This is an attempt to represent the sort of painting you may see in a Waldorf school: watercolor, with transparent pastel shades, an effect of veils, a suggestion of a passageway leading into the distance... Often the paintings displayed in Waldorf schools, especially those created by Waldorf teachers, are far more accomplished than what you see here, giving an impression of many layers and thus great depth. Not all Waldorf art is like this, of course, but if when visiting a Waldorf school you see any pictures having such characteristics, you may want to inquire into their significance. Steiner taught that art connects us directly to the higher spirit worlds. The forms of art promoted in Waldorf schools are meant to have particularly potent spiritual effects.

[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on a stage set used at the Goetheanum — see, e.g., GOETHEANUM: School of Spiritual Science (Philosophical-Anthroposophical Press, 1961), p. 21. Most Waldorfish art takes its lead from artwork created or specified by Steiner and now exemplified in works displayed at the Goetheanum. For more on the Waldorf view of the arts, see "Magical Arts" and "Anthroposophical Art".]

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“The earth was once a giant animal which, in keeping with its size, was rather lazy, turning only slowly about its axis in space, but which looked out into space through these dragon birds which were simply movable eyes ... You can comprehend the earth if you imagine it as an animal that has died.” — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 69.

[R.R. sketch, 2009, copying a sketch by Steiner.

My sketch does not precisely illuminate Steiner's words.

But, then, neither does his.]

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After their original, wooden headquarters burned to the ground, Steiner's devotees reached farther into their pockets to fund the construction of a replacement, made of concrete. When I was a junior at a Waldorf high school, I spent a month touring Germany with several schoolmates, chaperoned by our German teacher. We made a side trip to visit this headquarters. To my embarrassment, I don't remember much about the visit. I think all of us students took it for granted that one our teachers would lead us to the epicenter of the Steiner cult. Featuring colored-glass windows, a huge pipe organ, and a towering statue of Christ, Lucifer, and Ahriman, it proved to be more or less what we expected: a cathedral.

[R.R. sketch, 2009.]

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The philosophy underlying Waldorf education, Anthroposophy, glorifies humanity. We are wondrous, upward-evolving spiritual beings, central to all of creation, beloved of the gods. This is a grand and attractive vision. We can all feel its tug on our hearts and souls. But can humanity actually fulfill its potential by following Steiner's lead? He concocted a blend of occultism, myth, gnostic religion, and fantasy. The path to wisdom cannot run through such a welter of fallacies. If we are to realize our better nature, fulfilling our best potential, surely we must face reality squarely and build on truth, not illusion.

[R.R. sketch, 2014, based on image on p. 26 of Albert Steffen's

GOETHEANUM: School of Spiritual Science (Philosophical-Anthroposophical Press, 1961).]

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Anthroposophists sometimes use a five-pointed star (pentagram) to symbolize the etheric body, and a six-pointed star (hexagram) to symbolize the astral body. Here is the astral body. The following may not convey much information, but it does reflect Waldorf thinking.

The top point, red, is the head, associated with Mars, "igniting, courageous;" the orange point is an ear, associated with the Sun, "eternally flowing and developing life;" the violet point is another ear, associated with the Moon, "creating form (rigidification);" the yellow point is an arm, associated with Mercury, "soul satisfying;" the blue point is another arm, associated with Jupiter, "'I'-liberating;" the bottom point is the feet or the heart, depending, associated with Saturn, "creating the senses." — See Rudolf Steiner, ESOTERIC LESSONS 1904-1909 (Steiner Books, 2007), p. 230.

[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on b&w image on that page. Additional information from p. 138.]

To consider the pentagram as symbolizing the etheric body, see "Faculty Meetings".

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Entering Earthly life, we descend from

spirit realms (blue) to the physical realm (green).

Here, evil souls may fall farther, into the abyss (red).

Good souls return to the spirit realm

after their earthly deaths.

See Rudolf Steiner, THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN

(Anthroposophic Press, 1993), p. 121.

[This is my colored version, drawn 2009,

of the image in the book.]

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An elemental "rock being" sitting atop

the monumental sculpture found in the Goetheanum.

