"[M]y ability to maintain authority in the eyes of my adolescent children was irretrievably damaged, as they had been told by their class teachers at the Steiner School that they should ‘feel free to call them’ if they ever doubted their mother’s care. Despite the fact that I sent letters to the school in response requesting that these teachers desist from contacting or harassing my children, they felt free to overstep their boundaries in their attempt to undermine my parental relationship with my children once I had criticized the school publicly." — Former Waldorf parent Susan Gurney. [See "Help Too".] 

Waldorf teachers often attempt to supplant parents as the most important adults in their students' lives, and they may lash back harshly if criticized.

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"Ahriman ... His incarnation is undoubtedly coming ... Now, in order that his incarnation may take the most profitable form, it is of the utmost interest to Ahriman that people should perfect themselves in all our illusory modern science, but without knowing that it is illusion. Ahriman has the greatest possible interest in instructing men in mathematics ... He is intensely interested in bringing men chemistry, physics, biology and so on, as they are presented today in all their remarkable effects ... It would be a triumphant experience for him if the scientific superstition which grips all circles today and by which men even want to organize their social science, should prevail into the third millennium. He would have the greatest success if he could then come as a human being into Western civilization and find the scientific superstition.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE AHRIMANIC DECEPTION (Anthroposophic Press, 1985), GA 193.

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"...The gnomes that permeate Waldorf schools, craft fairs and publications are not just a return to a fanciful lost world of childhood, they are beings that are truly believed in and are used in a variety of ways. They can displace teachers' and students' emotions and reactions, they can evade children's questions about the world and how it works, they mystify children asking questions about things like sex, violence, illness or death. They can even be threatening and confusing since children who don't see gnomes often feel like there is something wrong with them....

“... I know now that what [Waldorf schools] present to the world is a beautiful façade that is covering their new-age beliefs, only one of which is a fear of the intellect. For a parent who believes in Anthroposophy a Waldorf school will be a heaven-sent. For parents who are willing to overlook the religious concepts and themes for the beautiful setting and art-based curriculum, a Waldorf school might be fine also. But parents should be told that their children will be taught religious beliefs while they are in a Waldorf school. They need to know what these religious beliefs are, and they need to know that they will take precedence over their child’s individual needs and interests. Parents also need to know that their children will not be academically on par with many of their peers unless they take to breaking with Waldorf guidelines and teach them academics at home.” — A former Waldorf student teacher who went on to teach in Montessori schools. [See “Ex-Teacher 5”.]

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

Anthroposophists enormously inflate the stature of Rudolf Steiner, looking on him as a virtual Christ figure. The truth is that, despite the wide range of his interests and activities, Steiner was a minor historical figure. His chief significance today is found in the schools that bear his name, Steiner schools, otherwise known as Waldorf schools. 

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"[Y]oung children develop gradually as the earliest human beings did. It is the teacher’s job to see that the child is not cheated out of any of these developmental stages ... In his or her first seven years, the child is open to receive the foundation of every later phase of life.” — Waldorf teacher Betty Peck, A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER LOOKS AT THE WORD GOD (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2008), p. 11.

You might think that the teacher’s job is to teach children, but you would be wrong. The teacher’s job, says Waldorf teacher Betty Peck, is to help children to recapitulate human spiritual evolution through a series of seven-year-long stages during which the three invisible human bodies incarnate, thus laying the foundation for the additional seven-year-long developmental stages that follow in adulthood. [See “Incarnation” and “What We’re Made Of”.]

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Quotes for Christmas, 2011:

• “Buddha...became for Mars what Christ has become for the earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, LIFE BETWEEN DEATH AND REBIRTH (SteinerBooks, 1985), p. 72. 

• “The Buddha wandered away from earthly affairs to the realm of Mars ... [T]he Buddha accomplished a Buddha crucifixion there.” — Ibid., p. 207.

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"Now, if we are working as teachers — as artists in education — on human beings, we must enter into relation with their supersensible [i.e., supernatural], creative principle...the supersensible [soul] that lives in the human being’s self. The anthroposophical method of research [clairvoyance] makes this possible and so provides the basis for an art of teaching and education." — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), Vol. 1, p. 207.

