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[My approximate copy of Barbara Richey's 

cover art for HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS.]

Steiner said the higher worlds the initiate enters are 

potentially confusing places, even frightening places.

Self-initiation can lead to perplexity, Steiner indicated;

 the safer course is to follow a sure guide, a guru.

For Anthroposophists, the sure guide is Rudolf Steiner. 

[See "Guru".]

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The essence of initiation, Steiner said, is learning the spiritual core of true language, the secret names of things. 

"[I]nitiation consists in this very act of learning to call the things of the world by those names which they bear in the spirit of their divine authors. In these, their names, lies the mystery of things. It is for this reason that the initiates speak a different language from the uninitiated, for the former know the names by which the beings themselves are called into existence." — Rudolf Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Forgotten Books, Anthroposophic Press, 1947), chapter 2, "The Stages of Initiation", GA 10.

In Waldorf schools, the occult significance of language is embodied in eurythmy, which Steiner called "visible speech, visible music": 

“[A]ll that can be perceived by supersensible vision [i.e., clairvoyance], all that can thus be learned about the nature of these forms and gestures of the air, can be carried into movements of the arms and hands, into movements of the whole human being. There then arises in visible form the actual counterpart of speech. One can use the entire human body in such a way that it really carries out those movements which are otherwise carried out by the organs connected with speech and music. Thus there arises visible speech, visible music — in other words, the art of Eurythmy.

“When one brings artistic feeling to the study of the nature of speech, one finds that the individual sounds form themselves, as it were, into imaginative pictures. It is necessary, however, entirely to free oneself from the abstract character which language has taken during the so-called advanced civilisation of the present day. For it is an undeniable fact that modern man, when speaking, in no way brings his whole human being into activity.” — Rudolf Steiner, A LECTURE ON EURYTHMY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1967), GA 279.

Mastering the proper form of speech leads to altered consciousness and reascent into spirit realms. 

"In the picture of the descent of world evolution down to man you have that scale which human beings have to reascend, from Imagination through Inspiration to Intuition. In the poem transformed into eurythmy you have Imagination; in recitation and declamation you have Inspiration as a picture; in the entirely inward experience of the poem, in which there is no need to open your mouth because your experience is totally inward and you are utterly identified with it and have become one with it, in this you have Intuition." — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1990), p. 36.

This is what Anthroposophy aims for. And in Waldorf schools, children are quietly directed toward this path. Eurythmy is usually a required activity for all Waldorf students. 

"Eurythmy is obligatory. The children must participate.  Those who do not participate in eurythmy will be removed from the school." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 65. 

Why? Eurythmy is a physical enactment of preparation for initiation. 

"Eurythmy shapes and moves the human organism in a way that furnishes direct external proof of our participation in the supersensible [i.e., invisible, spiritual] world. In having people do eurythmy, we link them directly to the supersensible world." — Rudolf Steiner, ART AS SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 246-247.

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One of the amazing fairy photos.

[FLIM-FLAM, by James Randi 

(Prometheus Books, 1982), p. 12.]

Note how sharply defined the dancing fairies are.

In fact, the fairy figures were cut out of a popular children's book.

Yet adults who wanted to be fooled by these pictures 

— adults who wanted to believe in fairies — were fooled.

Many Anthroposophists have continued 

to be fooled by such things.

"Evidence for the existence of the little folk 

[i.e., fairies] comes mainly from photographs." 

— THE STEINERBOOKS DICTIONARY OF THE PSYCHIC, MYSTIC, OCCULT

(Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1973), p. 82.

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"Now something which was once a living fact in human evolution is, in a sense, returning. The priests of the Mysteries possessed, as I have told you, the power of contemplating the influence of the Moon; the influence of the Moon bore them up to their astrological Initiation. They learnt how it was possible to be initiated into the secrets of the stars by this means. An important point for the candidate for Initiation was that he should feel as though gravity were of less importance to him than it normally was. He felt that he weighed less. But then he was instructed by the older teachers not to give way to this feeling; when he began to feel lighter he must restore his heaviness by a strong exercise of will. The technique of the old Initiation made it possible for the candidate to allow the weight which was lost by the influence of the Moon to be restored by an effort of will; and as a result the wisdom of the stars shone forth. Thus every tendency in man at that time to overcome gravity was used to develop the will to hold fast to the Earth by the power of his own soul. But since this exerting of the will acted as a kindling of an inner light, it shone forth into the Cosmos and he could attain knowledge of cosmic spaces. When Spiritual Science throws its light on these matters, it is possible accurately to describe how this old consciousness came into being.