Attributed to Steiner, the statue depicts

Christ the Sun God intervening between

Ahriman and Lucifer.

The rock being is an ambiguous figure,

often taken as a symbol of benevolence.

Detached and bemused, the rock being

watches human destiny unfold.

[R.R., 2009.]

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Ahriman and Lucifer as depicted in the statue.

[R.R., 2009.]

Ahriman as depicted elsewhere — in a bust

attributed to Rudolf Steiner.

[R.R. sketch, 2013.]

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An Anthroposophical motif. Anthroposophy is a religion (although Anthroposophists

generally deny it). Anthroposophy consists of spiritual visions and beliefs (which Anthroposophists call spiritual-scientific knowledge). The question for anyone assessing Anthroposophy is whether its spiritual teachings contain any real knowledge, truth, or — indeed — wisdom. [R.R. sketch, 2014, based on a painting by Gerard Wagner, based on indications given by Rudolf Steiner — see THE GOETHEANUM CUPOLA MOTIFS OF RUDOLF STEINER (SteinerBooks, 2011), p. 153.]

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According to Steiner, different nations and races stand at different levels of spiritual development. Thus, the "initiates" of one people have different spiritual insight than the initiates of other peoples. This is "the Egyptian initiate." [See THE GOETHEANUM CUPOLA MOTIFS OF RUDOLF STEINER (SteinerBooks, 2011), p. 125; R.R. copy, 2013. For more on initiation, see, e.g., "Inside Scoop".]

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“Imagine the surface of the Earth with an eastern region here and a western one there ... [T]hrough that other being [i.e., the "double"] which takes possession of the human being before birth and has to depart before death, via a detour through that other being the various forces work especially strongly through racial types and geographical variations.” — Rudolf Steiner, SECRET BROTHERHOODS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), p. 151.

[R.R. sketch, 2010, based on the one on p. 150.]

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The Earth breathes in and out, Steiner taught — it does this once a day, in a sense, or once per year, in another sense. This image represents the situation at the end of March or April: "The Earth [red] has just breathed out; the soul is still half within the Earth, but the Earth has breathed it out; the streaming soul-forces are pouring out into the cosmos ... While in December the Christ withdrew the Earth-soul element into the interior of the Earth, in order to be insulated from cosmic influences, now with the out-breathing of the Earth, He begins to let His forces breathe out, to extend them to receive the forces of the Sun which radiate toward Him.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE CYCLE OF THE YEAR (Anthroposophic Press, 1984), pp. 6-7.

[R.R. sketch, 2010, based on the image on p. 6.]

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[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on the sketch on p. 35 of EURYTHMY AS VISIBLE SPEECH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1955).]

Waldorf schools represent a worldview, Anthroposophy, that most people would surely consider weird. This apparent weirdness doesn't make Anthroposophy good or bad, right or wrong, but it undeniably present in the Waldorf movement, and if you decide to associate yourself with a Waldorf school, you should understand what you are becoming involved in. Here is one example of the occultist thinking that underlies Waldorf schools. It isn't bad, it isn't good. But for better or worse, it is a sample of occultist thought:

“Just as speech proceeds from out of the larynx, [and] the child from the womb, so the fully developed human being at about age 35 is born, as it were, from out of the cosmos...the form of man, the complete human form, as a spoken word." — Rudolf Steiner, EURYTHMY AS VISIBLE SPEECH, p. 35.

Steiner meant that humans are the fulfillment of the "words" spoken by the gods. He taught that there are many, many gods. The swirling actions of the gods is a sort of dance. It is a dance of spiritual essences, divine thoughts, creative words.

“We ask the divine powers which have existed from the beginning: How then did you create man in a similar way as the spoken word is created...?" — Rudolf Steiner, ibid., p. 35.

The worldview underlying Waldorf schools is polytheistic: Man was created not by God but by the words of many gods. Some people may find this an attractive idea, perhaps even a true idea. At Waldorf schools, it is accepted as revealed Truth.