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"Now on each planet there are also Spirits who have remained behind in evolution, they have remained stationary and not wished to progress. You will recognise a law from this: If the most outstanding fall and commit the 'great sin' of not advancing with evolution, then they become the very worst of all. The noble sense of liberty has been reversed into wickedness, into its opposite. Those are the Spirits of Temptation, and they must be taken gravely into account; they lead to the evil side of egoism, even today they are still in our environment, these evil Spirits of Saturn. All that is bad draws its power from these Spirits." — Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 9, GA 99.

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

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"anthroposophy. A system evolved by R. Steiner (q.v.) based on the premises that the human soul can, of its own power, contact the spiritual world. The concepts of reincarnation and karma are central to it. It acknowledges Christ as a cosmic being, but its understanding of Him is very different to that of orthodox Christianity; He is regarded as a ‘Sun Being’ ... Anthroposophy has found adherents esp. among those in search of religious experiences outside the normal channels of Church life.” — F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingston, editors, "Anthroposophy", THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Oxford University Press, 1997).

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"[W]hen we read a spiritual-scientific [i.e., Anthroposophical] communication as we read a normal book , there is no question of ‘study’ in the sense of the first step on the cognitive path ... Higher thinking is...clairvoyant thinking ... Such thinking is imaginative thinking, which proceeds wordlessly.” — Georg Kühlewind, WORKING WITH ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1992), p. 36.

Rudolf Steiner instructed his followers not to think too much, particularly about his teachings. This in and of itself tells us a great deal about the validity of his teachings. And yet his followers generally accept his guidance on this point, limiting their capacity to form rational judgments. They are, by and large, believers, not great thinkers. [See, e.g., "Steiner's Specific" and "Thinking".]

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From the Anthroposophic Press: 

“The dominant attitude of modern medicine is that illness should not exist. Therefore millions of research dollars are poured annually into medical science and technology in the hope of eradicating sickness and disease. Patients and doctors alike suffer the terrible consequences of this impossible dream of material perfection. But there is another view, one whose vision of the human being and human evolution is large enough to include 'illness' as an essential part of being human." — BLESSED BY ILLNESS, by L. F. C. Mees (Anthroposophic Press, 1990). 

For an introduction to Anthroposophical medicine, see "What We're Made Of" and "Steiner's Quackery". A major premise in Anthroposophical medicine is that illnesses — even fatal ones — are good for you if they help you fulfill your karma.

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"Many alarm bells rang during our time [at a Steiner school]. I remember the intense gaze of the teachers that would continue far longer than was comfortable. There was little laughter, everything was carried out in a very slow and purposeful way with a sing-song voice, the lighting of candles, the wearing of strange hats, their infatuation with wool ... I recall the time the teacher took both my hands in hers and explaining my son had ‘chosen me as his mother [before birth],’ on a further occasion she stated he had ‘chosen the school’ ... I also recall politely refusing a teacher's offer [to] compile an astrological chart based on my son's birth date.

“...I noticed that some of the Steiner school parents became progressively withdrawn from family and friends outside the Steiner movement and gradually surrounded themselves only with those who followed the Anthroposophical belief system. I remember being invited to various other self-development programmes ... I remember the school reception displaying numerous leaflets promoting homeopathy. Mention of vaccination was conspicuously absent. I remember asking many questions and being told I was ‘too in the head’ and that I should ‘learn to think with my heart.’ I recall parents asking the teacher's advice regarding well-meaning grandparents buying electronic and plastic toys, both of which are frowned upon in Steiner schools. The teacher directed them to a specialist Steiner Waldorf toy catalogue. I began to think this was more about control than care.” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Coming Undone”.]

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

“[M]uch to the protest of the other faculty members, the loudest being from Mrs. Bear, a ‘Core Group’ was formed consisting of Mrs. Blue Jay, Mr. Worm...and Mr. Wolf.

“Yes, that is the name they called themselves. The Core Group ... This elitist group became the court of law in the land, thus most of us who went to plead our cases left defeated or angry or both. When I went to them asking if we could come together and discuss what happened in the first and fourth grade class last year as a case study, Mr. Skunk told me that, ‘From what I heard you should have been fired last year. I would have fired you.’” — Lani Cox. [See “Ex-Teacher”.]