"Now there is always a tendency for what existed in such men to recur; there is a sort of atavism, an inheritance, of things long past. It recurs just because men themselves return [i.e., reincarnate]; and when this relation to the Moon appears in men who live at a time when, because this deep sleep is a thing of the past, such a relation should not occur [i.e., the present], it appears as somnambulism, especially as ordinary sleep-walking. Then they do not combat this increasing sense of lightness by exerting the forces of their soul, but they wander about on roofs or at least get up out of bed. They do with their whole being what only the astral body should properly do. Something which has now become an abnormality was in earlier times an asset which could be used to attain knowledge. It was quite appropriate that popular usage should call such men “moon-struck,” for this condition of man's being is connected with an atavistic relation to the Moon-forces which has survived from older times." 

— Rudolf Steiner, MAN IN THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE; THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS; AND THE SUN-INITIATION OF THE DRUID PRIEST AND HIS MOON-SCIENCE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), GA 228. 

(This, by the way, is one of the more felicitously titled of Steiner's works. The only better title in the Steiner canon is INVESTIGATIONS INTO OCCULTISM SHOWING ITS VALUE IN DAILY LIFE.)

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IMPRESSIVE?

Steiner was highly educated and highly intelligent. Many people who met him found him a compelling figure. The uses he made of his gifts are questionable, however. In developing Anthroposophy, he created what is in effect an occult theory of everything. It is an impressive edifice, structured and orderly. But is it true — does it, in fact, provide an explanation of reality?

Consider the numbers seven and twelve. Steiner insistently ranked phenomena in hierarchies, listings that range from low to high. He particular liked to offer rankings consisting of seven or twelve stages. According to Steiner, seven is the occult number of perfection, because it is the sum of three (divinity) and four (creation), as well as the number of "sacred planets." Similarly, twelve is the occult factor of three (divinity) times four (creation), the number of "macrocosmic powers," and the number of constellations in the zodiac. [See "Magic Numbers".] By ordering phenomena in groups of seven and/or twelve, Steiner described a highly ordered universe, a universe that has meanings we can discover, thereby giving our own lives meaning.

The resulting system impresses some people, including some very smart people. Steiner evidently penetrated to the divine order of things — he pulled everything together and "made sense" of it by showing how it all fits together. The problem, however, is that so many of Steiner's categories are arbitrary — stretched or trimmed to suit his predetermined intention. He didn't often discover real results, he simply imposed a plan of his own invention (borrowed in large part from others, but reworked to suit his own preferences).

We can speculate about Steiner's motives and convictions. Did he actually believe what he taught? Did he work hard to see things objectively, or did he mislead himself, arguing himself into falsehoods (a frequent occurrence for intellectuals, who can be blinded by their own cleverness)? We can't know Steiner's inner, subjective state, of course. But it hardly matters: What exactly happened inside Steiner's skull isn't important. He convinced others, who became his followers. But we need not be convinced today, so long as we're willing to keep our eyes open and to insist on real results rather than arbitrary designs created on the basis of occult fallacy. 

Sometimes, of course, Steiner did not have to invent his preferred groupings of seven, twelve, etc. Sometimes — not often, but sometimes — he did came upon such groupings in the wide world outside his imagination. But what, precisely, did these discoveries amount to? Here's a brief example concerning the number twelve: 

"In the course of these lectures we have heard how certain high-ranking Powers of the Hierarchies have worked, through human beings, into all the civilisation-epochs since the Atlantean catastrophe.

