X.

Lunacy

(or Moon Madness)

The cosmology embraced by Rudolf Steiner's followers includes teachings about many worlds. Some of those worlds are described as spiritual realms, while others are — at least partially — said to be physical spheres. As an introduction to this Anthroposophical vision of the heavens, we might start with the world that hovers just beyond the limits of our own: the Moon. And, as may be appropriate considering the many one-eighties found in Anthroposophy, let’s approach this subject through a back door. 

The following is from promotional material for a book distributed by SteinerBooks, the Anthroposophical publishing combine:

“Is it possible that the famous American moon landings were nothing but an illusion — all a fabrication? Could NASA have fooled the world by broadcasting simulations that had been filmed for training purposes? From the very first manned flight into orbit right up to the present day, there have been serious anomalies in the official narrative of the conquest of space. Bestselling author Gerhard Wisnewski dissects the history in minute detail ... The evidence he presents casts serious doubt on the possibility of humans ever having walked on the moon.” — Description of ONE SMALL STEP?, published by Clairview Books, an offshoot of Temple Lodge, an independent Anthroposophical publisher.

Many Anthroposophists doubt that humans have been to the Moon. Why? Because of Rudolf Steiner’s teachings, of course. Let’s hear from an Anthroposophist who has been busy in online discussions:

"[T]he moon is now a superhardened, vulcanized sphere that exists for the purpose of providing a necessary counterweight for earth evolution ... Thus, the moon is effectively sealed off and impenetrable since the mineral kingdom was passed over to the earth during the Lemurian Epoch, about fifty thousand years ago [33] ... Lucifer and Ahriman were instrumental in conducting the passing over of the mineral kingdom to earth [34] ... But the short of it is that the moon is an impenetrable sphere [i.e., we cannot go there]...." — Anthroposophist Steve Hale, writing at the Anthroposophy Tomorrow website, Oct. 4, 2005. [35]

Anthroposophists believe the darnest things. Drawing upon Rudolf Steiner's phantasmagoric fantasies — which they generally embrace as gospel truths — they wander off into clouds of delusion. This is OK, as it were. Anthroposophists are free to believe whatever they want. But when Anthroposophists work in Waldorf schools, and when they attempt to lure their students into those clouds of delusion, it is no longer OK. Deluded Anthroposophists teaching in Waldorf schools may inflict severe harm on the children in their charge. [36]

◊

Let’s widen our focus. What else did Steiner teach about the Moon? The most important thing to know about the Moon, from an Anthroposophical perspective, is that Jehovah lives there.

“Yahweh [i.e., Jehovah] resides on the Moon.” — Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner, SLEEP AND DREAMS (SteinerBooks, 2003), p. 43.

You may be accustomed to thinking of Jehovah as God — the one and only God Almighty, Lord of Heaven and Earth. But Steiner taught something quite different. He taught that Jehovah is just one of a vast throng of gods. Anthroposophy is polytheistic. [37] Jehovah is the god of the Jews, Steiner said, and because Jehovah lives on the Moon, Judaism is “the Moon religion.”

"As you know, we distinguish the Jews from the rest of the earth's population. The difference has arisen because the Jews have been brought up in the moon religion for centuries [i.e., they worship the Moon being, Jehovah]." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM BEETROOT TO BUDDHISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999), p. 59.

This brings us back to the explosive topic of racism in Anthroposophy. Steiner's teachings include racist and anti-Semitic strains. Having devoted the ninth installment of "Waldorf Wisdom" to a discussion of Anthroposophical racism, I won't renew that discussion now. But if you become interested in Anthroposophy, you certainly should investigate the beliefs numerous Anthroposophists have propounded concerning "lower" races and Jews. [38]

◊

In the seventh installment of "Waldorf Wisdom", we learned a little about supermen who make their homes on various planets. The Moon has it supermen, too. They are spiritual leaders who left the Earth for the Moon fifteen centuries ago.

“These exalted guiding beings and the rest of the lunar population once lived on the earth. They withdrew to the moon more than 15,000 years ago.” — Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 92.

The exalted lunar luminaries were human, once, but they became superhuman by fulfilling their human destiny long before we fulfill ours.

"Reckoning by earthly years, we must say that the inhabitants of the Moon, when on Earth, accomplished quite 15,000 years ago what humans beings still have to do. More than 15,000 years have passed since these Moon inhabitants acquired the power of making judgments which bring together the naturalistic and the moral." — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 11, GA 227.

So, the Moon has inhabitants, and some of them are extremely advanced. They understand morality as deeply as they understand natural science; indeed, for them, morality is fused into natural science.

◊

In the third installment of “Waldorf Watch”, we learned a thing or two about gnomes. There are Earth gnomes and there are Moon gnomes. Let’s hear again about the gnomes of the Moon, this time at slightly greater length.

“The predecessors of our Earth-gnomes, the Moon-gnomes, gathered together their Moon-experiences and from them fashioned this structure, this firm structure of the solid fabric of the Earth, so that our solid Earth-structure actually arose from the experiences of the gnomes of the old Moon. [paragraph break] These are the things which reveal themselves in regard to the gnome-world. Through them the gnomes acquire an interesting, an extraordinarily interesting relationship to the whole evolution of the universe. They always carry over the firm element of a preceding stage into the stage which follows.” — Rudolf Steiner, MAN AS SYMPHONY OF THE CREATIVE WORD (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1970), lecture 9, GA 230.

Now, to really understand this, you need to know that by “Moon” Steiner sometimes meant the Earth’s natural satellite, and sometimes he meant the stage of evolution (“Old Moon”) that preceded our current stage of evolution (“Present Earth”). In the passage we just saw, Steiner was discussing “the old Moon.” 

The Moon-gnomes helped create the physical structure of the Earth as we know it now (“our solid Earth-structure”). Gnomes and the Moon are a creative combination, then. But there’s more to the story. Before long, gnomes will use the essence of the Moon to destroy the physical Earth. 

“[T]hey will then use the moon substance gradually to disperse the earth, as far as its outer substance [i.e., physical contitution] is concerned, into the universe. Its substance must pass away.” — Rudolf Steiner, MAN AS SYMPHONY OF THE CREATIVE WORD, lecture 9. [39]

◊

Digging into Anthroposophical beliefs about the Moon provides a template for the sort of investigation you may want to undertake on your own. Dig into Anthroposophy. Especially if you are thinking of sending your children to a Waldorf school, you really should dig into Anthroposophy. Remember, Waldorf education is built on the foundation provided by Anthroposophy. If Anthroposophy is fundamentally flawed, then Waldorf education is fundamentally flawed. So, please, investigate Anthroposophy. Read as many Anthroposophical texts as you can bear, and the ask yourself this: Do you find good solid sense in the Anthroposophical texts you have studied? Or does what you’ve read strike you as, in a word, well — lunacy? [40]

◊

P.S. 

“At full moon the gnomes are ill at ease. Physical moonlight does not suit them.” — Rudolf Steiner, MAN AS SYMPHONY OF THE CREATIVE WORD, lecture 9.

Can you take a statement like this seriously? If not, you probably should not send your children to a Waldorf school. Waldorf education is Anthroposophy put into practice. 

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

XI.a.

Rudolf Riffing

Our little series, "Waldorf Wisdom", could be extended almost indefinitely. The falsehoods of Anthroposophy — upon which Waldorf education has been erected — reach into almost every nook and cranny of human endeavor. Steiner meant Anthroposophy to encompass essentially everything, and he meant Waldorf education — as a cardinal embodiment of Anthroposophy — to cure just about everything.

So there's a lot more we could say.*

But perhaps we have already said enough to make the basic point. Anthroposophy is nonsense, and for this reason Waldorf education thus stands on the flimsiest of foundations. Some day, surely, Anthroposophy will collapse under the weight of its own absurdities. At that stage, Waldorf education will either vanish down the same sink hole, or it will survive in some fundamentally reformed version, freed of its occult genesis. If Waldorf education survives, in other words, it will no longer be real Waldorf education. Let us hope so, anyway.

Meantime, let's start wrapping things up by handing the microphone to Waldorf founder R. Steiner and letting him riff. Here are a few of the things Steiner asks his followers to believe. As I have stressed several times, Anthroposophists are free to believe whatever they want. But can you convince yourself to believe the things Steiner's followers believe? Can you convince yourself to believe any of the following statements?

We'll start with a quotation that extends our recent discussion of the Moon. After that, we'll let Dr. Steiner wander wheresoever he will.

The Moon today:

◊ “[T]he moon today is like a fortress in the universe, in which there lives a population that fulfilled its human destiny over 15,000 years ago, after which it withdrew to the moon together with the spiritual guides of humanity ... This is only one of the ‘cities’ in the universe, one colony, one settlement among many ... As far as what concerns ourselves, as humanity on earth, the other pole, the opposite extreme to the moon is the population of Saturn.” — Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 93.

The two Jesuses:

◊ “[T]wo Jesus children were born. One was descended from the so-called Nathan line of the House of David, the other from the Solomon line. These two children grew up side by side. In the body of the Solomon child lived the soul of Zarathustra. In the twelfth year of the child's life this soul passed over into the other Jesus child [which had the soul of Buddha] and lived in that body until its thirtieth year ... And then, only from the thirtieth year onward, there lived in this body the Being Whom we call the Christ [i.e., the Sun God], Who remained on earth altogether for three years.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE OCCULT SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA (Anthroposophic Press, 1968), p. 59.

Mars:

◊ "The men of Mars tend to settle permanently on a certain spot. Men on the Earth are cosmopolitanly inclined [i.e., they like to move around]; Mars men are wedded to the soil, there are very few cosmopolitans among them. And there is, or rather was, on Mars constant war and strife, due to the [Martian] astral bodies that are very strong and not tempered and made gentle by an I [a spiritual ego]. If you will think it over you will understand that among men who develop in this way there must inevitably be a terrible amount of strife and conflict ... [T]he men of Mars have quite an exceptional lust for war." — Rudolf Steiner, MAN IN THE LIGHT OF OCCULTISM, THEOSOPHY AND PHILOSOPHY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964), lecture 10, GA 137.

◊ “Buddha became a Redeemer and Saviour for Mars as Christ Jesus had become for the Earth. The Buddha had been prepared for this by his teaching of Nirvana ... If we can look into the soul of the Buddha...we shall realise how infinitely wise was the contract between Christian Rosenkreutz [the founder or Rosicrucianism] and the Buddha, as the result of which, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Buddha relinquished his activity on the Earth...in order henceforward to work in the Mars sphere....” — Rudolf Steiner, LIFE BETWEEN DEATH AND REBIRTH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1975), lecture 5, GA 141.

◊ “Buddha, the Prince of Peace, went to Mars — the planet of war and conflict — to execute his mission there. The souls on Mars were warlike, torn with strife. Thus Buddha performed a deed of sacrifice similar to the deed performed in the Mystery of Golgotha [i.e., Calvary — Christ's crucifixion] ... Buddha performed this deed on Mars in the service of Christian Rosenkreutz." — Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1950), lecture 7, “The Mission of Gautama Buddha on Mars”, GA 130.

The heart:

◊ “The heart is not a pump ... Basically the heart is a sense organ within the circulatory system, yet exactly the opposite is taught nowadays.” — Rudolf Steiner, POLARITIES IN THE EVOLUTION OF MANKIND (Steiner Books, 1987), p. 56.

◊ “[T]he heart is indeed a sense organ for perceiving the blood’s movement, not a pump as physicists [sic] claim; the coursing of our blood is brought about by our spirituality and vitality.” — Rudolf Steiner, AT HOME IN THE UNIVERSE (Steiner Books, 2000), p. 84.

◊ “[Science] sees the heart as a pump that pumps blood through the body. Now there is nothing more absurd than believing this.” — Rudolf Steiner, PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY, (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), p. 126.

