Steiner taught that the demons Lucifer and Ahriman 

have hollowed out our skulls.

Our "so-called noblest organ," the brain, is empty.

“The formation of our skull is due to the fact that it is there that most has been wrested from us ... Lucifer and Ahriman have there been the most successful in wresting away substantiality; in the so-called noblest organ of man they have been able to wrest away the greatest amount of mineralised substantiality ... If everything were to run without a hitch for Lucifer and Ahriman, if they were everywhere able to wrest as much as they wrest from the organ of the head, Earth-evolution would soon reach a point where Lucifer and Ahriman could succeed in destroying our Earth and in leading over all evolution of worlds into the Eighth Sphere, so that Earth-evolution as a whole would take a different course. Hence Lucifer endeavours to unfold his greatest strength of all at the place where man is the most vulnerable, namely, in his head. The stronghold which it is easiest for Lucifer to capture is the human head; and everything that is similar to the head in respect of the distribution of the mineral element, so that it can be drawn out in the same way, is equally exposed to the danger of being dispatched into the Eighth Sphere. No less a prospect looms as a consequence of this intention of Lucifer and Ahriman than that the whole evolution of humanity may be allowed to disappear into the Eighth Sphere, so that this evolution would take a different course.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE OCCULT MOVEMENT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), lecture 5, GA 254.

The Eighth Sphere is a demonic realm 

created by Lucifer and Ahriman.

To perceive it, we require special new organs, 

organs of clairvoyance:

“Here, then, we have a sphere, visible only to visionary-imaginative clairvoyance ... [J]ust as the spiritual is round about us, so we must also look for the Eighth Sphere in our environment. This means that an organ enabling man to perceive the Eighth Sphere would have to be developed, just as his physical senses enable him to perceive the material Earth ... [I]f we have developed an organ for experiencing the Eighth Sphere, we are conscious of it around us.” — Ibid.

[For more on the terrible Eighth Sphere,

see "Sphere 8".]

In the endnotes to my essay "Thinking Cap", I attempted a summary of key points about the sort of "thinking" advocated by Rudolf Steiner — clairvoyance — and the Anthroposophical disparagement of rational thought. I'll reproduce it here, although it recycles some points we have probably covered sufficiently already. (Please forgive the style. It is somewhat telegraphic, as is common in endnotes.) — R.R.

The existence of clairvoyance is extremely doubtful. 

“Research in parapsychology...has yet to provide conclusive support for the existence of clairvoyance.” — "clairvoyance." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, Dec. 29, 2022.

Whether psychic capacities might be developed in the future — through the growth of incorporeal organs or in any other manner — is a subject more suited to science fiction than to levelheaded discussions of reality. [See, e.g., Arthur C. Clarke, CHILDHOOD’S END.] It is not irrelevant to note that Steiner’s sources included fantasies such as the Rosicrucian novel ZANONI and the weird narratives of Norse mythology. [See, e.g., “Steiner’s ‘Science’” and “Oh My Word”.]

The existence of organs of clairvoyance is more than doubtful. But Steiner's doctrines require one to develop such organs and then to exercise them in a certain, prescribed way. Mainly, this way requires tossing out critical intelligence and devotedly following gurus (i.e., in particular, Steiner). 

"[A seeker must] engender within himself this attitude of devotion." — Rudolf Steiner, WIE ERLANGT MAN ERKENNINISSE DER HOHEREN WELTEN? (Berlin, 1918), p. 5.

A seeker must submit to "inspired forerunners" (i.e., spiritual teachers, in particular, Steiner). [See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, DIE STUFEN DER HOHEREN ERKENNISNIS (Dornach, 1935), p. 65.] Submitting in this manner is the opposite of thinking for oneself, exercising intellect, or using one's critical intelligence. It is blind belief in occultism. [See "Guru".]

Trying to reason with Anthroposophists is an interesting undertaking, but in many (if not all) cases it is doomed to failure. Good Anthroposophists heed Steiner's dictum: They must not employ critical thought in evaluating his statements. They should coduct themselves like good children.

"[Good children] have a respect that forbids them, even in the deepest recess of their heart, to harbour any thoughts of criticism or opposition." — Rudolf Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Company, 1923), p. 10. 

Good adults should have a similar sense of veneration, at least for the people they have selected, somehow, to be their masters.

The rejection of critical thought is stressed in the Waldorf school movement: 

"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." — Waldorf teacher John Fentress Gardner, THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWLEDGE (Waldorf Press, 1975), pp. 127-128. 

Gardner was a leading American Anthroposophist.

"Embracing enthusiastically" is what Waldorf students are taught to do. They may not (indeed, they often do not) understand what they are embracing, but they have been taught to embrace it anyway, freed from the "blight of critical thinking." Good adult Anthroposophists are often similarly enthusiastic and uncritical, which helps explain why they often get so riled up over criticism. [See "Criticism".] They aren't accustomed to such modes of thought. They frequently think that criticism means murderous, evil attack. This makes rational discourse difficult.

Despite Steiner’s claim that he appreciated the intellect, he generally associated it with evil. In Steiner’s theology, Ahriman is a dreadful demon. [See "Ahriman" and “Bad, Badder, Baddest”.] Ahriman’s cardinal evil attribute is that he is “the supreme intellectual power: Ahriman.” — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 167. Ahriman’s fiendish plots include this: 

“One of the things Ahriman wants for us is that we produce lots of libraries, storing lots of dead knowledge all around us.” — Rudolf Steiner, POLARITIES IN THE EVOLUTION OF MANKIND (SteinerBooks, 1987), p. 163.

