthdays. If someone died on October 27, 2017, for instance, then today would be a good time to celebrate the death of that person.

"Should we foster ways to serve the dead with small children?  ... Yes, celebrate the death day like an earthly birthday ... Children who become accustomed to celebrating from a very early age the birthdays and death days of people who are part of their social life, learn to accept the spiritual world of beings as real. Thus they gain a basis for religious experience." — Helmut von Kügelgen, WORKING WITH THE DEAD, p. 2.

Note the underlying purpose: It is to give kids "a basis for religious experience." Although they usually deny it, Waldorf schools are religious institutions, the religion being Anthroposophy.  [See, e.g., "Schools as Churches" and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?".] Waldorf schools try to nudge their students toward this religion beginning in the very earliest grades.

Rudolf Steiner encouraged his followers, including Waldorf teachers, to communicate with the dead. Anthroposophists should be especially alert at the moment of waking in the morning: This is when messages from the dead are most likely to arrive:

"The moment of waking is of particular importance for [receiving] a message from the dead ... Whatever the dead person has to communicate to us, the living, is carried from the spiritual worlds at the moment of waking." — Rudolf Steiner, quoted on p. 5 of WORKING WITH THE DEAD.

Teachers and students at Waldorf schools can help the dead by sending them encouraging, upbeat messages. (The dead are sometimes blue. They are dead, after all.) Thus, a group of Waldorf students and their teacher might send the following prayer to someone who committed suicide:

"Your will was weak,

Strengthen your will.

I send you warmth

for your cold.

I send you light

for your darkness...."

— WORKING WITH THE DEAD, pp. 33-34.

In addition to WORKING WITH THE DEAD, several other Anthroposophical books deal with the subject of contacting the dead. There is, for instance, STAYING CONNECTED - How to Continue Your Relationships with Those Who Have Died (Anthroposophic Press, 1999). The book contains guidance provided by Rudolf Steiner. The editor of the book assures us that Steiner's guidance is "practical."

"This is a most practical book. Do what it recommends and you will experience the presence of the dead in your lives." — Christopher Bamford, STAYING CONNECTED, p. 23.

One dead soul Rudolf Steiner claimed to maintain contact with was Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of the German General Staff at the beginning of World War I. Steiner relayed messages from the dead military chieftain to his widow, assuring her that he was doing well in the spirit realm, and informing her that his experiences in the spirit realm proved that Rudolf Steiner's spiritual preachments were correct. Trust Steiner, Helmuth said (according to Steiner): Steiner knows what's what. [See "Steiner and the Warlord".]

— R.R.

October 26, 2018

INFORMAL, GRADUAL, 

ULTIMATE IMMERSION 

From Port Lincoln Times [South Australia]: 

Steiner school 

gains traction 

in Port Lincoln 

[by] Isobel Cootes 

A group of local families have come together in the hopes of opening a Steiner school in Port Lincoln by 2020 as an alternative to the current education options available. 

Karlie Bell started a group Facebook page to see if there was interest in the community for Steiner education in late September, before hosting an event on Thursday to gage interest. 

Ms Bell said about 15 families came together to discuss the possibility and another 12 had contacted her to be involved in the future. 

“We wanted to emphasise that the local public and private schools are fantastic and do an amazing job, but Steiner is a different methodology,” she said. 

“There’s too much pressure on schools, teachers and student and they are buckling under the system. 

“In Steiner, academics is delayed and their [sic] is a focus on arts and crafts, music, folktales, and social skills and cohesion by using multidisciplinary methods to help encourage a love of lifelong learning”…. 

[10/26/2018      https://www.portlincolntimes.com.au/story/5724324/port-lincoln-may-have-a-steiner-school-by-2020/] 

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

While some Steiner or Waldorf schools teeter on the brink of collapse [1], efforts continue here and there to create more Steiner/Waldorf schools. Overall, the Steiner/Waldorf movement has gradually grown in recent years. Today there are roughly 1,100 Steiner/Waldorf schools worldwide. [2]

It can be difficult to assess whether particular individuals who advocate new Steiner/Waldorf schools understand the real nature of Rudolf Steiner’s educational approach. [3] In the article excerpted above, Ms. Bell echoes terminology Steiner representatives tend to use when they want to sway outsiders. Some of what Ms. Bell says is true, some of it is debatable — and, crucially, much that is important has been omitted. 

When they are faithful to Steiner’s vision, Steiner/Waldorf schools are essentially stalking horses for Anthroposophy [4] They exist to lure children and their parents toward eventual embrace of Rudolf Steiner’s esoteric and mystical teachings. [5] 

But some Steiner/Waldorf schools are less devout than others. Formal membership in the Anthroposophical Society is reported to be declining, and concerns have been expressed within the Anthroposophical community that Steiner/Waldorf schools may be losing their mojo. Some Steiner/Waldorf schools today apparently only go through the motions, using various Steiner methods that they find attractive [6] without any longer paying much attention to the occult rationale for these methods. 

It is conceivable that someday Steiner/Waldorf education may have left Rudolf Steiner and his fantastical beliefs entirely behind. But we have not reached that point yet. For the most part, allegiance to Steiner and his teachings remains strong, at least among the inner core of Steiner/Waldorf leaders. And the ultimate aim of Steiner/Waldorf education generally continues to be the subtle indoctrination of kids, parents, and all others who enter the Steiner orbit. [7]

Former Waldorf student and teacher Grégoire Perra has explained how Steiner/ Waldorf schools typically work to maneuver individuals into, or at least toward, Anthroposophy. Here are a few of his observations on the indoctrination of individuals — students, their parents, and novice teachers — who come within the reach of Steiner/Waldorf education: 

“Based on my experience...I would like to describe the subtlety of indoctrination that students in Waldorf schools are subjected to ... [I]ts chief characteristic is its disguised form ... [T]he various ideas of Rudolf Steiner are taught to Waldorf students, but this is done without reference to their origin ... The teachers [present] these ideas...as if they were objective facts and not part of a prescribed vision of reality…. 

“This form of teaching has been meant, from the beginning, to convey Anthroposophy to students...presenting Steiner's assertions as facts, by no means as hypotheses…. 

“Another element of the pedagogical practice of Steiner-Waldorf schools contributing to this insidious indoctrination is pervasive worship and religious practice ... Almost all Christian holidays are celebrated at these schools ... [B]ut behind ceremonies that superficially seem akin to traditional forms, in fact we find disguised Anthroposophic rituals 'adapted' for children…. 

“The indoctrination of parents [also occurs] … [T]he schools do not openly reveal the various elements of their underlying Anthroposophical doctrine ... [I]nitially, we talked to parents only about our teaching methods. Later the parents are invited to attend, at least once per quarter, educational meetings. At these...the teachers may gradually refer more and more openly to the ‘foundations’ of Waldorf pedagogy. Still later, parents will be offered conferences where the themes are...more [distinctly] about the esoteric teachings of Rudolf Steiner.… 

“The indoctrination of teachers is itself even more perverse ... [T]he teachers in these schools do not all start as Anthroposophists … [W]e recruited people who were only told, to begin with, that they would become part of a 'an innovative, alternative pedagogy.' Only gradually are the recruits eventually invited to accept Anthroposophical ideas. 

“The indoctrination begins with the obligation to participate in many educational meetings per week...in which many portions are designed to evoke the Anthroposophical foundations of Waldorf pedagog … Teachers must also attend conferences...where esoteric themes are discussed … Such a conference is not just a simple means for communicating ideas — it is an act of sacramental communion.

“Meanwhile, teachers are asked to participate in various tasks of school life: monitoring the canteen, preparing various gatherings, helping with educational exhibitions, helping with open houses, gardening the school's green spaces, cleaning classrooms, doing small maintenance, undertaking administrative tasks, etc. ... Ultimately, the teacher is so much involved in the famous 'school life' that he soon surrenders his personal life ... The teacher finds compensation, a kind of new family, in the school itself.…

“Teachers of Steiner-Waldorf schools — who are both the indoctrinators and the indoctrinated, the persecutors and the persecuted — do not find fault in the system to which they are committed. They only follow a transcendent logic by which the same individual can be, in turn, a victim and then a perpetrator of the victimization of others [i.e., students and their parents].” [8] 

Overall, Perra describes a system that aims to manipulate individuals so that, step by step, they are shepherded deeper and deeper into the Anthroposophical worldview and the Anthroposophical community. If formal membership in Anthroposophical organizations is declining, the number of informal, self-initiated Anthroposophists throughout the world has probably increased significantly. [9] This increase can be attributed, at least in part, to Steiner/Waldorf schools and other Steiner initiatives implementing the sort of indoctrination Perra has described. [10]

◊ • ◊

[1] See, e.g., "RSSKL" and "S. A. Exeter”.

[2] Perhaps surprisingly, much of the recent growth of Steiner education has occurred in China. [See, e.g. "China's Yuppies Want School To Be More Laid-Back": October, 2017.]

[3] Rudolf Steiner encouraged his followers to deceive outsiders. [See "Secrets".] Thus, it is often difficult to determine from afar how much a particular Steiner/Waldorf school — either a proposed school or an existing school — embodies Rudolf Steiner's spiritual conceptions. [See "Clues" and "Non-Waldorf Waldorfs - Looking for a Good One".]

[4] See, e.g., "Here’s the Answer".

[5] See, e.g., "Spiritual Agenda".

[6] See "Methods".

[7] See, e.g., "Indoctrination", "Sneaking It In", and "Soul School".

[8] See "He Went to Waldorf".

[9] Concerning Anthroposophical initiation, see "Inside Scoop".

[10] Concerning the way Steiner/Waldorf schools serve and spread the religion of Anthroposophy, see, e.g, "Schools as Churches".

— R.R.

October 25, 2018

NOW YOU DON'T SEE US; 

NOW YOU DO (MAYBE)

From The Hemel Gazette [Hertfordshire, UK]: 

“We hope to re-open in September,” 

say Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley 

By Ben Raza 

A school which closed for business in June is aiming to return in 2019.

Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL) was a £9,857-a-year private school which was forced to shut after a number of issues with safeguarding and insurance. 

But this week the Gazette met with Steffi Cook, a long-time employee who is now one of the new trustees, and she laid out the school’s vision. 

She said: “Our goal is to have a Steiner school again. We want Steiner education on this site in the future. 

“We’re working towards that as quickly and professionally as possible — but we’re also not rushing into anything.” 

Steffi laid out two possibilities — an outside group coming in and launching a new school, or the kindergarten which has remained open being allowed to grow by adding one extra year group until it can teach children until age 19.… 

[10/25/2018      https://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/we-hope-to-re-open-in-september-say-rudolf-steiner-school-kings-langley-1-8681429    This article originally appeared on October 24.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

In a sense, this is not news. The leaders of Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley have obviously intended all along to reopen their school, or to start a successor school, as soon as possible. They fought the UK government's order closing RSSKL, and they are currently fighting the consequences of the closing. [See "RSSKL".]

This is the attitude we should expect to find in any Waldorf or Steiner community. Fundamentally, Waldorf/Steiner enterprises are religious — they are rooted in the religion created by Rudolf Steiner: Anthroposophy. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] Religious fervor infuses almost everything said and done in Waldorf/Steiner circles. [See, e.g., "Schools as Churches" and "Serving the Gods".]

Not all teachers at Waldorf/Steiner schools are adherents of the Waldorf/Steiner religion, and most parents who send their children to these schools are not fully-committed, Steiner-text-studying members of the faith. We should also recognize that some Waldorf/Steiner schools are more deeply invested in Anthroposophy than others are, and today some Waldorf/Steiner groups are apparently drifting away from devotion to Anthroposophy. And yet, at its core, the Waldorf/Steiner movement remains wedded to Rudolf Steiner's religious teachings. [See, e.g., "Waldorf Now", "Today", "Today 2", "Today 3", and the other pages in this sequence.]

Fervor, or zealotry, does not easily take "no" for an answer. We should expect Waldorf/Steiner groups to fight long and hard for their convictions.

The practical question, in the case of RSSKL, is whether the school's long list of accumulated difficulties can be overcome anytime soon, or ever.

The UK Department for Education and the Office for Standards in Education, having passed sentence on the school, may not permit RSSKL to reconstitute itself.

And there are other difficulties. 

◊ RSSKL is very deeply in debt. [See "Selling Off Parts of a 'Closed' School", October 23, 2018.] Digging out from under this debt may be extremely difficult.