Karma and catastrophes:

◊ "[W]e see...groups of human souls in their descent from pre-earthly into earthly existence wander to regions situated, for example, in the vicinity of volcanoes, or to districts where earthquakes are liable to occur ... [S]uch places are deliberately chosen by the souls thus karmically connected, in order that they may experience this very destiny [i.e., dying in a volcanic eruption or earthquake] ... [They think] 'I choose a great disaster on earth in order to become more perfect....'" — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 2 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974), pp. 226-227.

China, Europe,

and substandard souls:

◊ “[A] kind of ‘Chineseness’ is beginning to manifest in Europe, as though Europe were becoming ‘chinesified’ ... Consider the following: Souls exist who, as a result of their former lives, are inclined to incarnate in Chinese bodies ... Now since the Chinese population is nowhere near as great as it was in former times [sic], it is, in any case, not possible for all these Chinese souls to incarnate there. In Europe, on the other hand, the physical population has increased considerably in recent times, and [therefore] many souls can be accommodated here who were really destined for incarnation in Chinese bodies. This is one reason why keen observers are beginning to notice that Europe is becoming ‘chinesified’ ...  By bringing about the ‘opiumising’ of Chinese bodies and causing generations to come into being under the influence of opium's forces, it was possible to condemn the Chinese to take in, to a certain extent, some very immature, sub-standard souls ... But those souls who had themselves decided to incarnate in Chinese bodies were thereby prevented from approaching these ‘opiumised’ bodies. They were diverted to Europe.…” — Rudolf Steiner, THE KARMA OF UNTRUTHFULNESS, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1988), lecture 13, GA 173.

XI.b.

Rudolf Riffing

(Continued)

One reason families, 

tribes, peoples, and nations 

decline:

◊ "The criminal demons attached as parasites to unborn children cause deterioration in the succession of the generations; this eats into human beings, making them less good than they would be if these demons did not exist. There are various reasons for the decline of families, tribes, people and nations, but one of them is the existence of these criminal demon parasites....” — Rudolf Steiner, ANGELS, (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 168.

Education and authority:

◊ “[I]t will be very good if you can keep the children from losing their feeling for authority. That is what they need most.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER - Foundations of Waldorf Education VIII (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 14-15.

◊ “We need to teach children how to properly accept something because an authority presents it or to believe something because an authority believes it." — Rudolf Steiner, THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION - Foundations of Waldorf Education IX (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 92.

◊ "[T]each the children respect. The children should not raise their hands so much." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 65.

Invisible beings  

all around, 

and also inside:

◊ "[O]ur brain connects us with certain elemental beings, namely those elemental beings that belong to the sphere of wisdom ... [T]hey are called elves, fairies, and so on." — Rudolf Steiner, THE RIDDLE OF HUMANITY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), lecture 5, GA 170.

◊ “A gnome is only visible to someone who can see on the astral plane, but miners frequently possess such an astral vision [i.e., clairvoyance]; they know that gnomes are realities.” — Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 27, GA 93a.

◊ “The accumulation in the etheric body caused through [evil] experiences of the soul...brings about detachments from the beings working in the spiritual worlds [i.e., it breaks off parts of the spirits existing in higher worlds] and these [fragments] are now to be found in our environment — they are the ‘specters’ or ‘ghosts.’”— Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 84.

◊ "The beings who permeate the astral body and make it unfree are known as 'Demons.' Your astral body is always interpenetrated by demons and the beings you yourselves generate through your true or false thoughts are of such a nature that they gradually grow into demons. " — Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 6, GA 99.

The evils of technology:

◊ “When we build steam-engines, we provide the opportunity for the incarnation of demons ... In the steam-engine, Ahrimanic demons 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). 

◊ "The calculator has been introduced. I do not wish to be a fanatic, and the calculator may have its usefulness ... But much of what might be gained from the use of invented calculating machines can be achieved equally well by using the ten fingers [i.e., counting on your fingers] ... [W]hen I see calculators in classrooms, from a spiritual point of view it strikes me as if I were in a medieval torture chamber." — Rudolf Steiner,  SOUL ECONOMY (Anthroposophic Press, 2003), p. 173. [The "calculators" that so horrified Steiner were abacuses. Doubtless he would have been far more horrified by electronic calculators and computers.]

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

◊ "[E]lectric atoms are little demons of Evil ... [W]hen we listen to a modern physicist blandly explaining that Nature consists of electrons, we merely listen to him explaining that Nature really consists of little demons of Evil! And if we acknowledge Nature in this form, we raise Evil to the rank of the ruling world-divinity ... If we contemplate electricity today, we contemplate the images of a past moral reality that have turned into something evil." — Rudolf Steiner, "Concerning Electricity" (General Anthroposophical Society, 1940), GA 220.

Health 

and its opposite:

◊ “With pneumonia, the cause is always in the astral body; pneumonia can occur in no other way.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE TEMPLE LEGEND (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1997), p. 60.

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

◊ “Endeavors to [deaden the soul] will be made by bringing out remedies to be administered by inoculation ... [T]hese inoculations will influence the human body in a way that will make it refuse to give a home to the spiritual inclinations of the soul.” — Rudolf Steiner, SECRET BROTHERHOODS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), pp. 90-91.

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

◊ "We gain an idea of what actually escapes the man of today when we realize what...gnomes, undines, and so on [i.e., elemental beings] actually are ... [I]llness springs from the malevolence of these [elemental] beings who are necessary for the upbuilding of the whole structure of nature, but also for its fading and decay." — Rudolf Steiner, MAN AS SYMPHONY OF THE CREATIVE WORD (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1970), lecture 8, GA 230.

Education and reason 

(a reminder):

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

There isn't much danger of a rational education (or, perhaps, a healthy one) occurring in schools where the teachers believe Steiner.

In the final installments of “Waldorf Wisdom” (XII.a - XII.i), we’ll consider what Waldorf teachers — or some of them, at least — do indeed believe nowadays.

XII.a.

21st Century 

Proponents of Waldorf education sometimes acknowledge that the Waldorf movement originally grew out of Rudolf Steiner's occult visions. But, these proponents say, things have changed. Today, the thinking that informs Waldorf education is wholly free of mysticism; it is modern, fresh, clear, and rational.

So these proponents often say. [41]

But their claim is wrong. Anthroposophists today continue to believe pretty much what Anthroposophists have always believed. And because Waldorf education remains — by and large — wedded to Anthroposophy, the occultism in Anthroposophy continues to infect Waldorf today, in the 21st century. Many Waldorf teachers, indeed, are devout Anthroposophists. Today, in the 21st century. 

In this installment of "Waldorf Wisdom", we will examine a moderately lengthy list of illustrative quotations. These are statements coming out of the Waldorf movement in recent years. They are statements of Anthroposophical belief today; they expose the thinking that remains fundamental to the Waldorf movement today. In the 21st century. 

Woe betide.

(The list of quotes is not meant to be all-encompassing; it offers a peek into Anthroposophy today, not a full rundown. For the most part, I will let the quotations speak for themselves; I will offer only a few explanations. All of the following statements were published in the 21st century or in the final years of the 20th. In some cases, the statements originated further back in time, but in all cases, they have been published or re-published recently, as prevalent expressions of Anthroposophical thinking.)

◊

Let's begin with two tiny tip-offs, lone indicators of often-hidden truths about Waldorf education. 

Anthroposophy, religion:

◊ "Waldorf teachers study Anthroposophy and the works of Dr. Steiner as part of their training to become Waldorf teachers, and the Waldorf curriculum continues to be informed by Anthroposophy today." — 2011-2012 PARENT HANDBOOK, Anchorage Waldorf School, p. 5.

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

◊

Many of the quotations to come will expand upon and substantiate our two tiny indicators. Consider the following.

The Waldorf religion,

centered on Christ the Sun God:

◊ “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." — Anthroposophist Margaret Jonas, writing in the Introduction to RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), pp. 4-5. This 20th-century book is still offered, and promoted, within the Waldorf movement in 2017. [42]

◊ "In the ages before Christ [i.e., before the Sun God incarnated on Earth] men were still given religious teachings that enabled them to meet Christ in the Sun sphere after death, for that is where the Christ was. However, since the Mystery of Golgotha [i.e., since the Crucifixion], Christ is in the earth sphere ... In our time we can find the Christ, who is the Sublime Sun Being, only if we have related to him in freedom during earthlife [i.e., life on Earth]." — Anthroposophist Beredene Jocelyn, CITIZENS OF THE COSMOS (SteinerBooks, 2009), p. 157.

◊ "In the heart, spirit becomes matter and matter becomes spirit; this is the sun-mystery ... What is the nature of this sun-power within man? ... God and the Lamb of God [Christ] are the sun and the light of it." — Waldorf teacher Charles Kovacs, THE APOCALYPSE IN RUDOLF STEINER'S LECTURE SERIES (Floris Book, 2013), pp. 99-100.

◊ "A growing question in Waldorf kindergartens and schools is to what extent is Waldorf education bound to the Christian religion and to what extent is it more universal. The answer points towards the modern mysteries, for Waldorf education is centered around the Christ as a Universal Being who has helped humans in their development from the beginning of time. Rudolf Steiner speaks of the Christ in the present time as dwelling in the etheric world surrounding the Earth through which each incarnating soul passes ... Waldorf education strives to create a place in which the highest beings [the gods], including the Christ, can find their home....” — Waldorf teacher Joan Almon, WHAT IS A WALDORF KINDERGARTEN (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 53.

◊ "Solomon Jesus [one to two Jesuses; the other was the Nathan Jesus]...was a reincarnation of Zoroaster (sixth century BC). In turn, Zoroaster was a reincarnation of Zarathustra (6000 BC) ... He was a bodhisattva [an enlightened being], who...helped prepare humanity for the subsequent descent into incarnation of Ahura Mazda, the cosmic Sun Spirit...Christ." — Anthroposophist Robert Powell, JOURNAL FOR STAR WISDOM 2016 (SteinerBooks, 2015), p. 234.

◊ "[T]he material realm [may be] drawn into the power spheres of the adversarial powers of evil [i.e., the lowest portion of physical existence may come under the control of demons]. If human beings avoid this danger...we gain a connection with the Christ being. In this way, we can [proceed] into a future that is...imbued with the cosmic future impulse of the Christ being ... [quoting Steiner:] 'The Christ being...received into himself the great all-embracing secrets of the worlds [i.e., he absorbed divine occult wisdom] ... [F]rom that time forward the Word of the Worlds became in the Christ light [i.e., the key to our evolution was to be found in the light of the Christ being], and the planet of which Christ was ruler, the Sun, became the center of the whole planetary system.'" — Anthroposophist Friedrich Benesch, APOCALYPSE - The Transformation of the Earth (SteinerBooks, 2015), pp. 120 & 403-404.

◊ "What is the difference between a Waldorf teacher and one who works in the pedagogical world at large? ... [T]he Waldorf teacher discovers his or her own profound need to embark on a meditative path ... Rudolf Steiner presents us with a middle path between Lucifer and Ahriman ... [P]reparatpry work is done by the six basic exercises [prescribed by Steiner] ... Details relating to these all-important preparatory exercises can be found in [Steiner's] KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND IT ATTAINMENT and in [Steiner's] OCCULT SCIENCE. The six basic exercises lead to the development of the twelve-petaled lotus flower. This has been called the Christ chakra [an inner spiritual organ] located in the region of the heart ... A little reflection shows how important these attitudes of soul can be for the life of the Waldorf teacher." — Waldorf teacher-trainer René M. Querido, THE ESOTERIC BACKGROUND OF WALDORF EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1995), pp. 2-4. This 20th-century book is still offered, and promoted, within the Waldorf movement in 2017. [43]

◊

To keep things manageable, I will pause here. Be forewarned: Waldorf Wisdom XII will balloon ginormously from its tiny tip-off point. But I think you may find it illuminating. So tune in again next time.

(Meanwhile, you may want to meditate on what we have already seen. We are looking at the thinking behind Waldorf education. Today. In the 21st century.)

XII.b.

21st Century 

(Cont.)

Let's continue with our survey of views held by Anthroposophists — including many Waldorf teachers — today. The central point of this exercise is easy to summarize: The thinking that informs Waldorf schools remains, today, much as it ever was. It is mystical, occult, phantasmagoric. It provides an extremely dubious rationale for an educational movement.

