"[T]he astral beings which are embedded in, and connected with, the human astral body are those whom I have described as having their real habitat on the moon or Mars, according as they are benevolent or malevolent. They anchor themselves there. And lymph, the whitish juice that courses through man, belongs to the body of beings who live in our astral world. To be sure, these beings of the astral plane, with their real home on the moon or Mars, are not so obvious as are the animal group-egos. But they are of such an astral nature that in a certain other direction we can say: just as in an animal group, a group of lions, for instance, we have a kind of manifestation of the distinct personality on the astral plane, the lion-ego, so in the lymph passing through the human body we have, though not so obviously, the manifestation, the extended members, of these astral beings." — Rudolf Steiner, THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS ON MAN (Anthroposophic Press, 1961), lecture 1, GA 102.

___________

“In Anthroposophical Waldorf schools, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING centers around the task of implementing Steiner's spiritual scientific theories. Educating children is looked upon in much the same way Anthroposophical spiritual concepts are embraced: children are 'temperaments' or 'stages of human development'; they're vessels for [the] purpose of receiving cosmic wisdom in the form of an Anthroposophical curriculum. One could go even further and say children in an Anthroposophical Waldorf school are looked upon as 'the future initiators of the Christ Impulse' [i.e., the new evolutionary force introduced by the Sun God]. Again, EACH INDIVIDUAL CHILD'S EDUCATION takes a back seat to the spiritual scientific and cosmic Christian tasks and ideals of the Anthroposophical initiative.” — A former Waldorf teacher. [See “Ex-Teacher 7”.]

___________

“Several years ago, I picked up and moved from another state specifically to enroll my daughter in a Waldorf School. I was excited that art would permeate the curriculum. That there would be lots of drama and music. That there would be an emphasis on environmental issues....

"When we arrived...we enrolled our child...and began to have some peculiar experiences ... I began to suspect that I'd joined a spiritual movement....

"...[Eventually] I realized that the fairy tales [taught in Waldorf] were often sexist, patriarchal and very religious. Creationism was taught ... My child was made to recolor Eve's hair blond after choosing black. She was taught about angels, and demons....

”I went on to read a lot of Steiner, and he is not for me ... I now understand that music is from the spirit world and that film is Ahrimanic ... Angels are responsible for even the tiniest movement of the smallest finger and fairies are real! ... I couldn't care less what [Waldorf teachers] believe, but don't impose your beliefs surreptitiously on the uninformed ... My family has been deeply impacted and our lives completely altered by our wrong choice of school." [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/LombardThanksPLANS.html] 

___________

Responding to an article praising Waldorf education, specifically at a California Waldorf school, a former teacher at the school responded: “I wonder why [the article] didn't ask how many of the students were able to obtain their high school diploma since the Waldorf pedagogy was adopted [by the school]. The answer is zero or very close to it. [The] students leave the campus with little or no increase in academic skills. They do not have the ability to pass the GED [i.e., General Equivalency Degree]. Instead of learning minimal competencies to pass the GED or read on the most elementary level, these students are copying their lesson books off the blackboard; playing plastic recorders; and chanting anthroposophical verses.” — Former Waldorf teacher Kathleen Sutphen. [See "Ex-Teacher 6".]

___________

“I asked specific questions about Anthroposophy and its role in our local Waldorf school before enrolling our children. This was before the Internet was a part of people's lives. I later discovered the answers I was given were lies.

“I had no reason not to trust the information I was given. I've interviewed numerous private school directors and principals, and in those cases where my children ended up attending their schools there were no conditions or events that contradicted anything they told me about the schools. Because my father was in the army, my parents interviewed many private school principals before sending my brother and me to new schools. None of those schools had hidden agendas. There are some people you expect to lie, such as criminals, politicians, and teenagers. It is not normal, however, for schools to lie to parents of prospective students.” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Our Experience”.]

___________

Competitiveness and jealousy are not unknown in Waldorf faculties. Consider a case in which several teachers competed for a high position in a Waldorf school. 

“[T]he flamingly idealistic enthusiasts who did not get the job are still present [in the school] and may have some difficulty in channeling their will forces cooperatively. Waldorf communities make very convenient homes for loose cannons ... I remember several occasions when the work of the College [of Teachers — the controlling body in the school] ground to a halt for weeks or even months because of implacable bees in the bonnets of one or two members. I remember other occasions when good people left the school because they couldn’t stand it any more.” — Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9”.]

___________

Anthroposophical communities, often called Camphill communities, are sometimes associated with Waldorf schools. The following is by Robert Hald-Smith, who was raised by Anthroposophists. 

“I grew up in two Camphill communities ... I spent half of my childhood sick in bed ... Anthroposophy is a religion, and Camphill is a sect, a cult of fanatics pursuing spiritual development and ultimately perfection.  They believe that sickness is the soul incarnating, and also that it has to do with karma.  They don’t believe in inoculations, so I had all the child diseases going around, some twice ... [T]hey had the anthroposophical doctors in all the time, in between punishing me for being sick ... This brand of medicine is based on a world view that is twisted, and their medicine is not scientifically based.  Its root is the religion as laid out by Rudolf Steiner, a theosophical megalomaniac ... As it turned out I suffer from wheat intolerance.  But I never found that out until I was around 36 ... I knew [that wheat bread] was making me sick, I felt it.  But the feeling my parents had was that I should eat more of it, as I obviously needed to incarnate through the food. So I grew up being force fed food that was making me sick ... I reacted especially to bulgur, so my mother made that as often as she could ... That stuff made my legs weak and my stomach wrench. The doctors supported this treatment, wholeheartedly. This was a good, healthy, anthroposophical approach.” [See “Growing Up Being Made Sick by Anthroposophy”.]

___________

“According to a well-known present-day anthroposophist, Roy Wilkinson, [Waldorf] teachers are expected to develop clairvoyant faculties. Wilkinson outlines this path in the book THE  SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION, The Waldorf Approach, noting specifically in the chapter ‘Esoteric Development and the Teacher’:  ‘This is the same path that should be followed by every teacher who takes his vocation seriously.’"  — Former Waldorf teacher “Alice Shapiro” [See "Ex-Teacher Too”]

___________

“Following an exchange of ideas with the Essenes, the Buddha appeared to Jesus of Nazareth, and we may say that a spiritual conversation took place between them. It is one of my occult obligations to tell you this. for today we can, and indeed must, touch on these important secrets in human evolution.”  — Rudolf Steiner, THE FIFTH GOSPEL (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 56.

___________

“As we know, around the Atlantean time [i.e., on Atlantis], human souls gradually came down from the planets to which they had ascended. You may remember that I described in my [book] AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE that the souls had ascended and then came down again and that the life of earthly incarnations, properly speaking, begins with their descent. Thus, the I [the spiritual ego] of human beings, their individualities, would have gone through the various human forms [races] mentioned above in consecutive periods. In the fifth Atlantean period, the I would have had one human form, in the sixth another, in the seventh again another; in the first post-Atlantean epoch it would have had yet another form, and so on. We would all have lived through these types of humanity, one after the other.

"Indeed, it was planned [by the gods] that human beings would thus complete the necessary schooling of human individuality by passing through various etheric formations [etheric bodies] that had different effects on their physical body. In fact, according to the original plan, there could have been a type of human being on the earth who would have been the result, as it were, of seven successive periods of development, each of which would have contributed to the perfection of that human type. In the fifth post-Atlantean period, then, there would have been one united type of human being spread over the whole face of the earth.

"However, Lucifer and Ahriman interfered and thwarted the original design. As a result, the ancient Greeks could only dream of an ideal, superhuman type, which they tried to represent in various ways, for example, in the form of Apollo, Zeus, or Athena. They could not fully encompass this type simply because it did not really exist. But if we have a sense for Greek sculpture, we can feel how the ancient Greeks dreamed of a uniform, perfect, beautiful type of human being that should have developed. This development did not occur because Lucifer and Ahriman preserved older racial forms that had developed, so that there was a coexistence of races rather than a succession." — Rudolf Steiner, THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN (Anthroposophic Press, 1990), pp. 75-76.

___________

“Did Mr. Oppenheimer [author of an article praising Waldorf education] compare student books [i.e., lesson books created by students mainly by copying their teachers' work]? If he had done so, he would have found that most contain almost identical information, word for word. The books are seductive in their beauty, but they are not original creations. Even the artwork is largely copied and adheres to occultist color exercises designed to encourage the incarnation of the soul per Anthroposophical religious belief.” — Former Waldorf teacher Kathleen Sutphen, [See "Ex-Teacher 6".]

___________

“I think it is very important to at least try to understand what some children go through in Waldorf/Steiner schools — especially those [schools] where Anthroposophic extremism is the norm. There are the obvious questions around 'is Anthroposophic education good for children?' And then there are other issues: I've known more than a few children who were hit, screamed and sworn at by Waldorf teachers — with virtually NO repercussions, other than pathetic suggestions that those who raise concerns do not understand karma. Fact is there were no other available teachers, so the wild ones stayed, believing (and being supported by peers) they were destined to be with the children in their class. That's what Steiner says.” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Slaps”.]

___________

“The longer I spent at the [Waldorf] school, the more I saw what I considered an attack on the intellect and personal needs and interests of a child.

“Here are some examples that were burned into my memory forever. A first grade boy loved numbers. He had a firm grasp of numbers ... Yet he was forced to sit and draw numbers and then animals to go with those numbers (one dog, two cats...) during math time ... [T]his one child, (and in all honesty some of his peers), was far beyond it and was bored ... I was told that it was OK for him to be bored....