The gods' dance is reenacted in Waldorf schools through a form of interpretive dance called eurythmy. The movements in eurythmy are supposed to make visible the spiritual meaning behind spoken words — thus, they are supposed to convey and even create occult wisdom. Eurythmy is considered so important, so central to Waldorf's purpose, that all students are usually required to participate in it.

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[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on the image on p. 162, FROM CRYSTALS TO CROCODILES (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2002).]

Steiner's teachings are rarely easy to grasp. If, reading Steiner, you find his words nearly incomprehensible, don't worry — just absorb the flavor of Steiner's occultism. Later, if you become habituated to Steiner's odd language and views, you'll be able to make more sense his statements. Waldorf teachers generally accept Steiner's statements as revealed Truth.

The images above depict conditions for human beings a) long ago, when the Earth and Sun were united (left), and b) nowadays, when the Sun and Earth are separate (right).

“[T]he sun's influence keeps human beings small ... Now that the sun is separate, the earth receives far less radiation from it. When the sun was still united with the earth, all its forces reached the earth from within. No wonder that now, as the sun rotates, it can shine upon a human being at every point on the earth, but in ancient times, when it had to send out its rays from the centre of the earth, it was able to project its forces upon only one human being. Once the sun began to work out at the periphery, it made human beings smaller.” — Rudolf Steiner, FROM CRYSTALS TO CROCODILES (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2002), pp. 162-163.

The colors I have used for my copy of Steiner's sketch of the ancient situation (left) indicate that the Sun was inside the Earth; but Steiner also said the opposite: “If this is the earth, which I am drawing very small, and if that is the sun, with the earth in it...” (p. 163). Either way, he meant that all the solar system was at one time a single globe. This is almost consistent with scientific truth, except that Steiner said there were living beings then, including the human being who received the Sun's radiance. Indeed, the Sun and the Earth and the single human being alive then were actually all the same being: “Yes, gentlemen, it is true that we all descend from one human being ... [H]e was the earth itself" (p. 162).

Consider, also, Steiner's inconsistent descriptions of the Earth's movements now that the Earth and the Sun have separated. On some occasions, Steiner made such statements as this: “Here is the sun and there is the earth, which rotates around the former..." (p. 163). Good. That statement is true. But on other occasions, Steiner said something very different. He said that the Earth does not orbit the Sun:

“[W]e can certainly speak of a daily motion of the Earth around her axis, but by no means of a yearly motion of the Earth around the Sun ... Were the Earth revolving round the Sun, we should expect her axis, which owing to its inertia remains parallel, to point in the direction of different fixed stars during this revolution. But it does not! If the Earth revolved round the Sun, the axis could not indicate the direction of the Pole-star, for the point indicated would itself have to revolve round the Pole-star....” — Rudolf Steiner, MAN - HIEROGLYPH OF THE UNIVERSE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1972).

Steiner's statements are often absurd. Consider the ludicrous claim that the Sun causes people to be small (“[T]he sun's influence keeps human beings small"). Occasionally Steiner's statements accord with reality, but usually they do not. They are marred by absurdities and inconsistencies. As a result, almost everything Steiner ever said becomes suspect. We might almost reach the conclusion that he was unreliable.

[For more on this, and specifically Steiner's statements about the orbital and/or non-orbital movements of the Earth, see "Deception".]

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[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on the one in FROM CRYSTALS TO CROCODILES (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2002).*]

Taking Steiner seriously requires considerable mental charity. When his statements were not deplorable on moral grounds, they were often deplorable as grab bags of misinformation. Here is a striking example:

“So, we find the meteorites: they are the remains of shattered comets. But the comets are something quite different; they are alive! The sun, too, is alive, has a stomach, and not only consumes comets but eats exactly as we do ... If the comets consisted merely of iron, and then fell into the sun, you would see how quickly all of it would be excreted again ... Now think back to the time when the sun was inside the earth ... As long as the sun was in the earth, the latter was able to get nourishment from the cosmos with the help of the sun ... Yes, the earth was well provided for while the sun was in it. You must of course also visualize at this point that the sun is far larger than our planet so that the sun was actually not inside the earth, but the earth was inside the sun. We must imagine that the sun contained the earth, which in turn had the moon in it." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM CRYSTALS TO CROCODILES, pp. 152-153.