There is, of course, a related point we need to recognize. When true-believing Anthroposophists work as teachers in Waldorf schools, their students will be affected — often quite deeply. Even if these teachers try to stay mum about their beliefs, they almost inevitably communicate them in subtle, unspoken ways. And, of course, not all Anthroposophical Waldorf teachers try to stay mum. Some are quite open about their mystical, occult, and phantasmagoric beliefs.

For the present, we needn't describe all the possible effects on Waldorf students. [44] It is probably sufficient to recognize that occult beliefs lurk within Waldorf schools. The question for parents is whether they want to send their kids into an environment where such beliefs lurk. Do they want to run the risk that their children will be lured toward embracing such beliefs? It is, at a minimum, a question worth mulling over.

But back to our survey.

Here's another segment of Anthroposophical belief still affirmed within the Waldorf movement today.

The demons Lucifer and Ahriman,

the Antichrist (Sorat),

and the Archangel Michael:

◊ "[J]ust as Lucifer once incarnated in the East in the third millennium BC, so before only a part of the third millennium AD has elapsed [i.e., in the 21st century or so] Ahriman will incarnate as a human being in the West. His preparations are already far advanced." — Anthroposophist Richard Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge, 2002), p. 20. [45]

◊ "Lucifer ... If this adversary power had not existed, mankind would never have been able to distinguish between good and evil. At the present stage of the earth's evolution, Lucifer tries to dissolve all physical things. He tries to prematurely establish a spiritual realm of his own elsewhere ... The opposite force to Lucifer is Ahriman, who wishes to shackle us to all things physical as the sole reality. Christ [the Sun God] holds a balancing position between Lucifer and Ahriman..." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 71.

◊ "Just as all spiritual powers of the heavenly spheres have their opposite numbers in the form of adversarial powers in the Abyss, so the highest being of all, the Deus Absolutus [i.e., the Godhead], has a corresponding being at the core of the earth, named Lucifer ... From the core of the earth the Reversed God [Lucifer] works on humanity ... He becomes particularly active through the seventh layer of earth, where Ahriman works as 'earth mirror' or 'prism', sowing confusion in all trains of thought." — Anthroposophist Sigismund von Gleich, THE TRANSFORMATION OF EVIL (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 53. [46]

◊ "Just as Lucifer thrives on eccentricity, on whims, on rebelliousness, and all else that arises from the individuality asserting itself too strongly, so Ahriman encourages conventionality, rigidity, and above all, uniformity of opinion. Lucifer would like to rule our classrooms, but Ahriman is most interested in controlling [a school's] Board room." — Waldorf teacher Eugene Schwartz, THE WALDORF TEACHER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2000), p. 61.

◊ "Each of us [Waldorf teachers] is centrally involved in the Michaelic battle against the forces of darkness [i.e., the struggle between the Archangel Michael and the enemies of Christ] for the sake of the children and youngsters in our care.” — Waldorf teacher-trainer René M. Querido, THE ESOTERIC BACKGROUND OF WALDORF EDUCATION  (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1995), p. 13.

◊ "We have been introduced to Ahriman, god of darkness, the...opponent of the true Sun Being [sic]...Christ. Ahriman has been described by Steiner as the lord of materialism. Another, more powerful being has also been described, Sorat, the Sun Demon [the Antichrist, enemy of the Sun God]. Sorat's main intention is to oppose the effect of Christ in human evolution...." — Anthroposophist Sylvia Franke, THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE HOLY GRAIL (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2007), p. 181.

◊ "The New Testament gives several references to the coming of the Antichrist ... From the book of Revelation (16) we learn of the battle of Armageddon, where the kings of the earth, under demonic leadership, will wage war against the forces of God. According to Rudolf Steiner the prophecies will soon be fulfilled."  — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER - An Introduction to his Spiritual World-view, Anthroposophy (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 137.

◊ "Michael [is] the archangel who from 1879 [CE] acts as the spirit of the age, until the year 2300 ... St. Michael and anthroposophy are connected in a special way. As the custodian of cosmic intelligence, and as spirit of the age, Michael inspires all human beings who wish to connect the human spirit with the spirit in the cosmos. Anthroposophy is also called the School of Michael ... Michael, with his 'sword of iron', has a special relationship with cosmic iron, with the iron in human blood, and [with] the meteor showers ... He stands sentinel over the human potential for freedom...." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 78.

◊ "In education parent and teacher are encouraged to make themselves sensitive to karmic differences and to karmic needs [i.e., they should recognize the karmas of the students]. Thereby, we open the way for the young child to become fully capable within the limits of her or his karma, and we endeavor to educate human beings who are capable of fulfilling the plan of creator beings [i.e., the gods], capable of answering the expectations of Michael.” — Waldorf teacher-trainer Margret Meyerkort, "Working with the Karma of the Young Child", WORKING WITH THE ANGELS (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, 2004), p. 35. [47]

◊

The most salient point about these quotations is that they reflect current Waldorf thinking.

Let's develop this point a little more deeply. How can we know what Anthroposophists think now? I am posting these quotations in 2017, but all of them come from prior years. So, in a sense, all of them are dated. Partly, this is because books take a lot of time to be written, edited, revised, and published. If any Anthroposophists at this moment are writing books to tell us what they think at this moment, we probably will not receive their words for many months or even years yet. Publication dates are lagging indicators.

Despite this inherent time lag, I suggest we consider all these quotations to be effectively current. Only a few years ago, a new century dawned. The new century is still young. All of the quotations I have offered reach us from the 21st century or from the final years of the 20th. All have been published, during this period, as Anthroposophical truths. Bear in mind, books are usually meant to have long shelf lives, and this may be especially true of Anthroposophical books. The quotations I have listed represent statements of "truths" that Anthroposophists deem not simply timely but very nearly timeless. They will remain "true" or "current" for a very long time, or so their Anthroposophical originators clearly believe. 

Put the matter another way. None of these quotations have been published by their originators as intentional examples of outdated thinking; none have been published as mere historical curiosities; none carry the implicit message that We Anthroposophists used to think thus-and-so, but of course we know better now.   No. The publishers, editors, and writers of these statements almost certainly do not know better now. As Anthroposophists, they almost certainly still think as these quotations indicate. When, for instance, an Anthroposophical statement about "Ahriman, god of darkness" appears in the 21st century, we really should take the statement seriously. The author was serious about it. The statement is an example of how some Anthroposophists think. And when we gather a large number of similar quotations from recent Anthroposophical texts, we can conclude that this is how many  or indeed most  Anthroposophists still think, today.

Rudolf Steiner laid down the doctrines of Anthroposophy, and his followers generally treat these as Revealed Truths. Anthroposophists today still believe pretty much what Anthroposophists have always believed, which means that the foundation upon which Waldorf schooling is built remains much as it always has been: It is mystical, vaporous, and false. Today. In the 21st century.

XII.c.

21st Century 

(Cont.)

All of Anthroposophy hinges on clairvoyance [48]; all of Rudolf Steiner's occult "insights" come via his claimed use of clairvoyance.

"Clairvoyance is the necessary pre-requisite for the discovery of a spiritual truth." — Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966),  lecture 1, GA 99.

And Steiner told many, many spiritual truths. Or so his followers believe.

There is a problem, however. A small difficulty. It is this: Clairvoyance does not exist. [49]

"After thousands of experiments, a reproducible ESP phenomenon has never been discovered, nor has any individual convincingly demonstrated a psychic ability." — David G. Myers, PSYCHOLOGY (Worth Publishers, 2004), p. 260. [Emphasis by Myers.]

Despite this difficulty, many Waldorf teachers today still cling to belief in clairvoyance. Indeed, many of them think they are clairvoyant.

"We are all psychic here." — A Waldorf official addressing a visiting parent at a Waldorf festival. [50]

People who think they possess clairvoyance are deceiving themselves. We should not let them deceive us.

◊

Here are some recent statements by Waldorf teachers and teacher-trainers:

Clairvoyance:

◊ "Clairvoyance - the ability to perceive phenomena that are not noticeable to the usual senses. Clairvoyance can be developed and occurs in various degrees, either less or more consciously controlled. Rudolf Steiner was a very high initiate with a high level of clairvoyance, which he was able to govern and consciously employ in inaugurating his spiritual science or anthroposophy." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 25.

◊ “Those who see the colors of the human aura when no fevers and delirium are present, or who see beings in the air or elemental beings as forms of nature, are sometimes gifted with powers of seeing [i.e., clairvoyance] … They can see a great deal with higher sight, but they do not necessarily know what they are seeing. If such naturally gifted seers find their way into a developed esoteric tradition or get…training [such as Steiner offered], then their gifts can develop safely.” — Waldorf teacher-trainer Dennis Klocek, THE SEER’S HANDBOOK (SteinerBooks, 2004), pp. 13-14.

◊ “[Acquiring] spiritual perception, enhanced consciousness or knowledge of higher worlds [i.e., clairvoyance]...is the same path that should be followed by every teacher who takes his vocation seriously.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 115.

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

◊ "[Even] without reaching the initial stage of clairvoyance, which Steiner calls Imagination...young people's imagination may nevertheless be strengthened.” — Waldorf teacher and headmaster John Fentress Gardner, YOUTH LONGS TO KNOW (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), pp. 37-38. [51]

◊ "The modern thinking person is capable of rationality, but generally incapable of the clairvoyance characteristic of past epochs. By disciplined effort, however, the modern person can learn clairvoyant imaginative, inspirational, and intuitive thinking ... The nature and function of such thinking constitute the essence — the spiritual methodology, or discipline — of Anthroposophy." — Waldorf teacher-trainer Robert McDermott, THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER (Lindisfarne Books, Anthroposophic Press, 2009), p. 36.

◊

The clairvoyance that Anthroposophists think they possess enables them (they think) to have “clairvoyant” visions such as the following.

(If the writers of these statements think they have clairvoyantly seen what they describe, they are fooling themselves. But in most cases, they evidently base their statements on Rudolf Steiner's teachings. Steiner claimed to be a marvelous clairvoyant, and his followers believe him.)

Past and future:

continents, planets,

and races:

Anthroposophists believe that humans once lived on the continent of Lemuria. When we destroyed Lemuria, we moved to Atlantis, which we also destroyed.

◊ "...[The lost continent of] Lemuria was the 6th evolutionary stage [of humankind] ... The expulsion from the Garden of Eden signalled the end of Lemuria … [Thereafter] Adam…and Eve had to then wrest a living from the dust of the ground ... [Adam] was the last Lemurian, the first Atlantean [i.e., he was the last resident of Lemuria and the first resident of Atlantis]. The unruly power of this Lucifer-inspired youthful Ego [i.e., the errant human soul] created the great fire storms which destroyed the continent [of Lemuria]." — Waldorf teacher-trainer Alan Whitehead, ANCIENT SATURN TO ATLANTIS - A Teenagers' Travel Guide to the Evolution of the World and Man in the Light of Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Science — A Creative Approach (Golden Beetle Books, 1991), pp. 62-72.

◊ "Atlantis — a submerged continent ... It was swallowed up by an enormous tsunami around 10,000 BC. Before this disaster, Manu [i.e., Noah] led a group of people away from Atlantis ... Rudolf Steiner describes the Atlantean culture in many texts and lectures." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 11.

During the Lemurian and Atlantean epochs, human souls incarnated on various planets, not just on the Earth.

◊ “[O]nly a few human souls could find the possibility of incarnating on earth. Most human souls had for the time being to continue their development in other planetary worlds. Little by little, even in the Lemurian epoch, but then especially in the Atlantean, more and more souls began to incarnate on earth [i.e., they left the other planets and returned to Earth]. Those who had begun their series of incarnations at the end of the Lemurian and beginning of Atlantean times are named ‘old souls’. The ‘young souls’ are those who remained in the cosmos for a long time and only entered their earthly journey in the later periods of Atlantis or, in a few cases, even later [than that].” — Waldorf teacher Hans Peter van Manen, TWIN ROADS TO THE NEW MILLENIUM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2014), pp. 15-16.