“...I was once berated for over an hour because a preschooler drew a happy face ... Twenty years later I still remember the teacher screaming at me, ‘I cannot believe an educator like you would allow such a thing... What in your right mind would make you think that such a thing would be allowed?!?!?’

“Later, the same child was ‘caught’ drawing a heart ... The school's way of handling this was to ask the parents not to bring the child to non-Waldorf activities until she was older.

“Another time a sixth grader asked me how the copy machine in the office worked. Before I could even open my mouth, a teacher ran over to the child, and told him that there was a gnome asleep in the box....” — A former Waldorf teacher. [See “Ex-Teacher 5”.]

___________

“The Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones come from an earlier solar system."  — Rudolf Steinet, THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHIES (Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1928), synopsis of Lecture 5.

Anthroposophists often criticize the scientific theory of the Big Bang because, as they correctly point out, science cannot (yet) explain why the Big Bang occurred. Thus, science cannot give an ultimate explanation of our ultimate beginnings. Interestingly, however, Steiner’s theory (sorry, undeniable clairvoyant truth) suffers from the same shortcoming. Steiner says that other solar systems [i.e., universes] existed before ours, and he declined to try tracing them back to a specific origin. Indeed, he explicitly renounced any attempt to understand why or how our universe came into existence.

“We must accept the creation of the World as a free act of the Logos [the divine or occult Word]. We must not question the Why and Wherefore. All those who have true insight have never spoken of a Cause of the Creation of the Universe.” —  Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS AT THE PERIPHERY: Rudolf Steiner's Observations on Star Knowledge, Nov. 10, 1904.

___________

“[T]he reason why they [Waldorf teachers] thought their paths, their teaching methods were so 'right' was because they [saw] themselves as spiritual guides ... [T]he behaviours and preferences of the child mean nothing in the scheme of their 'bettering' or 'enlightening' of this child and its peers. They know what they are doing and would like it to be none of our business — indeed believe it is none of our business. In a way our entrusting of our children in their care reinforces that for them. Like it is their (the child's) karmic path to be taught by these masters of enlightenment (which they see themselves — I swear they are so far up their own asses there is really no point in talking to them, so sure of themselves and teachings). Perhaps even a child needs to be bullied in order to learn their life's lesson this time around. That was the impression they give, when pushed. But who pushes them? Who bothers to delve when it all looks so attractive? When it's always so easy to give over to the 'experts'. They do after all have 'qualifications' to be doing what they are doing.” [See “Selections from the Green Parent Forum”.]

___________

“Staring at the sea of angry parents, I realized I was the youngest person in the room, that my mentor was of no use (when she was around) and that I was quickly developing a bad reputation.

“...All eyes went to [Student X’s] dad who was leaning back in his chair, ‘Yes [he said]. Truthfully I think you all are crazy. I can’t wait to get out of this school. I think Miss Cox is doing a fine job and all of you are making her crazy.’” — Former Waldorf teacher Lani Cox. [See “Ex-Teacher”.]

___________

“It infuriates me that so many people are hoodwinked by those [Steiner] schools. I have no problem with people wanting to send their children to Steiner schools if they know the whole truth, but there are so many people who are duped into sending their kids there, as I was. The trouble for Steiner education is, though, that if they did tell the whole truth, the number of children signing up for the schools would be cut dramatically, as most parents would think they [i.e., Steiner faculties] were barking mad!” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Slaps”.]

___________

There is often considerable turmoil within Waldorf faculties. 

• "When Waldorf teachers work together the external opposing forces [i.e., opponents of Waldorf education and/or Anthroposophy] can be resisted effectively, if not defeated. Bitter experience has taught me, however, that these periods of well-being do not last, and that when things go bad they do so from the inside.”   

• "When it comes to ordinary human weaknesses, we cannot assume that anthroposophists and Waldorf teachers will be any better than average for the human race as a whole. Since there is a tendency for anthroposophy to bring out the very best and the very worst in people, the deviations from the norm are greater than usual, and this only compounds the problems of making good decisions and keeping the school on course.”   

• "Between them the school's managers and their protégés had turned the Rudolf Steiner School into a place where I didn't want to be ... I got myself a job at the Lenox School ... My work at Lenox was rather trying, since the students were much nastier than the ones at the Rudolf Steiner School and this was only partly compensated for by the fact that the teachers were considerably easier to get on with." — Former Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9".]

___________

“In cases of kleptomania, it is also good to punish the children by having them sit for a quarter of an hour and hold their feet or toes with their hands. From the perspective of strengthening the will, that is something you can do against kleptomania.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 69.

___________

“My first board meeting [at a Waldorf school] included a faculty grilling re: sexual preference, directed at a young gay teacher ... I kept saying, 'This is a violation of her civil rights.' ... [But] regular rules do not apply in Waldorf schools. Anthroposophy is more important than individual rights, laws, or common truths.

"...The healthy teachers were eventually run out [of the school] and the ill ones took over hiring ... There was deceit everywhere ... The financial statements were literally made up ... Unpaid payroll taxes, marked as paid, were seized from our bank account ... [T]he school wasn't making enough money to pay rent, salary, and the electricity bill. One classroom was red-flagged for sewage backing up in the tub....

"...[A]t parent gatherings...the teachers would stand on the stage with their arms around each other, singing songs, while the parents beamed ... [B]ehind closed doors [these teachers] were all backstabbers...insecure people competing for the top position on the Anthroposophical dog pile ... Board meetings were always exhausting because you could cut the tension between the teachers with a knife....

"...I think it's easier to walk away from Waldorf when Anthroposophy doesn't speak to your spirit, but it still isn't easy. I took 63 families with me to [create] a new school ... My aim was to make a school like we were told Waldorf was but was not. Sixty-three families were ready to move, so I went back to work.” — Debra Snell. [See “Coming Undone”.]

___________

“[I]t was not just the bullying [that upset me at our Steiner school], the teaching was stagnant. The same things over and over, the same methods from every child, regardless. Sure everything is so pretty and subtle and so much emphasis on handwork and creativity, but I always just had a sense of unease there. Lovely beeswax crayons and nature tables or not. Too rigid? Too focused on the method and theory at the expense of the individual child ... No black pencils, everything smudged. Sure, to us adults it all looks so beautiful — but look closer — look at that wall of drawings! They are all exactly the same! They are all told to draw exactly the same things in exactly the same way — and that basically seems to be the essence of what Steiner education is at from my pov [i.e., point of view].” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Selections from the Green Parent Forum”.]

___________

“Waldorf schools are a religious messianic-type cult built on the dogmas of theosophical principles and beliefs put in place by a charismatic cult leader, Rudolf Steiner, who is a self-proclaimed clairvoyant wielding his own style of New World Order.

“This is a polytheistic religion using the word ‘verses’ [for the prayers] used every morning in all classes. Teachers are expected to use these prayers, meditations akin to the Buddhist method, and Steiner-prescribed spiritual exercises to gain knowledge of the gods, their hierarchies, and their higher  worlds.”  — Former Waldorf teacher “Alice Shapiro.”

Some people are so wounded by their Waldorf experiences that they become too harsh in their condemnation of the schools. “Alice Shapiro” seems to fall into this category. Yet, as a former Waldorf teacher, she has much to tell us. I suggest reading her essay carefully, discounting some of its more outspoken denunciations, but taking most of what she says quite seriously. In reprinting her essay, I point out some errors she made. To give the foremost example: She titles the essay “Is Steiner's 'Anthroposophy' a Satanic Cult?” The answer to this is easy. No. And yet Shapiro, who taught at a Waldorf school for ten years, came away asking herself this question. Clearly, she saw and read things at Waldorf that shook her profoundly.  [See "Ex-Teacher Too”.]

___________

“I enrolled my son in the San Francisco Waldorf School halfway through the sixth grade. I was very impressed with the school. I liked very much the way art is integrated into the curriculum in Waldorf....

"[But] one day while visiting the school, I browsed through some books by Rudolf Steiner that they had for sale. I saw some very strange things about 'astral bodies’ and ‘root races.’ I asked my son's teacher whether these subjects were taught in the classroom. She assured me that though the teachers studied Steiner, only Steiner's teaching methods were used in the classroom, and Steiner's philosophy wasn't taught to the children. I learned later that this is a standard disclaimer, and it is far from the truth. I should have known better, but I was so in love with the facade of the school that I looked the other way.

“Over the year and a half my son was in the school, I became increasingly disturbed about three things: 1. Weird science ... [W]hen I obtained Waldorf curriculum guides, I discovered that the inadequate and erroneous science [I had observed in the school] was part of the Waldorf system. 2. Racism. I was shocked to pick up a Steiner book [containing racist passages] for sale at the school ... 3. Quack medicine. An ‘Anthroposophical physician’ gave a lecture to the parents ...  It was classic quackery....

“...I requested a meeting with the College of Teachers, the committee of senior teachers that ran the school. They were ‘too busy.’ Instead, a committee of three teachers was delegated to give me an ultimatum: ‘You don't have to believe what we believe, but if you are going to talk about your disagreements with the other parents, you will have to leave.’ We left.” — Former Waldorf parent Dan Dugan. [See “Pops”.]

___________

Strange though it may seem, Rudolf Steiner urged his followers to be forgetful. 

“[A] typical feature of spiritual science [i.e., Anthroposophy] consists of one’s forgetting, almost every moment, what one has absorbed, so that one has to relearn and recreate it all the time. In order to gain knowledge of the Science of the Spirit, one has to lose it all the time ... The Science of the Spirit teaches us the art of forgetting, which, after all, is only the other side of digesting what one has taken in.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 14.