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"The savages have developed into what they now are — with their superstitions, their magical practices and their unclean appearance — from states originally more perfect. The only superiority we have over them is that, while starting from the same conditions, we did not degenerate as they did ... Just as the present savages have fallen from the level of the human beings of primeval times, so the apes are beings who have fallen still lower ... [I]f conditions prevailing on earth today continue, conditions in which everything is based on violence and power, and wisdom counts for nothing — well, it could indeed happen that the men who want to found everything on power would gradually take on animal-like bodies again, and that two races would then appear. One race would be those who stand for peace, for the spirit, and for wisdom, while the other would be those who revert to an animal form. It might indeed be said that those who care nothing today for the progress of mankind, for spiritual realities, may be running the risk of degenerating into an ape species.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH AND MAN AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), GA 354, pp. 126-127.

Although Anthroposophists value freedom and claim that their system (including Waldorf education) promotes freedom, they actually conceive of just two paths for humans to choose among: the upward path of spirituality and the downward path of animality. We are "free" to choose salvation or damnation — not much of a choice, when you think it over. Like many other religions, Anthroposophy offers rewards for its adherents and punishments for its opponents.

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Rudolf Steiner and his followers take myths literally — although they work overtime to reinterpret them. In ancient Roman myths, the god Vulcan has a limp. Why? Well, you see, when human beings evolve to live on Vulcan (the final “planetary stage” of our spiritual development) we will limp. Limping is ideal. 

“The sphinx propounded the riddle: In the morning it goes on four, at mid-day on two and in the evening on three. What is that? It is man.* To begin with, in the morning of the earth, man in his animal state went on fours. The front limbs were at that time organs of movement. He then raised himself to the upright position. The limb system separated off into two categories and the organs divided into the physical-sensible and the spiritual organs. He then went on two. In the distant future the lower organs will fall away and also the right hand. Only the left hand and the two petalled lotus flower** will remain. Then he goes on three. That is why the Vulcan human being limps. His legs are in retrogression; they cease to have significance. At the end of evolution, in the Vulcan metamorphosis*** of the Earth, man will be the three-membered being that the saga indicates as the ideal.” — Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 3. 

* Steiner reworked the riddle to make it consistent with his teachings. The actual solution of the riddle is simpler: When a human is an infant, s/he crawls on all fours; later, s/he walks on two legs; later yet, s/he uses three supports — two legs and a cane.

** Lotus flowers, in Steiner’s teachings, are chakras — invisible, incorporeal organs.

*** Steiner taught that the entire solar system has evolved through various phases, beginning with “Old Saturn,” and it will evolve through several more, ending with "Future Vulcan." Steiner tended to speak of Vulcan as a real planet. The planetary stages of evolution are reflected by real “planets” existing now: Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, and Venus. And Vulcan. (!)

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"Asuras [malevolent gods] are spirits of the very greatest egoism who remained behind during Saturn evolution. They want to condense matter and compress it ever more so that it can't be spiritualized and brought back to its original condition. They're the dregs of the planetary evolution that goes from Saturn to Vulcan. The asuras inhabit the moon and from there they work on the men whom they want to drag down into the eighth sphere and thereby tear away from progressive evolution and its goal — the Christ. All those who strive towards the eighth sphere will eventually live on a moon.” — Rudolf Steiner, FROM THE CONTENTS OF ESOTERIC CLASSES, Part I, transcript, GA 266. 

For more on Asuras, see “Evil Ones”. To examine the eighth sphere, see "Sphere 8". Concerning the lunar fate of evil beings, Steiner tells us the following will happen when we have evolved to Venus: “During [the Venus] state a special cosmic body splits off that contains all the beings who have resisted evolution, a so to speak ‘irredeemable moon,’ which now moves toward an evolution, for the character of which no expression can be found because it is too dissimilar to anything that man can experience on earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1972), chapter 6, GA 13. Concerning our evolution from planet to planet, see "Matters of Form".

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"What takes place on the other planets cannot be discovered merely by thinking. One cannot for example experience what is taking place on the Sun or Venus if one is unable to transfer one's consciousness into the life and functioning of a colony of bees. The bee has not gone through the whole course of evolution as we have. From the outset it has not been connected with the same evolutionary sequence as the other animals and man. The consciousness of the beehive, not of the single bee, is immensely lofty. The wisdom of this consciousness will only be attained by man in the Venus existence [i.e., after entering the Venus stage of human evolution].” — Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 4, GA 93a.