"...The pupils of Zarathustra saw twelve powers proceeding from the twelve directions of the Zodiac ... [T]he Persian conceived of the macrocosmic forces coming from the twelve directions of the universe and penetrating into, working into humanity, so that they are immediately present in man. Consequently, what unfolds through the working of the twelve forces must reveal itself also in its microcosmic form, in human intelligence; that is to say, it must come to expression in the microcosm, too, through the twelve Amshaspands (Archangels), and indeed as a final manifestation, so to say, of these twelve spiritual, macrocosmic Beings who had already worked in former ages, preparing that which merely reached a last stage of development during the epoch of Persian civilisation. 

"It should not be beyond the scope of modern physiology to know where the microcosmic counterparts of the twelve Amshaspands are to be found. They are the twelve main nerves proceeding from the head... [S]uch indications must be given if a spiritual-scientific conception of the world is to be spoken of in the true sense, and attention called, not merely in general phrases, to the fact that man is a microcosmic replica of the macrocosm. 

"In other regions, too, it has been known that what comes to manifestation in the human being flows in from outside. For example, in certain periods of Germanic mythology mention is made of twelve streams flowing from Niflheim to Muspelheim. The twelve streams are not meant in the physical-material sense, but they are that which, seen by clairvoyance, flows as a kind of reflection from the macrocosm into the human microcosm, the human being who moves over the earth and whose evolution is to be brought about through macrocosmic forces." — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), pp. 86-90.

If we are prepared to accept the existence of Atlantis, and the truth of astrology, and the esoteric significance of Norse myths — then, perhaps, the remarkable recurrence of the number twelve may strike us as meaningful, and we may therefore accept the doctrine Steiner was determined to press, that human beings are microcosmic replicas of the divine macrocosm. It's a pretty conceit. But if we pause to reflect that Atlantis never existed, and astrology is bunk, and Norse myths are mere fantasies — and that there are far more than twelve "major nerves" proceeding from the head [58] and that the number of archangels is debatable [59] — then the significance of Steiner's teaching evaporates, the mist clears from our eyes, and we have the renewed opportunity to look upon reality realistically.

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For statements Steiner made about magic and witchcraft,

see "Magic".

For information of how brain chemistry may affect

spiritualistic belief, see "Dopamine".

Many of Steiner's doctrines contain elements

that are little more than superstition. 

For an overview, see "Superstition".

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Endnotes

[1] Other mystics have made the same promise, of course. Indeed, Steiner adopted many of his teachings from others. [See, e.g., "Steiner's 'Science'".]

Steiner placed two distinct "higher worlds" above us: the astral plane or the soul world, and above it the spirit world. However, he also said that there are many divisions and subdivisions as well as additional realms higher than those he described for us: 

“The [spiritual] Beings, the spiritual Hierarchies, their correspondences with the zodiacal constellations...all this is presented in detail in the chapter on the evolution of the world in the book OCCULT SCIENCE — AN OUTLINE, and we can now understand the deeper reasons for that chapter having been written in the way it has. [Steiner himself wrote that book, so it was "written the way it has" because he wrote it that way.] It describes the Macrocosm as it should be described. Any real description must go back to the spiritual Beings. I tried in the book OCCULT SCIENCE to give guiding lines for the right kind of description of the World of Spirit — the world entered when there has been an actual ascent into the Macrocosm. [The Macrocosm is the cosmos; each of us humans is a Microcosm or miniature version of the cosmos.]

“This ascent into the Macrocosm can of course proceed to still higher stages, for the Macrocosm has by no means been exhaustively portrayed by what has here been said. Man can ascend into even higher worlds; but it becomes more and more difficult to convey any idea of these worlds. The higher the ascent, the more difficult this becomes.” — Rudolf Steiner, MACROCOSM AND MICROCOSM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1985), pp. 110-111.

[For more on the higher worlds, see "Higher Worlds" and "Knowing the Worlds".]

[2] Deplorably, Steiner taught that some people aren't really human beings. [See, e.g., "Steiner's Bile".]

[3] Rudolf Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Company, 1944), pp. 8-9.