Steiner taught that intellectual thought did not begin until 600-800 BC. It is, he said, a gift from Lucifer. [Rudolf Steiner, THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 117.] Ahriman, however, corrupted this gift. 

“Ahriman appropriated intellectuality ... Intellectuality flows forth from Ahriman as a cold and frosty, soulless cosmic impulse ... In reality, it is Ahriman who speaks [through the intellect]....” — Rudolf Steiner, ANTHROPOSOPHICAL LEADING THOUGHTS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), p. 98. 

We currently live in a materialistic age in which materialistic (intellectual) thinking prevails. 

"[This is a] necessary phase in the evolution of humanity.” — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 235. 

Entering this phase, we surrendered our old clairvoyant capacities, but we will attain greater clairvoyance when we move forward in our evolution. Possessing intellect will enable us to sharpen our comprehension, focusing our clairvoyance. But we will eventually put intellect firmly behind us. This is well, since 

“The intellect destroys or hinders.” — Ibid., p. 233. 

The Waldorf curriculum is geared to the notion that children individually pass through the same phases that humanity has undergone collectively. Thus, students don’t develop intellectual abilities until they are well into their high school years, according to Steiner.

We benefit from our current existence in a material realm where intellect is useful. We literally sharpen our wits, which can help us to sharpen our new, higher, "exact" clairvoyance when/if we develop it. But, ultimately, intellect is anathema for Steiner and his followers — critical thinking must be suppressed. 

"By intellectualising he [the seeker] merely diverts himself from the right path." — Rudolf Steiner, WIE ERLANGT MAN ERKENNINISSE DER HOHEREN WELTEN?, p. 32. 

Steiner tells his followers, 

"You must not try to receive these insights in a sober-minded and intellectual way." — STUFEN DER HOHEREN ERKENNISNIS, p. 66. 

The goal is to reach a stage at which "our thinking ceases." — Rudolf Steiner, MEDITATION UND KONZENTRATION (Dornach, 1935), p. 33. 

[See http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/Hansson.html.] 

If intellect is so awful, why does Steiner say it has any uses at all? He taught that we humans are currently passing through a stage of our evolution in which we need to master intellect before moving beyond it. He spoke of this evolutionary process in racial terms. We evolve upward by passing through higher and higher racial forms. Properly evolved humans currently are members of the fifth "subrace" of the fifth "root race." 

◊ "Every root race and subrace has its task in the evolution of humanity. The goal of ours — the fifth main, or root, race — is called Manas, that is, to awaken human understanding through concepts and ideas." — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 178. 

◊ "Our fifth post-Atlantean subrace is developing a culture of reason, but at the same time it is bringing egotism to an absolute extreme ... Our fifth root race will be ruined by egotism intensified to the utmost." — Ibid., p. 179. 

Thus, we need to pass through a materialistic, intellectual period. But we also need to pass beyond it, having moved beyond its snares and destructive powers.

(Steiner traced the emergence of subraces in the fifth root race to the sinking of Atlantis. Yes, Atlantis. So much for "a culture of reason.")

How does all this apply to Waldorf education?

We might do well to mediate upon a quotation we have already seen.

"You will injure children if you educate them rationally."

 — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE 

(Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 61.

Acting upon this principle, 

Steiner designed Waldorf education to be irrational.

Think about that for a while. Rationally.

Rudolf Steiner, apparently using his brain.

But don't misunderstand.

[Public domain photo,

cover art: Richard Seddon. RUDOLF STEINER

(North Atlantic Books, 2004).]

Here are a few pertinent articles from the Waldorf Watch News:

I.

“Headlines Today 

“Waldorf Education Town Hall Meeting Jan 17th 

“Attention Parents in the Greater New Haven Area [Connecticut, USA] 

“If you are looking for a school for your child that NURTURES imagination, creativity, critical thinking, self awareness, lifelong love of learning, and seeks to develop your child's intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual (secular) capacities, please join us to learn about a new Waldorf Education Initiative starting up in the Greater New Haven area ... Our North Haven Parent/Child class for toddlers is enrolling for classes beginning Feb. 7, 2012. Succeeding grades will be added yearly.” 

[1-17-2012 http://www.elmcitybeat.com/2012/01/waldorf-education-town-hall-meeting-jan.html]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Supporters of Waldorf education often issue such invitations, seeking to build interest and community support. Media in small communities sometimes display these items as if they were objective news stories, when quite obviously they are not.* You may or may not find Waldorf education attractive, but do bear in mind the difference between objective information and advertising. The item quoted here, for instance, contains a number of highly questionable claims.

Ponder the claim that Waldorf schools seek to develop children's "spiritual (secular) capacities." What, you might wonder, is meant by the very curious phrase "spiritual (secular)"? Anthroposophists wind up using such expressions because their belief system is a religion but one of its tenets is that it is not a religion. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] Primarily for this reason, Waldorf schools almost always deny that they are religious institutions, although their principles and practices are based on Anthroposophy. So, even though Waldorf schools care very much about spirituality, they usually make the misleading claim that they are secular.