Steiner’s point is consistent with his general strictures against using the brain too much [see “Steiner’s Specific”], and it is not as crazy as it may seem at first blush. Steiner meant that, if you attain a sufficiently elevated state of consciousness, you will have direct contact with the spirit worlds and their resident gods, and therefore you will have immediate, intuitive, clairvoyant knowledge of spiritual realities and truths.* Thus, you will have no reason to rely on memory or conceptualization — the Truth will be a living reality for you, not a dusty collection of studied concepts.

We could debate whether such a state of consciousness is possible, and whether Steiner’s spirit worlds exist, and whether the gods he described are real. But for the moment let’s ask ourselves a simpler question: How well do Steiner’s anti-intellectual propositions (don’t think, don’t remember) suit an educational system? The obvious answer is: They don’t suit education at all, if for no other reason than that parents expect their kids to learn something at school. If, when asked the simplest questions — What is 2 + 2? Where is Africa? — a kid just looks blank, parents will be dissatisfied. Thus, Waldorf schools cannot entirely neglect conveying some information for their students to memorize. But they minimize the knowledge conveyed as much as they possibly can. Remember what we heard recently from Waldorf teacher Jack Petrash in his criticism of “fact-based education.” [See “June, 2011.” https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatchannex/june-2011] 

Facts are hard to pin down, sometimes; facts can change; newly discovered facts can supplant old ideas. But facts are indispensable. Another name for facts is knowledge.

* To take a more cynical (and realistic?) view, we might say that a man whose profession was preaching absurd doctrines had good reason to encourage people not to remember what he said or at least not to think about his statements too much. Anthroposophists who pore over Steiner’s books and lectures are thus making a fundamental mistake. They are not following orders. They are forgetting to remember to forget.

___________

Rudolf Steiner addressing Waldorf teachers concerning their students: 

“If you give them a slap, you should do it the way Dr. Schubert does ...  There are physical slaps and astral slaps. It doesn’t matter which one you give, but you cannot slap a child sentimentally.’” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 323.

___________

“We are very worried about how [our son’s] time at the Steiner school is still affecting him ... He left in May last year, and he still has nightmares. He will wake up very afraid at least 2 - 3 times a week, and while half-asleep will beg us not to send him back to Steiner school in the morning. He still talks about it almost every day, mentioning stupid, stupid things that the so-called teachers filled his head with. It still makes me so angry that he couldn't tell us the ridiculous things they were saying to him while he was there, as the teachers were belittling our role as his parents and telling him what they said was the real 'truth.' It’s still very much at the forefront of his mind, and for a six-year-old to remember those things in such detail almost a year on is worrying. “ — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Slaps”.]

Only a small minority of Waldorf students are traumatized by their school experiences, but for those who are traumatized, the causes of trauma are often the same, and they are deeply rooted in the Waldorf worldview. Thus, for instance, many children are charmed by Waldorf teachers' talk of goblins or gnomes, which the teachers claim really exist. [See "Neutered Nature".] But some children are terrified. This can be aggravated by Waldorf efforts to undermine parents in the eyes of young children [see "Basement"], which can make the children feel vulnerable and confused.

___________

Waldorf teachers are expected to teach too many subjects with too little preparation. The best they can do, often, is to quickly memorize some material, write it on the chalkboard, work up an illustration, and then tell the students to make copies. If the teachers have limited knowledge of their subjects, these limitations are passed along to the kids in the form of unrecognized errors. This arrangement ensures that children will be misinformed by faculty who are unqualified in many of the subjects they teach. 

“Class teachers have to cover an immense range of topics. A seventh grade teacher, for example, has to teach courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, physiology, English language and literature, geography and history. Since most people have specialized knowledge of at most one or two of these subjects this means...the teacher is at the mercy of his or her sources ... [I]f you have only a few weeks in which to prepare to teach a block in physiology or medieval history you may well find yourself simply copying what someone has told you or what you read in a few — maybe a very few — books. Very often the time available is considerably less than a few weeks. Having completed sixth grade you are in a state of exhaustion [as you try to get ready for teaching seventh grade] ... That means about one week of preparation for each main lesson block, provided you do not take a vacation.” — Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9”.]

The "main lesson" is the first, longest class of the day in a Waldorf school. A class teacher is usually responsible for all the main lessons, in all subjects, taught during a school year.

___________

“I had previously read about Steiner Waldorf schools in a glowing article in a national newspaper. It described an holistic creative education based outdoors using 'nature as teacher.' Intrigued, I began by taking my son to a Steiner parent and toddler group. So enchanted was I at the time, I managed to persuade my family to move 40 miles away to be near a bigger Steiner school where our son would be able to attend long term. I remember attending the summer fair and whilst I stood in the queue to request a prospectus, a woman in front of me asked the administrator the following question: ‘How will the school meet the needs of my psychic daughter?’ He smiled and replied ‘We are all psychic here.’ I thought he was joking. 

“Once we had moved and enrolled our son, the teacher started to mention the word ‘Anthroposophy’ and the existence of a study group for new parents. I felt foolish that I had to ask what Anthroposophy was (I had previously looked for the word in my dictionary and had not found it) and was told it was the study of human wisdom. The teacher didn't tell me a core belief of Anthroposophy is the concept of reincarnation of the soul through racial hierarchies from Black to Aryan as a consequence of a person's karma; or the classification of a child's soul according to their physiognomy, nor was I told of the Anthroposophical movement's history. I didn't question further at that stage. As one parent recently observed ‘You don't expect a school to lie.’" — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Coming Undone”.]

___________

“When it became time for my wife and I [sic] to find a Waldorf school for our own children, our search led us to Portland, Oregon. There we found a Waldorf school where I could teach and our children attend ... Teaching the Waldorf curriculum while incorporating Anthroposophy as a background for inspiration was of great benefit....

“[Later] I went to work as an insurance agent/financial planner ... I wanted to teach in Waldorf schools [again]. I found a position in Kona, Hawaii ...  [Still later] we left to teach in Seattle. I was forced out due to political differences ... My last teaching attempt was at a Waldorf school in Bellevue, Washington. To my dismay I found that the Waldorf school was not following Rudolf Steiner’s indications....

“...I retired and began to devote my time to astrology.... ” — Ron Odama, in ASTROLOGY AND ANTHROPOSOPHY (Bennett & Hastings, 2009). [See “Ex-Teacher 4”.]

Some Waldorf teachers wind up wandering from school to school. Waldorf faculties — like other Anthroposophical groups — are often riven by factions. People with differing understandings (or misunderstandings) of Steiner's doctrines struggle to correct or undercut one another. A question like the importance of astrology may be debated for years as tempers grow ever shorter. The trouble with "true belief" (i.e., utter devotion to unsubstantiated tenets) is that it is usually false. But true believers who have no rational basis for their beliefs often cling to those beliefs all the more tenaciously.

___________

Rudolf Steiner made innumerable nutty statements. Instead of recoiling from them, his followers — including leading advocates of Waldorf education — hail them as esoteric wisdom. One example:

“A considerable part of what is included in the educational methods of our Waldorf school, besides other things promoting health, is the prevention of early dental decay in those who attend the school . . . If a child of from four to six years is clumsy and awkward with arms, hands, legs, and feet — or cannot adapt himself to a skillful use of his arms and legs and especially of his hands and feet, we shall find that he is inclined to an abnormal process of dental formation. . . . 

“Go into our needlework classes and handicraft classes at the Waldorf School, and you will find the boys knit and crochet as well as the girls, and that they share these lessons together . . . This is not the result of any fad or whim, but happens deliberately in order to make the fingers skillful and supple, in order to permeate the fingers with soul. And to drive the soul into the fingers means to promote all the forces that go to build up sound teeth.”  — Rudolf Steiner, quoted by Eugene Schwartz in the Foreword to THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 10.

People who think Steiner was wise instead of nutty dominate typical Waldorf school faculties. Do you want such people to “educate” your child?

(P.S. If Steiner meant that developing nimble fingers helps kids brush their teeth better, he would almost make sense. But that's not what he said. He said that driving the soul into the fingers promotes the inner forces that help "build up" healthy teeth. He was talking about inner soul forces, not the external cleaning of teeth. If he wanted kids to brush their teeth well, he should have recommended teaching kids how to brush their teeth, not how to knit.)

___________

“My daughter cried at bedtime and in the mornings as she vehemently resisted going to [our Waldorf] school. However, thinking we should work through her intensifying revolt, because it was in her best interest, we ignorantly kept sending her off as we were dubious about our other options for schooling. When her accumulated wet-on-wet ‘artwork’ came home, I was aware that, unlike her prolific creative drawing done at home, at school the self-expression we had anticipated was actually being frustratingly suppressed.

“Mounting idiosyncrasies, prayers, and religiosities (including my daughter's announcement that she had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other) suggested an undercurrent that emanated from the faculty. These were not just isolated beliefs of the mystical seekers in the parent body. Legends of holy people, old testament stories, and much ado about demons, devils, angels, fairies, gnomes, and Saint Michael (all taught as fact) added to the fear that we had allowed [our child’s] tiny head to be opened and filled with a syncretic, superstitious miasma of ages past. Contrary to the claims of nonsectarianism, it was becoming very apparent that everything revolved around Rudolf Steiner; the founder of Anthroposophy and Waldorf education.” — A former Waldorf parent. [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/lombard.html]

___________

“Using pseudonyms for her former colleagues, a former Waldorf first-grade teacher has written, 

“Because we had little funding and because of everyone’s inexperience, all of my assistants were pulled from kindergarten and so they inevitably had to go back to their original classrooms. There was little consistency. Or you could say there was a great deal of consistent change. Just when one of the assistants stayed long enough to understand how to work with me and the children, she had to go back. 