◊ Insurers gave up on RSSKL — they were no longer will to underwrite the ongoing operations of the school. From the Watford Observer: "It was announced in June that the school was to close, and despite attempts to keep it open, they were unable to find any insurers to keep the school operating from September." [See "Closed Steiner School to Stay Closed — For Now", August 24, 2018.] 

◊ The school came under criticism for numerous serious failings, ranging from bad teaching to bad management. Perhaps most fundamental — and most disturbing to parents — was the failure to adequately safeguard students at the school. [See "The Faults Found — Remembering RSSKL", July 7, 2018.]

◊ RSSKL's reputation is currently in tatters, following a long series of devastating inspections by the Office for Standards in Education and the consequent coverage in the news media. Many families turned away from the school, and at least some of the faculty — who were no longer being paid — have dispersed. These problems may be repaired eventually, but the process may be long and difficult. (Note that one option mentioned by Ms. Cook — adding a new, higher grade each year as the kids currently in kindergarten gradually get older — would take more than a dozen years.)

If any ordinary school collapsed due to serious deficiencies such as those found at RSSKL, it would probably give up the ghost quickly and fade into history. It would bow to its seemingly inevitable fate. But we should not expect a Waldorf/Steiner school to do the same. The fervor of its most devoted champions will not allow RSSKL to surrender until absolutely every conceivable (and perhaps inconceivable) option has been tried and tried again.

So the story of RSSKL probably has many more chapters to come. They may be short, sad chapters — but we shouldn't expect RSSKL to vanish, completely and finally, anytime soon.

— R.R.

October 24, 2018

VISUALIZING SPIRIT: 

OCCULT IMAGININGS   

A new show at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City features the paintings of Swedish mystical artist Hilma af Klint.  

Af Klint admired Rudolf Steiner, and Steiner is sometimes said to have liked her paintings. However, he hedged his admiration — he said her paintings did not truly reflect spiritual realities. 

The following is from a review in artnet news: 

Why Hilma af Klint’s Occult Spirituality 

Makes Her the Perfect Artist for 

Our Technologically Disrupted Time 

By Ben Davis 

I can’t help but agree with all the praise being heaped on the Guggenheim’s big Hilma af Klint show. It’s great, great, beyond great.

Assembled in a chronological progression up the museum’s spiral, the show feels like both a transmission from an unmapped other world and a perfectly logical correction to the history of Modern art — an alternate mode of abstraction from the dawn of the 20th century that looks as fresh as if it were painted yesterday…. 

Though unique and all her own, af Klint’s spiritualist passions were fertilized in the larger developments in European fin de siècle culture [i.e., the cultural milieu at the end of the nineteenth century]. Early on, the Swedish artist found a home as a Theosophist, shortly after that movement opened a lodge in Stockholm…. 

The esoteric philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), who passed through Theosophy before founding his own doctrine of Anthroposophy, reclaimed the ideas of Rosicrucianism as a “spiritual science,” capable of returning a sense of the purpose of humanity to a world grown disenchantingly materialist. Steiner in particular was a huge influence on af Klint — in fact, he was the only person she sought out to show her paintings to (though when she finally convinced him to see them, in 1909, he was shatteringly underwhelmed)… 

[10/23/2018     https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/hilma-af-klints-occult-spirituality-makes-perfect-artist-technologically-disrupted-time-1376587    This review originally appeared on October 22.]

◊ • ◊

A fairly typical af Klint painting:

Hilma af Klint, 

Untitled Series: group IV, the Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood (1907). 

© Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk.

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Most Waldorf schools are filled with bright, prismatic art. The underlying reason: Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner taught that art, properly created and properly appreciated, provides us with direct access to the spirit realm. [1] 

“This is what gives art its essential lustre: it transplants us here and now into the spiritual world.” — Rudolf Steiner, quoted in THE GOETHEANUM: School of Spiritual Science (Philosophical-Anthroposophical Press, 1961), p. 25.

Steiner claimed to possess extensive, detailed knowledge of the spirit realm. He said he attained this knowledge through his use of "exact clairvoyance". [2] Thanks to this professed knowledge, Steiner offered himself as an expert who could distinguish between true and false representations of spiritual reality. True representations were closely aligned with his own teachings; false representations strayed too far from his own teachings. [3] 

Much of the art created by Steiner's followers conforms closely to Steiner's visions and preferences. [4] Likewise, at least some of the art created by Waldorf students — under the direction of their teachers — reflects spirituality as conceived by Steiner.

One style of painting found in virtually all Waldorf schools is "wet-on-wet" watercoloring. [5] This style consists of spreading thin watercolor paint over wetted paper using wide, wet paintbrushes. The thin paint, wet paper, and wide-and-wet brushes make detailed depictions of physical objects virtually impossible, but they produce images that reflect Steiner's description of the spirit realm:

"[W]hen the soul arrives on earth in order to enter its body, it has come down from spirit-soul worlds in which there are no spatial forms [i.e., nothing has clear, sharp outlines] ... But though the world from which the soul descends has no spatial forms or lines, it does have color intensities, color qualities ... [The spirit realm] is a soul-permeated, spirit-permeated world of light, of color, of tone; a world of qualities not quantities; a world of intensities rather than extensions.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE ARTS AND THEIR MISSION (Anthroposophic Press, 1964), p. 23.

Here is a typical example of a wet-on-wet painting created by a Waldorf student:

Painting courtesy of People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools.

The contrast between this Waldorf/Anthroposophical image and the af Klint painting shown previously may help explain why Steiner was not willing to fully endorse af Klint's visions. [6]

— R.R

◊

To delve into Steiner's teachings about Rosicrucianism, see "Rosy Cross". 

To investigate the connections between Anthroposophy and Theosophy, see "Basics".

◊

[1] See "Magical Arts".

[2] See "Exactly". 

[3] See, e.g., the judgments Steiner passed on messages received from beyond the grave. One instance is touched on in "Light and Dark".

[4] See "Anthroposophical Art".

[5] See "Wet on Wet". 

[6] Af Klint may have trimmed her sails later on. The following is from a report on af Klint's art written by a former Waldorf student. The writer, Alicia Hamberg, went to see an af Klint exhibition in Stockholm:

"In her later works — succeeding these now famous abstract paintings which were the main focus of the exhibition and of interest in general — the inspiration from anthroposophy and anthroposophical artistic ideals is evident; there’s actually stuff looking more or less like any wet-on-wet painting, indistinguishable from the children’s paintings you typically find pinned on the walls of any Waldorf school...." — Alicia Hamberg, “hilma af klint: a pioneer of abstraction (exhibition)”, THE ETHEREAL KIOSK, February 20, 2013.

October 23, 2018

SELLING OFF PARTS 

OF A "CLOSED" STEINER SCHOOL   

From The Hemel Gazette [Hertfordshire, UK]: 

Rudolf Steiner School selling 

village houses in Kings Langley 

By Harry Cheesewright

A £9,857-a-year school which was forced to close earlier this year is in the process of selling its properties. 

Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL) is selling two homes in the village [Kings Langley]…. 

However the governors [of RSSKL] have denied rumours that they are planning to sell the cricket fields, or other land, for community housing.… 

Despite RSSKL closing in June the organisation is still operational with a kindergarten taking children aged between three and six years old. 17 children enrolled for September. 

That figure has since dropped to 15, but bosses [i.e., the school's leaders] say they expect there to be more than 20 “shortly”. 

RSSKL’s most recent accounts for 2016-17 show that the school ran at a £100,000 loss. 

However those debts are believed to have spiralled since then, with students numbers falling from 378 in November 2016 to 318 just 18 months later, and because of legal fees as RSSKL fought against government efforts to have the school closed.… 

Parents have been invited to a meeting tonight. Topics under discussion will include the immediate future of the site, and plans to have a new Steiner school on the site in due course.… 

[10/23/2018     https://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/education/rudolf-steiner-school-selling-village-houses-in-kings-langley-1-8678816] 

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

At one point not long ago, Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley seemed to be dead and buried. But the school’s leaders, who fought the government’s closure order, continue working in apparent determination to revive their school in some form, perhaps under a new name. 

One small portion of the school continues to function: classes for kindergarteners. There have also been reports of unofficial tutoring sessions for older students held in the schools’ classrooms. [See Hemel Gazette, September 20, 2018.]

The decision to sell off some of the school’s properties apparently does not mean the school is giving up its efforts to survive. Rather, it seems to be a step the school is reluctantly taking to meet some of its immediate financial obligations. According to The Hemel Gazette, last year the school took out a £750,000 corporate loan. The school evidently also has other debts. 

The school’s difficulties reached a crisis when inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) identified numerous deficiencies at the school. In some ways, the situation as RSSKL is paralleled by problems inspectors have found at Steiner Academy Exeter. At both schools, the problem that has received the most notoriety is inadequate safeguarding of students. [See "RSSKL" and "S. A. Exeter”.] 

Steiner schools are usually inspected by the rather lenient School Inspection Service. However, when serious deficiencies become apparent, rigorous Ofsted inspections may be ordered. According to a recent article in The Telegraph: 

The majority of fee-paying Steiner schools in England are inspected by the School Inspection Service (SIS) … There is mounting concern about the suitability of the SIS to inspect Steiner schools and hold them to account on their shortcomings … RSSKL used to be inspected by the SIS but as safeguarding fears mounted, ministers [i.e., government officials] ordered Ofsted to take over. Ofsted can only inspect private Steiner schools when commissioned by the DfE [the Department for Education] to do so. 

[10/20/2018   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/10/20/ministers-urged-order-fresh-inspections-steiner-schools-amid/] 

Recently, there have been calls for all Steiner schools in the UK to be carefully inspected. [See "Safety, Karma, Gods, and Love", October 21, 2018.] 

The future of Steiner education in the UK — and perhaps beyond — may be significantly affected by the unfolding dramas at Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley and Steiner Academy Exeter. The stakes will be raised even higher if Ofsted inspections are ordered for all of the UK's Steiner schools.

— R.R.

October 22, 2018

WILL STEINER  

TRUST THE TRUST?  

From DevonLive.com [Devon, UK]:

Meet the woman who steps in 

to save our failing schools

By Anita Merritt

Troubled schools have become bit of a speciality for Moira Marder, who has been teaching in Exeter for more than 10 years.

The former headteacher of St James [School], which has been turned from a failing school into one which is now rated ‘good’ by Ofsted [the Office for Standards in Education] and is striving to become ‘outstanding’, was asked this week to step in to help Exeter’s Steiner school [i.e., Steiner Academy Exeter] which, in a rare move, was immediately closed following a damning Ofsted inspection. 

‘Serious’ concerns were raised by inspectors over safeguarding, management, leadership and special educational needs. 

Moira’s expertise were [sic] called upon because she is chief executive officer of the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust…. 

[About Steiner Academy Exeter] Moira said: “I have to say it’s quite an interesting situation. I didn’t see that one coming. I’ve never come across a situation like it before…. 

“We know there are safeguarding concerns around the school and what we are trying to do is put those things right so it can fully reopen…. 

“We have support and resources we can utilise in the short-term to do it. We have not got a long-term agreement to work with Steiner and that will be for the Regional School’s Commissioner to decide what happens longer term. In the meantime I’m learning about Steiner education…. 

“We have not seen the Ofsted report because it has not been published yet. Other things will become apparent when it is out within a few weeks….” 

[The Ted Wragg Trust] formed in 2010.… 

Moira said: “Ted Wragg’s belief was all Exeter schools should be working together for the good of our Exeter children. That was his vision for the city. 

“It’s also about narrowing the gap between the most advantaged and disadvantaged schools in Exeter. I’m a protector of that vision. 

“We should work together so all schools are really good and supporting each other rather than having one school with lots of problems and letting it fail….” 

[10/22/2018      https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/meet-woman-who-steps-save-2127736    This article originally appeared on October 20.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Saving local schools can be important for a community. When one school fails, all the other local schools must make room for the displaced students. This can be disruptive. In some cases, it may strain the surviving schools beyond their capacity. Moreover, local school-transportation arrangements will need to be revised, a complex and difficult task. Also, family schedules may be overturned, and parents' educational preferences for their children may be thwarted. Kids may wind up in schools neither they nor their parents want.

The Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust strives to harmonize and improve all the cooperating schools in Exeter, England. [1]

We must wish the Trust, and Moira Marder, well. In attempting to set things right at Steiner Academy Exeter, they may be undertaking a more challenging task than any they have faced previously. 