And here is a peek into the future:

◊ "We live now in the fifth post-Atlantean epoch, which will be followed by the sixth ... [In the coming epoch] there will be — as was discussed earlier — a division of mankind into a good race and an evil race. The evil race will look evil. The outer appearance of these people will reveal their inner nature. This means nothing other than that they will look more animal-like ... And this will happen because [the Archangel] Michael is withdrawing from them ... In the sixth epoch...the human countenance will have to be earned [i.e., only people who deserve to look human will have a human countenance] ... In [Steiner's] lectures on the karma of the Anthroposophical Society we are told that the genuine anthroposophists in the next incarnation will look different ... [T]heir faces will have common [i.e., uniform] features and these will show the imprint of the spirit." — Waldorf teacher Charles Kovacs, THE APOCALYPSE IN RUDOLF STEINER'S LECTURE SERIES (Floris Book, 2013), p. 91.

The true humans, looking like humans rather than animals, will be the "good race" — they will be the reborn Anthroposophists.

◊

Waldorf schools make strenuous efforts to present themselves in a positive light. They employ public relations (PR) techniques of various sorts. [52]

Be wary. Some Waldorf schools may have cleansed themselves, to some degree, of Anthroposophical occultism. But, as suggested by the quotations we are examining here, many have not.

In choosing a school for your child, be wary.

XII.d.

21st Century 

(Cont.)

This episode of "Waldorf Wisdom" will be different — it will focus on a single document. We'll return to regular order in episode XII.e.

A HANDBOOK FOR WALDORF CLASS TEACHERS (Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, 2011) was compiled by Waldorf teacher Kevin Avison. The handbook’s purpose is to provide guidance for Waldorf teachers, to help them in their work.

The handbook — an official, internal Waldorf document — was not meant for the likes of you and me. So let's take a gander.

Here are some of the handbook’s contents:

◊ The handbook explicitly identifies Waldorf schools as esoteric Anthroposophical institutions. Thus, when recommending “anthroposophical exercises” for the faculty members, it speaks of “the esoteric community which is the true heart of the Waldorf school” [p. 19]. Anthroposophical exercises are generally meditations. Steiner prescribed many such exercises, at least some of which are meant to foster clairvoyance.

◊ The “spiritual content of the curriculum” is openly acknowledged [p. 18]. 

◊ Consistent with Rudolf Steiner’s instructions, the handbook indicates the relationship between Waldorf teachers and their students is fundamentally spiritual. It speaks, for instance, of the “meditative relationship between teacher and class (a relationship of and to spiritual beings)” [p. 20]. The relationship "of" spiritual beings involves teachers and students; the relationship "to" spiritual beings involves human beings and gods (the humans reach upward to the gods).

◊ The handbook says that each day at a Waldorf school should begin with an "incarnating exercise, register, [and] Morning Verse" [p. 38]. In Anthroposophical belief, childhood is a time when three nonphysical bodies — the etheric body, the astral body, and the ego body or "I" — gradually incarnate. "Incarnating exercises" are meant to aid this process. The "register" is the calling of the roll. "Morning Verses" are prayers, generally written by Steiner himself. So, Waldorf days begin with prayers. Steiner instructed Waldorf teachers to disguise such prayers by calling them “verses." Steiner encouraged his followers to disguise or hide their beliefs and practices in many ways and instances.

◊ Classes may end with "a closing verse or grace" [p. 39]. Both the "verse" and the grace would normally be a prayer addressed, directly or indirectly, to one or more gods.

◊ Faculty meetings should open and close with "verses," and the agenda often should include preparations for "festivals" [pp. 46-47]. Again, the "verses" would normally be prayers; the "festivals" would usually be disguised or reconceived religious observances, such as the "fall festival" (the Anthroposophical version of Michaelmas) and the "spring festival" (the Anthroposophical conception of Easter).

◊ Classroom study of religion is indicated repeatedly in the handbook [e.g., pp. 26 and 28]. 

◊ Reverence [p. 25] and repentance [p. 22] are identified as goals of various undertakings prescribed for students and faculty. 

◊ The aim of literature studies in class two is described as “to encourage reverence for that in humanity which aspires toward the Divine” [p. 26].

◊ Similarly, the aim of literature studies in class three is "to prepare the child’s feeling life for a recognition of the Divine” [p. 28]. 

◊ Study of the lives of saints is promoted. The purpose is "to give a picture of the striving of the human being in respect to the ideal (saints)” [p. 26].

◊ The aim of writing lessons in class seven is "to provide some means with which to delineate the contours of the soul" [p. 35].

◊ The aim of anatomy lessons in class eight is "to encourage a sense of 'educated' wonder and reverence" [p. 36].

◊ The teachers are directed to bring "the spiritual world" into the classroom. Thus, for instance, "[W]ithout active recall the teacher cannot claim to be including the spiritual world, the activity of the night, in the lesson. Recall time is the moment in the lesson when what is beginning to individualise itself in the child through their unconscious communication with the hierarchies...during sleep can express itself" [p. 42]. "Active recall" consists of class activities during which students review what they have learned previously. The "hierarchies," in Anthroposophical usage, are gods. Steiner taught that there are nine ranks of gods subdivided into three groupings called hierarchies. Steiner also taught that at night a human's astral body and "I" rise into the spirit realm, where they interact with the gods (this is "the activity of the night"), while the physical body and etheric body lie asleep on Earth. 

◊ The teachers work in service to the gods, and thereby they help improve human society. "By enabling the spiritual world to think and work positively for the good, the teacher begins to be not simply one who enjoys community, but becomes a builder of community" [p. 45]. The spiritual world can "work" here on the physical plane of existence because Anthroposophists, including Waldorf teachers, serve as conduits for the powers of the spiritual world. The ultimate aim for Anthroposophists, in their Earthly lives, is to revolutionize human society — to build a new community that conforms to Anthroposophical principles.

◊ The teachers are urged to turn to Steiner and to the gods for guidance and aid. "When nothing seems to be working...wrestling meditatively with a few paragraphs from ALLGEMEINE MENSCHENKUNDE [Steiner's STUDY OF MAN] will...help, especially when accompanied by the angels of the children...and your own work with those Beings that concern themselves most closely with education" [p. 86]. Anthroposophists believe that Angels are gods one spiritual level higher than humanity. Each Angel oversees one human being; each Angel is thus a Guardian Angel. The other "Beings" mentioned are gods of higher rank than Angels — generally Spirits of Fire (Archangels) and Spirits of Personality (Archai). Waldorf teachers attempt to work in compliance with august gods who take particular interest in human education.

Although defenders of Waldorf education typically argue that Rudolf Steiner’s esoteric spiritual teachings have little or no influence within the Waldorf movement today, in fact Steiner is mentioned over and over in the handbook, his esoteric teachings are taken as predicates, and Waldorf teachers are directed to study various Steiner books and lectures for the guidance they will find there. Understanding and acceptance of Anthroposophical doctrines are assumed (the teachers are addressed as, in effect, Anthroposophists). 

◊ Thus, for instance, the handbook refers to “the ether body” [p. 10] — this is the lowest of the three nonphysical bodies mentioned previously; it is usually called the "etheric" body. Other distinctly (and, sometimes, uniquely) Anthroposophical references in the handbook include the following: 

◊ “soul imitation” [p. 10] 

◊ “incarnating equilibrium” [p. 11] 

◊ “dynamic imagination” [p. 26] 

◊ “imaginative participation with the rhythm of the year, with [religious] festivals as a focus” [p. 27] 

◊ “one’s angel” [p. 22] 

◊ “the threefold nature of the human form” [p. 32] 

◊ “temperamental qualities of animal types … choleric…phlegmatic…melancholic…sanguine” [p. 32] 

◊ “the evolution of human consciousness” [p. 33]

◊ "devotion to phenomenon [sic]" [p. 34]

◊ "the Third Post Atlantean epoch [sic]" [p. 37]

◊ "the lemniscate of teacher-learner and learner-teacher [relationships]" [p. 40]

◊ "the destiny [i.e., karma] of individuals" [p. 44]

◊ The handbook indicates that roll call "helps the 'I' [the highest of our three nonphysical bodies] to be present" [p. 38].

◊ Eurythmy exercises are prescribed for inclusion in class work [p. 38].

◊ The handbook says faculty discussions of individual students ("child study") should begin with a "Soul Calendar verse corresponding to the week of a child's birthday" and include discussion of the child's temperament and constitutional type [pp. 47-48]. The "Soul Calendar" is the book THE CALENDAR OF THE SOUL, consisting of meditations and prayers written by Steiner. The four "temperaments" recognized in Anthroposophy derive from ancient Greek medical speculations: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic dispositions. The six "constitutional types" of children as usually discussed in Anthroposophy are cosmic children, earthly children, fantasy-rich children, fantasy-poor children, large-headed children, and small-headed children.

◊ Teachers are cautioned not to flaunt their devotion to Anthroposophy. "Anthroposophy, when it is worn as a badge, is apt to divide people who may have very different perceptions of it" [p. 45].

◊ The teachers' work is described as having goals that extend considerably beyond the classroom. "While our educational work strives to be the highest possible expression of spiritual-cultural goals for our time, our meetings work into, and draw upon, the intentions of the future (q.v. TOWARDS THE SIXTH EPOCH)" [p. 46]. Waldorf educational work is meant to manifest the highest purposes of Anthroposophy ("the highest spiritual-cultural goals for our time"). The meetings referred to are Waldorf faculty meetings. These meetings, the handbook says, draw upon, and contribute to, the gods' intentions for the future. Steiner laid out his clairvoyant vision of the future in numerous Anthroposophical lectures.

A quotation from Steiner serves as the handbook's epigraph [p. 2], and teachers using the handbook are repeatedly guided to various Steiner texts for the guidance they will find there. Each reference to a Steiner text underscores the handbook's claim to authority; the handbook is firmly rooted in Steiner's own works. For example, 

◊ “Some useful background reading: [Steiner's] PRACTICAL ADVICE [FOR TEACHERS] lecture 1; KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD lecture 4; A MODERN ART OF EDUCATION lecture 9” [p. 24].

◊ "Some useful background reading: PRACTICAL ADVICE lectures 1, 2 and 5; SOUL ECONOMY AND WALDORF EDUCATION lecture 9; DISCUSSIONS 3 and 4; A MODERN ART OF EDUCATION lecture 8….” [p. 25].

◊ “Some helpful background reading: THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE - end of lecture 12; A MODERN ART lecture 9; DISCUSSIONS 4; KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD lecture 5” [p. 25].

◊ “DISCUSSIONS 4 (important section [on] fables); also beginning of 5 and 6; KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD lecture 4” [p. 26]

◊ “Background reading: TEMPLE LEGEND lecture 2; GENESIS (Munich 1910)” [p. 29].

◊ Consult Steiner's CALENDAR OF THE SOUL when considering the strengths and weaknesses of individual students [pp. 47-48].

◊ When having difficulties, meditatively consult Steiner's STUDY OF MAN [p. 86].

Waldorf teachers are directed to perform spiritual exercises as prescribed by Steiner (exercises that Steiner said would lead to the development of clairvoyance and provide other remarkable benefits). Thus, for instance,

◊ “[A] method to help consolidate strength is the reverse review exercise (Rückshau). Rudolf Steiner gave this exercise as a mean of helping to bring order in our life body [i.e., etheric body] and thus bring it refreshment” [p. 19]. In this exercise, an Anthroposophist reviews a series of events (often the events of an entire day) in reverse order: last first, first last. The handbook lays this out, in the following words:

◊ “There are many reference sources for the Rückshau in Steiner’s work and elsewhere (e.g. OCCULT SCIENCE, pp. 251-252 of 1979 edition — Rudolf Steiner Press) … [T]ake a small section of the day, even an activity, and to try to picture the whole procedure in reverse [order] can be…strengthening … Painful events, or ones that arouse strong emotion in other ways, once they have been ‘freeze-framed’…can then be placed in the lap of one’s angel before sleep, with a prayer toward wisdom (and possibly repentance)….” [pp. 21-22.]