“...Mrs. Peacock showed up one day unexpectedly and announced that she wanted to try her hand at leading the class. She always wanted to be a grade’s teacher and wouldn’t I let her have a chance? She played a few games with them and left smiling, satisfied by her performance. Another day Mrs. Blue jay stopped by. She sat back and watched. Then on another Mrs. Bear. Mrs. Raven observed my class as well. Other days, I had no assistant or visitors.

“First grade had become a revolving door.”  — Lani Cox. [See “Ex-Teacher”.]

___________

“If a system believes that we inherit our Karma and that all bad things are what we chose in a previous life, fair enough. But there is no place for this in education of children. The belief might be there [in Waldorf schools], as we know racism is often there, but any sign that it is being acted out should be nipped in the bud. There is no way this should be an alibi for raping a small child, beating anyone for anything and actively preventing them from learning. Steiner schools have a reputation, created by themselves, for nurturing and caring. 'A third parent' is another description I have heard. This is so totally the opposite from my experience. So many children came from 'dysfunctional' homes. Parents either knew they needed help and hoped the school was the answer or needed an alibi for their own behavior and the school gave them that."  — A former Waldorf student [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/RosieTestimonial.html]

___________

“The actual instruction in [a Waldorf] class was executed...rigidly ... No matter whether students wrote, drew, or calculated, everything was done in rigid monotony. There were only a few moments in which the children could contribute their own ideas. Usually, people stuck to the prescribed schedule. Each of my shy questions about the reasons for the various measures and schedules was answered with a reference to Rudolf Steiner's works. For my host, the maxims Steiner had developed in the twenties contained clear and unconditional truth, and they were never questioned.” — Former Waldorf intern Claudia Pangh. [See “The Phlegmatic Sits by the Window” and/or "Ex-Teacher 3”.]

___________

“Rudolf Steiner was forced to ask why it was that no one seemed to be able to hear what could be done to form a truly new society, a truly human society. He concluded that no one could hear him because the education people had been given left them unable to consider, and therefore unable to work with, anything not based in familiar routine.” — Robert F. Lathe and Nancy Parsons Whittaker in the introduction to THE SPIRIT OF THE WALDORF SCHOOL (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), p. xii.

By this account, the purpose of Waldorf education is to produce people who are able to “hear” Rudolf Steiner. In other words, the purpose is to break children free from the familiar world and accustom them to an alternate world, the world of mysticism and the occult. This is the world of Rudolf Steiner’s doctrines. The purpose of Waldorf education, then, is to produce people who are prepared to hear — or indeed embrace — Rudolf Steiner’s mystical and occult doctrines. This is the reason for the enormous emphasis that Waldorf schools place on myths, legends, fairy tales, and the like, along with their use of prayers and hymns, their advocacy of non-rational modes of thought such as imagination, and their general opposition to modern science and technology. 

The degree to which Waldorf schools convey Steiner's doctrines to students varies, but in general the schools aim to shape individuals in such a way that, as adults, those individuals will be predisposed to embrace Steiner.

___________

Writing about a retreat conducted by her fellow Waldorf teachers — at which, she says, students felt they were being brainwashed — a former Waldorf teacher says, 

“Many parents were furious about this kind of indoctrination, some students left the school and damage control was in effect. Instead of taking responsibility for an ill-fated retreat, they [i.e., the faculty] made me their scapegoat. I was accused of doing and saying things I did not do or say. Be this said, the exit cost from this cult was very high causing irreparable damage to my family and my career.”  — Former Waldorf teacher “Alice Shapiro” [See "Ex-Teacher Too”]

___________

“We pulled our child out [of a Waldorf school] not because of some incident that happened but because we read Steiner. We didn't like what we read and felt very violated that the school had been operating on a level that excluded us from the pedagogy. I say this because in addition to not being provided the information up front, many questions that I asked of different teachers were not answered in a straightforward manner.

“In the case of the kindergarten teacher I know for a fact that her vague and deflective manner was not due to her limited knowledge of RS and anthroposophy. In discussions I've had with another parent in that class there was a wide range of knowledge about anthroposophy and Rudolph Steiner that this teacher shared with that parent. I found out at a meeting I attended after leaving the school that the teacher's husband (also a board member) stated that he had been studying Steiner for 2 decades.” — Former Waldorf parent Kathy H. [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/KathyTestimonial.html]

___________

The Waldorf curriculum is tightly regimented: All children of a given age are required to study the same subjects, the ones that Anthroposophy considers appropriate for that age. Strenuous efforts are made to block out all information and influences from outside the school while the predetermined Waldorf curriculum is pressed on all students. “

Worse in my eyes than not teaching accurate facts in the classroom was the reality that children who had interests in things that were not part of the Waldorf curriculum for their age were not only not allowed to learn about those interests at school, but their parents were encouraged (dare I say “pressured”) to not allow them to pursue their interests at home either. Their parents were told that exposure to anything non-Waldorf would hurt their development....” — A former Waldorf student teacher who went on to teach in Montessori schools. [See “Ex-Teacher 5”. For an overview of the Waldorf curriculum, see "Curriculum".]

___________

“The following is a highly distressing message, and what it describes is surely not typical of Waldorf schools in general. Still, there have been many reports of violence and abuse in Waldorf schools [see "Slaps"], enough to alert parents that Waldorf schools are not necessarily safe havens. One factor is that Anthroposophists usually cannot believe that any of their colleagues could be guilty, whereas they have a deep distrust of outsiders. So they close their eyes and circle the wagons (a neat trick, if you think about it).

“I have had so much telephone air time in the last week from survivors of this absurd and nasty education [i.e., Waldorf education]. One letter from a man whose daughter was sexually abused by a teacher named [X] in 1982 when she was seven. He is so angry and feels so helpless as his daughter is self mutilating, in and out of hospital and generally broken. [X] was known by me to be sexually abusing little girls for sure in 1975. We suspected he was doing the same to little boys as well. This had been going on since he joined [the Waldorf faculty]. Any queries were dismissed, put down, isolated with the implication that the victim had somehow deserved it.

“...I personally had [a single] main lesson teacher for eight years. I used to try and count the days I DID NOT get beaten. One term there were no days. I was humiliated verbally, described as a mess, slow and stupid. I was dyslexic. He died a few years ago much respected....”  — A former Waldorf student. [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/RosieTestimonial.html]

___________

“Every school day [at the Waldorf school] was so ritualized that a large part of the morning was taken up by the recitation of verses, either individually or as a group. I don't know how many parents are aware of the nature of these verses to which their children are exposed on a daily basis, and which the students have to learn by heart. From my point of view, they carried a distinctly Christian-Anthroposophical world view, which, in my opinion, should only have a place in religious instruction. I would even doubt that the seven and eight year old kids had any understanding of the meaning of the words they parroted every day. Fortunately, conflicts with children from different religions or cultures did not arise; I found my Waldorf school to be a zone completely void of foreigners.” — Claudia Pangh, “The Phlegmatic Sits by the Window”. [See "Ex-Teacher 3”. Concerning the “verses” Waldorf students recite, see “Prayers”.]

___________

Waldorf schools struggle to decide how openly to weave Anthroposophy into their classes. Usually, they disguise their intentions. Here is Steiner discussing these issues with faculty at the first Waldorf school:

“Dr. Steiner: ... 'You have told me that [students] N.G. and G.S., and perhaps some of the others, have been impertinent and that they asked how it is that people say that there is no anthroposophy in the instruction. How did you understand that? What did you think about all those questions?‘

“A teacher: ‘When N.G. asked about those things, I had the feeling that he wanted to know the truth, but that he also wanted to trip us up.' 

“Dr. Steiner: ... 'Everybody told him time and again that there is no Anthroposophy in the instruction. But Anthroposophy is just what he wanted ... N.G. came to me and said, “I don’t know what I should do. I had a great hope that I would become a better human being when I went to the Waldorf School.” ... [N.G. dropped out, then returned.] Now recently since he returned again, something has happened to the boy. Either we should not have accepted him again, or he should have been able to gain some trust in the faculty. He is in a terrible position. Think about what kind of trophy that is for people who gather data against the anthroposophical movement.'”  — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 380-381. 

[For more on Waldorf secrecy, see “Secrets”. On the question of Anthroposophy is the classroom, see “Here’s the Answer” and "Spiritual Agenda".]

___________

“People everywhere are paying attention to this school, but when people everywhere say that the children are always getting slapped, then we will fall behind in our work. We need to be extremely careful so long as the whole world is looking at the school.”  — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 355.

___________

An underlying problem at Waldorf schools is that real knowledge about the real world is often rejected. Anthroposophists believe the occult, "clairvoyant" teachings of Rudolf Steiner, not the knowledge produced by modern science and scholarship. A subsidiary problem is that Anthroposophists can become arrogant in their belief that they — and only they — know the Truth.

"Anthroposophists generally practise what they preach...but only up to a point. We certainly have no difficulty in rejecting most of the world's recognized authorities, along with the orthodoxies of politics, economics, medicine, science, art, agriculture and education that they represent — except when they just happen to fit in with something that we are pushing. As a group we believe that we have access to knowledge that puts us in a superior position, and the tendency to let this feeling of superiority show is one of the most off-putting features of the anthroposophical personality." — Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See "Ex-Teacher 9”.]