[4] Rudolf Steiner, HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS (Anthroposophic Press, 1994). Also see Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1979), chapter 5, "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, Concerning Initiation." Steiner taught that more than one path can lead to spiritual enlightenment. [See Rudolf Steiner, START NOW! (SteinerBooks, 2004): You'll find chapters on "The Rosicrucian Path," "The Christian-Gnostic Path," etc.] These paths are distinct, yet they intersect, and Steiner aimed to incorporate them all in his own master system.

[5] HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, p. 55.

[6] Both books are available in multiple editions. KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT was re-released by SteinerBooks in 2006, for example. OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE was re-released by the Rudolf Steiner Press in 2013. (Some editions of this book bear the variant title AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE.)

[7] KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Company, 1944), p. 9.

[8] Ibid., p. 9.

[9] Ibid., p. 10.

Steiner says this attitude begins, for fortunate people, in childhood. It then extends into the adult years: 

"What was once a childish veneration of persons, becomes, later, a veneration for truth and knowledge. Experience teaches that they can best hold their head erect, who have learnt to venerate where veneration is due; and veneration is always due when it flows from the depths of the heart." — Ibid., p. 10. 

Don't think, he says; feel, from the heart. 

But if you start by forswearing critical thought and feeling veneration instead, then you cannot know whether whether the object of your veneration is "due" such veneration. You have posited the worth of the object or your veneration, you have let veneration flow out of your heart without allowing your brain to interfere. Far from respecting knowledge, in other words, you have forsworn it. You may venerate an object that merits veneration, or you may venerate something that deserves no such acknowledgment. Indeed, you may very easily persuade yourself that the things you want  to venerate exist (when they may not; they may be imaginary) and you may persuade yourself that these things are divine (when they may not be; they may simply be subjective objects of your desire). In fact, what Steiner has described is indistinguishable from self-deception or even self-hypnosis.

[10] Ibid., p. 10.

[11] Steiner disparaged the brain. [See, e.g., "Steiner's Specific".]

"[T]he brain and nerve system have nothing at all to do with actual cognition...." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 60.

Actual cognition, according to Steiner, comes from clairvoyance, which operates from "organs of clairvoyance," as we will see. Of course, brainy people may follow Steiner or other mystics — I discuss this seeming paradox later in this essay. Steiner sometimes affirmed the value of ordinary intelligence and even intellect, but these were not, for him, real thinking.

[12] KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT, p. 14.

Attaining knowledge, making good decisions, pursuing wisdom — these require us to discipline our emotions. Steiner acknowledged this, although with a twist. He urged spiritual seekers to cultivate the life of feeling, channeling feelings in the "right" direction. The goal is a form of dispassionate equanimity (e.g., HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, p. 178). But, in Steiner's doctrines, this is not a matter of cool reasonableness. Rather, feeling remains crucial. Intuition and love beckon as evolutionary fulfillments (see, e.g., OCCULT SCIENCE, p. 311). Love is undeniably an ultimate perfection, but the point to note here is that feeling — as a sort of objectified subjectivity — remains central to the esoteric approach Steiner championed.

Steiner argued that, to find truth, one must aim for a state of consciousness in which "thinking ceases." — Rudolf Steiner, MEDITATION UND KONZENTRATION {Meditation and Concentration} (Dornach, 1935), p. 33. One should "give himself up to his feelings." — Rudolf Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS. HOW IT IS ACHIEVED (London, 1969), p. 49. One should "try not to receive these insights in a sober-minded and intellectual way, but to let the exaltation of the ideas bring you to all emotional experiences that are possible." — Rudolf Steiner, DIE STUFEN DER HOHEREN ERKENNINIS (Dornach, 1931), p. 66. [For more on this, see http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/Hansson.html.]

[13] Ibid., p. 11.

[14] Rudolf Steiner, THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 94. [For more about Steiner's views on science, see, e.g., "Steiner's 'Science'".]

[15] HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, p. 129.

[16] There is virtually no evidence that clairvoyance exists or is possible. [See "Clairvoyance".]