The spiritual capacities emphasized in Waldorf schools boil down to the use of Anthroposophically approved forms of thought, such as imagination, to gain "knowledge" of spiritual matters. You might ask yourself if you think a "secular" school has any business trying to develop children's spiritual capacities — isn't this the job of churches, temples, mosques, and parents? In any event, if you select a Waldorf school for your child, you should know that the teachers there will likely have a spiritual agenda for the child. [See "Spiritual Agenda".] You should also know that the central "spiritual capacity" that Waldorf teachers, as Anthroposophists, attempt to develop is clairvoyance. [See "Clairvoyance".] If you do not share the many spiritual beliefs of Anthroposophists, including belief in clairvoyance, you may find Waldorf education alien and unacceptable — although, because the schools generally dissemble so well, reaching this realization may take a while.

One more point. (We could discuss several other matters, but one more is probably sufficient for now.) Does Waldorf education really promote "critical thinking"? In a sense, yes. Anthroposophists certainly want Waldorf students to be critical of modern society, modern science, and modern technology. [See, e.g., "Steiner's 'Science'".] But, on the other hand, Waldorf schools rarely encourage critical thought directed at their own, Anthroposophical beliefs. Taking their lead from Rudolf Steiner, they generally consider the brain a relatively unimportant organ, and they sometimes go so far as to deem critical thinking a blight.** For them, truth comes primarily through clairvoyance and emotion, not critical thought.

Whenever you read a glowing account of Waldorf education, you may want to consider the source, and certainly you should dig to get below the glowing surface. Perhaps you will still come away with a positive view of Waldorf schools. But perhaps you won't.

◊

* In this case, the problem is inadvertent, arising from the layout of the page.

** 

"A youth whose childhood has been touched by the blight of 'critical thinking' will come to the moment of independent insight badly crippled." — John Fentress Gardner, THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWLEDGE (Waldorf Press, 1975), p. 127. 

Gardner was a Waldorf school headmaster and a leading American Anthroposophist.

II.

From The Shelburne News,

Shelburne, Vermont, USA:

Life of the Child Conference explores 

alternative education March 22-23

The Lake Champlain Waldorf School hosts its annual Life of the Child Conference on March 22-23. This year, renowned neurophysiologist and educator Carla Hannaford Ph.D presents a two-day workshop exploring how movement, music, and play are essential for learning and creativity.

In this experiential workshop, Dr. Hannaford will show why and how the body plays an essential role in learning. She will present her accessible, cutting-edge brain research....

Pam Graham, Admissions Director at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School, explained the school’s interest: “Waldorf education was founded almost a century ago, but it takes a holistic approach to learning that is backed by contemporary neuroscience.  We are eager to bring forward research that helps parents and teachers work with all of a child’s potential.”

[http://shelburnenews.com/?p=5529]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Waldorf spokespeople have a long record of misleading the public. Waldorf education is not “backed by contemporary neuroscience” or any other present-day knowledge. Waldorf education is founded on an occult belief system concocted a century ago by the Austrian/German mystic Rudolf Steiner.

At the risk of boring longtime readers here, I will reprint a list of truthful statements describing the real nature of Waldorf education. All of the following statements were made by leading advocates of Waldorf education, including Rudolf Steiner himself. These are the sorts of admissions you can find if you dig; they are not the sorts of statements Waldorf spokesmen usually make when addressing the public at large:

◊ “[T]he purpose of [Waldorf] education is to help the individual fulfill his karma.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 52.

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

◊ "[W]hat we [Waldorf teachers] have to do in education is a continuation of what higher beings [i.e., the gods] have done ... [O]ur work with young people is a continuation of what higher beings have done [with the children] before birth." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 37.

◊ “This is precisely the task of school. If it is a true school, it should bring to unfoldment [i.e., incarnation and development]...what [the child] has brought with him from spiritual worlds into this physical life on earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS , Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1972), lecture 5, GA 235.

◊ “A Waldorf school is...an organization that seeks to allow the spiritual impulses of our time to manifest on earth in order to transform society ... [I]t strives to bring the soul-spiritual into the realm of human life.” — Waldorf teacher Roberto Trostli, “On Earth as It Is in Heaven”, Research Bulletin, Vol. 16 (Waldorf Research Institute), Fall 2011, pp. 21-24.

◊ "[The] special contribution, the unique substance, mission, and intention of the independent Waldorf School, is the spiritual-scientific view of human nature [i.e., Anthroposophy].” — Anthroposophist Peter Selg, THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF EDUCATION (SteinerBooks, 2010)‚ p. 4.

◊ “The task of education conceived in the spiritual sense is to bring the Soul-Spirit [i.e., the combined soul and spirit] into harmony with the Life-Body [i.e., the etheric body, the first of our three invisible bodies]." — Rudolf Steiner, STUDY OF MAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), pp. 19-20.

◊ “[Waldorf] education is essentially grounded on the recognition of the child as a spiritual being, with a varying number of incarnations behind him ... [I]t is [the faculty's] task to help the child to make use of his body, to help his soul-spiritual forces to find expression through it, rather than regarding it as their duty to cram him with information.” — Anthroposophist Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), pp. 388-389.

◊ "The reason many [Waldorf] schools exist is because of the Anthroposophy, period. It's not because of the children. It's because a group of Anthroposophists have it in their minds to promote Anthroposophy in the world ... Educating children is secondary in these schools" — Former Waldorf teacher "Baandje". [See "Ex-Teacher 7".]

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

◊ “In the child we have before us a being who has only recently left the divine world. In due course, still at a tender age, he comes to school and it is the teacher’s task to help guide him into earthly existence. The teacher is therefore performing a priestly office.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 23. 