___________

“When my child was going through a bad time [at his Waldorf school] it was draining emotionally and my energy was gone. I needed to get him out of the situation, as a few other parents did with their children. I looked at the big picture and realized I wasn't up for the fight. The horizontal administration [i.e., “collegial” faculty governance], not one person accountable, makes for very slow changes ... My child is now at a wonderful [non-Waldorf] school and his behavior and attitude have changed beyond belief ... [L]ast year 35 families, approximately 75 children left our [Waldorf] school, I was not an isolated case ... Obviously those families did not think the fight was worth it. The fifth grade class at our school went from 24 children to 9 children, they lost most children this year and last year. The lower grades are faring better but there have been at least 5 families that have left Kindergarten through second grade this year, mid-term.” — A former Waldorf parent. [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/StoryAnon02.html]

___________

“After singing roll, I choose a child, perhaps this would be the child of the day (or my little helper) to come up and light the candle on the nature table. The candle is lit out of reverence, to set a mood, much like you would at church or at the dinner table. Then the child returns to his place and we say our morning verse which was written by Rudolf Steiner.

“’The sun with loving light makes bright for me each day. The soul with spirit power gives strength unto my limbs. In sunlight shining clear I do revere O God, the strength of humankind. Which thou so graciously has planted in my soul. That I will all might, may love to work and learn. From Thee come light and strength. To Thee rise love and thanks.’

“...[T]he candle is blown out and the class sits down.”  — Former Waldorf teacher Lani Cox. [See “Ex-Teacher”.]

Anyone who doubts that Waldorf schools are religious institutions should consider why Waldorf students and teachers begin the day by reciting prayers (“ I do revere O God...”) and lighting candles on tables resembling altars (“The candle is lit out of reverence...”). [See “Prayers”.]

___________

“It frustrates me when people deny that Anthroposophy is a religion and [claim] that the schools don’t teach Anthroposophy to children ... My daughter’s books [i.e., class books created by copying from the chalkboard] show that indeed she was taught Anthroposophy, in picture form as well as in written form. ‘The human being is like a little universe inside a big one. Sun, moon and stars find their likeness in mans head, trunk and limbs’; ‘The Sylphs, Salamanders, Gnomes and Undines are the earth’s scribes’; ‘The body is the house of the spirit,’ etc. If you deconstruct the lessons, the curriculum and the pedagogy, you cannot ignore the fact that Waldorf is a mystery school, a magical lodge for juniors.” — Former Waldorf parent Sharon Lombard. [See “Spotlight on Anthroposophy”, CULTIC STUDIES REVIEW, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003]

___________

From an article about Lillian Cooper, a former public school teacher who later took Waldorf teacher training: 

"The Waldorf approach "promotes an offbeat ‘New Age’ religion known as Anthroposophy. [Teacher trainees] were told that Anthroposophy is ingrained in the curriculum of the [Waldorf] school and that they would be responsible for the spiritual development of their pupils.

"’The red flag went up when I was told that I would be responsible for developing the soul consciousness of the children,’ Cooper says. ‘They started talking more and more about it ... To be a good Waldorf teacher, we had to develop our inner lives in a certain way. What I realized after quitting was that this inner path is the path according to [Waldorf schools founder] Rudolf Steiner.’

“During one session, Cooper recalls, instructors posted a diagram labeled ‘Teacher as Priest.’ Says Cooper, ‘I thought, “I can't do this; I have public school credentials."' I just got real scared at that point....’" [See “Ex-Teacher 8”.]

___________

“I was involved in a Steiner school for quite a few years ... The kindergarten was a disaster... The bullying was awful. The teacher ignored it, capitulated in it, or simply showed all these little kids how to do it best.

"...The kids at that school were and are so angry because the parents were so busy arguing and getting exhausted and keeping up appearances and trying to hold down jobs as well so they could afford a certain kind of right-on organic wholefoods yoga-mum lifestyle in North London AND the Steiner school fees as well AND the time they were supposed to put in [volunteering at the school] ... it made them all totally wired-up, short-circuiting really, quite crazy and paranoid and twitchy to be around....

“[Eventually] I really realised nothing about that school in particular could ever do my daughter any good ... [Many people there were] hardcore Steiner followers who didn't acknowledge me, or others I knew, time and time again, who would look straight through us, and only talk to each other....

“Don't send your children to Steiner school unless you are happy about conforming entirely to the beliefs of the majority, placing your trust in a sea of sometimes disturbing and odd beliefs, and 'letting go' of your children and your own intuition into that sea.” — Suzanne Slack [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/Testimonial.html]

___________

“We must avoid under all circumstances giving [students] a punishment we cannot carry out. We may never place ourselves in a situation where we may have to relent in a disciplinary decision. If we say that a child must come earlier, then we must enforce that. We must order the child to come earlier. The girls today were in the seventh or eighth grade. We lose all control the minute we look away. We will find ourselves on a downward path and will continue to slide. With punishment, we cannot relent. It is better to let it go. Under certain circumstances, it can lead to the opposite of what we want, with the children forming a group among themselves and saying, 'Today I come late, tomorrow, you.' I don’t think that would work, because it would make us somewhat laughable. Of course, it’s just laziness. Having the children come earlier is not so good; it would be better if they stayed a quarter of an hour longer. That is something the children do not like.

“Have you tried that to see if it works? If a child comes ten minutes late, having him or her stand for a half hour. If they have to stand three times as long, they will certainly think about every minute. Let them stand there uncomfortably. Your boy rubs the back of his head on the wall and amuses himself with all kinds of things. I think that in such cases, when there is some punishment connected with the misbehavior, you can be particularly effective if you allow them to stand in some uncomfortable place. The older children will then be careful that they do not come too late. We could also buy a number of little sheds, and then they will not come too late as a group. They may even get some cramps in their legs. We could have the sheds built in the shop class.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 109-110.

___________

“Concerning the two students, Z. and R., in spite of the fact that they were in the Waldorf School, they have come to behave as they did recently, and we have no real hope of favorably influencing them if they continue at the Waldorf School ... Neither of the boys is a kleptomaniac. They are weak-minded, not kleptomaniacs, and they have an intellectual and moral weakness in addition to the weakness in their souls, which makes the problem particularly difficult ... We cannot protect the two boys from the juvenile court. They will most certainly be sentenced ... I have to admit it is, in a certain sense, very strange that it is particularly the children of anthroposophists who develop so poorly in the Waldorf School. The children who were expelled some time ago were also children of anthroposophists.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 780-782.

Children of Anthroposophists may have very good reasons to rebel against their parents and against the Waldorf schools to which they have been consigned.

___________

Critical thinking is not highly prized at Waldorf schools or among Anthroposophists. Instead, Anthroposophists — including Waldorf teachers — tend to be true believers who choose gurus for themselves without, perhaps, sufficient vetting. The gurus are, of course, almost always fellow Anthroposophists. 

“As anthroposophists we are enjoined to practice veneration and to silence the inner voice which is apt to be saying, 'But... But... But...' ... Anthroposophists, however, seem to adopt their gurus uncritically, often simply on the strength of reputation or position. I have seen it happen often enough and it seems to be quite easy to become an anthroposophical guru ... I have no doubt that some of the anthroposophical authorities whom I have encountered over the years have been people of genuine insight ... Equally there are those who are ‘negative influences’, some of whom do it with charisma and some with bumbling sincerity. A few are self-serving charlatans.” — Former Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9".]

___________

“[I pulled] my kids out of a ridiculous waldorf situation years ago ... [N]ow, after a couple of years of being at the public school i have to say that yes — a lot of things are easier to accept at a waldorf school. aesthetically it is much more pleasing, they don't send home loads and loads of meaningless worksheets, the kids are outdoors — well, you know the pros. (and i hate to admit this prejudice; the parents are a heck of a lot more interesting than the parents at the public school!) BUT the secrecy, the ‘us and them’ mentality of the faculty and the ‘born again anthro parents’ — it's lunacy!! someone here once said that the waldorfgang was the most unintellectual group of people she ever met and I completely agree. i've been in study groups where some old anthro is reinterpreting what steiner said and basically spewing racist ideas and these (mostly) moms just sit there, absorbing it all! ... [I]t IS a cult. and it would be completely fine, if they just were open about it. instead there is so much deception and secrecy going on that once you start exposing it, people just don't want to believe that they had been so gullible. the issue about prayers is a perfect example — are they just verses or are they prayers. you go sit in a classroom where a bunch of four year olds are thanking god for the trees and the blossoms and some of them even saying amen at the end of it and then try to pretend it's just a verse.” — A former Waldorf parent. [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/anonymous_testimonial_4.html. For more about Waldorf prayers, see "Prayers".]

___________

“When I returned to Los Angeles I was determined to go back to school [for graduate work] in a more humanistic and spiritualized course of study. I chose to study psychology and astrology. I found my perfect partner and was married in 1973 at my Saturn return* ... 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.” — Ron Odama, in ASTROLOGY AND ANTHROPOSOPHY (Bennett & Hastings, 2009). [See “Ex-Teacher 4”.]

* In astrology, a planetary return occurs when a planet occupies again the same point in the zodiac it occupied at the time of a person’s birth. Astrology is important in Anthroposophy. Note the title of Ron Odama's book: ASTROLOGY AND ANTHROPOSOPHY. Odama is an interesting example of the sort of person you may find at the head of a Waldorf classroom.

___________

“For many years our family was part of a Waldorf Community. I was there often, helping with classes, field trips, meetings, fairs, etc. I knew nothing of Anthroposophy before we joined and was told it was not in the school. I gradually realized that this is the driving force behind Waldorf Education.

“...After years of wanting to believe in this community and trying to help solve some of the problems the school encountered our family was hit between the eyes by an Anthroposophical 2x4 and the pain was intense....