Here is the summary presented in a leading psychology textbook: 

"After thousands of experiments, a reproducible ESP phenomenon has never been discovered, nor has any individual convincingly demonstrated a psychic ability. [Sic — emphasis by Myers.] A National Research Council investigation of ESP similarly concluded that 'the best evidence does not support the contention that these phenomena exist' (Druckman & Swets, 1988) ... Why then are so many people predisposed to believe that ESP, which should be testable by science, exists? In part, such beliefs may stem from understandable misperceptions, misinterpretations, and selective recall. But some people also have an unsatisfied hunger for wonderment, an itch to experience the magical." — David G. Myers, PSYCHOLOGY (Worth Publishers, 2004), pp. 260-261. 

Myers' conclusion surely applies to many — or perhaps all — Anthroposophists. For ESP (extrasensory perception), read clairvoyance. Steiner often spoke of the "supersensory," which is akin to the "extrasensory."

[17] Steiner repeatedly asserted the existence of nonphysical bodies, an idea he borrowed from Theosophy and Rosicrucianism. 

"Everyone possesses a physical body, an etheric body, an astral body, and an ego...." — Rudolf Steiner, INVESTIGATIONS INTO OCCULTISM SHOWING ITS PRACTICAL VALUE IN DAILY LIFE (Kessinger, 1996 — reproduction of 1920 edition), p. 51. 

The ego or "I" is the highest of the human "bodies." Steiner placed great significance on the sense of individual identity, "I". Sometimes his statements on this subject are strikingly laughable, e.g.:

"I am an I only to myself; to every other being I am a you, and every other being is a you to me." — OCCULT SCIENCE, p. 49. 

But Steiner was serious. 

"[T]hose religious faiths which have consciously maintained their connection with the supersensible [i.e., occult] wisdom speak of the I as the Unutterable Name of God" [i.e., the God within]. — Ibid., pp. 49-50.

You might ask yourself if the highest, most noble approach to life is likely to entail emphasizing one's ego (the self, the I). Or is the right approach more likely to entail the pursuit of selflessness? Steiner wanted his followers to feel justified and reassured: You are important, he told them. Your lives have great meaning.  Most people want such reassurance. But for such reassurance to be valid, it needs to be based on truth, on reality, not mystical fantasy and misdirection.

[18] KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT, p. 27.

[19] Ibid., p. 28.

[20] Ibid., p. 36.

[21] Ibid., p. 36.

[22] Ibid., p. 36.

[23] Ibid., p. 50.

[24] HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, p. 80.

[25] Ibid., p. 72.

[26] Steiner often spoke of the Akashic Record — e.g.:

"This is merely the beginning, a very elementary beginning, of gradually learning to read the Akashic Record." — Rudolf Steiner, THE EFFECTS OF ESOTERIC DEVELOPMENT (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 76. 

The Record is also sometimes called the Akashic Chronicle or the Akasha Chronicle. Also, there are sometimes said to be more than one such record or chronicle. Akasha is said to be a universal ether; the occult script is written on it. The result is an utterly complete universal register. 

"Rudolf Steiner...was able to develop his spiritual faculties so that he could read what is usually called the 'Akasha Chronicle,' an occult 'script' in which is inscribed, so to speak, all that has ever happened in the history of the universe." — Anthroposophist Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), p. 22.

[27] HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, pp 72-73.

[28] Ibid., p. 78.

[29] See KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT, the chapter "Some Results of Initiation." 

[30] HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, pp. 109-111. By glowing, rotating, wheels, and flowers, of course, Steiner didn't exactly mean glowing, rotating, wheels, and flowers. He had great difficulty with language, due to the nature of his visions and the presumed nature of the realms he investigated.

It's worth noting that, in KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT, no quotation marks are put around terms such as "lotus." In general, older editions of Steiner's work, while less accessible, present his views with fewer equivocations.

Steiner prescribed many exercises intended to lead toward toward spiritual progress. [See, e.g., START NOW!, pp. 109-118, "The Six Essential Exercises."]