The handbook makes clear that Waldorf schools are Anthroposophical religious institutions. The schools' immediate aim is to minister to students as spiritual beings; their larger goals include revolutionizing human society and promoting human evolution in accordance with the will of the gods. Hence, the handbook is consistent with statements made by various Waldorf teachers and representatives elsewhere, such as the following:

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

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

◊ "[I]n a broad and universal way, the Waldorf school is essentially religious.” — Waldorf teacher Jack Petrash, UNDERSTANDING WALDORF EDUCATION  (Nova Institute, 2002), p. 134. 

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

◊ "The reason many [Waldorf] schools exist is because of 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" (waldorfcritics list, December 7, 2006). 

◊ “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.

XII.e.

21st Century 

(Cont.)

Waldorf schools function within a world that, Anthroposophists believe, teems with invisible presences — unseen beings who work upon us. Previous installments of "Waldorf Wisdom" told about many of these beings (the dead, gnomes, Ahriman, Lucifer, Michael, and so forth). Let's extend this discussion a bit.

Here are some of the invisible beings, good and evil, who throng around us (or don't):

Nature spirits

(aka elemental beings,

perceived by clairvoyants)

"There are people who perceive beings in nature, in the earth, in the water, in the flowers and the trees. These nature spirits or elementals are known by other names, such as gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders [or fire spirits] ... Of people with such a faculty [i.e., special power of perception] we say they are a little 'fey', i.e. they have some primitive form of spiritual vision [i.e., they have an atavistic form of clairvoyance]." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER - An Introduction to his Spiritual World-view, Anthroposophy (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 184.

Elemental beings

(aka nature spirits,

perceived by clairvoyants)

"Elemental beings [are] also called etheric elemental beings ...  [They dwell within] the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire. Among them are creatures such as dwarves (earth), undines (water), sylphs (air) and salamanders (fire). Our visible physical world is a modification of these invisible elemental beings ... [A]ll visible substances come into being by materialization of these elemental entities ... The elemental beings are invisible to the untrained eye [clairvoyance is needed]." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 36. [61]

Fairies

(aka elemental beings,

aka nature spirits)

“That fairyland and its denizens should be as much a concern of scientists as they have long been of poets and painters and storytellers was one of Steiner’s deep convictions [i.e., Steiner was deeply convinced that scientists should study fairyland and its occupants]. For he was a close observer of their life and work [i.e., he observed the life and work of elemental beings, aka fairies], and it was clear to him that they were of profound importance to the earth.” — Waldorf teacher Marjorie Spock, FAIRY WORLDS AND WORKERS — A Natural History of Fairyland (SteinerBooks, 2013), p. 3. (The book’s dedication: “In memory of RUDOLF STEINER who understood so well the living forces behind Nature.”)

Elemental beings

(aka nature spirits,

perceived by clairvoyants),

and the Sun God,

and doppelgängers,

and...

"The Druids underwent an initiation into the forces of the sun. They recognized the spiritual being of the Sun God [Christ] ... They learnt to read the constellations of the zodiac...and came to know the different forces of Aries or Taurus, etc. which were revealed to clairvoyant sight ... They could also perceive the work of elemental beings, the nature spirits ... Earth currents [i.e., earthly forces unleashed by nature spirits] play into health and illness ... An understanding of the harmful effects of [Earth] currents with which the human 'double' [i.e., the doppelgänger] becomes connected and how these are stronger in some regions than in others was described by Rudolf Steiner...." — Anthroposophist Margarent Jonas, THE NORTHERN ENCHANTMENT (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2013), pp. 15-16. [62]

Ahrimanic beings

(aka demons)

“Rudolf Steiner...speaks of Ahrimanic beings [i.e., Ahriman and his minions], now pointedly calling them ‘demons,’ and says that as humanity crosses the threshold [i.e., the portal between the physical realm and the spirit realm], and the etheric body loosens from the physical body, ‘their bodies will be empty to such an extent that a powerful ahrimanic spirit can live in them. One will be meeting ahrimanic demons.’” — Waldorf teacher Kevin Dann, "The Fall of the Spirits of Darkness - A Spectral Reflection", JOURNAL FOR STAR WISDOM 2016 (SteinerBooks, 2015), p. 124.

Spirits of materialism

(aka one type of demon)

"[T]here are immensely powerful beings [i.e., demons] who strive to blind us to the spirit ... These spirits of materialism belong to the dark power that ancient wisdom called Ahriman." — Waldorf teacher and headmaster Henry Barnes, A LIFE FOR THE SPIRIT - Rudolf Steiner in the Crosscurrents of Our Time (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 131.

◊

The infernal powers are usually hidden, but they have had physical representatives on Earth, demonic human beings. Fortunately, the spiritual conflict between good and evil has also seen wise, godly humans stride onto the scene. The chief demonic human of recent times is widely known; the chief human opponent of the infernal powers in recent times is generally unknown, except among Anthroposophists.

“The infernal powers know their own, but there are also rare souls, known and unknown, who are the servants of the light, unfailingly devoted to advancing the greater purposes of existence no matter what the sacrifice and inevitable hardships. In the future, we may well look back on the first third of the twentieth century and recognize the two major antagonists who epitomized the spiritual conflict — namely, Adolf Hitler and Rudolf Steiner.” — Waldorf teacher William A. Bryant, A JOURNEY THOUGH TIME (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2006), p. 163.

Anthroposophists wildly overestimate the stature of their guru. [63] The "spiritual conflict" of any age would be, from an Anthroposophical perspective, the most important occurrence in that age, so the "two major antagonists" — representing the evil and good sides — would be the most important historical figures in that age. But don't hold your breath, waiting for historians to agree that the two most important figures of the early 20th century were Adolph Hitler and Rudolf Steiner. Hitler probably was the worst and most consequential malefactor of the early 20th century. But was Steiner the best and most consequential exponent of virtue (goodness, truth, the light) during that period? Was Steiner the hero of the age? Few historians would agree (even among the minority of historians who have even heard of Steiner).

Bryant's statement is dubious no matter how we interpret it. The issue might be summarized thus: Does Steiner truly stand at the opposite end of the moral spectrum from Hitler? Is Anthroposophy, in other words, truly the antithesis of Nazism? Or are there in fact troubling connections and parallels between Nazism and Anthroposophy? The shocking answer is that there are troubling connections and parallels between Nazism and Anthroposophy. [64] The Anthroposophical racism we have glimpsed represents a major area of overlap between Nazism and at least the more extreme wing of Anthroposophy. [65]

◊

Wisdom XII.e. has been another peek into the worldview that underlies Waldorf education: Anthroposophy. The important point to bear in mind is that the statements we have seen here do not come out of the distant past. They are current; they tell us what Anthroposophists think now, in the 21st century. Thus, they tell us about the thinking that underlies Waldorf schools now, in the 21st century.

XII.f.

We should pause, briefly, to ask whether the occultism embraced by many Waldorf teachers gets transmitted to the students. Do Waldorf schools try to indoctrinate their students?

A recent posting at the website Stop Steiner in Stroud included the following: 

"[Many parents are not] familiar with the drawbacks of a school with a well-hidden religious basis that is disastrously harmful when it surfaces, as it invariably does." [66]

"Invariably" is perhaps too strong, but the point is well taken. The religious basis of Waldorf education almost  invariably bursts into view. And what a religious basis it is! The Waldorf religion is not a conventional, mainstream faith of the sort many parents would approve — it is not a faith found in typical, mainstream houses of worship. [67] It is gnostic, occult, and medieval; it is dark and superstitious; it is Anthroposophy.

A few clarifications are in order. Not all Waldorf schools are wholly alike. And not all Waldorf teachers are Anthroposophists. And not all Waldorf teachers who are  Anthroposophists try to indoctrinate their students. 

But some Waldorf teachers do  try to indoctrinate the kids in their charge. And the mysterious, mystical, occult atmosphere often present within Waldorf schools can affect students deeply, even when the reasons for this atmosphere are left unspecified. As a former Waldorf insider has written:

"Based on my experience as a former [Waldorf] student, a teacher at my old [Waldorf] school, and an Anthroposophist, I would like to describe the subtlety of indoctrination that students in Waldorf schools are subjected to. In fact, its chief characteristic is its disguised form. I should state that the various ideas of Rudolf Steiner are taught to Waldorf students, but this is done without reference to their origin or their special nature. The teachers associate these ideas with their subjects as if they were objective facts and not part of a prescribed vision of reality. This is why Waldorf students can have the feeling that they are left completely free to form their own ideas. At the most, they may notice certain specific practices (that may seem very odd to some of them), which they may choose to ignore. Nevertheless, Anthroposophical ideas and practices form their psychic, cultural, and intellectual universe for many years, immersing them unconsciously in a worldview that will accompany them throughout life and that they are likely to return to on many occasions." — Grégoire Perra. [68]

The reality is that, in all Waldorf schools that are run as Rudolf Steiner prescribed, Anthroposophy is central. This means the sort of thinking we are reviewing here in "Waldorf Wisdom" is central in these schools. Even when the teachers in these schools try to resist the urge to indoctrinate their students, subtle indoctrination often occurs. 

The only safe assumption to make about any Waldorf school, at least on first acquaintance, is that the school is a disguised Anthroposophical religious institution. If, eventually, you become convinced that a particular Waldorf school has fully cleansed itself of Anthroposophy (an unlikely but faintly possible event), then, fine. You can let your guard down (at least a little). But otherwise, you should assume that the school will tend to lead its students toward Anthroposophy. If you understand and approve of Anthroposophy, then Waldorf may be right for your and your child. But if not, then not.

◊

If you have any doubts about the potential for indoctrination lying just below the surface in many Waldorf schools, I suggest you return to Wisdom XII.d., and acquaint yourself again with the revelations to be found in A HANDBOOK FOR WALDORF CLASS TEACHERS.

Or meditate upon the quotations we have been considering in all episodes of Wisdom XII, up to and including today's assortment.

Here, then, are a few more intriguing quotations, setting forth another set of key Waldorf/Anthroposophical beliefs. Bear in mind, again, that all of these statements come from texts published in the 21st century. 

Karma (destiny)

and recincarnation:

◊ “[T]he time is now here when it is becoming increasingly imperative…that the spiritual reality of karma and reincarnation begin to be embraced … Rudolf Steiner showed that there are two kinds of consequence from every sin we commit … Each kind results in a karmic consequence (cause and effect)….” — Anthroposophist Edward Reaugh Smith, THE SOUL’S LONG JOURNEY (SteinerBooks, 2003), p. 15.

◊ "When the law of compensation, or of cause and effect, is spread over several lives [i.e., multiple, successive earthly lives resulting from reincarnation], it is known as karma. The results of [former] attitudes and deeds will manifest themselves [as karma] ... Karma stands between the past and the future." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER - An Introduction to his Spiritual World-view, Anthroposophy (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 54.

◊ “Rebirth [i.e., reincarnation] and karma are the proverbial chicken and egg of human destiny: with the assistance of the Lords of Karma [i.e., gods who oversee karma and reincarnation], the "I" [the individual human essence] chooses the personal and environmental conditions of its next life ... The most mysterious aspect of the transition to the next life is the way that karma uses the influence of higher beings [i.e., gods] and heavenly bodies [i.e., planets and their astrological powers]." —  Waldorf teacher-trainer Robert McDermott, THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER (Lindisfarne Books, Anthroposophic Press, 2009), p. 47.

◊ "Each [Waldorf] faculty is a gathering of teachers who have been brought together by karma ... Faculty members act as the Court of King Arthur, gathering around the imagination of the Being of the school [i.e., the clairvoyantly perceived spirit of the school] and the Being of Waldorf education [i.e., the spirit or presiding god of Waldorf education]." — Waldorf teacher Betty Staley. "The Three Castles and the Esoteric Life of the Teacher", Research Bulletin, Research Institute for Waldorf Education, Autumn/Winter 2012, Vol. 17, No. 2.