“The word I heard from ex-Waldorf families to describe how they felt about Waldorf was...‘Cult.’ ... As painful as it was to leave I am so very relieved to have done so. My children are doing well. We did not have one inquiry from the school as to our children's well being. And still I have nothing against Anthroposophy or Waldorf Education for those who understand and choose this very religious/occult based education [sic; emphasis by author]. Unfortunately, Waldorf Education promotes itself in a misleading manner. This accounts for many painful misunderstandings.

“...While some of our Waldorf experience was good (knitting, baking, etc.) the fundamental essence of Waldorf is steeped in occultism, mysticism, karma and (re) incarnation. This is not what I was led to believe prior to enrolling our children. I understand this now. If I had known this before we would not have joined.” [See http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/StoryAnon01.html".]

___________

A report on Waldorf teacher training by trainee Andreas Lichtem, who refers to himself as "L":

"[A]ll they are dished out is Steiner, Steiner, Steiner. [L.] wonders how his fellow participants are doing. Those who think everything's great had already been anthroposophists — that's how they refer to themselves.

“...Differences become more and more evident, conflicts are worsening on both sides, each citing Steiner. Some adore him in a rather cultic fashion...some ask whether they'll ever be able to understand all this. Open dispute erupts ... [They debate Steiner’s teachings about] higher- and lower-standing peoples ... L. insists such thoughts are dangerous ... A female participant finishes off the 'discussion' claiming it is clear she ranks higher than someone who's in prison. The lesson over, L. is left speechless.

“[A]nthroposophy puts a lot of emphasis on hierarchies, human hierarchies, angel hierarchies, leaders ... None of the lecturers consider to offer a summary of a subject: lessons have more the feel of a church service interpreting Steiner's word. Lecturer Klein puts it this way: 'I am a missionary on behalf of Steiner.'" — Andreas Lichtem. [See "Teacher Training".]

___________

“I have been back only a few hours, and I have heard so much gossip about who got a slap and so forth. All of that gossip is going beyond all bounds, and I really found it very disturbing ... We should be quiet about how we handle things in the school, that is, we should maintain a kind of school confidentiality. We should not speak to people outside the school...” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 10.

Note that Steiner was more concerned with gossip — that is, bad PR for the school — than with the question of which children got slapped.

___________

“Concerning the parent meeting, you could do that [i.e., have one], but without me. They might say things I could not counter, if I hear something I cannot defend. The things I say here, I could not say to the parents.” — Rudolf Steiner addressing Waldorf faculty, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 408.

___________

“I remember when I was a wide-eyed believer receiving a letter from parents who had been harmed by the [Waldorf] school ... I remember skimming the letter and thinking that they were sadly mistaken malcontents ... I remember feeling superior and floating in a sense of knowing so much more than my non-W friends. I had the key to paradise...the Waldorf Way...

“I can't begin to describe to you what it has been like to be pushed off of this beautific throne....

“I was seduced by the beauty [of the school] — by the promise of giving my children a glowing, golden soul. Little did I know that the beauty was goldplated, propped by deception ... [My children]  almost had their spirits robbed by well-meaning, poorly trained, neurotic humans calling themselves teachers and spiritual guides.

“...I feel spiritually connected [and] I believed that this school would protect my children from the soul death of the media and capitalistic culture. I blame myself for...BLINDLY, faithfully, following advice that was justified using Steiner and spiritual science.

“I believe my worst mistake is not believing in myself as an authority on my own children, ignoring my feeling of humiliation in the presence of fellow humans who market themselves as spiritually aware.”  — A former Waldorf parent. [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/StoryAnon03.html".]

___________

“I had been assigned [as classroom assistant] to the ‘main lesson’ teacher of a 2nd grade class [in a Waldorf school], but I also had the opportunity to obtain some inside views into the lessons given in other grades. In this class, forty-two (!) children sat in pairs at double desks, all facing the teacher. The organic form of the room and the pastel-colored walls didn't compensate for such an arrangement. I quickly learned that large classes were the rule at this school, and not the exception. In this light, a cap of thirty-three students in public school classes seems like paradise — even though we rightly complain that one cannot properly work with the individual student in groups that large.” — Claudia Pangh, “The Phlegmatic Sits by the Window”.  [See "Ex-Teacher 3".]

___________

“I have attended countless [Waldorf] open houses ... I have seen scores of [student] notebooks, copied and illustrated with enormous care and devotion and riddled with all kinds of errors, placed where parents and visitors are most likely to see them ... Copying is the curse of the Waldorf Schools. There is altogether too much of it, and it is not confined to the elementary school. In high school, where there is much less excuse for it, it still goes on. The way in which many [Waldorf] teachers organize their work implies that they consider that the whole object of the course is the creation of a gorgeous notebook. And the way in which some teachers judge the work of other teachers implies the same thing.” — Former Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9”.]

Not only do Waldorf students copy from their teachers, but the teachers copy from other Waldorf teachers, whose work often contains multiple errors. These problems stem from at least two underlying problems. One is that teachers who have gone through Waldorf teacher training may know a lot about Waldorf methods and rationale, but they often have little or no mastery of the subjects they are assigned to teach. The other problem is that Waldorf teachers are often expected to move rapidly from subject to subject (math, geography, history...). Even when a particular teacher is well-grounded in some subjects, s/he is inevitably less well-equipped to teach other subjects. So s/he copies from books or booklets written by other Waldorf teachers, and if these contain errors (as they often do), s/he unwittingly passes these errors along to the students.

___________

“For many years, we were enthusiastic about the [Waldorf] school in spite of many red flags. Ultimately, however, we became disillusioned, in particular by what we considered to be Waldorf’s low academic standards. When we first enrolled, we were told that taking children out of the school between the beginning of first grade and the end of third grade could be a problem because many Waldorf students don't learn to read before the end of third grade; but by the end of third grade, we were told, Waldorf students are even with, or ahead of, students in other schools. That was not our experience, nor that of many other people I know.

“When my daughter went from Waldorf third grade to public school fourth grade, her new teacher told me she was two or three years behind grade level. Later in the year, she corrected that estimate and said that my daughter had been more than three years behind grade level. Walking around the public school classroom on parents' night, looking at the children's work, said it all. The children had written essays that were easy to follow, even with the occasional mistake here and there. Our daughter's essays were incomprehensible. She had made brave attempts to write words, guessing at the letters involved, but not succeeding in spelling a single word correctly. The other children's work was the result of four years of public education. Our daughter's was the result of four years of Waldorf ‘education.’ Our daughter worked extremely hard. As she began to progress, she told us she liked having grades and knowing whether she was learning how to do things right or not. When she finally started getting good grades in subjects other than art and physical education, she took pleasure in her own sense of accomplishment.” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Our Experience".]

___________

“My name is Sarah ... I attended a Waldorf school from first grade to the beginning of sixth grade ... I have ADD [attention deficit disorder] ... Waldorf is totally in the dark about ADD-related disorders and other types of disabilities.....

“My teacher was a man who I will refer to here as Mr. M, who was and is...a teacher bully ... Mr. M went out of his way to give me a hard time and bully me because of my difficulty paying attention, or if I made a mistake no matter how small ... I remember him in first grade screaming at me in front of the whole class, because I was having trouble understanding a math problem ... I remember in third grade, I misunderstood a homework assignment and he literally shamed me for the whole afternoon....

“...Whenever dealing with my parents Mr. M would pretend to act all sweet and nice, but when he was with me, he became a bully. My mom knows now that she should have taken me out of that school a lot sooner ... I recently learned that a lot of Waldorf students have stories like mine.

“...As far as Mr. M is concerned, he still teaches at [the same Waldorf] school and has done this kind of thing to other students and the administration has done nothing about it.” — A former Waldorf student. [See “Slaps”.]

___________

“In September 2005, the [Waldorf] high school students, teachers and some staff members went to what was called a 'communication retreat' on an island set up for summer camps. 

"The retreat was the creation of two staff  members who claimed to be experienced in this kind of group work. It was later discovered that they had never tried this with a large group of students.

"The main activity of students (ages 14 to 19) and staff members was to sit in a large circle, 67 people in total, in the cafeteria for six hours divided by three sittings. 

"All were asked to keep silent unless [one] individual felt moved to speak. The beginning of this activity was signaled by a chime used by a staff member.  No one could speak until they said their name each time they wanted to speak, i.e. 'My name is ...'. 

"The stated goal of this five-day activity was to bring all members of the group to one consensus of one thought. By the end of the second day, many students were intimidated by this process and were not able to express themselves. Many students showed signs of restlessness, agitation and they were clearly uncomfortable. They were not allowed to call their parents privately. Some students called this cult indoctrination and refused to attend meetings. " — A former Waldorf teacher. [See "Ex-Teacher Too".]

___________

“Using pseudonyms for her former colleagues, a former Waldorf teacher has written, 

“[F]aculty meetings were a disaster ... It didn’t take me long to realize there were too many Indians and not enough chiefs in the room. I think because there was no recognized leader and because the school was small everyone seemed to believe that we could hold an informal conversation every Thursday after school and organically figure it out ... One of the reasons why faculty meetings felt like a root canal was not only due to the fact that no one seemed to be able to speak succulently [sic] thus toying with my nerves, but because of Mrs. Bear ...  Because the concept of clear and concise never entered a faculty meeting (a salt and pepper combination essential to everyday living), I started to react physically. After one particular name-calling session between Mrs. Bear and Mr. and Mrs. Turtle, I got sick with the flu....” — Lani Cox. [See “Ex-Teacher”.]

___________

Academic studies are often given short shrift at Waldorf schools. Waldorf students often lag far behind students in other schools, and many may never develop basic skills. The problem is especially acute in sciences and math. As a result, 

"In my thirty-two years as a Waldorf teacher I met very few classes in which more than a handful of students were fluent in the most elementary math." — Retired Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9”, “Academic Standards at Waldorf”, “Steiner’s ‘Science’”, "Pseudoscience", "Science", and “Mystic Math”.]