Ms. Marder says she doesn't yet know much about Steiner education ("In the meantime I’m learning about Steiner education"), and she has not yet received the details of the "damning" inspection that led to the temporary closure of Steiner Academy Exeter ("We have not seen the Ofsted report because it has not been published yet"). The things she learns may complicate her task considerably.

Steiner schools don't differ from other schools by a little, they differ from them by a lot. They are fundamentally different. They are based on an esoteric, mystical religion — Anthroposophy. Their goals and practices vary radically from those of other schools. [2]

Coming from outside Anthroposophy, Ms. Marder may have difficulty offering proposals that will be acceptable to the faculty and staff at Steiner Academy Exeter while also satisfying Ofsted. Conventional or mainstream procedures, which would be acceptable at most other schools, might contravene Steiner beliefs so much that implementing them would fundamentally change the Academy. Presumably the Academy would resist, probably adamantly.

Steiner educators generally resist directions, regulations, and requirements coming from the outside. This is one of the central problems that led to the failure of Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley. [3] Rather than cooperating with outsiders, Steiner educators often resist, mislead, and attempt to manipulate. Rudolf Steiner himself encouraged teachers at the first Waldorf school to take this subversive, self-protective approach. Faced with outside pressures that would prevent them from operating as they wished, the teachers should cleverly resist, he said:

"We must worm our way through ... We have to be conscious that in order to do what we want to do, at least, it is necessary to talk with the people [i.e., outsiders], not because we want to but because we have to, and inwardly make fools of them." — Rudolf Steiner, CONFERENCES WITH THE TEACHERS OF THE WALDORF SCHOOL IN STUTTGART, Vol. 1 (Steiner Schools Fellowship Publications, 1986), p. 125.

Former Waldorf teacher Grégoire Perra has reported that Steiner schools make a practice of deceiving outsiders:

"Indeed, in these schools, misleading state officials is commonplace. For example, I witnessed that, when a teacher is scheduled to be inspected in class, s/he will commonly be replaced by another teacher who has the [necessary] skills or qualifications. Then the students are asked to 'play the game' when the inspector is present ... Similarly, it may happen that there are health and hygiene inspections. I remember one time when the inspectors had to check how the children ate in the canteen. However, in this school, the children did not eat in a canteen ... For this inspection, the teachers were notified 24 hours in advance, so we organized three successive meal services in a [improvised] canteen for the students, so that everything appeared normal. In the evening, during a faculty meeting, teachers congratulated themselves that their students had 'played the game.'" [4]

Such resistance may be directed not only at education officials but at any and all outsiders who attempt to influence a Steiner school, even when these outsiders intend to be helpful and supportive, as Ms. Marder does. Rudolf Steiner resisted allowing even friends of the first Waldorf school to come inside for visits [5], and he generally encouraged teachers at the school to guard the school's secrets, which were many. [6] 

It may be that faculty and staff at Steiner Academy Exeter sincerely want to satisfy Ofsted, and for this reason they may be sincerely grateful for Ms. Marder's entry into the picture. But whether they will be able to make the needed changes in their school without violating their own most basic beliefs remains to be seen. They may soon realize that they really cannot cooperate beyond a certain point — it would, from their perspective, destroy their school. So if they are grateful and receptive now, this may soon change.

We will watch future developments with interest.

— R.R.

◊

For previous coverage here of events at Steiner Academy Exeter, see "S. A. Exeter".

◊

[1] See https://www.tedwraggtrust.co.uk.

[2] See, e.g., "Oh Humanity", "Here's the Answer", and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"

[3] See "RSSKL".

[4] See "He Went to Waldorf".

[5] See "Visits".

[6] See "Secrets".

October 21, 2018

SAFETY, KARMA, 

GODS, AND LOVE  

From The Telegraph [UK]:

Ministers urged to order fresh inspections 

of all Steiner schools amid fresh child safety fears

By Camilla Turner 

Ministers [i.e., government officials] have been urged to order fresh inspections of all the Steiner schools in the country, as a second school is threatened with closure amid “serious” concerns about child safety. 

The Steiner Academy Exeter was warned by the government this week that it could have its funding cut off, after Ofsted [the Office for Standards in Education] discovered severe safeguarding and governance lapses. 

Following the inspection, the regional schools commissioner took the unusual step of instructing it to close immediately while the issues were addressed, so it can ensure a "safe environment" for its pupils. It re-opened a week later. 

It comes after the The Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL) was ordered to shut down, following a series of damning Ofsted inspections which uncovered a raft of safeguarding failings.

Favoured by bohemian, middle-class parents, Steiner schools base their curriculum on the spiritual philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, called anthroposophy….

[T]here are fears that the safeguarding failures unmasked at two Steiner schools raise questions about the movement as a whole.… 

Richy Thompson, director of public affairs and policy at Humanists UK, [said] ministers should “urgently review whether similar issues are at play in the all Steiner schools”.... [Humanists UK is a charitable organization that promotes humanism.]

A DfE [Department for Education] spokesperson said that any allegation of a school putting pupils at risk is investigated, and if a school is failing to protect children “we will take immediate action, which can include closing that school down”…. 

[10/21/2018     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/10/20/ministers-urged-order-fresh-inspections-steiner-schools-amid/   This article originally appeared on October 20.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

The safety of students should be a fundamental consideration at any school. When parents entrust their children to a school, they certainly should be assured that the school will do everything in its power to keep the children safe.

Steiner or Waldorf schools often affirm their commitment to protecting children and promoting their welfare. In this, they are probably wholly sincere. But several factors make child safety problematic within the Steiner/Waldorf culture.

One factor is belief in karma. Rudolf Steiner taught that karma is a crucial feature of contemporary human life. Much that happens to us in life is the result of karma, he said. And, indeed, a central purpose of life on Earth is to fulfill one's karma. [1] This set of beliefs raises a serious difficulty for Steiner/Waldorf schools. If a child gets hurt, this may be karma — it may be good for the child. If a child gets bullied, or taunted, or physically attacked — this may be an expression of the child's karma. Perhaps we should stand back and allow such events to play out. This, at any rate, is how Steiner's followers — including at least some Waldorf/Steiner teachers — typically view things. [2] Laxness on the issue of student safety may easily result.

Another factor is the Steiner/Waldorf belief in angels. Rudolf Steiner taught that angels are actually gods — specifically, they are gods who stand one rank higher than human beings. (Other gods stand at higher ranks, he said.) Each angel oversees the life of one human being on Earth. In this sense, every angel is a guardian angel. Well, if every child has a guardian angel — a protective god — then surely we should allow these gods to do their work unhampered. We needn't worry about the safety of the children in our care — the guardian angels will keep the kids safe. Such, in any case, is how Steiner's followers  — including at least some Waldorf/Steiner teachers — typically view things. [3] So, again, laxness on the issue of student safety may easily result.

Yet a third factor — ironically, or perhaps tragically — is love. Rudolf Steiner encouraged Steiner/Waldorf teachers to love their students, and he urged Steiner/Waldorf students to love their teachers. [4] This sounds wonderful, and in some ways it certainly is. But in other ways, it can cause severe problems. Proper barriers between teachers and students may be breached. Relationships outside school hours may develop. Friendships may develop into love affairs — or sexual exploitation. It is terrible to think that Steiner/Waldorf teachers might harm students out of love, or desire, or sexual craving. Yet we have numerous reports of precisely this sort of dire misconduct occurring in and around Steiner/Waldorf schools. [5]

Government officials certainly should scrutinize Steiner/Waldorf schools on the urgent issue of student safety.

— R.R.

◊

For previous coverage here of events at Steiner Academy Exeter, see "Struggling Steiner Academy Postpones Kindergarten Reopening", October 18, 2018, "What the School Must Do to Save Itself", October 17, 2018, "Exeter Closure Extended Again", October 16, 2018, "Exeter Update: More than Safeguarding", October 14, 2018, "Another Inspection, Another Closure", October 13, 2018, and "Problems at Another U.K. Steiner School", July 29, 2018.

For coverage of events at Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, see "RSSKL".

◊

[1] See "Karma".

[2] See "Slaps".

[3] See "Polytheism" and "Serving the Gods".

[4] See "Mistreating Kids Lovingly".

[5] See "Extremity".

October 20, 2018

AVERAGE, ABOVE AVERAGE, 

AND WALDORF  

Waldorf or Steiner schools often have low academic standards. [1] This does not mean, however, that all Waldorf/Steiner schools are inferior to other schools by all measures. [2] Nor does it mean that all students who attend Waldorf/Steiner schools will fare badly when they graduate. [3]

Here are excerpts from two recent news reports bearing on these matters.

From Schools Week [London, UK]:

Revealed: The top 10 schools 

in the country for progress 8

by Alix Roberston

Three schools belonging to the Star Academies trust featured in the top ten schools in the country for progress 8.... [4]

They included the top-of-the-table Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School, which posted a progress 8 score of 1.91.

That means every pupil at the school achieved, on average, nearly two grades higher than an average pupil in other schools with the same prior attainment….

The top ten progress 8 schools[:]

Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School

Wembley High Technology College

Dixons Trinity Academy

The Steiner Academy Hereford….

[Etc.]

[10/20/2018  https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-the-top-10-schools-in-the-country-for-progress-8/]

◊

From Denver Business Journal [Colorado, USA]:

These Colorado high schools 

produced the most Harvard, 

Princeton and MIT grads

by Jonathan Rose

A new report examines the Colorado high schools that sent the most alums to the top-three-ranked universities on U.S. News & World Report’s latest list: No. 1 Princeton University, No. 2 Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which tied for third place….

The Colorado high schools with at least one graduate from the three institutions include…Shining Mountain Waldorf School (Boulder)…. [5]

[10/20/2018      https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2018/10/18/colorado-high-schools-ivy-league-graduates.html   This article originally appeared on October 18.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

A fair assessment of Waldorf education must include the recognition that sometimes Waldorf or Steiner schools appear to stand well above average. Sometimes Waldorf/Steiner schools stack up well when compared to other schools, and sometimes alumni of Waldorf/Steiner schools do quite well in college and in their subsequent careers.

Assessing any type of school can be difficult. And, of course, there are exceptions to all norms. While most Waldorf/Steiner schools may attach little importance to academic excellence, a few may value it relatively more. And, then again, sometimes surprising results may arise largely by chance.

The success attained by any student is, generally speaking, a highly personal matter. Some kids are more highly motivated than others. Some are more industrious. Some are brighter. Some find a particular school environment more congenial than their classmates do. Some like their teachers while others don't. Some are obedient while others are rebellious. Some become fascinated by a particular subject while others remain unchallenged or unstimulated. Many factors are involved in any child's educational success.

The most important factor, often, has little to do with the school a child attends. It is family life. A child who has exceptionally caring, nurturing, and encouraging parents has an enormous advantage over children who receive less parental support. Home environment is important in many other ways, as well. A child may arrive at school primed for success if s/he comes from a home rich in intellectual and cultural resources — perhaps a home having a large family library, perhaps a home in which stimulating family discussions occur nightly at the dining table, perhaps a home in which many extracurricular opportunities are affordable and emphasized. [6]

Still, the importance of one's schooling cannot be denied. Although some very successful individuals come out of some very bad schools, attending a good school is surely a great advantage — and some Waldorf students attend better schools than others do. [7] Not all Waldorf/Steiner schools are wholly alike, and certainly not all Waldorf teachers are alike. [8] Indeed, not all Waldorf teachers are Anthroposophists. [9] A student fortunate enough to study under just one exceptionally talented and caring teacher — in any type of school — may benefit form this experience throughout all of her subsequent life.

These are all important and intricate subjects.

And yet, to some degree, they are all beside the point. The academic quality of a Waldorf/Steiner education is not the crucial question about such an education. The crucial question has to do with occult indoctrination. [10] Waldorf schools exist to promote Anthroposophy. [11] Unless you want your children to be steered toward Anthroposophy, you should not send them to a Waldorf or Steiner school. All other considerations pale in comparison to this.

Put the matter this way: Let's posit, for the sake of argument, that all Waldorf/Steiner schools are academically excellent. But let's also posit that children sent to these schools will be lured toward the esoteric, occult labyrinth that is Anthroposophy. [12] Would you send your children to such a school?