◊ "Waldorf education is a form of practical anthroposophy." — Waldorf teacher Keith Francis, THE EDUCATION OF A WALDORF TEACHER (iUniverse, 2004), p. xii.

◊ “[F]rom a spiritual-scientific [i.e., Anthroposophical] point of view child education consists mainly in integrating the soul-spiritual members [i.e., the etheric, astral, and ego bodies] with the corporeal members [i.e., the physical body].” — Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1998), p. 68.

◊ “The success of Waldorf Education, Rudolf Steiner [said], 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.

◊ 

Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., may be a brilliant and credentialed scientist. I will not impugn her or her work. But I will point out that even brilliant and credentialed scientists can make grave errors when they align themselves with occult systems such as Anthroposophy. In 1977, the Waldorf Press (now defunct) published a mighty tome by Wolfgang Schad, MAN AND MAMMAL, that endeavored to overturn contemporary biology in order to substantiate Rudolf Steiner's teachings about the human organism, including Steiner's claim that animals evolved from humans, humans did not evolve from animals. It is an impressive, well-documented, carefully argued book. But it has had essentially no effect within the scientific community for one overwhelming reason. Its thesis is false. MAN AND MAMMAL misrepresents the evidence it presents, and it draws clearly fallacious conclusions.

"Professor Wolfgang Schad, Ph.D., 

was born in 1935 and studied biology, 

chemistry, physics, and education. 

He is a professor of evolutionary biology 

at the university of Witten Herdecke and is widely viewed 

as an authority in his field." 

— SteinerBooks [http://steinerbooks.org/author.html?au=1368].

Anthroposophical "research" is generally tendentious and misleading. It starts with a conclusion it desperately wants to affirm — the "truth" of Anthroposophy — and it bends every piece of information and every form of argumentation in this effort. The result is usually little more than illogical misinformation. Indeed, such "research" is rarely meant to break new ground; nor is it usually intended to persuade non-Anthroposophists. Rather, the goal (which may or may not be openly acknowledged) is to fortify Anthroposophists in the views they already hold. Steiner's followers are assured that, if they ignore all the other scholarship in the world and focus instead on narrowly contrived arguments provided by their fellow believers, they may feel justified in believing there is some rational, factual basis for their otherwise wholly unfounded convictions.

◊ 

As for the claim that Waldorf education is validated by “contemporary neuroscience” or any other genuine scholarship or research — no, it is not. Rudolf Steiner’s followers often do extensive “research” that consists of cherry-picking, raking through scholarly papers, news reports, and any and all other publications seeking any tidbit that might conceivably be interpreted (or misinterpreted) as providing tangential confirmation of Steiner’s teachings. But such “confirmation” is almost always illusory. Steiner taught, for example, that the heart does not pump blood. His followers try their best to substantiate this loopy falsehood, but of course they can’t. See, e.g., THE DYNAMIC HEART AND CIRCULATION (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 2002), edited by Craig Holdrege. It is another scholarly, carefully crafted book that ultimately makes no sense and has had essentially no influence outside the Anthroposophical cult.

As for the brain, the head, and thinking, here are some of the statements Steiner and his followers have made. Consider how well they conform to the knowledge available through “contemporary neuroscience.”

◊ “[T]he...brain represents a process of decay: materialistic thinking unfolds only through processes of destruction, death-processes, which are taking place in the brain.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), pp. 147-148.

◊ "The brain does not produce thoughts." — Henk Van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 16.

◊ “[O]ne can think with one's fingers and toes much more brightly, once one makes the effort, than with the nerves of the head." — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 126.

◊ “The body thinks, the body counts. The head is only a spectator.” — Rudolf Steiner, RHYTHMS OF LEARNING (SteinerBooks, 1998), p. 159.

◊ "Within the brain there is absolutely no thought; there is no more of thought in the brain than there is of you in the mirror in which you see yourself." — Rudolf Steiner, WONDERS OF THE WORLD, ORDEALS OF THE SOUL, REVELATIONS OF THE SPIRIT (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1983), p. 119.

◊ “The intellect destroys or hinders.” — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1995, p. 233.

◊ "Intellectuality flows forth from [the demon] Ahriman as a cold and frosty, soulless cosmic impulse.” — Rudolf Steiner,  ANTHROPOSOPHICAL LEADING THOUGHTS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 98.

◊ “[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.

Such bizarre, mystical views have a distinct — and damaging — impact on Waldorf education. Thus, according to Steiner, '

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

You should choose Waldorf education for your children only if you want them to have irrational schooling.

III.

The following is currently presented 

at the Rudolf Steiner Archive 

under the heading “Anthroposophy News”

 even though the article contains 

no reference to Anthroposophy, 

Rudolf Steiner, or Waldorf education

[February, 2013  http://www.rsarchive.org/]:

'Quantum smell' idea gains ground

By Jason Palmer

Science and technology reporter, BBC News

A controversial theory that the way we smell involves a quantum physics effect has received a boost, following experiments with human subjects.

It challenges the notion that our sense of smell depends only on the shapes of molecules we sniff in the air.

Instead, it suggests that the molecules' vibrations are responsible.

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

There is virtually no factual evidence supporting any of the claims of Anthroposophy, which its followers (borrowing from Theosophy) call “spiritual science.” There is no such thing as spiritual science.