It is difficult to catalogue all the blunders contained in this one Steiner passage. Here are a few corrections: Meteorites are not generally broken-off bits of comets. Comets are made largely of ice and dust; they contain little iron. Comets are not alive. The Sun is not alive. The Sun does not have a stomach. The Sun does not "excrete" material in a digestive sense. The Sun was never inside the Earth. The Earth was never inside the Sun (unless by "Sun" you mean the primordial solar disc). The Moon was never inside the Earth, although parts of it were once part of the Earth.

Have I missed any blunders? Perhaps. But you get the idea. Steiner was a fountainhead of misinformation. For more on this subject, see "Steiner's Blunders".

* Not completely sure whether the Earth was in the Sun or vice versa, I have put the sun's stomach (pink) in a sort of intermediate purple region, neither within the Sun per se (yellow) nor within the Earth per se (green). The black-and-white sketch in the book avoids this problem, although it positions the stomach about where I show it. I have colored the Moon gray and the outer universe brown.

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The Waldorf attitude toward nature is complex. Nature should be revered for the spirits it manifests, Steiner taught. But Anthroposophy also harbors is a deep revulsion from the natural, physical world. Waldorf artwork often presents striking images of natural objects. But note how, almost invariably, these natural objects are modified to imply the activity and presence of spiritual powers. If gods and gnomes and other invisible beings are not at work in a natural setting, then that setting is dead and meaningless — and perhaps demonic — according to Waldorf belief.

To delve into Waldorf teachings about nature, see, e.g.,"Neutered Nature" and "Biodynamics".

[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on the image on p. 83 of Rudolf Steiner, FROM SUNSPOTS TO STRAWBERRIES (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2002).]

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[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on Fig. 1, p. 61, FROM BEETROOT TO BUDDHISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999).]

Books of Steiner's lectures are often illustrated in a distinctive style: drawings that consist of parallel, angled lines, open to the surrounding space. There is a suggestion of spirituality or translucency. Here is one such image, in this case depicting a monstrance, the vessel holding the Host for use during Holy Communion. Steiner produced the image while discussing Catholicism and Judaism. All mainstream Christian sects are mistaken, Steiner taught — and Judaism is nothing but Moon worship. The true faith is Anthroposophy (although Steiner resisted applying the label "religion" to his doctrines). Jehovah is a Moon being, according to Steiner, whereas Christ is the Sun God — and He must be distinguished from Jesus, who was the human vessel for the Sun God.

“Jesus of Nazareth received a sun influence ... Jesus of Nazareth [drew] sun nature into himself as a second individual nature [Jesus and Christ had separate identities]. The Roman Catholic religion has completely forgotten these things in the words it uses. But if you attend mass and it is a solemn mass, you will see the 'sanctum sanctorum', the monstrance, on the altar ... What does it represent? It is the sun, and inside it the moon. The whole monstrance tells us in its form that Christianity arose from a view in which people acknowledged not only the moon, as the Jews did, but also the sun." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM BEETROOT TO BUDDHISM, pp. 60-61.

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Examples of intentional wit or humor are rare in Steiner's work. We find a lot to laugh at, but usually Steiner wasn't trying to be funny. Nobel prize winner Max von Laue was onto something when he said lovers of unintended humor might get a kick out of Steiner. One example (out of a stock of zillions):

“Moving about in the world of the plants we everywhere find the earth covered in noses; that is what the plants are." — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 162.

[R.R. sketch, 2013, based on image in the book.]

When reading such statements, remember that Steiner used metaphors almost as rarely as he used wit. When he said something is a nose, he meant it is a nose — in a spiritual, cosmic sense, of course.*

Here is a rare example of Steiner apparently trying to be funny. Mocking Einstein, Steiner said

“With the theory of relativity, people finally arrive at the idea that you can hear the sound before the cannon is actually fired! (Laughter)." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM ELEPHANTS TO EINSTEIN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), pp. 179-180.