The truth, of course, is different from our hypothetical situation. Most Waldorf schools are not academically excellent. But most of them do, to one degree or another, try to maneuver students (and their parents) toward lifelong devotion to Rudolf Steiner's concocted religion, Anthroposophy. [13] Realizing these things should make it even easier for you to answer the crucial question. Would you send your children to such a school?

◊

[1] See "Academic Standards at Waldorf". Also see recent news coverage here for October 19, 2018 and October 18, 2018.

[2] Comparing Waldorf schools to a national average, as in the Progress 8 program, means comparing them to some very good schools — but also to many very bad schools. Making the comparison only to the best schools would be more meaningful. But even then, the comparison would be difficult because Waldorf schools are unique — they have different purposes and a different character. Indeed, evaluating an individual Waldorf/Steiner school purely on its own merits, by its own standards, can be a challenge. [For guidance, see "Clues".]

[3] See, e.g., the section "Waldorf Graduates" on the page "Upside".

[4] Progress 8 is a program that compares academic achievement of students at secondary schools in the UK. The average score of schools in the program is 0. A score of 1 means that students at a school average one grade level higher than their peers elsewhere. Most schools score between 1 and -1. 

[5] If the criterion is having a single student who went on to graduate from one of these top institutions, the sample is terribly small and, perhaps, meaningless.

[6] I attended a Waldorf school. It was perhaps a more academically respectable Waldorf school than many others, but the education I received there was deficient in many ways. [See "I Went to Waldorf".] This was partially offset, however, by my circumstances outside school. My mother was extremely interested in arts and culture, and my father was a voracious reader — and they passed their interests to their children. Moreover, we lived in the suburbs of New York City, where we had access to all of the cultural and educational resources of that metropolis. The New York Times arrived at our doorstep every morning, for instance, while we also had weekly subscriptions to literally dozens of other publications (Life magazine, Look, The New Yorker, The Saturday Review of Literature, Newsweek, The Saturday Evening Post, etc.). We owned a multi-volume encyclopedia, a large LP collection (classical music, for the most part), and many other resources. I know that I learned far more at home than I ever did at school. And yet I arrived at college ill-prepared. [See "My Sad, Sad Story".]

[7] There is at least some variation among Waldorf/Steiner schools. [See, e.g., "Non-Waldorf Waldorfs".] 

[8] For first-person accounts by some former Waldorf teachers, see "He Went to Waldorf" and the essays that follow it.

[9] See the entry for "Waldorf teachers" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

[10] See "Indoctrination".

[11] See "Here's the Answer" and "Spiritual Agenda".

[12] See the entry for "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia. 

[13] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?" and "Schools as Churches".

— R.R.

October 19, 2018

FAILING 

YET HANGING ON 

[Schools Week, Oct. 19, 2018.]

From Schools Week [London, UK]:

Revealed: The private schools 

that remain open despite 

standards warnings

[by] Jess Staufenberg

A private school has been forced to close most classes after the government threatened to shut it down over poor standards – despite other failing schools remaining open....

Only the kindergarten is open at Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, Hertfordshire after the Department for Education threatened to deregister the school following an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted [Office for Standards in Education] grade two years ago.

The school had also failed to meet the government’s independent school standards on six occasions, however on its most recent inspection it met the requirements.

But other failing schools don’t appear to have been hit with deregistration notices, Schools Week has found, with one faith school judged ‘inadequate’ four times in a row.…

The worst offender, Rabia Girls’ and Boys’ School, an independent Islamic school in Luton...has been graded ‘inadequate’ in four full inspections, and failed the independent school standards eight times since 2014.

The power to close down schools rests with the DfE [the Department for Education], but Ofsted has been increasingly outspoken about the [Department's] inaction….

Rudolf Steiner School, Kings Langley...was graded inadequate in 2016 over a lack of robust safeguarding systems and weak teaching.

Following monitoring visits, the school received a letter from the DfE in July 2017 saying it would be struck off the independent schools’ register.

Rudolf Steiner School, Kings Langley has appealed the DfE decision….

A spokesperson for the DfE said they cannot comment until the appeal process has concluded. They added all independent schools must meet the standards or face closure.

[10/19/2018   https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-the-private-schools-that-remain-open-despite-standards-warnings/]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

The current British government, under the Conservative Party, has been accommodating to various independent educational efforts. It has supported a free-enterprise approach, encouraging the formation of a wide range of alternative educational institutions. And it has been loathe to shutter schools even when they clearly serve their students badly. 

The Department for Education under this government has been anything but a fierce watchdog. Yet even in these lax circumstances, some British Steiner schools have found themselves imperiled. School inspectors have found many flaws in them.

We might ask why this has happened. Why, even in a favorable climate, have some Steiner schools found themselves threatened with official sanctions?

The answer lies deep in the nature of Steiner or Waldorf education.

Steiner/Waldorf schools often have serious difficulties meeting standard educational requirements. These schools do not generally strive to offer students a good education, per se — their focus lies elsewhere. [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf", "Spiritual Agenda", and the Waldorf Watch for October 18, 2018: "Reforming a Steiner or Waldorf school is quite difficult...."] 

The low quality of Waldorf education, as judged by conventional standards, became apparent at the very first Waldorf school. When teachers at that school became concerned that they were not preparing students adequately for standard final examinations in the 12th grade, school founder Rudolf Steiner replied:

“The question of final examinations is purely a question of opportunity. It is a question of whether we dare tell those who come to us that we will not prepare them for the final examination at all....” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 712.

Later, when the students did poorly in the exams, Steiner said,

“We should have no illusions: The results gave a very unfavorable impression of our school to people outside.” — Ibid., p. 725.

Waldorf education is not designed to convey much knowledge to students nor to prepare the students for their lives in the real world after graduation. Hence, one of Steiner's followers has written this:

“The success of Waldorf Education...can be measured in the life force attained. Not acquisition of knowledge and qualifications, but the life force is the ultimate goal of this school.” — Anthroposophist Peter Selg, THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF EDUCATION (SteinerBooks, 2010)‚ p. 30.

The problem here is twofold. Waldorf education gives low priority to knowledge, and it gives high priority to a fantasy. "Life force" does not exist. It is a theoretical force postulated by some philosophers and scientists in the 19th century. The concept has been discredited subsequently, but — like many other old and even ancient fallacies — it is still affirmed in Waldorf education. As in so many ways, Waldorf is profoundly backward. [See, e.g., the entry for "life force" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

As another of Steiner's followers has written, Waldorf education is not "fact-based" — it attaches little importance to factual knowledge.

“This is the obvious flaw in fact-based education. Whether we were taught about the solar system, the Soviet Union, or computers, much of what we had to learn in school [i.e., in non-Waldorf schools] is now outdated.” — Jack Petrash, UNDERSTANDING WALDORF EDUCATION (Nova Institute, 2002), p. 26.

Yes, facts change. But the proper response is not to devalue factual knowledge — it is to teach children how to ascertain factual knowledge and how to keep abreast of new developments, new discoveries. Waldorf schools do not, however, aim to do this. In fact, Waldorf education is not intended to be essentially rational:

"You will injure children if you educate them rationally....” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 61. 

Steiner was speaking, here, primarily about young children. But the Waldorf aversion to rationality infects all levels of Waldorf schooling. Waldorf students are encouraged to have faith in their imaginations and intuitions, not primarily in their reasoning minds. The Waldorf approach discourages critical thinking. A Waldorf headmaster has expressed the matter this way:

"A youth whose childhood has been touched by the blight of 'critical thinking' will come to the moment of independent insight badly crippled ... Because skepticism has long since robbed him of part of his heart, he will now feel unable to embrace enthusiastically what he has come to understand." — John Fentress Gardner, THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWLEDGE (Waldorf Press, 1975), pp. 127-128.

In the Waldorf view, we "understand" things — we reach "independent insight" — through our emotions and our imaginations. Ultimately, in the Waldorf view, we come to understand things by developing clairvoyance. Waldorf schools are frequently staffed by teachers who believe in clairvoyance. Many Waldorf teachers think they are clairvoyant; others credit the pronouncements of their colleagues who claim to be clairvoyant. Steiner commended this approach:

"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 investigation [i.e., the disciplined use of clairvoyance]." — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 2 (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), p. 224.

Thus, we find Waldorf teachers making pronouncements such as this:

"Must teachers be clairvoyant in order to be certain that they are teaching in the proper way? Clairvoyance is needed...." — Eugene Schwartz, THE MILLENNIAL CHILD (Anthroposophic Press, 1999), pp. 157.

But clairvoyance is illusory. Like life force and so much else that Waldorf education affirms, clairvoyance does not exist. [See "Clairvoyance".] Yet clairvoyance is the central pillar of the Waldorf worldview. Clairvoyance constitutes what Steiner called "the Waldorf teacher's consciousness":

“[W]e must work to develop this consciousness, the Waldorf teacher’s consciousness, if I may so express it. This is only possible, however, when in the field of education we come to an actual experience of the spiritual. Such an experience of the spiritual is difficult to attain for modern humanity. We must realize that we really need something quite specific, something that is hardly present anywhere else in the world, if we are to be capable of mastering the task of the Waldorf school ... [We need] what humanity has lost in this respect, has lost just in the last three or four centuries. It is this that we must find again.” — Rudolf Steiner, DEEPER INSIGHTS INTO EDUCATION (Anthroposophical Press, 1983), p. 21. 

What we have lost, Steiner said, is instinctive clairvoyance:

“Essentially, people today have no inkling of how people looked out into the universe in ancient times when human beings still possessed an instinctive clairvoyance. Nowadays we believe that the different pictures or images or Imaginations [mental images produced by clairvoyance]...are the product of fantasy. They are not ... Human progress demanded that this living imaginative view fade away and be replaced by the intellectual view ... If we want to be fully human, however, we must struggle to regain a view of the cosmos that moves toward Imagination again.” — Rudolf Steiner, ART AS SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 256.

Note how, in statements such as this, "clairvoyance" and "imagination" are essentially interchangeable terms. When they advocate imagination, Waldorf schools are ultimately advocating clairvoyance.

This is the Waldorf view. It is unrealistic. It is irrational. It devalues knowledge. It devalues facts. It devalues critical thinking. It emphasizes fantasies such as life force and clairvoyance. It is fundamentally false.

The Waldorf worldview is the reason Waldorf schools have difficulty meeting standard educational requirements. It is the reason Waldorf schools have difficulty providing their students with a good education.

— R.R.

October 18, 2018

STRUGGLING STEINER ACADEMY 

POSTPONES KINDERGARTEN REOPENING 

From DevonLive.com [Devon, UK]:

MP backs temporary closure 

of Exeter's struggling 

Steiner school

The school's Kindergarten will now 

remain closed until after half term

By Rom Preston-Ellis

Exeter's MP [Member of Parliament] has spoken of his concern following the sudden closure of the city's Steiner Academy.

The school on Cowley Bridge Road closed to all pupils on Friday after an Ofsted inspection raised 'serious concerns'.

It is set to reopen on Thursday after appointing a completely new management committee.

However, parents with children at Steiner's Kindergarten were told on Tuesday that that section of the school would not reopen until after half term [i.e., the middle of the term].

Writing to parents, acting principle Paul Houghham said that reasons for the continued closure of the Kindergarten included the need for improvements in "physical infrastructure, systems and processes and staff training”.

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said: "I have written to the Education Secretary to seek his urgent assurance that the problems at the school are being addressed and that the children affected can go back to a school that is safe and where they can receive the quality education every child deserves….”

[10/18-2018    https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/mp-backs-temporary-closure-exeters-2115948   This article originally appeared on October 17.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Steiner Academy Exeter seems to be making an effort to be more cooperative with UK education officials than Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley was. The latter school was eventually shut down by the officials. [See "RSSKL".]

Reforming a Steiner or Waldorf school is quite difficult. Fundamental characteristics of Steiner education may prevent a Steiner/Waldorf school from truly meeting the requirements established by state departments of education.

Steiner/Waldorf education is not primarily intended to provide a good education, as this concept is usually understood. [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf".] Steiner/Waldorf schools have other objectives.

The chief objective is to promote Rudolf Steiner's version of Theosophy, the religion he cobbled together and dubbed "Anthroposophy." [See "Basics" and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] Steiner/Waldorf schools rarely teach students the tenets of Anthroposophy as intellectual constructs, but they work to convey Anthroposophy to the children at the emotional and spiritual level — which Anthroposophists deem far more important. [See "Here's the Answer", "Spiritual Agenda", and "Sneaking It In".]