[31] A few notes are in order. ◊ Smart people aren't necessarily right, of course. When two smarties disagree about something, at least one of them is probably wrong. ◊ The same applies even to high-powered intellectuals (eggheads, highbrows, chrome domes), perhaps in spades. Eggheads often weave intricate theories that have no connection to reality. ◊ How can we account for Steiner's innumerable errors? [See "Steiner's Blunders".] Perhaps, an egghead, he gave his honest opinions about things, and he just happened to be mistaken, over and over. Another possibility is that he was insane: His spiritualistic visions may have been hallucinations springing from a deranged mind. Still a third possibility is that Steiner was quite sane but also quite dishonest — he lied — he peddled fantasies in order to earn a following and a livelihood. ◊ My own guess is that the answer can be found behind door #3.

[32] See "Steiner's 'Science'".

[33] Bellow studied Steiner for some time. But he eventually recoiled from Steiner's radical mysticism: 

"Bellow was no mystic. Like Citrine [a character in Bellow's novel HUMBOLDT'S GIFT], he was skeptical of Steiner's more outlandish notions ... '[O]rgans of spiritual perception' or the strange mingling of Abraham with Zarathustra ... It was all too much for me.'" — James Atlas, BELLOW: A Biography (Random House, 2000), p. 437. 

In his memoir, SAUL BELLOW'S HEART, Greg Bellow — Saul Bellow's eldest son — reports that Saul Bellow could not, ultimately, accept Steiner's teachings. 

"...Saul knew he could never allow himself to follow Steiner's first instruction ... In the end, Saul found the hope offered by Steiner insufficient...." — SAUL BELLOW'S HEART (Bloomsbury, 2013), p. 164. 

Saul Bellow reached ultimate "disillusionment with the teachings of Rudolf Steiner," after which he entered a "post-Steiner" period that lasted for the rest of his life. [Ibid., p. 182.]

[34] Steiner praises Blavatsky in some of his work, but he also says that she made mistakes that he — harrumph — corrects. See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, SPIRITUALISM, MADAME BLAVATSKY, AND THEOSOPHY: AN EYEWITNESS VIEW OF OCCULT HISTORY (Anthroposophic Press, 2001).

[35] According to neuroscientist Dr. Jaak Panksepp, 

"SEEKING" [sic] is "the basic impulse to search, investigate, and make sense of the environment ... [It may be a] generalized platform for the expression of many of the basic emotional processes ... It is the one system that helps animals anticipate all types of rewards." — Panksepp, quoted in Temple Grandin, ANIMALS MAKE US HUMAN (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), pp. 6-7.

[36] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?" 

[37] Anthroposophists may be deceived both by their own mistaken notions and/or by the false leads offered by their guru, Steiner. Humans often prefer to be deceived. 

"'There's a counterintuitive motivation not to detect lies, or we would have become much better at it,' said Angela Grossman, an assistant professor or psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 'But you may not really want to know that the dinner you just cooked stinks, or even that your spouse is cheating on you." — Natalie Angier, "A Highly Evolved Propensity for Deceit," THE NEW YORK TIMES, Dec. 28, 2008, nytimes.com. 

We often prefer lies when they are more comforting than the truth. 

"It turns out that we only want the truth sometimes [not all the time]. What we need is trust, even if that means we are certain to be betrayed." — Neely Tucker, "The Truth About Lies," WASHINGTON POST NATIONAL WEEKLY EDITION, Feb. 23-March 1, 2009, p. 11. 

A set of fantasies, such as Anthroposophy, may feed our desire for spiritual reassurance, trust, and comfort, but it may hinge on betrayal, even self-betrayal.

[38] Steiner taught that imagination and its associated "faculties" need to be schooled and sharpened. But this hardly resolves the problem of relying on unreliable and/or nonexistent forms of "cognition." Instead of any old clairvoyance, Steiner advocated "exact clairvoyance" — a disciplined form of clairvoyance that would confirm the findings of his own psychic powers. But there cannot be an exact form of a faculty that does not exist, nor can inherently unreliable forms of thought be made trustworthy. [See "Exactly".]

[39] See "Steiner's Blunders".

[40] See "Steiner's Quackery".

[41] See "Biodynamics".

[42] See "Thinking Cap" and "Unenlightened". 

[43] Richard Ramsbotham, WHO WROTE BACON? (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2004).

[44] John Fentress Gardner, AMERICAN HERALDS OF THE SPIRIT (Lindisfarne Press, 1992).