And here is an statement that some Anthroposophists attempt to defend by insisting that it is a joke:

“[I]f we give these Negro novels to pregnant [white] women to read, then it won’t even be necessary for Negroes to come to Europe in order for mulattos to appear. Simply through the spiritual effects of reading Negro novels, a multitude of children will be born in Europe that are completely gray, that have mulatto hair, that look like mulattos!” — Rudolf Steiner, ÜBER GESUNDHEIT UND KRANKHEIT (Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1994), GA 348, p. 189.

Distinctly not funny, IMO.

But Steiner did sometimes try to crack a joke. He had a sense of humor. We see this, for instance, in the caricatures he sometimes drew.

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Steiner taught that the human ego (red) and astral body (yellow) separate from the etheric body (orange) and physical body (blue) at night — they travel to the spirit realm, returning in the morning.

[R.R., 2009, based on a sketch by Steiner.]

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Steiner sometimes drew sketches to accompany his lectures. The results were not always very illuminating. Here is my rendering of a sketch Steiner made to show groups of spiritual beings — gods — poised above humanity. Steiner taught that there are nine ranks of gods subdivided into three "hierarchies." The three spheres shown here represent these hierarchies. "I felt myself one with the Beings of the First and Second Hierarchies, and I beheld the weaving and working of the Third Hierarchy in mighty spirit-clouds over my body." — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 2 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974), p. 235.

[R.R., 2009 — my sketch based on the one in the book.]

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"People love the rose because — although they do not know this — roses take in our very first childhood memories while we sleep." — Rudolf Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 128. [R.R. sketch, 2009, based on a detail in Steiner's. My sketch doesn't look much like a rose, but then neither does his.] I didn't know this about roses. Did you? Either way, this is a nice example of the "mystery knowledge" Steiner dispensed.

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"Each region of the zodiac can be looked upon as the home of particular spiritual beings and a centre of forces. There are 12 signs of the zodiac and 12 corresponding parts of the human organism ... While the forces of the zodiac correspond to the human physical structure, the planets and their forces are mirrored in the internal organs ... Thus for example: Sun : Heart : Aurum (gold); Moon : Genitals: argenum (silver); Mercury : Lungs: Cinnabar (mercury)." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 47.

[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on the image on p. 48.]

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"In the year 1907 Rudolf Steiner published the collection OCCULT SEALS AND COLUMNS ... The pictures, based on his sketches and instructions, have been drawn and re-drawn by a number of artists ... [T]he seven Seals and Columns decorated the Lecture Hall at the Congress of European Sections of the Theosophical Society, held in 1907 in Munich, where Rudolf Steiner and his pupils were responsible for the arrangements ... The designs of the seven Columns were afterwards reproduced in fully plastic form in the great wooden pillars supporting the large dome of the first Goetheanum." — Note by George Adams in Rudolf Steiner's VERSES AND MEDITATIONS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), pp. 227-228.

Steiner's Mercury column. [R.R. impression, 2010.]

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Here are two images of the human embryo as depicted by Steiner. On the left, we see the signs of the zodiac arranged to show their importance to various portions of the embryo — i.e., the developing human body. [The image derives from Rudolf Steiner, ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009), p. 89; this is my copy of Steiner's sketch.]

On the right, you see the influence of the zodiac (red) and spirit-soul forces (yellow) within an overall constellation of forces as they affect the developing human body. [Rudolf Steiner, FROM COMETS TO COCAINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000, p. 23; again, my copy.]

These images are not entirely consistent with one another — you must get used to inconsistencies if you study Steiner. But the larger point is coherent, and worrisome. Astrological influences are real and important, according to the Waldorf belief system. Indeed, astrology often lurks just below the surface of Waldorf schooling.

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"This window shows us the path of life to be relived again, from below upwards. The soul sees itself in old age, then at the height of life, then in youth until the earliest childhood. These experiences are like the milestones on the path of life, flowing backwards into the ethereal world, from which man has been brought into life by birth. This living world appears in plant forms, in leaves." — Georg Hartmann, THE GOETHEANUM GLASS-WINDOWS (Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag am Goetheanum, 1972), p. 49.

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

Geometry. Clairvoyance.

[R.R.]

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[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on image on p. 164 of FROM BEETROOT TO BUDDHISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999).]