Steiner/Waldorf schools function essentially as Anthroposophical centers of worship. [See "Schools as Churches".] Students receive indirect but persistent and deep conditioning in Anthroposophical attitudes and behaviors. [See "Indoctrination".] The objective is that the students may, when they become adults, make the conscious decision to become full-fledged Anthroposophists.

Rudolf Steiner asserted that the most important knowledge is "occult" or "hidden." His most important book, giving an overview of all his teachings, is titled "An Outline of Occult Science". [See "Everything".] Occult knowledge is conveyed only to initiates; it is kept hidden from outsiders. [See, e.g., "Inside Scoop".] For this and other reasons, Steiner/Waldorf schools often conceal their intentions and underlying beliefs from outsiders. [See "Secrets".]

When speaking with insiders, Steiner made matters plain. Thus, in addressing Waldorf teachers, he once said this:

“[W]e have to remember that an institution like the Independent Waldorf School with its anthroposophical character, has goals that, of course, coincide with anthroposophical desires. At the moment, though, if that connection were made official, people would break the Waldorf School’s neck." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 705.

A Steiner/Waldorf school can become good school in the ordinary sense — that is, a school that conveys real knowledge to children, preparing the students for real lives in the real world — only if it renounces Rudolf Steiner and his occult preachments. But this would mean creasing to be a Steiner/Waldorf school.

— R.R.

◊

For previous coverage of the situation at Steiner Academy Exeter, see "What the School Must Do to Save Itself", October 17, 2018, "Exeter Closure Extended Again", October 16, 2018, "Exeter Update: More than Safeguarding", October 14, 2018, "Another Inspection, Another Closure", October 13, 2018, and "Problems at Another U.K. Steiner School", July 29, 2018.

October 17, 2018

WHAT THE SCHOOL MUST DO

TO SAVE ITSELF 

From Schools Week [London, UK]:

DfE ‘minded to terminate’ funding 

of Steiner Academy Exeter

[by] Alix Robertson

A Steiner Academy in Exeter has been warned by the government that it is at risk of having its funding terminated due to significant concerns about safeguarding, which led to the school being temporarily closed after a recent Ofsted visit. [Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education. DfE is the Department for Education.]

The government has today published a ‘minded to terminate’ warning notice that was issued to the Steiner Academy Exeter, an all-through free school rated ‘requires improvement’, last month.

The letter from regional schools commisisoner Lisa Mannall stated the department had been informed of “significant concerns” about safeguarding, governance, and provision for pupils with special educational needs.

The letter warned “that there has been a serious breakdown in the way the academy is managed or governed” and “that the safety of pupils or staff of the academy is threatened”.

Steiner Academy Exeter was also visited by Ofsted last week and has been shut since Friday….

An update from the school, published on its website yesterday, said that Mannall has supported its reopening, provided that it “sets up a new academy management committee and secures support from a strong local multi academy trust”….

Mannall, in the letter sent last month, asked the school to submit a post-inspection action plan following an Ofsted visit last year….

Other demands included that the school commissions support from a national leader of governance for its chair of trustees and board, and agrees to meet with the regional schools commissioner’s office during this half-term for a “formal review”….

If the school fails to provide this information it will receive a follow-up termination warning notice, Mannall warned….

[10/17/2018   https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-minded-to-terminate-funding-of-steiner-academy-exeter/. This story originally appeared on October 16. A similar story also appeared on that date at TES.com: "Steiner free school closure threat over safeguarding concerns": https://www.tes.com/news/steiner-free-school-closure-threat-over-safeguarding-concerns.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

The situation at Steiner Academy Exeter is apparently more dire than some recent news accounts have suggested. British education authorities may cut off funding for the school, which would jeopardize the school's continued existence.

Steiner Academy Exeter is a "free school" (what in the USA is called a charter school). Loss of government funding would mean the school would either be forced to close or it would need to find other sources of income so that it could reconstitute itself as a private or independent school.

The Steiner/Waldorf movement is often described as fast-growing. This claim creates a somewhat misleading impression. Other educational movements are larger — e.g., there are about 7,000 Montessori schools in the world, compared to about 1,100 Waldorf schools. Also, the rate at which the Steiner/Waldorf movement has grown is actually not particularly impressive. While new Waldorf schools are opened annually, a fair number of Waldorf schools fail and go out of business annually. [See “Failure”.] The total number of surviving Waldorf schools in world — independent schools and state-supported schools — has tended to inch, not soar, upward over the years.

Conditions for all types of Steiner/Waldorf schools may become more difficult if education authorities in various countries begin examining these schools more closely. The recent failure of a leading Steiner school in Kings Langley, UK, was a significant case in point. The UK Department for Education became convinced that the school was, in effect, irredeemable and must be shut down. Now the Steiner Academy Exeter may face a similar official judgment. The implications for the Steiner/Waldorf movement worldwide may be large.

Rudolf Steiner’s devoted followers will doubtless fight hard to save existing Waldorf schools and to create new ones. And innocent outsiders who are wowed by Waldorf’s manifold charms — all the lovely art, the green values, the unstructured play sessions, and so forth — may continue to be lured into the Waldorf culture. So the end of Waldorf is not in sight, and it may not come into sight for a long, long time yet. But possibly, just possibly, we are glimpsing the faint beginnings of that distant ending.

— R.R.

◊

For previous coverage of the situation at Steiner Academy Exeter, see "Exeter Closure Extended Again", October 16, 2018, "Exeter Update: More than Safeguarding", October 14, 2018, "Another Inspection, Another Closure", October 13, 2018, and "Problems at Another U.K. Steiner School", July 29, 2018.

October 16, 2018

EXETER CLOSURE  

EXTENDED AGAIN 

From DevonLive.com [Devon, UK]:

Exeter Steiner school 

will stay closed until Thursday

by Colleen Smith

Exeter's troubled Steiner school will reopen on Thursday with a new management committee, it has been announced.

The Cowley Bridge school has told parents in a letter that it regrets 'the loss of time in school for our students over this last week'.

The school was closed suddenly last Friday by the regional schools commission after an inspection revealed 'serious concerns' about safeguarding, management, leadership and special educational needs. Previously the school had spoken of its deep regret over the standard of teaching offered to children.

The Ofsted [Office for Standards in Education] report has not yet been published….

Katie Young, writing to parents as the principal's PA [personal assistant], has now said the school will open on Thursday October 18….

The letter adds: “…[W]e want to reassure parents that we as a school are doing everything possible to address the concerns raised by Ofsted … We do regret the loss of time in school for our students over this last week, but we hope parents can understand that we have had to be rigorous in addressing our shortcomings….”

[10/16/2018   https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeter-steiner-school-stay-closed-2112510    This story originally appeared on October 15.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

The situation at Steiner Academy Exeter increasingly resembles the travails at Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, a Steiner institution that recently was ordered to close. [See “RSSKL”.]

The Exeter Steiner school seems to be undertaking the proper sorts of actions, and it is issuing the proper sorts of statements, in response to the criticisms leveled by British education authorities. But those criticisms are extensive and deep. 

Virtually every function of the school seems to be flawed. According to DevonLive, problems have been found in "safeguarding, management, leadership, special educational needs, [and] the standard of teaching offered to children." 

If this is true, then the school seems to be failing in almost every way a school possibly could fail. Evidently the school is badly run, it does not adequately protect the children in its care, and it offers poor instruction for its students, including students having special needs.

Truly addressing these alleged problems will presumably take far longer than a few days. Genuine correction would presumably necessitate a complete overhaul of the school.

Underlying all this is the poor record Steiner/Waldorf schools have established in their dealings with outsiders generally and education authorities in particular. Rudolf Steiner instructed his followers to be deceptive and manipulative when responding to external criticisms and requirements. [See "Secrets".] Certainly, Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley seems to have compounded its difficulties by resisting the same type of oversight that is now directed at Steiner Academy Exeter. 

Steiner Academy Exeter seems to going through the right motions, and it seems to be saying the right things. The question going forward will be whether the school follows through, undertaking genuine reforms.

— R.R.

◊

For previous coverage of the situation at Steiner Academy Exeter, see "Exeter Update: More than Safeguarding", October 14, 2018, "Another Inspection, Another Closure", October 13, 2018, and "Problems at Another U.K. Steiner School", July 29, 2018.

October 14, 2018

MICHAEL, THE DRAGON, 

AND MICROSCOPIC ENEMIES

Here are excerpts from a lecture by Rudolf Steiner. This lecture is among those featured today (October 14, 2018) at the Rudolf Steiner Archive and eLib. 

Steiner delivered this lecture on October 14 in the year 1917. A transcript of the lecture can be found in the book THE FALL OF THE SPIRITS OF DARKNESS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993). The lecture is the ninth in the book. 

The title of the lecture is “The Battle Between Michael and ‘The Dragon’”. As the title suggests, the lecture deals with various subjects that have cropped up in Waldorf news items during the last few weeks — Michael, Ahriman, “the dragon”, and so forth.

(Preliminary note: Steiner is hard to read. Some people find him virtually incoherent. I have edited these excerpts to give them clarity they otherwise don’t possess. If you still find them tough going, you might consult "Steiner Statements", where I provide commentary, footnotes, and an interpretive paraphrase.)

— R.R.

Excerpts from 

“The Battle Between Michael and ‘The Dragon’” 

[I]n the middle of the nineteenth century, and especially in the 1840s…the materialistic point of view came to its peak [on Earth].…

The deeper sources of such events…must be sought in the world of the spirit … To have the right idea about these things, you must visualize a battle which continued for decades in the spiritual worlds, from the 1840s until the autumn of 1879.

This may be called a battle which the spirits who are followers of...[the Archangel] Michael fought with certain ahrimanic powers [i.e., minions of the arch-demon Ahriman] … The battle [reached] a conclusion in the autumn of 1879, when Michael and his followers won.…

To see something like this in the right way, we can always call on an image which humanity has known throughout its evolution —  the fight between Michael and the dragon … [E]very battle between Michael and the dragon is similar to the one in the 1840s … We may say that a particular crowd of ahrimanic spirits seek over and over again to bring something into world evolution, but they are always overcome. And so they also lost the battle in the autumn of 1879….

Losing the battle means they are no longer to be found in the heavens … Instead they are to be found in the human realms [on Earth]….

The people who do not turn away from the ahrimanic, materialistic way of thinking and want to keep it, would then be in league with everything which has come about through similar victories won over the dragon by Michael. They therefore would not unite with spiritual progress in human evolution but with material progress. And a time would come in the sixth post-Atlantean age when the only thing to please them would be to live in something which will have been brought about by bacilli, those microscopically small enemies of humanity.…

[T]he individuals who have become so tied up with the materialistic way of thinking…find ways of involving themselves in the activities of bacilli … Today’s bacilli are merely the prophets, let us say, of what will happen to the whole earth in future. Then a time will come when those who cling to the materialistic way of thinking will unite with the moon powers….

— Rudolf Steiner, “The Battle Between Michael and ‘The Dragon’”. 

October 14, 2018

EXETER UPDATE:

MORE THAN SAFEGUARDING

Although discussion of the problems at Steiner Academy Exeter has largely focused on the poor safeguarding of students at the school, in fact the school evidently has multiple problems of multiple types. This parallels the situation at Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, a school that was found to have serious safeguarding issues but also significant deficiencies in several other areas. [See “RSSKL”.] 

Here is except from a press advisory posted by Exeter Steiner on October 12: 

Steiner Academy Exeter was visited by HMI’s [Her Majesty's Inspectors] from Ofsted [the Office of Standards in Education] on October 9 and 10 … It is clear that the scale of improvements required, particularly in safeguarding, SEND [Special Education Needs and Disabilities], and leadership and governance, is significant and will require the full attention of all staff. 

The problems at the school extend into numerous areas. Initial complaints may have involved inadequate safeguarding of students, but when inspectors started digging they found many other faults — including poor “leadership and governance.” 

The problems evidently extend to the quality of instruction provided by the school.

Exeter's Steiner Academy says it has 'deep regret' over the standard of teaching offered to children after its decision to close on Friday, following an Ofsted inspection...

A spokesperson for the school said:

"...There is clear and deep regret that the education provided to children at the school has not been of the high standards or integrity required."

— DevonLive, "Exeter's Steiner Academy speak of 'deep regret' following sudden closure", October 12, 2018.