Anthroposophical “researchers” spend a great deal of time combing through press reports, scientific journals, and other sources seeking any tiny statement that could conceivably be interpreted (or misinterpreted) as supporting Anthroposophy. This generally produces irrational (not to say laughable) results. Thus, if new research indicates that science’s previous understanding of smell was incomplete, Rudolf Steiner’s followers grab this as proof that natural science is wholly wrong and, therefore, “spiritual science” is correct.* The reality, however, is quite different. When genuine science takes a step forward, such as improving its understanding of smell, it almost invariably moves farther away from Steiner’s bizarre teachings. Genuine science advances, and “spiritual science” recedes farther and farther into antiquated, medieval fallacy. If some of Rudolf Steiner's "scientific" teachings seemed plausible during his lifetime, they have become increasingly incredible as real science has advanced.

To consider the nature of Steiner’s “spiritual science” you might, for instance, consult Sven Ove Hansson’s essay, “Is Anthroposophy Science?” [http://waldorfcritics.org/articles/Hansson.html].

◊

* What did Steiner say about smell? He traced all sensory impressions, including smell, back to vibrations in the etheric realm. [See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, EDUCATION FOR SPECIAL NEEDS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 57.] There is no scientific basis for this view. Science finds no evidence for the existence of the etheric realm (or the etheric body, or the ether...). Indeed, science find no evidence for most of the conditions, states, or objects Steiner discoursed upon.

Still, some of Steiner's statements about the senses, such as smell, are diverting. Thus, for instance: 

"[P]lants smell the universe and adapt themselves accordingly ... The violet is really all nose, a very, very delicate nose ... [The] violet is really all nose — but a delicate nose, inhaling the cosmic scent of Mercury. It holds the scent, as I have indicated, between its solid parts and exhales it; then the scent is dense enough for us to be able to smell it. So when Mercury comes toward us through the violet, we smell Mercury. If with our coarse noses we were to sniff toward Saturn, we would smell nothing. But when the asafetida, which has a keen nose for Saturn, sniffs toward that planet, it smells what comes from it, adapts its gas content accordingly, and has a most foul odor. Suppose you are walking through an avenue of horse chestnuts — you know the scent of horse chestnut, or of linden blossoms? They both have such perfume because their flowers are sensitive noses for everything that streams into the universe from Venus." — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH AND MAN AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), pp. 146-147.

You may scour scientific literature endlessly seeking valid substantiation for such a statement. You will find none.

IV.

Today, January 15, 2013, 

the Rudolf Steiner Archive 

posted a link to the following 

BBC news item. 

The Archive categorized the item 

under the heading "Anthroposophy News":

Tetrapod anatomy: Backbone 

back-to-front in early animals

By Rebecca Morelle

Science reporter, BBC World Service

A visual interpretation of the body of Ichthyostega.

Textbooks might have to be re-written when it comes to some of the earliest creatures, a study suggests.

Researchers have found that our understanding of the anatomy of the first four-legged animals is wrong.

New 3D models of fossil remains show that previous renderings of the position of the beasts' backbones were actually back-to-front.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, may even change our thinking on how the spine evolved.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20987289]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

This is an interesting news item. But it makes no mention of Anthroposophy, or Rudolf Steiner, or Waldorf education. In what sense, then, does it qualify as "Anthroposophy News"? It doesn't  qualify as such, of course. But the link at the Steiner Archive points up an interesting issue. Rudolf Steiner claimed, quite incorrectly, that his teachings are scientific. In reality, his teachings are profoundly antiscientific and irrational; there is virtually no factual basis for anything he said or taught. [See "Steiner's 'Science'" and "Steiner's Blunders".]

But because Steiner claimed to be telling the factual, verifiable, "scientific" truth about all the matters he discussed, his followers have ever after sought any scintilla of scientific evidence that might conceivably be construed as a point in Steiner's favor. Thus, if a prevailing scientific theory is overturned, they rejoice. Aha!, they cry. Conventional science was wrong about X, Y, or Z. Therefore, conventional science is wrong altogether. And, therefore, Rudolf Steiner's "spiritual science" is correct instead!  This, of course, is nonsense. As real science progresses, old scientific theories are continually replaced by newer, better theories. Clearly, the process of scientific advancement does not mean that antiscientific fantasies such as Steiner's are true. Just the reverse, in fact. The more science advances — the more truths we learn — the more we can see that Rudolf Steiner's teachings are baseless.

(Technically, the arguments Steiner's followers make in cases like this are examples of the logical fallacy called "appeal to ignorance." 

∆ We do not know that X is correct. Therefore, Y is correct instead.

∆ We do not know that conventional science is wholly correct, therefore 'spiritual science' is correct instead.*

Appeal to ignorance is a form of false argumentation that Steiner himself sometimes used. [See "Ignorance".] It can seem persuasive, if you don't think about it too hard. But it is a fallacy, nothing more.)

Steiner himself sometimes acknowledged that his teachings, which he called "spiritual science" or "occult science," are at odds with conventional or "natural" science. 

"Occult Science is the antithesis of Natural Science.” —Rudolf Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1972), preface to editions 16-20, p. xiv, GA 13.**

◊

* If we do not know that X is correct, then that is all we know about the matter: X is not proven. We cannot leap from this to the unproven claim that Y is correct. Y may be true or it may be false. To learn which it is, we need to study Y. Being unsure about X does not justify claims to certainty about Y.

** What did Steiner say about prehistoric animals? Many interesting things. (This will give you a taste of Steiner's "science.") For instance, Steiner said that some dinosaurs were fire-breathing dragons. 