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Probably most Anthroposophists do not believe in flying saucers, as such. Yet Anthroposophy predisposes them to think that most paranormal phenomena are, one way or the other, real. Or perhaps we should turn this around and say that their predisposition to believe in paranormal phenomena inclines them to accept the bizarre teachings that constitute Anthroposophy. And this predisposition can extend beyond Anthroposophy to encompass such things as flying saucers.

• "Flying Saucers [are] technically described as U.F.O.'s, or unidentified flying objects. There is general agreement about the saucer shape with three spherical supports beneath. Sound evidence can be found for the existence of these unheralded objects...." — THE STEINERBOOKS DICTIONARY OF THE PSYCHIC, MYSTIC, OCCULT (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1973), p. 85.

• "Flying Saucers [are] technically described as U.F.O.'s, or unidentified flying objects. However, after thousands of sightings the world over, the famous saucer shape (once universally regarded as its only design) has now been discovered to be but one style among a number. Sound evidence for the prevalence of U.F.O.'s has been presented by some contemporary astronomers...." — THE STEINERBOOKS DICTIONARY OF THE PARANORMAL (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1980), p. 102.

Some Anthroposophists are impressively smart. A few have written impressive, thought-provoking books. But the primary requirement for becoming an Anthroposophist is credulity.

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"[W]heels within wheels, multicolored transparent rings, one turning within the other, the inner one with eyes ... In recent times the appearance of such beings have been identified as UFO’s ... [M]odern accounts of saucers are the appearance of angels, and we see that they work violently. Their appearance is accompanied by a number of disturbing events: electromagnetic interference, witnesses being burned or feeling intense heat or numbness, temporary blindness.” — Anthroposophist Robert Sardello, FACING THE WORLD WITH SOUL (SteinerBooks, 2004).

Flying saucers constitute a very minor component at the fringes of the Anthroposophical worldview. But misunderstood angels are a major component, and so — perhaps surprisingly — is violence. Reaching back to the blood-drenched Norse myths that are so important in Rudolf Steiner’s thinking, Anthroposophy describes a universe wracked by struggle, war, and carnage. See, e.g., “Violence”, “Evil”, “The Gods”, and “Help 3”.

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Flying saucers. Yes or no? No. In standard Anthroposophical belief, there are no spaceships from other worlds whizzing through our skies. Only the powers of darkness want us to believe in UFOs — they want to divert us from the new clairvoyance Rudolf Steiner promised. But there are glimmerings in our skies, non-physical presences perceived with the new clairvoyance Rudolf Steiner promised. Both as illusions and as realities, flying saucers (like everything else) show us that Steiner was right. About everything.

“[S]ome people may be experiencing the first beginnings of the new clairvoyance, without understanding what is happening. Through this lack of understanding, through a materialistic outlook, what should be true imaginative pictures of the etheric realm may well be distorted and clothed in images of physical objects — flying saucers and ‘little men’ ... [M]any of the UFO’s are real phenomena. But they need not be solid objects. Certainly they are not space-craft from other planets. We are not being watched nor visited by physical space men. The important thing to realize is that what we are experiencing in our time is the powerful activity of adverse spiritual forces which seek to bring about a state of fear and bewilderment. We need to be awake to the fact that it is an attempt to distract and confuse man, and to divert him from his true task, which is a new spiritual development, an attainment of higher faculties [through] a deeper study of Rudolf Steiner’s Spiritual Science.”  — Anthroposophist Georg Unger, FLYING SAUCERS: Physical and Spiritual Aspects (New Knowledge Books, 1971), pp. 35-41.

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"In the Mars region the human being lives among the ‘population’ of Mars — if I may so express myself. The inhabitants of Mars are discovered to be either discarnate human souls or Beings of the Hierarchies [i.e., gods].” — Rudolf Steiner, SUPERSENSIBLE MAN (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1961), lecture 4, GA 231.