Resolving such a wide and deep array of problems would seem to require a fundamental overhaul of the school. 

◊

“Press Information, Friday 12th October 2018” 

The advisory was attached to a fence outside the school. 

[DevonLive, photo by Jamie Hawkins

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/ofsted-reveals-close-down-exeter-2102274]

◊

For previous coverage of developments at Steiner Academy Exeter, see "Another Inspection, Another Closure", October 13, 2018, and "Problems at Another U.K. Steiner School", July 29, 2018.

— R.R.

October 13, 2018

ANOTHER INSPECTION, 

ANOTHER CLOSURE  

Here are excerpts from two recent news articles posted by DevonLive.com [Devon, UK]:

1.

Exeter's Steiner Academy 

in shock closure 

following Ofsted inspection

by Rom Preston-Ellis

An Exeter school has closed unexpectedly just days after a visit by Ofsted [Office for Standards in Education] inspectors.

Steiner Academy at Thomas Hall on Cowley Bridge Road informed parents that the school would be closed for all pupils on Friday. 

The school confirmed on Tuesday that inspectors from the education watchdog were visiting this week following a 'serious safeguarding concern', along with a number of 'qualifying complaints' to Ofsted.

Steiner [Academy] has now said that Ofsted identified 'shortcomings in safeguarding practice' and the school was closed on Friday in order to implement a new acting management team…. 

In July, DevonLive.com reported that a safeguarding investigation had been launched at the school after two pupils, believed to be six years old, walked out unnoticed during lessons. 

A concerned parent claimed the two pupils found their way out of the school grounds. 

The parent also said the school did not know they were missing until they were returned by police — and the parents of the children were not told about the incident until they arrived to pick the children up at the end of the day….

[10/13/2018   https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeters-steiner-academy-shock-closure-2100763    This article originally appeared on October 12.]

2.

Exeter Steiner Academy 

to remain closed on Monday 

after Ofsted inspection 

by Jon Lewis

Exeter's beleaguered Steiner Academy will remain closed on Monday, following a damning Ofsted inspection. 

The Cowley Bridge Road school temporarily closed on Friday last week, after inspectors found failures in safeguarding practices during their visit. 

And now the new acting management team has announced on Facebook that the school would continue to be closed on Monday, with the aim of reopening again on Tuesday, October 16.… 

An Ofsted spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Ofsted carried out an inspection of the school this week. 

"Although the report is not yet published, our regional director for the South West, Bradley Simmons, alerted the regional schools commissioner to his serious concerns about the school. 

"We understand that the commissioner has taken immediate steps to close the school." 

[10/13/2018     https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeter-steiner-academy-remain-closed-2105214]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

A shock closure is sudden and, usually, brief. Exeter Steiner Academy intends to reopen almost immediately. Whether this will be permitted is unclear. The school's fate presumably depends on its efforts to meet the standards established by British education officials.

Concerns have been expressed in the past about the welfare of students at various Steiner and Waldorf schools. [See, e.g., "Slaps" and "Extremity".] 

The Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley — one of the leading Steiner schools in Britain — was ordered closed after a series of inspections revealed a wide range of problems, including inadequate safeguarding. [See, e.g., "Remembering RSSKL — The Faults Found", July 7, 2018.] That closure was evidently meant to be permanent, although the school has attempted to reconstitute itself in greatly reduced form. [See, e.g., "The Return of RSSKL, Sort Of", September 17, 2018.]

The problems at Exeter Steiner Academy, like those at RSSKL, were initially detected years ago. The following is from the Waldorf Critics discussion site: 

The Steiner Academy Exeter is yet another UK Steiner school with safeguarding issues, among other problems. On July 16, two 6-year-old boys wandered away from the school. Fortunately, no harm came to them and they were found by the police.

Six-year-old boys wander out of school - and no one noticed [DevonLive, July 24]

The article also mentions that this school was rated by Ofsted in 2015 as requiring improvement, prompting some parents at that time "to raise fears of bullying problems, a failure to deliver 'quality education', and complaints not being dealt with properly …" A later inspection report published in June stated that further improvements were still needed and that "Areas highlighted were to improve the quality of teaching, leadership and pupil attendance."

According to a March 26, 2018 article, this same school was on a list of 10 schools in Devon with the worst records for unauthorized absences in 2016/17.

The Devon schools with the worst unauthorised absence rates [DevonLive, March 26]

I think parents should always be wary of putting their children in the care of people who believe that whatever happens is due to karma. Children need to be in the care of adults who take full responsibility for their safety.

— Margaret Sachs, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/waldorf-critics/conversations/messages/31857. 

[See "Problems at Another U.K. Steiner School", July 29, 2018. For a more recent message from Margaret Sachs at Waldorf Critics, see https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/waldorf-critics/conversations/messages/31897. For an extensive review of problems at RSSKL, see "RSSKL".] 

— R.R.

October 11, 2018

DOCTORS WHO ENTER 

THE SKIN OF THE DRAGON 

(CONT.)

In his speech about Anthroposophical medicine, delivered in Marseille on October 6, former Waldorf student and teacher Grégoire Perra offered a wide-ranging critique of such medicine. He also described specific instances of Anthroposophical medical treatment (or mistreatment) that he has personally observed. 

The title of Perra's speech is "Mon expérience de la médecine anthroposophique" [My Experience with Anthroposophic Medicine]. Yesterday, we reviewed some of Perra's major conclusions. Today, we should turn our attention to some of the specific situations Perra has observed.

Here are a few:

- I have seen Anthroposophical doctors refuse to give children compulsory vaccinations. With the parents' agreement, they forged "white vaccines" — i.e., false vaccination certificates;

- I have seen how Anthroposophical doctors deliberately choose not to treat a fever and let it rise dangerously, including in children…;

- I have seen the passivity of an Anthroposophical doctor, withholding effective intervention in situations that could have cost the life of his patient: [e.g.,] an old lady with a complete intestinal obstruction, whom the Anthroposophical doctor left to suffer horribly for 12 days…;

- I knew of an Anthroposophical doctor who…prayed for more than an hour in his office to drive out the demons he thought were trying to take over one of his patients;

- I knew of an Anthroposophical doctor who prescribed putting fried onions in a child’s ear to absorb the pain of a severe ear infection;

- I have seen Anthroposophical school doctors in Steiner-Waldorf schools violate the medical confidentiality of their patients. They disclosed to the schools' teachers the medical diagnoses of students and even the diagnoses of the students’ parents … This often happened, in particular, with parents who became critical of a school [thus enabling the teachers to “break” such parents]; 

- I have seen Anthroposophical school doctors in Steiner-Waldorf schools fail to inform authorities about incidents of serious physical harm suffered by the students; this was done to protect the schools' reputation…;

- I saw an Anthroposophical doctor, implicated in a legal case where a child had been malnourished, fabricate a prescription with a false date in order to exonerate himself…;

- I have known two Anthroposophists with cancer, one in the breast and the other in the lungs, who refused chemotherapy and urgent radiotherapy … For years they had relied on alternative treatments such as Iscador [an extract of mistletoe, which Anthroposophical doctors believe can cure cancer] … Both died in excruciating pain.

— Grégoire Perra, "Mon expérience de la médecine anthroposophique".

◊

Perra gave many more examples in his speech. He also addressed such questions as "Why do Anthroposophical doctors give priority to protecting Anthroposophical institutions?", "Why do Anthroposophical doctors take risks with their patients' health?", and "Why do Anthroposophical doctors see disease as a blessing?" 

The full text of the speech is available at https://veritesteiner.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/mon-experience-de-la-medecine-anthroposophique/. 

(The speech is in French. To translate the speech, I have relied heavily on the DeepL translation service.) 

— R.R.

October 10, 2018

DOCTORS WHO ENTER 

THE SKIN OF THE DRAGON 

Waldorf whistle-blower Grégoire Perra has published the transcript of a speech he delivered in Marseille on October 6. His subject on that occasion was Anthroposophical medicine — the form of medicine generally practiced in and around Waldorf schools.

Perra's comments touch on various subjects that have arisen in our news coverage recently. One such subject is “the dragon” — the demon Ahriman and his works. According to Rudolf Steiner, Ahriman poisons the cosmos with cold, heartless intellect as embodied by modern science and modern medicine.

Anthroposophical medicine is meant to be an antidote to Ahriman's influence. But, Perra contends, the purveyors of Anthroposophical medicine engage in deceit. They wrap themselves in the white-coated mystique of the medical profession, but instead of providing scientifically valid medical care, they instead dispense unfounded nostrums and treatments inspired by Rudolf Steiner. In this sense, they enact a sort of charade. They pose as legitimate doctors, although in fact they spurn proven medical treatments.

Anthroposophical medicine seeks to fulfill Rudolf Steiner's mystical vision. But, Perra says, Anthroposophical doctors generally don't spell this out for their patients. Recognizing that most people know little or nothing about Ahriman — or, indeed, about Anthroposophy itself — Anthroposophical MD's conceal their motives and intentions. The put on the dragon's skin, as it were — they pretend to represent advanced medical thinking, when actually their gaze is directed backward into the distant past.

Here are a few excerpts from the speech, presenting some of Perra's themes and conclusions. (Perra writes and speaks in his native tongue, French. The following is my stab at translation into English. For this effort, I have relied heavily on the DeepL translation service.)

For Anthroposophists, the expression "entering the dragon's skin" means entering a character and penetrating below the surface, sinking into it, piercing it like a spear or sword stabbing into the skin of an enemy in combat ... It is an infiltration strategy consisting in dressing up as a dragon in order to kill the apocalyptic beast. In our present context, the dragon refers to official materialistic science, an emanation of evil entities of darkness [i.e., Ahrimanic demons].

What is the resultant attitude for Anthroposophists? They claim to know modern science very well, to be masters of its concepts and language, so that they stand as its representatives — and at the same time they hate it, they want to kill it....

To understand Anthroposophic medicine, it is necessary to be aware that Anthroposophists are engaged in a fight against what they call the dragon. This explains why their words and writings never fully reveal the essence of their true thinking. Indeed, their approach is not one of honestly confronting modernity and modern medicine, but of entering the guise of these things and attacking them from within. Anthroposophical doctors know very well where they want to go. But they also know that they must not say it outright; rather, they must express themselves with cunning, with patience.

…What does Anthroposophic medicine really want to become? In my opinion, it seeks to become a medicine like that practiced in ancient Greek temples, such as those dedicated to [the god] Asclepios, combined with miraculous interventions such as those of Christ in the Gospels. For Steiner, the question was not whether Anthroposophic medicine would treat patients better than modern medicine does, but instead the goal was to offer spiritual therapy, a form of treatment that focuses chiefly on patients’ spiritual dimension.

Society is not currently prepared to cope with Anthroposophic deception. "Entering the dragon's skin" is indeed a strategy that provides Anthroposophists with a formidable capacity for doubletalk, lies, and concealment.

— Grégoire Perra, "Mon expérience de la médecine anthroposophique" [My Experience with Anthroposophic Medicine], https://veritesteiner.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/mon-experience-de-la-medecine-anthroposophique/.

◊

For more about Anthroposophical medicine, see "Steiner's Quackery" and, e.g., "Engines, Lies, Illness, and Demons", October 1, 2018.

For more about Ahriman (the dragon or progenitor of the dragon), see "Ahriman". 

For more about Anthroposophical concealment, see "Secrets". 

Asclepios, a son of Apollo, was the ancient Greco-Roman god of medicine. "Asclepius, Greek Asklepios, Latin Aesculapius, Greco-Roman god of medicine, son of Apollo (god of healing, truth, and prophecy) and the mortal princess Coronis. The Centaur Chiron taught him the art of healing." — ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Oct. 10, 2018.

In Anthroposophical teachings, the god commonly known as Christ is in fact the Sun god. [See "Sun God".] Because of their peculiar conception of Christ's identity, Anthroposophists have a peculiar understanding of the four Gospels of the New Testament. They are guided by Steiner's additional "fifth" Gospel, in which Steiner "corrects" the record of Christ's sojourn on Earth. [See "Steiner's Fifth Gospel".] 

To read more of Perra's works translated into English, see, e.g., "My Life Among the Anthroposophists" and "He Went to Waldorf".

— R.R.