“Yes, those beasts did breathe fire ... What I am referring to are dinosaurs from the beginning of the Tertiary Period.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 26. 

Then again, Steiner told of huge lizards that, in the time before humanity moved to Atlantis (yes, Atlantis), flew around with lanterns on their heads. 

“If we were to journey back through time to the age that links Lemuria with Atlantis [the two lost continents on which we used to live], we would meet with a remarkable sight: gigantic flying lizards with a lantern on their heads...” — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), pp. 130-131.

Steiner's fallacious and damaging ideas, divorced from reality,

represent grave potential danger to students sent to Waldorf schools.

Children often have enormous potential, 

fine minds, wonderful talents.

They are capable of brilliance and beauty.

They deserve the best educations we can give them.

But how can a true education be based on such false precepts

as that we do not think with our brains?

Consider the damage that could be inflicted on children's minds

by teachers who believe such occult nonsense.

Clairvoyance, according to Steiner, is connected to feeling, subjective experience, imagination, and related conditions. These are states that real science knows to be unreliable, but Steiner affirmed them. This led him to make some remarkable statements. 

“[W]e need to acquire an inner feeling, an inner response to the natural world ... [T]he earth is solid rock. Materialists believe in this solid rock ... But someone who is hoping to gain higher insight develops some degree of anxiety on coming face to face with this very rock. This anxiety does not appear at all when we are in heated air ... But one can also reach a point where the heated air makes one anxious ... [I]f you put up with the heat, if you stay with it, and actually feel comfortable with it, the parts I have drawn rather schematically in the air here [yellow] oddly enough begin to fill up with all kinds of images [upper white blotches] and the world of the spirit literally begins to show itself, the world of the spirit that is always present in the air though people do not feel it in the air, perceive it in the air, because they do not want to bear the heat ... Once one has got used to seeing all these spirits that are in the air...you will gradually also begin to perceive something where the solid rock is concerned ... [Y]ou yourself slip out of your body far enough so that you'll no longer feel the stones to be an obstacle but enter into the solid ground the way a swimmer does the water." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM MAMMOTHS TO MEDIUMS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), pp. 190-192. 

If Steiner was describing any real mental state, here — which is doubtful — I would be tempted to peg it as heatstroke producing delusions.

[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on Steiner's on p. 191. 

The white area near the bottom is "solid" rock that one begins to penetrate, as shown in red. 

The red line crossing through the upper white areas 

also represents penetration by human consciousness.] 

"The image of the heavens in the living human being is in his head. What the human being can know about the heavens lives in his head. And since the human being had [during education] only learnt mathematics, or things that were logical or abstract, from then onwards only what was logical and abstract, or made of concepts and ideas, lived in his head. That is why from then onwards there was no possibility for the human being to bring what was spiritual into concepts and ideas." — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 126. 

[R. R. sketch, 2009, 

based on Steiner's.]

Even while disparaging brainwork, Steiner laid spurious claim to it. One of the great charms of his doctrines, for some people, is his claim that his "spiritual research" is scientific. He claimed, sometimes, that his doctrines are consistent with intellect, that indeed genuine science will support his descriptions of the universe. This is unfounded, and it flies in the face of his other statements about the value of intellect and "natural" science. 

Steiner repeatedly claimed support from, and consistency with, intellect. But he also, often, undercut the claim even as he made it.

“[O]ur age is an intellectual age, an age of dogma, that drives people into a wild chaos of instincts and passions and is satisfied with what is merely intellectual and abstract ... Spiritual Science must penetrate into our whole cultural situation and have the courage to carry out its task in life with consistency in an age that is justifiably called intellectual. But do not let us imagine that this intellectuality ought to merge, as such, with spiritual life, for we have to take our start from facts that are reached by clairvoyant means ... When we consider the occult background, we see how the life of perception comes to the fore in the Greco-Roman era, how the Greek and the Roman was completely attuned to the physical world that he esteemed so highly. Our time, the fifth cultural epoch, is that of thinking, of intellectuality. This is why the abstract sciences are flourishing. The coming sixth age will retain intellectual life, in the same way as we in the fifth have retained the life of perception, and will in addition express itself in the feeling life of the soul. The environment will affect people so that it causes them pleasure and displeasure, joy and pain, sympathy and antipathy, to a degree that as yet can only be felt by the occultist who is capable of overcoming mere intellect, and understanding certain connections of life with real feeling, without lengthy logical reasoning.” — Rudolf Steiner, ESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY AND THE MISSION OF CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1984), lecture 1, GA 130.

Endnotes

[1] Rudolf Steiner, MYSTICISM AT THE DAWN OF THE MODERN AGE (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1980) - introduction by Steiner. 

[2] Rudolf Steiner, THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHIES AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 224.

[3] Ibid., p. 231.

[4] Rudolf Steiner, “Atomism and its Refutation” (The Mercury Press, 1975).

[5] Steiner called Anthroposophy “spiritual science.” He argued that forms of spiritual science have existed throughout human history, with Anthroposophy being the latest, highest form. [See, e.g., "Altogether".] Of course, he did not include spiritual science in the category of sciences that he deplored.

[6] Maya is originally a Hindu concept, but it can also be found in Buddhism and other Eastern faiths.

[7] Rudolf Steiner, THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Anthroposophic Press, 1948), XII.

[8] Rudolf Steiner, METAMORPHOSES OF THE SOUL, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1983), lecture 8, GA 58.

[9] See “Was He Christian?”

[10] Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 368.

[11] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?”