The third appendix of Gardner's book deals with "Rudolf Steiner's extensive and immensely fruitful research." This "research" consists of Steiner's clairvoyant visions. After striving through much of his adult life to follow Steiner's instructions on how to attain clairvoyant powers, Gardner ultimately gave up, defeated. He turned, then, to charismatic Christianity. (Disclosure: I knew Gardner. My knowledge of his final years is based, in part, on personal observations and correspondence.) Perhaps other spiritual seekers will have better luck developing clairvoyant powers. But the odds are clearly slim. Remember the National Research Council's conclusion that "the best evidence does not support the contention that these phenomena exist." [PSYCHOLOGY, p. 260] Or, as the ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA PUTS IT: "Research in parapsychology...has yet to provide conclusive support for the existence of clairvoyance." — "clairvoyance." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 18 Mar. 2009. These are cautiously worded reports of scientific findings. In plain English: Clairvoyance is bunk.

[45] Richard Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2002).

[46] Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989) — see the previous reference to Easton's book, above.

If we descend to the level of short pamphlets and booklets, a whole universe of bizarre Anthroposophical writings opens. One of my favorites: Franz E. Winkler, M.D., "Our Obligation to Rudolf Steiner in the Spirit of Easter" (Whittier Books, 1955). Our "obligation" to Steiner. Mull that over. (Disclosure: I was acquainted with Dr. Winkler, who had responsibility for the spiritual welfare of many students and teachers at the Waldorf school I attended.) Dr. Winkler was very smart, and he claimed to operate scientifically. Yet his conception of knowledge ultimately boiled down to "we have learned to believe Rudolf Steiner's teachings." — Ibid., p. 11.

Another intriguing pamphlet is Laurens van der Post, "Intuition, Intellect and the Racial Question" (Myrin Institute, 1964). Van der Post was not an Anthroposophist but a fellow traveler; this pamplet was published by the Myrin Institute, which was, at that time, essentially an Anthroposophical lecture forum. (Disclosure: Van der Post was a sometime visitor at my Waldorf school, where he was much admired.) Van der Post gained fame as a "defender" of African Bushmen. In his pamphlet, he credits Bushmen with primitive clairvoyant powers (p. 16) and an intuitive connection with natural forces (pp. 18-19). This racial patronization is hard to justify, but it was accepted as enlightened thinking by many Anthroposophists, since it parallels Steiner's own racial teachings. [See "Steiner's Racism".] Unfortunately, Van der Post actually knew almost nothing about Bushmen. His authorized biographer reluctantly came to the conclusion that van der Post was a liar — he had not spent the time he claimed among the Bushmen, nor had he been admitted to their councils. [See J.D.F. Jones, TELLER OF MANY TALES (Carroll & Graf, 2001).]

The pamphlet containing van der Post's lecture also includes an excerpt from Anthroposophist Werner Glas's "The Waldorf School Approach to History." It deals largely with astrology. Glas's other publications include "An Analytical Study of the Rhetorical Thought of Rudolf Steiner with Some Implications for the Teaching of Speech" (Wayne State University, 1977). It is another example of intelligence expended to little good effect. 

[47] Edward L. Gardner, FAIRIES - The Cottingley Photographs and Their Sequel (Theosophical Publishing House, 1945).

The photos were made beginning in 1917. Edward Gardner became aware of them soon afterwards and quickly championed them. Toward the end of their lives — after Gardner himself was dead — the photographers admitted that the pictures are fake. No one today, accustomed to special effects, is likely to mistake the photos for anything but what they are, crude fabrications. [For an interesting discussion, see James Randi, FLIM-FLAM! (Prometheus Books, 1982), chapter 2, "Fairies at the Foot of the Garden." There are also reports at skepdic.com and wikipedia.org.]

[48] Arthur Conan Doyle, THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES (Forgotten Books, 2007) — reprint of a 1922 edition.

Yes, the  Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes was so brilliant, people thought Conan Doyle must be, too. Perhaps he was. But this didn't prevent him from making a fool of himself. 