___________

“I worked at this [Waldorf] school for seven years ... Despite being chosen Employee of the Month and receiving several national awards and grants, including Teacher of the Year...I was subjected to ongoing harassment and character assassination after I began to question the legality of Anthroposophical religious indoctrination in staff training sessions led by uneducated, unaccredited Anthroposophists brought over from Europe. Both staff and students were subjected to nonacademic, occultist activities through the Waldorf training and pedagogy adopted from the Rudolf Steiner College, a nonaccredited Anthroposophical religious institution located in Fair Oaks, California. I quit in frustration over the academic dearth of Waldorf education and grief at watching...students being subjected to occultist religious indoctrination in the place of a sound academic program.” — Kathleen Sutphen. [See “Ex-Teacher 6".]

___________

A former Waldorf teacher writes: 

“Anthroposophical schools” — i.e., Waldorf schools staffed by committed Anthroposophists — exist mainly for one reason. This reason is not to educate or even benefit the students; it is to spread Anthroposophy: “Anthroposophical Waldorf [schooling] often fails to address the needs of the individual child and family ... The reason many Anthroposophical schools exist is because of the Anthroposophy, period. It's not because of the children. It's because a group of Anthroposophists have it in their minds to promote Anthroposophy in the world ... Educating children is secondary in these schools....” [See “Ex-Teacher 7”.]

___________

“I pushed hard to do my student teaching in the [Waldorf] school ...To be honest, I did see some wonderful things; beautiful classrooms, art work, story time...but I had a problem with Waldorf’s way of handling academic subjects. Waldorf educational philosophy states that focusing children's learning on intellectual endeavors too soon distracts from their physical, spiritual, and emotional development, so reading, writing, and math are not taught at all during preschool. Instead, emphasis is placed fantasy, imagination, storytelling, rhyming, and movement games ... I wanted to teach children to learn to think for themselves; to analyze, synthesize, and extrapolated information as opposed to simply regurgitating it the way it is done in more traditional settings.  What I soon found out was that children were simply regurgitating in the Waldorf settings [like in public schools]. Only instead of taking a standardized test or filling out a worksheet, in Waldorf it was copying a drawing or memorizing a poem. Although this was esoterically more pleasing to the casual observer, in essence it was still superficial learning.” — A former Waldorf student teacher who went on to teach in Montessori schools. [See “Ex-Teacher 5".]

___________

“A 2010 study of 2,330 middle school students at charter schools in 15 states found that they performed no better [than students in regular public schools] in math and science. And a Stanford University study in 2009 concluded: ‘Nearly half of the charter schools nationwide have results that are no different from the local public school options and over a third, 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than their students would have realized had they remained in traditional public schools.’” — Paul Farhi, “Five myths about America’s schools”, THE WASHINGTON POST, May 20, 2011.

___________

Rudolf Steiner contradicted himself again and again. (And again and again and again and again and again and...) For instance, he said that his teachings, which present true occultism, do not include such things as magic. “Real occult teaching knows nothing of witchcraft and magic.” — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SIGNS AND SYMBOLS (Anthroposophic Press, 1972), p. 32.

And yet “real occult teaching” — that is, Steiner’s own teaching — does contain such things as magic. In fact, Steiner said that magic really exists, it is real and potentially powerful. He said that the enemies of Anthroposophy include evil magicians, i.e., “black” magicians. White magicians, on the other hand, support good guys such as himself.

Here is Steiner speaking of magic:

Short form: 

“In order to train himself to become a black magician, the pupil has to go through a special schooling. The training in black magic consists in a person becoming accustomed, under methodical instruction, to torture, to cut, to kill animals. This is the ABC. When the human being consciously tortures living creatures it has a definite result.” — Rudolf Steiner.

Long form: 

“Something else that we can meet with in astral space [1] is the black magician with his pupils. In order to train himself to become a black magician, the pupil has to go through a special schooling. The training in black magic consists in a person becoming accustomed, under methodical instruction, to torture, to cut, to kill animals. This is the ABC. [2] When the human being consciously tortures living creatures it has a definite result. The pain caused in this way, when it is brought about intentionally, produces a quite definite effect on the human astral body. When a person cuts consciously into a particular organ this induces in him an increase in power. [3]

“Now the basic principle of all white magic is that no power can be gained without selfless devotion. When through such devotion power is gained, it flows from the common life force of the universe. If however we take its life-energy from some particular being, we steal this life-energy. Because it belonged to a separate being it densities and strengthens the element of separateness in the person [4] who has appropriated it, and this intensification of separateness makes him suited to becoming the pupil of those who are engaged in conflict with the good powers. [5]

“For our earth is a battlefield; it is the scene of two opposing powers: right and left. [6] The one, the white power on the right, after the earth has reached a certain degree of material, physical density, strives to spiritualise it once again. [7] The other power, the left or black power, strives to make the earth ever denser and denser, like the moon. Thus, after a period of time, the earth could become the physical expression for the good powers, or the physical expression for the evil. It becomes the physical expression for the good powers through man uniting himself with the spirits working for unification [8], in that he seeks the ego in the community. [9] It belongs to the function of the earth to differentiate itself physically to an ever greater degree. Now it is possible for the separate parts to go their own way, for each part to form an ego. This is the black path. [10] The white path is the one which strives for what is common, which forms an ego in community. Were we to burrow more and more deeply into ourselves, to sink ourselves into our own ego organisation [11], to desire always more and more for ourselves, the final result would be that we should strive to separate ourselves from one another. If on the other hand we draw closer, so that a common spirit inspires us, so that a centre is formed between us, in our midst, then we are drawn together, then we are united. To be a black magician means to develop more and more the spirit of separateness. There are black adepts who are on the way to acquire certain forces of the earth for themselves. Were the circle of their pupils to become so strong that this should prove possible, then the earth would be on the path leading to destruction.

“Man is called upon to enter into the atmosphere of the good Masters to an ever greater degree. [But] near the adept with his pupils, there is also on the astral plane the black magician with his pupils. “  — Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 20, GA 93a.

So, Steiner’s teachings say nothing about magic, except that Steiner’s teachings say a lot about magic. Can we dismiss contradictions like this as evidence of Steiner’s growth? Did he, over time, learn more and more about the spirit realm (including the subject of magic) and thus revise his views? To some extent, yes, he claimed such growth. But on the other hand, he also claimed that his fundamental views were always right — he learned more, but he did not need to change his previous statements much if at all, since he had been right all along. Note, too, that the two quotations we have seen here (no magic, a lot of magic) both come from his early Theosophical period. The first quote (no magic) comes from a lecture Steiner delivered in 1907. The second (lots of magic) comes from a lecture he delivered only a few months earlier, in 1905.

Steiner began giving occult lectures in 1899 and continued almost until his death in 1925. He published one of his key occultist texts, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT, in 1904. His other major occultist text, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE, appeared in 1910. In the 1925 preface to that book, Steiner claimed that his views as expressed in the first edition were only confirmed and deepened by his further clairvoyant researches in the following years.

But returning to the question of magic: In OCCULT SCIENCE, Steiner speaks explicitly about magic, treating it as a reality. Various occult leaders, making use of "high spiritual forces" and "great power over Nature-forces," performed magic. • "Gifted moreover as the Teachers were, by virtue of the life-bodies [i.e., etheric bodies] and astral bodies that had been bequeathed to them, with high spiritual forces, they were able also to work magically on their pupils." And • ”The Oracle-sanctuaries too, which had been transplanted hither from the ancient land of Atlantis, shared in the general character of the people ... They still possessed great power over Nature-forces that subsequently withdrew from the control of human will. The Guardians of the Oracles were in command of inner forces connected with fire and other elements. They may indeed rightly be called magicians.” — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969), pp. 203 and 206. [12]

[For more of Steiner’s statements about magic, see “Magic”.]

[1] Astral space or the astral world is a level of existence above the physical. The astral world is also called the soul world.

[2] Killing and torturing is elementary education (“the ABC”) for a student of black magic.

[3] Killing a creature releases that creature’s energy, which the student of black magic can absorb, thus becoming more powerful. The power flows into the "astral body" — the second of the three invisible bodies that Steiner said human beings possess. The first is the etheric body, the second is the astral body, and the third is the "I." [See "Incarnation".]

[4] The student of black magic gains power from the murdered creatures, and this intensifies his/her separation from the community of good beings.

[5] Black magicians and other evil beings are not just separated from the good beings, they fight against the good beings.

[6] The path of evil is black or on the left. This is one reason Steiner said that left-handedness should generally be “cured.”

[7] The Earth is at a stage of evolution in which it has become densely physical. This is the world we live in. However, the next stage of evolution will see the Earth becoming less densely physical and more spiritual once again.

[8] The good powers will try to bring separate beings closer and closer, into harmony and unification. The evil powers will try to make separate beings more and more separate, more and more physical, and hence less and less spiritual.

[9] Just as the Earth has become more densely physical, so have we. This is a necessary stage of evolution, and in it we develop our individual divine identities (our “egos” or “I’s”). But next we, like the Earth, must move away from physicality and separateness. We must seek a higher identity than the individual ego, by uniting ourselves more fully with the good powers.

[10] Evolving to become more distinct and separate is good and necessary, but it can go too far. The “white path” means reversing course and ascending into spirituality, while the “black path” means continuing into ever greater densification and physicality.

[11] “Organization,” in Anthroposophical jargon, often means structure or anatomy. Here Steiner is speaking of the structure of our individual egos.