[12] Rudolf Steiner, THE STORY OF MY LIFE (Kessinger Publishing, 2003), p. 183.

[13] THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING, pp. 147-148.

[14] Anthroposophic News Sheet 22nd of January 1940 No. 3-4 (Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, 1940), GA 254: 

“[T]his seems to be a condensed version of the three lectures comprising the series, ‘Significant Facts Pertaining to the Spiritual Life of the Middle of the XIXth Century.’”

[15] Rudolf Steiner, “Realism and Nominalism”, January 27, 1923 (Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, 1934), GA 220.

[16] Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE  (SteinerBooks, 1996), p. 60. 

Perhaps people in Steiner’s day had some excuse for accepting his utterly bizarre statements about human organs, such as the brain and heart. Today, there is no excuse. 

(Concerning the heart:

“[Science] sees the heart as a pump that pumps blood through the body. Now there is nothing more absurd than believing this, for the heart has nothing to do with pumping the blood.” — Rudolf Steiner, FREUD, JUNG, AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY (SteinerBooks, 2001), pp. 124-125.)

[17] Rudolf Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1944), pp. 27-28.

[19] Goethe’s spiritualistic interests appealed to Steiner and were reflected in his own writings. Steiner agreed with Goethe that the inwardness of phenomena is at least as important as any outwardly verifiable qualities. What some would call mere subjectivity was, for Steiner, a portal into truth. During his time editing Magazin für Literatur, he wrote an essay on Goethe’s fairy tale, “The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily”. 

“Since the 1880s I had been occupied with imaginations [i.e., visions produced through imagination] that, for me, became connected with this fairy tale. Goethe’s way of moving from the observations of nature into the innermost recesses of the human soul...I found expressed in the fairy tale. Concepts seemed to Goethe too poor, too dead, to represent the living, working forces of the soul.” — Rudolf Steiner, quoted by Henry Barnes in A LIFE FOR THE SPIRIT, pp. 75-76. 

Barnes notes, 

“It was clear to Steiner that with this fairy tale, one ‘had entered the outer courtyard of the esoteric.’”

For Steiner on Steiner, see Rudolf Steiner, THE STORY OF MY LIFE (Kessigner Publishing, 2003; facsimile of 1928 edition) and Rudolf Steiner, AUTOBIOGRAPHY (Anthroposophical Press, 2006) — essentially the same book but with a useful chronology, pp. xvi-xxix, and an index, pp. 351-366.

For sympathetic and/or balanced accounts of Steiner’s life, see Geoffrey Ahern, SUN AT MIDNIGHT (James Clarke & Co., 2009), Henry Barnes, A LIFE FOR THE SPIRIT (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), Gary Lachman, RUDOLF STEINER (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007), and Peter Washington, MADAME BLAVATSKY’S BABOON (Secker & Warburg, 1993). The last-named presents by far the most skeptical of these accounts.

[20] Rudolf Steiner, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, pp. xvii-xviii.

By Steiner’s own account, he became an occult initiate while still a boy. Anthroposophists accept this account.

“1881-1882: Felix Koguzki, the herb gardener, reveals himself to be the envoy of another, higher initiatory personality, who instructs Rudolf Steiner....” — Ibid., p. xviii. 

Steiner claimed to have received a sort of double initiation.

“Rudolf Steiner himself speaks of two initiatory encounters ... The first is with the herb gatherer Felix Koguzki and the other with the Master ‘M.,’ traditionally taken to be Christian Rosenkreutz.” — Christopher Bamford, afterword to Rudolf Steiner's THE SECRET STREAM: Christian Rosenkreutz and Rosicrucianism (SteinerBooks, 2000), p. 248.

Steiner purportedly kept his occult wisdom under wraps for many years after his "initiation." One interpretation is that his lips were sealed by the rules of the occult order he entered. Other interpretations are possible, of course.

[21] Lachman, RUDOLF STEINER, p. 92.

[22] Largely ignored, the book became scarce not long after its release and remained so for many years. An extensively revised, occultist version was released in 1918 by an Anthroposophical press. In his preface to that edition, Steiner wrote 

"This book has now been out of print for many years. I feel that the same things need to be said today as twenty-five years ago...." 

The book has subsequently been published by Anthroposophical presses under varying titles, including INTUITIVE THINKING AS A SPIRITUAL PATH (Anthroposophic Press, 1995). As the publisher of that edition reports, 

"Of all of his works, INTUITIVE THINKING AS A SPIRITUAL PATH is the one that Rudolf Steiner himself believed would have the longest life."

[23] Ahern, SUN AT MIDNIGHT, p. 31. Dates taken from Rudolf Steiner, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, p. xx.

According to Henry Barnes, 

“Another circumstance of his life in Weimar...occurred after nearly two years of unsatisfactory bachelor life ... Frau Eunicke offered Rudolf Steiner an apartment in her house with the understanding that he would help with her children’s education ... This provided Steiner with the living situation he needed....” — Barnes, A LIFE FOR THE SPIRIT, p. 55.

[24] AUTOBIOGRAPHY, p. xx.

[25] Peter Washington, MADAME BLAVATSKY’S BABOON, pp. 151-152.

[26] Ibid., p. 152.

Steiner’s relationships with other Theosophists were strained. Annie Besant, a leading Theosophist, had misgivings. 

“Over the next ten years had Steiner had a difficult relationship with Mrs Besant ... [S]he mistrusted his ambitions within the Society.” — Washington, p. 153.