◊ "A school class is a destiny community [i.e., it is bound together by karma] ... A class is not a group of children who have been thrown together arbitrarily.” — Anthroposophist Peter Selg, THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF EDUCATION (SteinerBooks, 2010)‚ p. 45.

◊ “I was determined to go back to school [for graduate work] ... I chose to study psychology and astrology ... I went to work on a construction job ... I was there for one hour when a steel door slammed shut in an ‘accident,’ and I lost the tips of three fingers ... I recognized that I had a karmic relationship with the owner of the company ... In a previous life he had lived as a woman, and I had carelessly cut her fingers with my sword ...I began to study Anthroposophy ... I then found the Waldorf School teacher training program at Highland Hall [a Waldorf school] in Los Angeles ... After completing my course of study I went to work as a Waldorf teacher at the Denver Waldorf School.” — Waldorf teacher Ron Odama, ASTROLOGY AND ANTHROPOSOPHY (Bennett & Hastings, 2009), p. ix.

◊ "Immediately after death the human form of the previous life persists for a short time, but soon a change takes place ... [T]he head dissolves whilst at the same time a new 'physiogamy' appears in the lower parts of the spirit form. And this new countenance that is acquired after death shows with relentless truthfulness the moral, or immoral, nature of the soul. What was, during earth life, good or evil within us is turned outside and made manifest." — Waldorf teacher Charles Kovacs, THE APOCALYPSE IN RUDOLF STEINER'S LECTURE SERIES (Floris Book, 2013), p. 45. [69]

◊ "[A]s always, karma, as self-created destiny [sic], may be relied on to 'do its best in the circumstances' [sic]." — Waldorf teachers Gilbert and Sylvia Childs, YOUR REINCARNATING CHILD (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 11.

◊

Several of these quotations indicate the great importance usually accorded to karma in a Waldorf school. The teachers and students were brought together by karma, or so the Anthroposophists on the faculty believe. 

Here's an extension of this belief:

"How [instruction] takes shape [in a Waldorf school]...depends both on the children whom destiny [karma] has brought together in one class and on the personality of the individual teacher." — Waldorf teacher Willi Aeppli, THE DEVELOPING CHILD (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 44.

The very purpose of Waldorf education may be expressed in terms of karma. 

“[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. (This quotation comes from before the 21st century, but only by a whisker.)

If this is so, then karma is the key concept in the Waldorf movement.

But how can Waldorf teachers know enough about the karmas of their students to adjust classroom practices accordingly? They will attempt to do this by using the standard methods of Waldorf cognition: clairvoyance, dreams, and the like. [70] In other words — to describe this rationally — they will resort to sheer fantasizing.

And thus a great hole is punched in the center of Waldorf education. Relying on unreliable forms of cognition (clairvoyance, dreams, and the like), the teachers will wind up knowing nothing about the karmas of their students. And despite the great importance attached to karma in the Waldorf community, we need to recognize the possibility — some would call it a probability or even a certainty — that there is actually no such thing as karma. Thus all the fuss and bother about karma in Waldorf schools is wasted effort. it is an unending and unavailing excursion into fallacy.

◊

There are at least two additional important issues raised by the quotations we have seen, above:

1) If karma is a divine law, and if the gods oversee the workings of karma, and if Waldorf teachers work in compliance with the gods — then Waldorf teachers have a divine mandate to guide the incarnation and reincarnation and karmic development of their students. The teachers' authority (so they think) is enormous.

Parents may want to mull this over.

2) If Waldorf schools are formed to a significant degree by karma — if karma brings together the faculty and also the students — then the purpose of these schools is essentially spiritual. The reincarnating souls who constitute a Waldorf school need one another in order to advance their spiritual-evolutionary development. Education, in any ordinary sense (acquisition of knowledge), is at most a secondary consideration in such schools. Indeed, we might wonder if the word "school" really applies. An institution devoted to karma, reincarnation, and spiritual evolution is essentially a mystical congress, not a real institution of real learning. Children sent into such a congress are, at least potentially, being led away from the perceptible world into a very different universe — a universe that may be, in whole or in part, pure illusion.

Parents should consider carefully whether this is what were looking for when they set about choosing a school for their kids.

◊

We began, today, by quoting from the website Stop Steiner in Stroud. Let's close by quoting from the Quackometer. The creator of that website, Andy Lewis, once commented on the apparently high demand for places in a newly proposed Waldorf or Steiner school:

"The proposed Steiner School in Bristol was reported yesterday to have attracted ‘huge interest’ from prospective parents ... If you go to [the school's] web site, perhaps you can see why. Their video depicts a school full of music, crafts and caring teachers. What is not to like?

"Such things are of course good. But the criticism of Steiner Schools is that they are not open and honest about the mystical and spiritual aims of Steiner education. Indeed, there appears to be a refusal to actually discuss the religious ideas, developed by Rudolf Steiner, upon which he based his schools and the pedagogy within them." [71]

Waldorf or Steiner schools are secretive. They prefer not to discuss their religious views with outsiders. Yet those views are almost always present, at some level — and operative, at some level — within the schools. And so at least some kids in the schools are gradually, subtly, indoctrinated.

"Anthroposophical ideas and practices form [Waldorf students'] psychic, cultural, and intellectual universe for many years, immersing them unconsciously in a worldview that will accompany them throughout life." — Grégoire Perra.

XII.g.

Waldorf schools are sometimes celebrated for their simple, back-to-nature ethos, spurning modern technology. No computers. No TVs. No flashing, buzzing, jarring gizmos.

But the reasons for the Waldorf aversion to technology are often overlooked. The reasons are, in brief, backward and bizarre.

Put it this way: There are good reasons to reduce the amount of time kids spend staring into electronic screens. And then there are the Waldorf reasons. The Waldorf reasons are, at their root, backward and bizarre.

In a previous installment of "Waldorf Wisdom", we heard Rudolf Steiner expressing his opinion about the modern technology of his time. E.g., 

“When we build steam-engines, we provide the opportunity for the incarnation of demons.” — Rudolf Steiner, “The Relation of Man to the Hierarchies” (ANTHROPOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT, Vol. V, Nos. 14-15, 1928).

But Steiner is dead and gone. Surely a more modern outlook prevails among Anthroposophists today. Surely Anthroposophists no longer believe that steam engines — or any other technological gadgets, for that matter — enable demons to incarnate. Surely.

Let’s see. Let's sample Anthroposophical publications and postings from more recent times. (We'll start with a somewhat moldy quote, for reasons that will be obvious. But note that even it, dating to way back in 1963, has been given an up-to-date Anthroposophical lease on life.)

Technology 

and its dangers:

◊ “In constructing steam engines an opportunity is...provided for the incarnation of demons ... In steam engines, Ahrimanic demons are brought right down to the point of physical incorporation ... [W]hat has been said here about the steam engine applies in a much greater degree to the technology of our time ... [T]elevision, for example. The result is that the demon magic spoken of by Rudolf Steiner is spreading more and more intensively on all sides ... It is very necessary that anyone who aspires towards the spiritual should realise clearly how the most varied opportunities for a virtual incarnation of elemental beings and demons are constantly on the increase." — Physicist and former Waldorf student Georg Unger, “On ‘Mechanical Occultism’”, 1963; posted at the Rudolf Steiner Archive in November, 2014.

◊ "Whatever the merits of certain inventions, they show the face of Ahriman. Under such headings one could consider all sorts of mechanisms but in particular such appliances as television, radio, cinema and the thousand and one things dependent on electricity." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER - An Introduction to his Spiritual World-view, Anthroposophy (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2005), p. 131.

◊ “The exploitation of electric forces — for example in information and computing technologies — spreads evil over the Earth in an immense spider's web. And fallen spirits of darkness [i.e., demons]...are active in this web.” — Anthroposophist Richard Seddon, THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND (Temple Lodge Publishing, 1996), p. 24.

◊ “[T]he whole computer and Internet industry is today the most effective way to prepare for the imminent incarnation of Ahriman ... The net of ahrimanic spider beings developing out of the internet around the earth...will serve [Ahriman] particularly effectively and offer him extremely favorable potential to work.” — Anthroposophist Sergei O. Prokofieff, "The Being of the Internet"; see, e.g., PACIFICA JOURNAL, Anthroposophical Society of Hawai'i, No. 29, 2006. 

◊ "The elemental beings responsible for the processes of birth and death were in earlier times in the services of higher spiritual beings [i.e., good gods] ... This is no longer the case ... For us they have become evil ... Before the time of radar, television, and computers, Rudolf Steiner prophesied that these elemental beings would enter our time with an abundance of inventions ... These inventions, which increasingly fill our world, need to be balanced by the faculty of imagination [i.e., clairvoyant wisdom]. This is the secret to how we can deal with the forces of evil." — Waldorf teacher Helmut von Kügelgen, "Threshold Experiences of Children and Adults in the Present Time", Research Bulletin, Research Institute for Waldorf Education, Fall/Winter 1999, Issue #37.

◊ “The twentieth century saw massive scientific and technological breakthroughs into the ahrimanically-pervaded domains underlying the material world. These ahrimantic breakthroughs culminated not long ago in the rise of the personal computer and the creation of the World-Wide Web.” — Anthroposophist Bruce McCausland, COPING WITH EVIL (SteinerBooks, 2006), p. 152. 

◊ “So what did Steiner have to say about television? Nothing. There were no televisions in his time. But, he said enough about early childhood education that we can surmise what his views on the tube would have been. These reasons center on Steiner’s view of the astral body [one of the invisible bodies that incarnate during childhood] … The scenes [on TV], the lack of imagination involved, and the topics covered on most channels would obviously bring on the astral stage of the body at an early age [i.e., premature incarnation of the astral body]. This was one reason that television was banned from Waldorf schools.” — “What Did Steiner Say About Television?’, WALDORF HOMESCHOOLERS, June 23, 2011.

◊ "Many [TV news] items amount to outright deceit. Sometimes shots of people are shown wearing summer clothes...but the interview is taking place with a reporter who is in a country that is experiencing winter ... Illusions are lies, and of all the media, television must surely be the Beelzebub [i.e., it is Ahriman] ... The 'pictures' on television are not real ... [W]hat is a series of untruths, distortions and unreal situations is being presented...." — Waldorf teachers Gilbert & Sylvia Childs, YOUR REINCARNATING CHILD (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 144.

◊ "Every cognizant, conscious parent or general reader should read and heed — indeed be nothing less than filled with righteous indignation and wrath...and, above all, find the moral courage to throw their own diabolical TV device out the window. Now! Today is the day, and this is the hour!" — Joseph Chilton Pearce, Introduction to Keith Buzzell's THE CHILDREN OF CYCLOPS (Waldorf Publications, Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 2015), p. 19.

◊

If these statements did not come out of the Anthroposophical/Waldorf world, we might almost think they are jokes — we might almost think the authors are winking at us and being ironical. 

But don't be misled. From an Anthroposophical/Waldorf perspective, there is nothing more serious than resisting the encroachments of evil spirits, especially Ahriman. 

The modern world is full of marvelous inventions, but beware! 

"Whatever the merits of certain inventions, they show the face of Ahriman." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson.

◊

Waldorf schools typically have "media policies" — guidelines for the use, or avoidance, of certain technological devices. Here's an example:

"[W]e encourage families to significantly limit or discontinue exposure to television, movies, video games, computers and other entertainment media. At the very minimum, we expect families to maintain a no-media policy during the school week." — Media policy, Chicago Waldorf School, downloaded August 28, 2017. [72] 

Did the officials at the Chicago Waldorf School have Ahriman in mind when they posted their media policy? Perhaps not. But in that case, perhaps they should look more deeply into the belief system upon which their form of education is built. Figuring out how to cope with Ahriman is a central Waldorf/Anthroposophical preoccupation. 

◊ “Ahriman would like to turn human beings into completely physical beings [blinding them to spirit]. He wants to wed humans to the earth and reduce them to creatures of instinct. By giving in to his temptation, we aid him in his task.” — Waldorf teacher Roberto Trostli, “In Matter, the Spirit”, RESEARCH BULLETIN, Research Institute for Waldorf Education, Autumn/Winter 2013, Vol. 18, #2.