October 9, 2018

STARS, PLANETS, 

AND STEINER

Currently featured at the Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore [Fair Oaks, California]:

STELLA NATURA

[Star Nature]

Working with Cosmic Rhythms

Biodynamic Planting Calendar

2019

[stellanatura.com]

This Calendar has many aspects: a basic introduction to astronomy, a simple ephemeris, a planting guide, a star map, aid for following the movement of the planets in the night sky, and articles by ten different authors. All of these attempt to provide a true picture of the world outside us and ideas to assist in developing a healthy relation to that world.

[10/9/2018   https://rscbookstore.com/]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Astronomy is an important subject. And many gardeners and farmers do indeed consider the phases of the Moon and other astronomical lore when choosing the proper dates for planting various crops. [1]

But we should understand that the "astronomy" studied by followers of Rudolf Steiner is in fact astrology or, as they sometimes put it, astrosophy (star knowledge). When they seek to work with "cosmic rhythms," Steiner's followers are engaged in astrology. When they study maps of the starry constellations, and meditate on the waxing and waning influences of the stars and the planets, and aspire to "a true picture of the world outside us" (that is, the cosmos), they are engaged in astrology. And when they create Steiner-style gardens in Waldorf schools, and require students to work in these gardens (organizing this work in accordance with the phases of the Moon, and the movements of the planets, and the positions of the stars), they are luring the kids toward a Steiner-style embrace of astrology.

Steiner sometimes deplored astrology as practiced by the uninitiated. But he firmly stated that there is a true form of astrology — an ancient science that he revived for his adherents. So, for instance, he made such statements as these:

◊ “The real true Astrology depended upon a man's attaining this possibility of understanding the Cosmic Intelligences.” — Rudolf Steiner, MYSTERY CENTRES (Garber Communications, 1985), lecture 13, GA 232. [2]

◊ “[T]he old, real, and genuine Astrology expresses itself in the destinies of men.” — Rudolf Steiner, ROSICRUCIANISM AND MODERN INITIATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1965), lecture 3, GA 233a. [3]

◊ “For as what man is today stands written in the heavenly spaces in the writing of the constellations of the stars, so stands written there too what is yet to happen with him. This is the ground of true astrology. You will see at once, from what we have been considering, that you really only need to know occultism and you have at the same time the root principle of astrology.” — Rudolf Steiner, MAN IN THE LIGHT OF OCCULTISM, THEOSOPHY AND PHILOSOPHY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964), lecture 9, GA 137.

[An ephemeris is a table giving the projected positions of celestial objects. To delve into astrology and/or astrosophy as practiced by Steiner's followers, see "Astrology", "Astrosophy", "Biodynamics", "Star Power", and "Waldorf Astrology". To consider astronomy as taught in Waldorf schools, see "Oh My Stars". To consider the importance Steiner attached to gardening for Waldorf students, mull over this: "[G]arden work should be an obligatory addition to the lessons." — Rudolf Steiner, quoted by Rudolf Krause in GARDENING CLASSES AT THE WALDORF SCHOOLS (Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, 1992), p. 2.]

◊

[1] They may be mistaken to do this; they may be bowing to superstition. But many of them do it. (Certainly they need to consider the proper seasons for planting various crops. But whether the Moon is full or new or something in-between — this is irrelevant.)

[2] Anthroposophy is polytheistic. [See "Polytheism".] The "cosmic intelligences" are the cosmic spiritual powers. In a word, they are the gods.

[3] Destiny, in Anthroposophy, is karma. [See "Karma".]

[4] Steiner was a self-described occultist — that is, he claimed to possess secret or hidden (occult) spiritual knowledge. [See "Occultism".] Here he is saying that when you possess occult wisdom, you have the "root principle of astrology." Occultism (such as Steiner's teachings) and astrology are intimately intertwined; their roots are virtually the same.

— R.R.

October 7, 2018

THE SERPENT, THE DRAGON,   

AND THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE 

There will be a new moon tomorrow, October 8, 2018. Bearing this in mind, we can gain insight into the thinking that underlies Waldorf education by considering how Anthroposophists today — some of them, anyway — discuss the ever-changing skyscape. Astrology looms large in Anthroposophy. Here is an excerpt from a recent publication put out by SteinerBooks. (I have added a few explanatory footnotes.)

Oct 8: New Moon 21º Virgo, 11:47 pm EDT...

Today's New Moon reminds us how the Sun, Moon, and stars lend their assistance to acts of divine magic. [1] Virgin Nature (i.e., unfallen nature) participates in the healing of fallen nature, i.e., what has been captured in the swirling torrents of the serpent's kingdom with the aim of sweeping away all that is holy. [2] Virgin nature will resurrect the lost Paradise from its sleep in death. [3] ... We think we can destroy the Earth; but the truth is, the Earth may have to destroy us. [4] ... [T]he force of the Virgin [5] is the "Force of all forces" ... The serpent's world of opposition stands against this force. Therefore, we are to refrain from engagements in intellectual battles [6]; rather we are to work on fusing different opinions into one psalm of praise [7]....

— JOURNAL FOR STAR WISDOM 2018, edited by Robert Powell (Lindisfarne Books, an imprint of SteinerBooks, 2017), pp. 210-212.

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] Anthroposophists believe in many forms of magic — including astrology. [See, e.g., "Magic", "Magicians", "Astrology", and "Star Power".] Various types of Anthroposophical magic are woven into Waldorf education. [See, e.g., "Waldorf Astrology" and "The Waldorf Teacher's Consciousness".]

[2] According to Anthroposophical lore, the serpent is Lucifer, an arch-demon who has his own fell kingdom or world. Lucifer would drag us into his realm if he could. Lucifer's aim, in this context, is to abolish "all that is holy" — all this is divine and pure. [See "Lucifer" and "Evil Ones".]

Anthroposophists distinguish between the "serpent" and the "dragon." The latter is the arch-demon Ahirman. [See "Ahriman".]

[3] Anthroposophy teaches that nature as it exists now is "fallen" or corrupted. Densely physical, nature as it exists now no longer embodies the spirit realm — it is no longer "Paradise." But Anthroposophists believe that uncorrupted nature, "Virgin nature," remains imminent within corrupted nature, and it will reassert itself, thus bringing Paradise back from "its sleep in death." [For Anthroposophy's ambivalent view of nature, see "Neutered Nature".]

[4] According to Anthroposophy, beneficent entities of various sorts often need to scourge or "destroy" us in order to help us reincarnate in better forms. [See, e.g., "Oriphiel".] Antagonistic entities, on the other hand, seek to destroy us literally and utterly. [See, e.g., "Evil".] The corruption of nature is largely our fault, Anthroposophy holds. We have exerted our will, trying to subdue nature. To the extent that we are under the sway of demons, we have tried to destroy the Earth. In self-defense, the Earth — as a conscious entity — may strike back at us with devastating force. [For previous instances of humans damaging the Earth and suffering the consequences, see "Lemuria" and "Atlantis".]

[5] In Anthroposophy, the "Virgin" may be the Virgin Mary, or Virgin nature, or the Virgin Sophia — or all of these together: the undefiled female side of divinity. [See "Goddess".]

[6] According to Anthroposophy, intellect is a "gift" of Lucifer that has been rendered terribly destructive by Ahriman. Anthroposophists believe that humans need the "gifts" of Lucifer and Ahriman in order to evolve to higher spiritual levels, but we must also avoid the snares that are the reverse side of these gifts. Anthroposophy in general — like Waldorf education in particular — is largely anti-intellectual. [See, e.g., "Steiner's Specific".]

[7] Rudolf Steiner's followers call Anthroposophy a "spiritual science," but in fact it is a religion. Here, we find Anthroposophists instructing one another to refrain from hard thinking ("intellectual battles"), and to  practice their faith instead, raising a unified "psalm of praise." [See, e.g., "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] Waldorf students are shepherded toward this religion. [See, e.g., "Prayers" and "Schools as Churches".]

— R.R.

October 5, 2018

REDOING CAMPUSES  

AT CAMPHILL 

From Architects Journal [United Kingdom]:

Collective wins contest 

for Camphill School revamp

By Merlin Fulcher

Glasgow-based Collective Architecture has won the RIAS-organised contest for a £10 million revamp of two Camphill School campuses in Aberdeen. [RIAS is the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.]

The six shortlisted teams were selected from more than 50 entries to the RIAS-organised contest. The competition sought conceptual proposals for a 10-year overhaul of the pioneering Rudolf Steiner-inspired day and residential school for children and young adults with special support needs.

The project will transform the school’s Murtle Estate and Camphill Estate campuses, both located on the suburban western fringes of Aberdeen. Planned improvements – ranging in value from £50,000 to £2.5 million – include refurbishments and the reconstruction of three residential blocks.…

[The precursor to the Camphill School] was founded in 1939…to provide educational and employment support to children and young people with learning difficulties.

The school moved to the Camphill Estate in 1940 [taking its name from the estate] and now operates out of three separate campuses in the local area. The facility inspired the ‘Camphill Movement’, which has seen more than 100 similar centres set up around the world.…

[10/5/2018     https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/collective-wins-contest-for-camphill-school-revamp/10035807.article   This story originally appeared on October 4.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Camphill communities represent one of the primary humanitarian efforts that have arisen from Rudolf Steiner's esoteric belief system, Anthroposophy. These communities attempt to provide assistance to individuals having developmental difficulties or deficits. The community near Aberdeen, Scotland, is the original Camphill.

The motivation behind the Camphill movement is surely meritorious. But whether real therapy — therapy that actually works — can be created on the basis of Anthroposophy is doubtful. [1] 

Consider the implications of the following descriptions:

◊ “The Camphill movement provides village communities and some urban houses for mentally handicapped people who need special care … Most of the [caregivers] are a committed core whose overriding interest is likely to be esoteric: many belong to the General Anthroposophical Society … Anthroposophy’s teachings stress that individuals who become closely involved with each other [e.g., Camphill residents and caregivers] have karmic ties [i.e., connections based on karma] … The Camphill communities’ stable rhythm of life is marked by an almost medieval sense of the seasons. Christian saints’ days, as well as pagan festivals such as May Day, are celebrated.” [2]

◊ "In small [Camphill] communities, such as farms, people with developmental difficulties...work, learn and live together ... Disabilities are not treated as illnesses but as part of each individual's spectrum of potential ... [It is believed that] impairments in one incarnation may be a way to acquire strength for a succeeding one." [3]

◊ "Completely contained enclaves, [Camphill communities] are worthy of study as models of life in an Anthroposophical world. Since only cooperative inmates are retained, the atmosphere is artificially idyllic, and an ostensible 'village' structure conceals strict authoritarianism." [4]

Esotericism, karma, medieval and pagan roots, reincarnation, authoritarianism — these are a few of the worrisome indications evident in these descriptions. 

As is often the case in Anthroposophical enterprises (including Waldorf education), noble motives and high-flown conceptions may be negated by a lack of practicality and realism. It may seem lovely to say, for instance, that disabilities "are not treated as illnesses but as part of each individual's spectrum of potential." But what does this mean in practice? It means that no real therapies are attempted. Rather, disabilities are accepted as necessary for the fulfillment of karma — they are "a way to acquire strength" for one's next incarnation. Indeed, in general, Anthroposophy tends to affirm illnesses and disabilities as "blessings" because they are believed to provide karmic benefits. Anthroposophy teaches that, by and large, we should not attempt to cure conditions that are gifts or blessings from on high. [5]

One former Camphill resident has written that, as a child raised in these communities, he was denied the treatments he needed. The consequence was that he became ill over and over.

"I spent half of my childhood sick in bed... Anthroposophy is a religion, and Camphill is a sect, a cult of fanatics pursuing spiritual development and ultimately perfection. They believe that sickness is the soul incarnating, and also that it has to do with karma. They don’t believe in inoculations, so I had all the child diseases going around, some twice." [6]

A former Anthroposophist who visited two Camphills has added this: 

"[B]ecause children with severe disabilities do not have the capacity to tell their parents what happens to them in such institutions, Anthroposophic caregivers do not hesitate to openly practice Anthroposophic rituals and other ceremonies with them. The caregivers only need to be vigilant during health checks and inspections.... 

"Within [one typical] Camphill, the leaders adopted a resolutely hostile attitude toward psychology and psychoanalysis, which they saw as incarnations of evil. 'There are no psychologists here!' the main leader proudly repeated, although many patients there had significant psychological disorders that should have received skilled care." [7]

◊

[1] Anthroposophical medical practices tend to be unfounded and potentially damaging. [See "Steiner's Quackery".]