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"Those Beings who at that time partly went through their human stage, who had to accomplish only part of their human evolution during their earth-existence, are those beings I have identified as the great primeval Teachers of humanity on earth, and who today find themselves in a colony on the moon.” — Rudolf Steiner, MYSTERY CENTRES (Garber Communications, 1985), lecture 9, GA 232.

In Anthroposophy, being "human" means reaching an evolutionary stage between the animals and the angels. Various types of beings have passed through the "human" stage. We are passing through this stage now, and we hope to become superhuman in the future; other beings were human before us, and they are already superhuman. Some of those beings — more advanced than ourselves — served as our teachers early in our lives on Earth. They have now moved to the Moon. Therefore, “[T]he moon today is like a fortress in the universe, in which there lives a population that fulfilled its human destiny over 15,000 years ago, after which it withdrew to the moon ... This is only one of the 'cities' in the universe, one colony, one settlement among many ... As far as what concerns ourselves, as humanity on earth, the other pole, the opposite extreme to the moon is the population of Saturn.” — Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 93.

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"You will remember the passage in the book OCCULT SCIENCE dealing with the time when the human souls ascended to the planets and afterwards descended once more to earth-existence. I spoke of how the Mars-men, the Jupiter-men and the others descended again to earth. Now an event of great significance came to pass at the end of the seventies of last century [i.e., the 1870’s]. It is an event that can be described only in the light of facts which are revealed to us in the spiritual world. Whereas in the days of old Atlantis human beings came down to the earth from Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and so on — that is to say, beings of soul were drawn into the realm of earth-existence — since the end of the seventies of last century, other Beings — not of the human order — have been descending to the earth for the purposes of their further development. From cosmic realms beyond the earth they come down to the earth and enter into a definite relationship with human beings. Since the eighties of the nineteenth century, super-earthly Beings have been seeking to enter the sphere of earth-existence. Just as the Vulcan-men were the last to come down to the earth so now Vulcan Beings are actually coming into the realm of earthly existence. Super-earthly Beings are already here, and the fact that we are able to have a connected body of Spiritual Science [i.e., Anthroposophy] at all today is due to the circumstance that Beings from beyond the earth are bringing the messages from the spiritual world down into earth-existence.” — Rudolf Steiner, “A Picture of Earth-Evolution in the Future” (THE GOLDEN BLADE, 1960), a lecture, May 13, 1921, GA 204. 

Steiner gives us plenty to chew on, here. Among other things, note that Steiner treats Vulcan as a real planet, a place people went to and returned from. For more on this, see "Vulcan".

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"At that time [i.e., the beginning of Earthly evolution] the Moon-men were the human forefathers, standing between present-day man and present-day animals ... Present-day animals are Moon-men descended to a lower level and human beings are Moon-men who have ascended higher.” — Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 24, GA 93a.

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Short form: 

“[T]here exists an unbroken connection between the planets. The Moon is connected with the Earth in the same way that, for instance, Berlin and Hamburg are connected by the telephone. Beings who live on the Moon can carry out their operations on the Earth using this celestial connection. Malevolent Moon beings have their counterparts in other beings who also exist in the celestial world — beneficent beings who are much, much sweeter than the sweetest Earthly beings ... These good beings are spiritually connected to us here on Earth, but they have their actual existence on another planet ... [T]hese sweet beings inhabit Mars and are in fact the main population of that planet ... If we look still higher in the heavenly spheres, we find other beneficent beings who have a mild, peaceable nature; and these beings are extraordinarily clever. These beings of the celestial spheres have their actual home on the planet Venus ... But on Venus we also find a second kind of beings who (unlike the gentle, amiable Venusians) embody a wild and furious vitality. Their chief activities are mutual fighting and plunder.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS UPON MAN, lecture 1, GA 102, revised translation 2011 by Roger Rawlings.