[27] Ahern, p. 35.

[28] Barnes, A LIFE FOR THE SPIRIT, p. 80.

Steiner was a secularist before his sudden conversion to Theosophy. Here, for instance, are comments he made about the occult movement before he joined that very movement:

"...I advise anyone who meets with a Theosophist to stand fast, look him in the eye and with total sincerity, genuinely endeavor to glean something from the revelations of such a consummate 'enlightened one' who radiates Eastern wisdom from 'his inner being.' You will of course hear absolutely nothing, nothing but hollow phrases lifted from the Eastern scriptures, without even a hint of content.

"These 'inner experiences' are nothing short of hypocrisy. After all, it's not much of a trick to pull phrases out of a profound literature and then use them to declare that the sum and substance of Western expertise is totally worthless. Yet, [in reality], how much depth, how much inwardness actually lies behind the supposedly superficial intellect, behind the external concepts of Western science, of which the Theosophists haven't the slightest idea!

"But...the mystical way in which they assert incomprehensible foreign wisdom actually seduces a fair number of their contemporaries. 

"It also proves advantageous to the Theosophists that they are able to stay on good terms with the Spiritualists and other off-beat, like-minded seekers of the spirit. Oh, sure, they [the Theosophists] contend that these Spiritualists treat the phenomena of the spirit world as external; whereas, they themselves [the Theosophists] seek to experience such phenomena as strictly within as well as totally spiritual. But they are not above walking hand in hand with the Spiritualists when they deem such an alliance to help them wage war on the unfettered science, the straightforward science of the modern era, which is solely supported by reason and observation." — Rudolf Steiner "Theosophists" ("MAGAZINE FOR LITERATURE" Nr. 34.,1897), translated by Tom Mellett. The essay is reprinted in STEINER, COLLECTED ESSAYS IN LITERATURE, pp. 194-96, GA 32.

Note how Steiner's comments undercut his own later views, such as the emphasis he placed on inner experiences, and his opposition to what he called "natural" science — i.e., what he here calls "Western science." Note, too, that if Steiner was really and occult initiate from a young age, he was misrepresenting his real opinions in the magazine article quoted here. The question becomes, at what point — if any — was Steiner telling the truth?

[29] AUTOBIOGRAPHY, p. xxii.

“In 1903 he moved out of Anna Eunicke’s house and into the Berlin Theosophical headquarters, where Fraulein von Sievers also lived.” — Washington, p. 153.

Marie’s family name is given variously as Sivers and Sievers.

[30] Ahern, p. 36.

[31] AUTOBIOGRAPHY, pp. xxiii-xxv.

[32] Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 156.

[33] From the chronology in the Anthroposophical Press edition of Steiner's autobiography:

“1913: Expulsion of the German section from the Theosophical Society [which Steiner headed]. February 2-3: Foundation meeting of the Anthroposophical Society ... Laying of the foundation stone for the Johannes Bau (Goetheanum)....” — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, p. xxv. 

The first Goetheanum burned at the end of 1922. Work on the new building began soon, but the structure was not completed until a long while after Steiner’s death, which occurred in 1925.

[34] Ibid., p. xxvi.

[35] See "Future Stages".

[36] Rudolf Steiner, THE LORD’S PRAYER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2007), p. 17.

[37] Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 495.

[38] Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), pp. 248.

[39] Rudolf Steiner, CURATIVE EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1972), lecture 2, GA 317.

[40] Rudolf Steiner, DEEPER INSIGHTS INTO EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1983), p. 29.

[41] Rudolf Steiner, THE TENSION BETWEEN EAST AND WEST (Anthroposophic Press, 1983), p. 40.

[42] See “Clairvoyance”.

[43] Rudolf Steiner, AT THE GATES OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1986), p. 156.

[44] Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press  1982), lecture 5, GA 93a.

[45] Rudolf Steiner, APOCALYPTIC WRITINGS (transcript, Rudolf Steiner Archive), lecture 1, GA not specified.

We must be cautious about accepting quotations found in transcripts of uncertain provenance. But the quotation I have given certainly reflects Steiner's teachings. Consider the following, which is a close variant:

"The fifth sub-race is that of the Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon peoples ... This sub-race not only stamps upon matter what lives in man, but it stamps nature’s laws themselves upon matter ... Its mission is to study these laws and impress them on the outer world. Thereby all mankind has become more material; Zeus is no longer possible, but in his place we have the steam-engine.

"Another race will succeed us, which will find the way back again ... [O]nly our own race has progressed far enough to incorporate natural laws into the physical plane. And now mankind has to turn its attention to spiritual things ... The connection to the gods has been lost through stepping down on to the physical plane.” — Rudolf Steiner, INVESTIGATIONS INTO OCCULTISM SHOWING ITS PRACTICAL VALUE IN DAILY LIFE (H. Collison, 1920), p. 166.

The idea that we evolve into new racial forms stems from Steiner's Theosophical phase. 

"During evolution on each of the globes of the earth-chain, the human life-wave passes through seven evolutionary stages called root-races, of which we are at present in the fifth root-race of the fourth round on the fourth globe. Each root-race is divided into seven subraces, of which we are now in the fourth of the fifth root-race. These subraces are themselves subdivided into smaller divisions, and these again into still smaller racial units." — ENCYCLOPEDIC THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY (Theosophical University Press, 1999).

[46] Rudolf Steiner, THE ILLUSTRATED CALENDAR OF THE SOUL (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2004), meditation #7.