◊ "Ahriman [is] the opponent of Ahura Mazda [i.e., Christ] ... Ahriman is the chief cause of all processes that harden and materialize ... Frozen concepts and fossilized traditions, but also hardened blood vessels, are the results of Ahriman's dominating influence in the wrong places. Ahriman is essential to all life on earth but [he] must be continually kept in his rightful place...."  — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 4.

According to Anthroposophical teachings, Ahriman's "rightful place" is at arm's length. He is the demonic opponent of the Sun God, Christ. He offers us "gifts" that, moderated by Christ, can be helpful to us. In a sense, we need Ahriman during our lowly lives on the physical Earth. But Ahriman is no friend of ours. He wants to make us materialistic so that he can drag us into his kingdom and rob us of our souls. We have this on the highest authority:

"[T]oday...the spirit-soul [i.e., the conjoined human spirit and soul] is asleep. The human being is thus in danger of drifting into the Ahrimanic world, in which case the spirit-soul will evaporate into the cosmos. We live in a time when people face the danger of losing their souls to materialistic impulses. That is a very serious matter. We now stand confronted with that fact." — Waaldorf founder Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 115.

So we should be extremely cautious when fooling around with machines that help Ahriman to incarnate. The best course, usually, is to shut off those diabolical inventions.

XII.h.

The word "anthroposophy" means, at its roots, "human wisdom" or "knowledge of the human being." [73] Waldorf education is built on the foundation provided by Anthroposophy as originally delineated by Rudolf Steiner. This certainly seems  commendable. Waldorf education, it would seem, is built on the basis of "human wisdom" or "knowledge of the human being."

But let's continue our investigations.

We'll concentrate, this time around, on a single segment of the "human wisdom" upon which Waldorf education stands. Waldorf has stood on Anthroposophical "wisdom" from the start, and it still stands on it today. Although Rudolf Steiner died decades ago, his occult creed remains foundational in Waldorf schooling. The rationale for Waldorf education remains as occult and irrational as it has ever been.

I will draw exclusively from Anthroposophical texts published in, or just before, the 21st century. I will provide a brief introduction to each quotation, and sometimes I will add a little commentary. But mainly I will let each quotation stand — or fall — on its own.

1. Human beings have four bodies, three of which are invisible. The bodies are the ego body (housing the "I"), the astral body, the etheric body, and the physical body. Only the physical body is visible to ordinary vision (clairvoyance is needed to "see" the others).

"[T]he human being is seen to be fourfold in nature, comprising (i) our ego or sense of individual selfhood; (ii) our astral body as bearer of a whole range of emotions, desires, likes, dislikes and so on; (iii) our etheric body which as a 'formative-forces body' maintains and supports (iv) our purely physical-material body...." — Waldorf teachers Gilbert & Sylvia Childs, YOUR REINCARNATING CHILD (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 5.

2. The function of the etheric body is to organize the physical body, which would be a formless bag of bits and pieces without supervision by the etheric body. When we die, the etheric body stops organizing the physical body, so the physical body thereupon disintegrates. After the physical body disintegrates, the etheric body goes, too.

"Ether body — one the four members or bodies of the human being, also called the 'life body' because it keeps [an organism] alive. At death, the ether body is separated from the physical body. Due to this separation, the physical body falls into decay, since it cannot maintain its form by itself. Then the human ether body slowly dissolves itself into the general ether of the earth." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 38.

3. Waldorf education is  keyed to the incarnation and development of each student's four bodies. Waldorf teachers "know" the following (at least, those Waldorf teachers who are true Anthroposophists "know" these things):

"We know that in the first seven years the young child, mostly head, devotes most of its forces to forming its physical body ... We know that in the second stage of life, between the change of teeth and puberty, the growing child develops [her/his] life-body (or etheric body) while learning primarily though feeling ... Only in the third stage...after puberty does thinking rightfully, naturally, organically emerge [i.e., only then is a child really able to think] ... Perhaps the essential question of Waldorf High School education is: How can this new 'soul-body' (or astral body) be helped to emerge in adolescence as harmoniously as possible in relation to the physical and life bodies on the one hand, and serving as artfully as possible on the other hand the imminent emergence of the individuality, the 'I AM' [i.e., the 'I']?"  — Waldorf teacher John Wulsin, "Parzival and the Journey of Adolescence", RENEWAL, A Journal for Waldorf Education, Vol. 15 #1, Spring/Summer 2006.

How, indeed?

4. The etheric body is tightly connected to the physical body, whereas the astral body and the "I" can detach from the physical body. Indeed, every night as you sleep, your astral body and your "I" leave your physical and etheric bodies — they fly away.

"The etheric or life body remains with the physical body as long as one has not yet passed through the gate of death. The physical and etheric [bodies] remain together day and night throughout earthlife, whereas every time we go to sleep, the astral body and the ego separate from the physical and etheric [bodies]." — Anthroposophist Beredene Jocelyn, CITIZENS OF THE COSMOS (SteinerBooks, 2009), p. 139.

As Steiner said, 

"When we are asleep our physical and etheric bodies lie on the bed, and our astral body and ego are outside them.” — Rudolf Steiner, PASTORAL MEDICINE (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), lecture 11, GA 318. 

Steiner said that the astral body and the "I"  rise into the spirit realm.

5. We reincarnate over and over. The bodies you have during one life are aftereffects of the bodies you had during your previous life. Your current astral body comes from your former "I", your current etheric body comes from your former astral body, and your current physical body comes from your former etheric body.

"We...conclude that the astral body is influenced by the 'sediment' of the Self [i.e., remnants of the 'I'] in a previous life. In the same way, the present etheric body is also formed by the 'sediment' of the previous astral body, and the physical body acquired its constitution from what an earlier etheric body had...." — Waldorf teacher Marieke Anschütz, CHILDREN AND THEIR TEMPERAMENTS (Floris Books, 2005), p. 62.

6. The astral body is more airy than the etheric body. The astral body contains our consciousness, emotions, and intentions. It itches to leave the physical body (it almost leaves every time we exhale). After we die, the astral body remains attached to the "I" for a while, but then even this tie is severed.

"Awareness and self-awareness including all feelings and intentions are located in the astral body ... The astral body is related to the element of air. While breathing in, the astral body is drawn into the physical body. While breathing out, the link between the astral and physical bodies is loosened again ... After death the astral body stays with the 'I' for a period of about one third of the life that has just come to an end." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z, pp. 9-10.

7. Belief in the four bodies is fundamental to Waldorf education.

“Waldorf education is based upon the recognition that the four bodies of the human being develop and mature at different times.” — Waldorf teacher Roberto Trostli, RHYTHMS OF LEARNING: What Waldorf Education Offers Children, Parents & Teachers (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 4-5. 

Waldorf education is "based" on this.

The etheric body is believed to incarnate at about age seven, the astral body at about age 14, and the "I" at about age 21. The Waldorf curriculum is geared to this series of incarnations on this schedule.

8. Belief in the four bodies is connected to various other baseless and unscientific Waldorf beliefs — such as belief in the four classical temperaments and belief in six constitutional types.

"In the case of the child with a specific pedagogical problem such as an extreme temperament, constitutional type or psychological or moral issue, one is concerned with the Ego which, in the Earth period [i.e., earthly life during the current "Earth" incarnation of the solar system], has been sucked into the astral body and into the personal problems that the individual soul is struggling with in this incarnation." — Waldorf teacher Joep Eikenboom, "Audrey McAllen’s ’The Extra Lesson’", WALDORF RESOURCES (International Forum for Steiner/Waldorf Education), December, 2014.

In Waldorf belief, children predominately exhibit four temperaments: choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic. The "constitutional types" of children are large-headed, small-headed, earthy, cosmic, fantasy-rich, and fantasy-poor. [74]

9. Belief in the four bodies is connected to the religious doctrines that constitute the core of Anthroposophy — and that are integral to Waldorf education. Thus, Waldorf teachers are expected to believe in Angels (gods one level higher than humans) and Spirits of Form (gods four levels higher than humans), among other types of gods. (Anthroposophy is polytheistic.) The gods implant visions within the astral body, visions that should guide us during incarnation on the Earth.

"In 1918 Rudolf Steiner gave a lecture called 'The Work of the Angels in Man’s Astral Body.' This lecture is of utmost importance for Waldorf teachers ... In this lecture Steiner describes how the Angels, at the behest of the Spirits of Form, are continually forming pictures in our astral bodies, pictures that will call forth ideals for the future of our life on earth." — Waldorf teacher Roberto Trostli, “In Matter, the Spirit”, RESEARCH BULLETIN, Research Institute for Waldorf Education, Autumn/Winter 2013, Vol. 18, No. 2.

This is "of utmost importance for Waldorf teachers."

10. Belief in the four bodies bears on all parts of our lives, and it is connected to many other Anthroposophical beliefs (such as numerology, Atlantis, and a prophesied new chamber in the human heart).

"During marriage...the etheric bodies of the couple merge ... This is partly the reason why couples may find it very painful to be apart  ... 'Five' seems to be a number connected with marriage ... '[F]iveness' [also] has a special relation to the etheric body, which can in turn affect the astral body ... It is our own fifth post-Atlantean epoch that has been given the task of facing and recognizing evil ... It was perhaps in connection with this that Rudolf Steiner apparently also mentioned a 'fifth chamber of the human heart' that is beginning to evolve." — Anthroposophist Margarent Jonas, THE NORTHERN ENCHANTMENT (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2013), pp. 67-70.

◊

There is, of course, no fifth chamber of the human heart. Not yet, anyway. Today, nearly a century after Steiner’s death, there is no sign of such a chamber evolving.

But that's okay. If the fifth chamber is imaginary, so is virtually everything else we have been reading about in Waldorf Wisdom XII.h. Crucially, there are no etheric bodies, astral bodies, or ego bodies. These bodies play a key role in Waldorf thinking, but they are wholly imaginary; they are hokum. 

Yet Rudolf Steiner’s followers — including many Waldorf teachers — still think and talk and write about these things. Today. Now. In the 21st century.

Waldorf education is based  on such phantasms. Still. In the 21st century.

XII.i.

And now, gentle reader, we come to the end of "Waldorf Wisdom".

We have considered many marvels, ranging from Moon gnomes, to Atlantis, to etheric bodies. And we have seen that Anthroposophists today (including many Waldorf teachers) still believe the mystical fantasies that Rudolf Steiner peddled.

Let's end by bringing ourselves back down to the real world. In our lives on Earth, we inhabit physical bodies, as I hope we can all agree. Well, what did Rudolf Steiner say about our physical bodies? And what do Anthroposophists believe today about our physical bodies? I propose to focus on just two of our organs — perhaps our two most important organs — the heart and the brain. What did Steiner say about these? And what do Anthroposophists believe about them today?

Steiner said that the heart does not pump blood, and the brain does not really think.

◊ “[Science] sees the heart as a pump that pumps blood through the body. Now there is nothing more absurd than believing this.” — Rudolf Steiner, PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), p. 126.

◊ “[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.

Do Anthroposophists today, in the 21st century, still believe such things?

Here are some Anthroposphical statements that provide the answer. A few of the statements come from the years before the 21st century began; others are genuine 21st-century Anthroposophical affirmations. All of them represent beliefs that are still current in the Waldorf movement.

The heart and the brain

(and the value of knowledge):

◊ “The heart is not a pump! … The heart does not produce circulation…” — Waldorf teacher Friedrich Hiebel, TIME OF DECISION WITH RUDOLF STEINER (SteinerBooks, 1989), p. 87.

◊ “A true understanding of man cannot come from the sort of thinking which designates the heart a pump….” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER ON EDUCATION (Hawthorn Press, 1993), p. 16

◊ “In contrast to the usual concept of the heart, anthroposophy tells us that it beats because blood flows through the body. The heart is thus not an organ that pumps the blood….” — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 55.