[2] Geoffry Ahern, "Five Karmas, or Anthroposophy in Great Britain", UPDATE, Vol. 6, No. 4, December, 1982.

[3] Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 111.

[4] Dan Dugan, "Anthroposophy" - article in THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNBELIEF (Prometheus Books, 2007), pp. 74-76.

[5] See, e.g., L.F.C. Mees, BLESSED BY ILLNESS (Anthroposophic Press, second printing 1990).

[6] Robert Smith-Hald, “Growing Up Being Made Sick by Anthroposophy” [http://www.waldorfcritics.org/articles/Smith-Hald.html].

Smith-Hald did not have any cognitive disabilities. He lived in Camphill communities because his parents were Anthroposophists who chose to live there.

[7] Grégoire Perra, "My Life Among the Anthroposophists" - section titled "Camphill Summer" [https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/my-life-among-them].

— R.R.

October 3, 2018

◊ NEWS BRIEF ◊

ASA CONFERENCE

The Annual Conference and Meeting of the Anthroposophical Society in America (ASA) will open on October 5 in New Orleans. The event, running through October 7, has been given the theme “Here and Now: Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Our World.”

Annual Conference and Meeting of the

Anthroposophical Society in America 

Here & Now

Transforming Ourselves,

Transforming Our World

[anthroposophy.org]

As we have noted here recently, Anthroposophists have enormous ambitions. They aspire, quite literally, to change the world. They hope to remake all human institutions in accordance with the vision laid out by Rudolf Steiner. [See "Threefolding"; also see “Failing and Trying Again”, September 28, 2018.]

At the individual level, Anthroposophists aspire to transform themselves so that they may evolve to higher and higher states of spiritual consciousness. The ultimate goal, as posited by Rudolf Steiner, is to become the highest of gods. "[W]e shall have gradually achieved the transformation of our own being into what is called in Christianity ‘the Father.’” — Rudolf Steiner, THE LORD’S PRAYER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2007), p. 17. [See, e.g., “Tenth Hierarchy”.]

Some workshops, sessions, and other events at the conference/meeting will be directly related to the theme of transformation. Others will roam a bit farther afield.

Here are a few samples:

◊ Transforming Community - Creating the Future: Young People Discovering Their Purpose and Place

◊ Exploring Transformation Through Our Own Biography 

◊ Strengthening Foundations of Inner Work and Meditation 

◊ Cain and Abel: Building a bridge between the Two Streams

◊ Initiation of the Heart: The Fifth Gospel 

◊ The Seventh Shrine 

◊ Waldorf Education in Crisis Zones

◊ Confluence of Karma: A Pageant Of Dedicated Service 

Activities will include singing, group speech, and eurythmy. There will also be multiple instances of “dyad sharing.”

One of the culminating events will be a “tour of St. Rose Building, the future home of the Waldorf School of New Orleans.” 

[10/3/2018   https://secure.anthroposophy.org/np/clients/anthroposophy/event.jsp?event=105&]

— R.R.

October 2, 2018

WALDORF, THE WHOLE CHILD,

AND DIVERSITY

From model D [Detroit, Michigan]:

These diverse Metro Detroit schools 

are also among the state's best 

[by] Dorothy Hernandez 

The world is becoming increasingly diverse. And leaders at top local schools say they need to reflect that diversity for students to be successful. 

Through educational opportunities, committees, events, and more, some of the best schools across Metro Detroit are also some of the most diverse in terms of student demographics and educational offerings…. 

…Detroit Waldorf School, Detroit 

A typical day at Detroit Waldorf School starts with core subjects such as math, science, and social studies on a rotating block schedule…. 

From there students move on to specialty subjects such as world languages. German and Spanish are taught and students have to learn both; there is no choice. 

That's because Waldorf uses a "whole-child approach," says Charis Calender-Suemnick, enrollment and outreach director. 

"Our curriculum moves a little bit slower than a traditional school….” 

[O]ther subjects are introduced earlier or are totally unique to Waldorf…. 

…Unique to Waldorf schools is Eurythmy, a movement art that makes speech visible where children will dance, flow, and move to poetry or other spoken word. Finally there's handwork such as cross-stitching and knitting.... 

Detroit Waldorf is launching their strategic plan and one of the four categories is diversity, which is "vital" for the students, Calender-Suemnick says…. 

[10/2/2018     http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/diverse-detroit-schools-100118.aspx   This article originally appeared on October 1.]

◊ • ◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Model D — an online magazine "telling the story about the people who are changing Detroit" — does not explain in what sense the schools featured in this article are "among the state's best." No assessments of academic success are provided; no evidence is given to show that the featured schools are in fact excellent educational institutions. Still, the schools selected are interesting. And among them is the Detroit Waldorf School.

Local new media often boost local institutions, uncritically heaping praise on them. This seems to be the case here. Most if not all of the information about Detroit Waldorf was evidently provided by the school's "enrollment and outreach director" — whose job is to attract new students and, generally, to promote the school. She seems to do her work well.

The statements Ms. Calender-Suemnick makes seem accurate, as far as they go. But they leave out a lot. Let's fill in a few details.

◊ The rotating block system used in most Waldorf schools is controversial. Waldorf students study a subject for a very short stretch, often for just three weeks. Then the subject is put aside and the students study something else. So, for instance, a subject such as world history is studied for three weeks and then dropped for several months, perhaps even for an entire year. Whether students can absorb and retain knowledge in such a system is obviously questionable. [1]

◊ Study of foreign languages is indeed usually stressed in Waldorf schools. In the case of Detroit Waldorf, requiting all students to study Spanish makes sense. American cities generally have large Hispanic populations, and Spanish is the primary language in most countries in the Americas. Requiring all students to learn German, on the other hand, is different. There is a heavy Germanic influence throughout the Waldorf movement. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, was an Austrian German, and he created Waldorf for German children, to help them to fulfill what he said was the German national mission. [2] Steiner taught that Germany stands at or near the apex of human evolution. [3]

◊ The "whole child," as conceived in the Waldorf movement, is an extremely complex being. S/he in a reincarnating spirit who has had many previous lives. She arrives on Earth with a karma and an astrological identity, and s/he begins the process of developing four separate bodies (the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the "I"). S/he has both a soul and a spirit, and s/he stands at a particular evolutionary level reflected in her race (according to Steiner, dark races are lower, light races are higher). S/he has twelve senses, she is potentially clairvoyant, she has a classical temperament (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, or melancholic), s/he has an aura, and so on. These concepts all derive from Rudolf Steiner's mystical preachments. [4]

◊ Waldorf education does indeed move slowly, especially in the lower grades. Steiner taught that children arrive on Earth with memories of the spirit realm that should be preserved as long as possible. Waldorf schools generally try to slow down the maturation of their young children, and they delay instruction in reading and math until the kids are about seven years old (by which time the kids' etheric bodies should have incarnated). Waldorf spokespeople usually claim that Waldorf students eventually catch up with students at other schools, but this claim is questionable. [5]

◊ Eurythmy is a form of spiritual dance devised by Rudolf Steiner. Intended to put the dancers in direct contact with the spirit realm, it is essentially a form of temple dancing. [6]

◊ Knitting and other forms of handwork are stressed in Waldorf schools. The reason may surprise you:

“Go into our needlework classes and handicraft classes at the Waldorf School, and you will find the boys knit and crochet as well as the girls, and that they share these lessons together. Even the older boys are enthusiastic knitters. This is not the result of any fad or whim, but happens deliberately in order to make the fingers skillful and supple, in order to permeate the fingers with the soul. And to drive the soul into the fingers means to promote all the forces that go to build up sound teeth ... [T]he earlier we begin to train and discipline the child, on the lines indicated, the more we shall tend to slow down and counteract the process of dental decay. Any interference with dental processes is so difficult that we should carefully consider such measures even if they seem to be far-fetched.” — Rudolf Steiner, SPIRITUAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1948), lecture 17, GA 312.

◊ Diversity is an admirable goal, and schools that stress diversity should be commended. But for Waldorf schools, the matter is complicated by Rudolf Steiner's racism. As mentioned above, Steiner taught that some races (light-skinned) are higher than others (dark-skinned). He said that humans generally evolve upward from low, dark racial forms to higher, lighter racial forms. This evolution occurs gradually, during the process of reincarnation. A young soul will, early in its history, incarnate in a low, dark racial form. Then, in subsequent incarnations, the maturing soul will rise into higher, lighter racial forms. S/he will do this, that is, if s/he evolves properly. Souls that do not evolve properly may get stuck at a low racial level or even fall to lower levels, Steiner said. Waldorf students are rarely taught these things, and we must hope that most Waldorf teachers today reject Steiner's racial teachings. But racism remains embedded in the underlying tenets of Steiner's belief system, and as such it represents a serious difficulty for the Waldorf movement. According to Rudolf Steiner, the various races of mankind are distinctly unequal. [7]

Ms. Calender-Suemnick's statements are accurate, but they leave out a lot.

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[1] See "Methods". Also see the entry for "block teaching" in The Brief Waldorf /  Steiner Encyclopedia.

[2] See "The Good Wars — America, Germany, and Waldorf". 

[3] See the entry for "Germans, Germany" in The Brief Waldorf /  Steiner Encyclopedia.

[4] See "Holistic Education".

[5] See "Thinking Cap".

[6] See "Eurythmy".

[7] See "Steiner's Racism" and "Embedded Racism".

— R.R.

October 1, 2018

ENGINES, LIES,

ILLNESS, AND DEMONS

An upcoming book from Temple Lodge Publishing, featured today at the website of SteinerBooks:

DEMONS AND HEALING, by Are Thoresen

(Temple Lodge Publishing, 2018)

Demons and Healing

The Reality of the Demonic Threat and the Doppelgänger in the Light of Anthroposophy: Demonology, Christology and Medicine

Are Thoresen perceives demons and other spiritual beings as clearly as we see one another with ordinary, everyday vision. He sees the demons that cause disease … He has witnessed how demons of disease leave the bodies of the sick and enter the healthy, leading to contagion….

In the pages of this book, the author…recounts numerous personal experiences of demonic entities and explains how demons are created. Thoresen offers advice for preventing the demonic effects of natural and artificial radiation, and how we can defend and ultimately free ourselves from demonic influence. 

A fascinating addendum describes the phenomenon of poltergeists and the spiritual beings related to various drugs.… 

[https://steiner.presswarehouse.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=575036]

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Waldorf Watch Response:

Anthroposophy — the religion that underlies Waldorf education — is rife with the fear of demons. Although Rudolf Steiner’s preachments are sometimes described as being entirely positive, teaching that everything in the universe contributes to our welfare, in fact Steiner taught of numerous demons who would destroy us if they could.

Demons incarnate in many ways, often as a result of wicked human activities, Steiner taught. Modern technology is especially guilty of bringing demons to the Earth. So, to take an example that probably seemed more modern to Steiner than it does to us, Steiner said this about steam engines:

“When we build steam-engines, we provide the opportunity for the incarnation of demons ... In the steam-engine, Ahrimanic demons [i.e., demonic minions of the arch-demon Ahriman] 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).

We produce demons through our evil actions, including the simple act of telling lies, Steiner said. And these demons cause diseases and epidemics:

“The individual human being...has an effect upon the whole world according to whether he speaks the truth or lies; for beings created by truth or by lies produce quite different effects. Imagine a people which was composed entirely of liars, the astral plane [a spiritual plane of existence] would be populated solely by the corresponding demons and these demons would be able to express themselves in constitutional tendency to epidemics. Thus there is a certain species of bacilli who are the carriers of infectious diseases; these beings are the progeny of the lies told by human beings; they are nothing else than physically embodied demons generated by lies." — Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 6, GA 99.

The way to handle demons, according to Thoresen (and Steiner), is through Christ. This may hearten Christians, if they conclude that Anthroposophy is compatible with their own faith. But it is not. Anthroposophy is polytheistic and pagan. There are many, many gods in Anthroposophy — and, indeed, the "Christ" or "Christ-being" revered in Anthroposophy is himself a pagan god. He is the god who was worshipped in ancient pagan religions under such names as Hu, and Baldr, and Apollo. He is, in other words, the Sun God. [See "Sun God". Also see "Polytheism", "Pagan", and "Was He Christian?" Concerning demons, see "Evil Ones".]

Are Thoresen evidently agrees with Steiner about these things. It will be interesting to see if his new book furthers our understanding of them.

— R.R.