"Even [some] spiritualists joined in criticizing Conan Doyle's article 'The Evidence for Fairies,' published in The Strand Magazine in 1921, and his subsequent book THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES (1922), in which he voiced support for the claim that two young girls, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, had photographed actual fairies that they had seen in the Yorkshire village of Cottingley." — "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 18 Mar 2009. 

The critics did not include Edward Gardner.

[49] Steiner did not, as far as I know, endorse the Cottingley photos. Instead, he taught that fairies, gnomes, and other such creatures exist in the form of "elemental beings." [See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS. Lectures from 1908-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995). Also see "Neutered Nature".]

[50] The exercises Steiner prescribed are aimed primarily at developing spiritual faculties, not exercising that coarse, physical organ, the brain. They do not genuinely discipline the brain or mind, but bend consciousness to the service of fantasy.

[51] See, e.g., Paul Bloom, "Is God an Accident?", THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY, December, 2005, p. 105, theatlantic.com, and Robin Marantz Henig, "Darwin's God," THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, March 4, 2007, at www.nytimes.com , especially the discussion of "byproduct theory."

Do we have a predisposition to believe in the supernatural because God wants us to know of His existence? Are our intuitions of spiritual presences God's signs to us? Perhaps — but we have little reason to think so. If God wanted us to know Him, he could employ far more persuasive signs — undeniable signs, if He saw fit. Thus, instead of equipping us with doubtful inklings that are belied by the very senses he chose to give us, He could make Himself perceptible to those senses — visible or audible. Lacking such clear demonstrations, all we know about our predispositions is that we have them — we do not know if they are correct or purposeful. And, in fact, there's reason to think they are not.

[52] For more on the Anthroposophical view of intuition, imagination, etc., see "Thinking Cap", "Steiner's 'Science'",  and "Everything".

[53] We are inclined to find "spirit" even in places where we know perfectly well it does not exist. MIT graduate students working on robots are sometimes so spooked by the apparently human qualities of their own creations that they cover the machines' "eyes." 

"They couldn't stand the way [a robot] seemed to gaze...at them. These humans are as sophisticated about robots as anyone on earth...[but] 'We're programmed biologically to respond to certain sorts of things' ... It's not about how the machine works. It's about how humans are wired." — THE WASHINGTON POST WEEKLY EDITION (May 14-20, 2007, pp. 9-10). 

The students know that the robots are not alive; they know that the robots do not have minds or souls. But they can't prevent themselves from feeling the opposite.

[54] Randomness is generally repugnant to humans, yet it is a basic characteristic of reality. For example, the primary law in the branch of physics called quantum mechanics is the uncertainty principal. [See, e.g., "uncertainty principle." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 11 Feb. 2009.] Likewise, a whole branch of science has arisen studying the chaos or unpredictability found throughout nature. [See, e.g., "chaos theory." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 11 Feb. 2009.]

[55] Nicholas Wade, "A Mind Still Prescient After All These Years" (THE NEW YORK TIMES, Feb. 10, 2009), p. D4).

[56] See, e.g., Benedict Carey, "Do You Believe in Magic?", THE NEW YORK TIMES, Jan. 23, 2007, D1.

[57] If you want your child to receive a Christian education, a Waldorf school is the wrong place for him or her. From a Christian perspective, Anthroposophy is distinctly heretical. [See "Was He Christian?"] Likewise, Jewish parents should beware of Steiner's anti-Semitism. [See "Steiner's Blunders" and "RS on Jews".].

[58] There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves and seven pairs of major peripheral nerves. [See, e.g., "Spinal and Major Peripheral Nerves", http://innvista.com/health/anatomy/spinal.htm. Also see "human nervous system." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 17 Feb. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/409709/human-nervous-system>.]

[59] Christians generally speak of four archangels, although the total number, according to some angelological teachings, may be as high as fifteen. Jewish and Islamic traditions differ. [See, e.g., http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32645/archangel and http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Archangel.]

"archangel, chief angel. They are four to seven in number. Sometimes specific functions are ascribed to them. The four best known in Christian tradition are Michael , Gabriel , Raphael , and Uriel ." — The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2008. 

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