◊ "[In the book THE DYNAMIC HEART AND CIRCULATION] doctors, scientists, and teachers present a dynamic picture of the circulatory system that give [sic] perspective to the prevailing mechanistic ideas that dominate science and medicine today. People today are usually taught that the heart is only a pump. This book transcends this narrow view ... [T]he essays in this book provide...a wealth of factual material that a [Waldorf] teacher can use for his or her blocks." — Description of THE DYNAMIC HEART AND CIRCULATION (Waldorf Publications, 2002; edited by Craig Holdrege); posted at the Online Waldorf Library, November, 2015.

◊ "[T]he brain acts as a mirroring ground upon which thinking can manifest. By doing so it mediates between the spiritual and the physical world just as a radio mediates between the broadcaster and the listener ... The brain does not produce thoughts [it receives them from the spirit realm, like a spiritual radio]." — Waldorf teacher Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (2011), p. 16.

◊ "Thinking [is the] faculty of the brain acting as a mirror to reflect thoughts. The brain does not produce thoughts. The non-physical, dynamic thinking patterns originating in the spirit [realm] are reflected in the brain in concepts and definitions. The 'I' enacts this process, with the help of the beings [i.e., gods] of the third hierarchy [i.e., the lowest three ranks of gods] ... This is an important consideration in Waldorf education." — ibid., pp. 120-121.

◊ “The issue is, Will thinking fall prey to the mechanism of the brain? Will ‘the brain thinks’ become reality? ... When the cerebral apparatus dominates thinking, it makes no difference what we think ... Anthroposophy, for its part, presupposes that thinking does not remain bound to the brain ... It recognizes that when thinking is determined by the brain its loses its autonomy and can no longer act freely....” — Steiner adherent Georg Kühlewind, WORKING WITH ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1992), p. 11.

◊ "In as far as we are capable of freeing our thinking, our intelligence, from the physical head, we carry into the etheric body something that was not there before: the human...form. When we study some anthroposophical text...the real gain is not information but 'formation' — the human formation of the etheric body...." — Waldorf teacher Charles Kovacs, THE APOCALYPSE IN RUDOLF STEINER'S LECTURE SERIES (Floris Book, 2013), p. 93.

◊

Anthroposophical beliefs are divorced from reality. Even on such key subjects as the functions of the heart and brain, Anthroposophy is disconnected from the real world. And Waldorf education is based on Anthroposophy.

This is why we get such descriptions of Waldorf education as the following:

"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.

"Not acquisition of knowledge." 

Can a valid educational system possibly be built on the basis of such a proposition? We don't aim to teach your children much in the way of knowledge.

Or consider the following proposition, which we have seen before: 

"[Waldorf resists] fact-based education." — Jack Petrash, UNDERSTANDING WALDORF EDUCATION (Nova Institute, 2002), p. 26.

Can a valid educational system possibly be built on the basis of this proposition? We don't aim to teach your children many facts.

Or consider another, related proposition, which we have also seen previously: 

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

Can a valid educational system possibly be built on the basis of this proposition? We don't aim to educate your children rationally.

Can a valid educational system emerge from any  of these nonsensical propositions, or from any combination of them?

No.

But these propositions describe Waldorf education. These propositions represent "Waldorf wisdom."

I humbly suggest that everyone meditate deeply on this matter.

◊

That's probably enough. It is just a taste. We could extend our survey of Waldorf beliefs almost endlessly, but perhaps the point has been made. Waldorf education is still immersed in the dark mystical falsehoods of Anthroposophy. Waldorf education still downplays use the brain to produce thoughts, it downplays rational thought generally, and it downplays the acquisition of real-world knowledge. It is still, in other words, an invalid form of education.

There is scarcely such a thing as Waldorf wisdom.

[R.R.]

Endnotes Continued

[33] Anthroposophists believe that long ago humans lived on the continent of Lemuria. When we destroyed Lemuria, we moved to Atlantis. [See "Lemuria" and "Atlantis".] Here, Hale tells us that while we lived on Lemuria (during the Lemurian Age), the mineral kingdom was transferred from the Moon to the Earth.

[34] Ahriman and Lucifer are two arch-demons. Much of Anthroposophical lore revolves around the activities of Ahriman and Lucifer. [See "Ahriman" and "Lucifer".]

[35] See https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/anthroposophy_tomorrow/conversations/topics/20267.

[36] Waldorf schools rarely teach the kids Anthroposohy in any open, aboveboard manner. But they quite often teach it covertly, below the board. [See, e.g., "Spiritual Syllabus" and "Out in the Open".]

[37] See “Polytheism”.

[38] See, e.g., "Racism and the Relationship of Anthroposophy to Nazi Philosophy" at http://www.waldorfcritics.org/articles.html#Racism. Also see "Steiner's Racism"  and "RS on Jews".

[39] This will be creative destruction: It will clear the decks for the next stage of our evolution, called Future Jupiter. [See “Future Stages".]

[40] See “Lunacy”.

[41] E.g., "The roots of [Waldorf education] are indeed very weird German stuff, but that has been very thoroughly purged from the curriculum at any Waldorf school I've ever seen. It's not a cult, at least not any more..." [See "Q&A".]

[42] See, e.g., https://steiner.presswarehouse.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=235.

[43] See, e.g., https://rscbookstore.com/products/the-esoteric-background-of-waldorf-education. Note that Rudolf Steiner College has a long history as a Waldorf teacher-training institution.

[44] If you are curious, you might look at "Sneaking It In”, or "Clearing House”, or "Out in the Open”, or "Who Gets Hurt?".

[45] How soon will Ahriman come? Anthroposophists debate this, like most other details in their theology. Some expect Ahirman momentarily; others think his arrival is not quite so imminent. But virtually all agree that Ahriman is coming. 

"The bad news, in one sense, is that Ahriman is coming, and there is nothing we can do about it. In addition, collective humanity is helping his incarnation and that of his henchmen. This is not new information for anthroposophists." — Waldorf teacher Meg Gorman, "What Shall We Do About Ahriman?", NEWS FROM THE GOETHEANUM, republished at Anthroposophy.org [http://www.anthroposophy.org/fileadmin/nfm/enfmf-6/pdfs/EN6-Research-Ahriman.pdf].

[46] This quotation is fairly typical of Anthroposophical prose. I’ll offer the following paraphrase: The good gods above have demonic counterparts below. (The "Abyss" is the deep spiritual Pit; it is, in a sense, Hell.) Thus, the heavenly Godhead has a demonic counterpart residing at the deep center of the Earth. This demon, Lucifer (the "Reversed God" — the demonic reverse image of the Godhead), sends evil impulses upward, especially through the seventh layer of the Earth. (The interior of the Earth consists of many different layers.) Another arch-demon, Ahriman, can be found down there, serving as a mirror or prism sending up evil impulses that confuse humans' minds.

[47] Michael, the Sun Archangel, serves the Sun God so that the divine cosmic plan may be fulfilled. Michael’s chief foes are Sorat, the Antichrist or Sun Demon, and Ahriman, who sometimes serves as a secondary Antichrist. Waldorf teachers, bearing their students' karmas in mind, try to help the students to work for the divine cosmic plan in allegiance with Michael.

Much Anthroposophical writing is dense and, consequently, hard to read. The reason I cut out so many words from so many quotations (inserting ellipses), and interpolate so many explanations (inserting bracketed phrases), is that I attempt to make Anthroposophical writing clearer than the authors themselves made it.

[48] We have touched on this topic before; see section Vi, above. But it is so fundamental to Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, we should return to it often.

[49] See "Clairvoyance". 

You may also want to consult "ESP". 

[50] See "Coming Undone".

[51] Full disclosure: I knew John Gardner. He was the headmaster at the Waldorf school I attended: In those days, our school was called The Waldorf School of Adelphi University. My mother was Mr. Gardner's secretary. [See "Waldorf's Impact".] We lived near the Gardners, not far from our school. I occasionally met with Mr. Gardner at his home and, more frequently, in his office at school.

John Gardner died in 1998. 

As of today, August 11, 2017, YOUTH LONGS TO KNOW is still offered for sale by its publisher. [See https://steiner.presswarehouse.com/Books/SearchResults.aspx?str=youth+longs+to+know.] The book remains "current" in the Waldorf community.

[52] See “PR". 

[53] See, e.g., “Knowing the Worlds”.

[54] See “Prayers" and "Secrets".

[55] See “Polytheism”.

[56] See, e.g., "Magical Arts".

[57] See, e.g., "Thinking".

[58] See, e.g., “Threefolding”.

[59] See “Oh Humanity".

[60] https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/bbc-swsf.

[61] Anthroposophy generally holds that physical reality is built up of just four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. [See, e.g., "Neutered Nature".]

The "dwarves" referred to here are more typically called gnomes. [See "Gnomes".]

[62] This statement covers a wide swath of Anthroposophic belief, including astrology. [See, e.g., "Astrology" and "Star Power".]

Re. the human "double", see "Double Trouble".

[63] See, e.g., "What a Guy" and "Guru".

[64] See "Sympathizers?". Also see the section "Racism and the Relationship of Anthroposophy to Nazi Philosophy" at the website waldorfcritics.org.

[65] See, e.g., "Steiner's Racism", "Races", and "Differences".

[66] July 9, 2017, Stop Steiner in Stroud.

[67] Anthroposophy incorporates elements drawn from many religions, yet it stands apart as a distinct faith, not wholly compatible with any other, Western or Eastern. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] The specific doctrinal matters we are discussing today — karma and reincarnation — are derived from Eastern faiths. Yet Anthroposophy is at least as Western as it is Eastern — for instance, it focuses on the figure of Christ. No devout adherent of any mainstream faith, West or East, will find Anthroposophy entirely acceptable. Becoming an Anthroposophist means moving down a different path.

[68] See "Indoctrination". 

[69] We create ourselves as we create our own destiny, our karma. This is the spiritual law of cause and effect, as described earlier in this series of quotations.

[70] See "The Waldorf Teacher's Consciousness", and "Dreams".

[71] January 8, 2013,  http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2013/01/steiner-academy-bristol-a-challenge-be-open-with-parents.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=steiner-academy-bristol-a-challenge-be-open-with-parents. 

[72] See http://chicagowaldorf.org/about/faq.

[73] These definitions represent are the literal meaning of the word, which comes from the Greek: anthropos (human being) and sophia (wisdom).

Steiner chose the term "Anthroposophy" as the designation for his occult movement. The series of "Waldorf Wisdom" postings, taken in its totality, indicates how much true wisdom can be found in the Anthroposophical movement: very, very little or, to round this off, just about none.

The following is from The Semi-Steiner Dictionary:

“Anthroposophy.” A strange word. Most people, on first hearing it, don’t quite catch it. What? Anthropology? Anthro-what?  If we break the word down to its Greek roots, “anthroposophy” means human wisdom (anthropos = human, sophy = wisdom). A slight variant is that the word may refer to knowledge of or about human beings. Today, the word “Anthroposophy” (capitalized or not) is used primarily as the name of Rudolf Steiner’s occult system, which forms the basis for Waldorf education. Steiner adopted the word for its affirmative meaning, although in doing so he eviscerated it. Arguably, there is little or no real wisdom in Steiner’s Anthroposophy.

Steiner did not coin the term “anthroposophy.” Various authors wrote of anthroposophy — referring to human wisdom or human knowledge in one form or another — long before Steiner. Thus, for instance, in 1650 Thomas Vaughan published ANTHROPOSOPHIA THEOMAGICA - A Discourse on the Nature of Man and His State After Dearth. According to the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, the first known use of the word “anthroposophy” in English occurred in 1542. Steiner was a Theosophist when he first referred to anthroposophy — he differentiated his teachings from those of other Theosophists by shifting the focus from the God or the gods (theos) to humanity (anthropos). Steiner may have learned the word “anthroposophy” (in German, “anthroposophie”) from the philosopher Robert von Zimmerman, whose ANTHROPOSOPHIE was published in 1882.

[74] See the entries for "temperaments" and "constitutional types" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.