[12] Steiner said that the "Nature-forces...subsequently withdrew from the control of human will." So this must mean that magic was possible long ago but it is no longer possible. But remember, at other times Steiner said something very different. For instance, he said that in the modern world, evil magicians are at work trying to destroy human spirituality. "When things that ought to come later make their appearance as spiritual premature births by the means I have described — through criminal occult activity — when this happens those whose intentions towards humanity are not good, in other words those who are black or grey magicians, can gain possession of such secrets. [paragraph break] Such things have indeed been going on behind the scenes of external events during the current decades ... Certain circles in this materialistic age are striving to paralyze and make impossible all of humanity’s spiritual development." — Rudolf Steiner, SECRET BROTHERHOODS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), p. 90. This comes from a lecture Steiner delivered in 1917. [See "Soul School".]

___________

Rudolf Steiner encouraged his followers to believe that they are surrounded by enemies, including secret brotherhoods of evil conspirators who plan to destroy human spirituality. He said that conspiratorial evildoers murder people in order to send the victims’ souls into the afterlife in a condition that will enable them to learn occult secrets that human beings should not yet possess. The plotters then use mediums (spiritualists who can communicate with the dead) to learn these secrets, which they proceed to use in the furtherance of their dastardly schemes. One atrocity planned by black magicians and materialistic scientists is to create vaccines that will make people turn away from the spirit realm. 

Some vaccines, Steiner said, may have value in preventing certain diseases, but other vaccines will murder the human soul. Consider the implications. How will you know which vaccines are ok and which ones are not? Perhaps avoiding all vaccines would be the wisest course. And thus Steiner’s teachings steer people away from totally imaginary dangers (black magicians, mediums, secret occult brotherhoods) while steering toward very real dangers (some children will inevitably die if they are denied the vaccines that could save them). [See “Double Trouble”, “Enemies”, and “Steiner’s Quackery”.]

Here is Steiner, discussing such things:

Short form: 

“When things that ought to come later [in human development] make their appearance as spiritual premature births by the means I have described — through criminal occult activity — when this happens those whose intentions towards humanity are not good, in other words those who are black or grey magicians, can gain possession of such secrets.” — Rudolf Steiner.

Long form: 

“[M]urder was committed when a member of the order of Thugs [a secret occult brotherhood] was instructed by anonymous superiors to murder such and such an individual. [1]

“Those in authority who set such things in train knew very well what goal they were pursuing ... The goal of all this was to make those human beings [i.e., the murder victims] pass through the gate of death violently [so that they] would thus be equipped with the capacity that would enable them after death to know certain secrets... [2]

“[Then] certain suitable individuals are schooled [by the dark conspirators] to be mediums. They are then put into a trance and the streams coming from the spiritual world are guided to the mediums by certain methods in such a way that the medium makes known certain secrets that cannot be made known in any other way. The only way they can be made known is when a person who has been violently killed uses over in the other world certain forces which have remained usable as a result of the violent death... [3]

“...When things that ought to come later make their appearance as spiritual premature births by the means I have described — through criminal occult activity — when this happens those whose intentions towards humanity are not good, in other words those who are black or grey magicians, can gain possession of such secrets. [4] 

“Such things have indeed been going on behind the scenes of external events during the current decades ... Certain circles in this materialistic age are striving to paralyze and make impossible all of humanity’s spiritual development, through causing people by their very temperament and character to reject everything spiritual and regard it as nonsense. [5]

“A stream of this kind — and it is already noticeable in some isolated individuals — will become deeper and deeper. A longing will arise for there to be a general opinion: Whatever is spiritual, whatever is of the spirit, is nonsense, is madness! Endeavors to achieve this will be made by bringing out remedies to be administered by inoculation just as inoculations have been developed as a protection against diseases, only these 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. People will be inoculated against the inclination to entertain spiritual ideas. Endeavours in this direction will be made; inoculations will be tested that already in childhood will make people lose any urge for a spiritual life.” [6] — Rudolf Steiner, SECRET BROTHERHOODS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), pp. 88-91.

“Nonsense” is the word, all right. The idea that “black or grey magicians” can discover occult secrets through the use of murder and mediums is nonsense. The idea that secretive materialistic evildoers will create vaccines to destroy the human capacity for spiritual experience is nonsense. Steiner’s teachings, in other words, are nonsense.

Steiner would have us believe that opposing him means that we are spiritually blind, that we think spirituality itself is nonsense. This is manifestly untrue. Many of us who criticize Steiner do so in part because he so clearly subverted spirituality. He took some of mankind’s highest and most wondrous impulses and packaged them as a set of deep dark secrets, an immense puzzle of occult hocus-pocus. [7]

That is what is nonsense. Steiner’s conspiracy theories are nonsense. Steiner’s demonization of his opponents is nonsense. Human spirituality is certainly not nonsense, and the death of spirituality is far more likely to come from irrational, grotesque nightmares peddled by the likes of Rudolf Steiner, than from the enlightened efforts of human beings to find truth by opening their eyes and sensibly, intelligently examining the magnificent universe in which we live.

[1] The Thugs were a band of murderers in India. What Steiner says about them is more or less true. But whether anything else Steiner says here is true is, at a minimum, highly questionable.

[2] Steiner is saying that secret brotherhoods of evil conspirators stage murders because the souls of murdered people gain secret knowledge when they pass over into the spirit realm.

[3] The evil conspirators use mediums to receive secret occult knowledge from the murdered souls.

[4] The secrets gained through murders and mediums are things that humanity should not yet know, but the evildoers — black or grey magicians — want these secrets now, so that they can put them to evil uses.

[5] The evil conspirators want to destroy human spirituality. They want to blind us to spiritual truths and thus confine us to the material or physical world.

[6] Evil materialistic scientists (aka, black magicians) will create vaccines that will make people turn away from spirituality. The vaccines will be given to children, destroying their spirituality near the very beginning of life.

[7]  Even agnostics and atheists should honor true spirituality. Whether or not a separate spirit realm exists, spirit is important in the real, physical world. The spirit of honesty, the spirit of truthfulness, the spirit of brotherhood/sisterhood, the spirit of service to others, the spirit of good stewardship, the spirit of compassion, the spirit of love — these are very real and very important, not as mere abstractions but as powerful forces in our lives. Beauty, wonder, awe, meditative transcendence, intellectual discovery, manual skillfulness, good works, high ideals — these can make the human spirit soar, and the pursuit of moments (stretched perhaps to hours or lifetimes) when we experience this selfless enlargement of the self is a wholly worthy activity. It may, indeed, be what makes us human in the best sense.

___________

Short form: 

“The souls of those who have recently died are surrounded by strange demonic forms...demonic figures with enormous webbed feet...huge webbed feet that are perpetually changing shape. These beings have a form somewhat similar to that of the kangaroo ... If, as you are standing among the autumn crocuses, you try to evoke the state of consciousness that is able to follow the dead, you will see, wherever an autumn crocus is growing, a being of the kind I have just described, with webbed feet and strange kangaroo-like body." — Rudolf Steiner.

Long form: 

"Let us assume that with initiation-knowledge [i.e., the occult knowledge granted to initiates] we enter into the world where the dead live in their life after death. When we accompany the dead in this way we first enter a world totally different from our own. I have already described it to some extent and have pointed out that it gives an impression of far greater reality than the world in which we live between birth and death.

“When we enter this world we are astonished at the remarkable beings to be found there. The souls of those who have recently died are surrounded by strange demonic forms. At the entrance to this intermediate world which the dead must enter and in which we can accompany them with a certain clairvoyant vision, we meet with demonic figures with enormous webbed feet — enormous by earthly standards — like the duck or the wild duck species and other aquatic animals, huge webbed feet that are perpetually changing shape. These beings have a form somewhat similar to that of the kangaroo, but half bird, half mammal. And when we accompany the dead we pass through vast areas where such beings dwell.

“If we ask ourselves where these beings are to be found, we must first have a clear idea of the location of such beings, of where we imagine [i.e., clairvoyantly picture] them to exist. They are always around us, for we inhabit the same world as the dead, but you must not look for them in this [lecture] hall. It is at this point that real and exact investigation begins [i.e., the use of “exact” clairvoyance].

“Suppose you are walking through a meadow where many plants of the species Cochicum autumnale, the autumn crocus, are to be found. If, as you are standing among the autumn crocuses, you try to evoke the state of consciousness that is able to follow the dead, you will see, wherever an autumn crocus is growing, a being of the kind I have just described, with webbed feet and strange kangaroo-like body. Such a being emerges from every autumn crocus." — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), lecture 10, “Ahrimanic Elemental Beings”, pp. 153-154.

Anthroposophists wonder why Rudolf Steiner is not more widely known and admired. To them, this is variously a profound mystery and a point of serious distress and grievance. Perhaps the answer is that demonic forces are arrayed in unappeasable hostility to this great man. Perhaps evil beings, including demons in human form, conspire to darken Steiner's name and prevent his wondrous beneficence from spreading across the globe, bringing light and salvation to all.

Another possibility, however, is that non-Anthroposophists occasionally take the time to look into Steiner’s work, and they perceive how entirely loony and empty it is. Not everything Steiner ever said or wrote is utterly preposterous, but much of it is. Much of it is like the quotation presented here. It is, in other words, astonishingly vapid. It is silly, senseless, fantastical hooey. It is unintended comedy, betrayed by internal contradictions and vacancies, and — as propositions offered for our serious consideration — wholly unsupported by evidence or sound reasoning. [See, e.g., "Top Ten Jokes Told by R. Steiner", and "Steiner's Blunders".]

 [R.R.]