Long form: 

“As soon as we speak from the aspect of the higher worlds, there exists an unbroken connection between the different planets and so the moon is connected with the earth just as for instance Berlin and Hamburg are connected by the telephone. Beings that live on the moon can therefore carry out their operations on the earth with the aid of astral forces. One might call them the reverse side of other beings whom we also find in the astral world, beneficent beings who, compared even with the mildest human nature, are yet much, much milder — in their speech too, very mild and gentle. The speech of these beings has not that aridity of human language which a man must ponder over a long time if he is to express himself, and clothe his thoughts and ideas in words. One could say that the thoughts of these beings flow from their lips — not merely the expression of the thoughts in words, but thoughts themselves flow in a gentle language from their lips. These beings are likewise to be found within our astral world; they have their actual scene of action on another planet. As the first-named beings are at home on the moon, these second are at home on Mars, they inhabit Mars and are in fact the main population — as certain human races are the principal population on our earth. If we then mount up higher to the devachanic plane we find certain beings who in their own way are also of a mild, peaceable nature and who in a certain respect are extraordinarily clever. These beings to be found on the devachanic plane have their actual home on the planet Venus, as the other beings on moon and Mars. On Venus too we find yet a second species of beings who — in contrast to the gentle, amiable kind — present a wild and furious vitality, and whose principal occupation consists in mutual fighting and plunder.

“Again we find on the higher parts of the devachanic plane certain beings who are very difficult to describe. We can only do so comparatively by saying that they are infinitely inventive: at every moment of life they devise something — for it would be false to say that they think it out. Their inventive gift is rather as if one were to look at something and at the same instant — even in the beholding — one had the impression of how one could form it differently. Invention comes to them spontaneously. These beings, who have their home on Saturn, are again confronted by others who seem to be their reverse side; savage, horrible beings who possess to an infinitely higher, more frightful degree all that lives in man as wild, sensual greed and inordinate desire.

“Now all these beings who have been mentioned are by no means unconnected with our existence. Their deeds, activities, manifestations, are definitely extended into our life and their action is particularly to be traced by clairvoyance when certain conditions appear on earth. Thus the beings who — naturally as astral beings — are at home on the moon are present on earth in the most varied circumstances, when for instance a man falls a prey to illusionary ideas, or where insane people are gathered. Such astral beings show special preference for the neighborhood of insane asylums. They are, moreover, almost always to be found near mediums and somnambulists; these persons have such beings swirling round them, and a large proportion of the influences that are exercised upon them is derived from the presence of these creatures. Where on the other hand love and kindliness prevail, where humanitarianism is unfolded, there you find the mild, gentle Mars beings present as astral creations, taking part in the forces which are there at work. That is nourishment for them, the atmosphere in which they can live and whence they exercise their influence on man.

“Whenever human discoveries are made, where engineers are at work, in technical workshops, there the atmosphere is created for the inventive Saturn beings. On the other hand where some sort of activity is developed which has to do with presence of mind, beings are there who have their seat on Venus.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS UPON MAN (Anthroposophic Press, 1961), lecture 1, GA 102, unknown translator.

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From SteinerBooks: 

“For centuries learned men studied precious and semi-precious stones to uncover their connection with the secrets of creation, and to discover their powers of healing. This book garners into a single fascinating volume practical uses and occult lore of such stones... It is because of the relationship between the secret wisdom of the precious stones and the life of man that it is important that this major work by a British physician of the twentieth century is made available at this time.” — THE OCCULT AND CURATIVE POWERS OF PRECIOUS STONES, by William T. Fernie (SteinerBooks, 1973).

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From SteinerBooks: 

“Having evolved through the ages, money is no longer an object so much as it has become a ‘worldwind’ of circulation, moving at various speeds and achieving a myriad of results ... From object to pure movement, money is now poised to serve our highest goals. As we have nurtured money in its evolution, we must now take responsibility for directing its great potential in transforming social life, thereby bringing healing to the world.” — Publisher's description of MONEY CAN HEAL, by Siegfried E. Finser (SteinerBooks, 2006).

Rudolf Steiner’s followers rarely yearn for wealth. You don’t become an Anthroposophist in order to get rich. On the other hand, the need for money is often a preoccupation for Waldorf schools — covering school expenses can be an unending challenge.* Thus an Anthroposophical financial literature has developed, offering financial guidance and seeking to define the correct role of cash in a world of spirit. Anthroposophists absorb these lessons to varying degrees, putting financial concerns nearer or farther from the center of their attention, depending on their circumstances and dispositions.

* Hoping to relieve this challenge is a major reason Waldorf schools seek acceptance into public school systems as charter schools. The public coffers are then open to them.

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Rudolf Steiner said that alchemy was a real and noble pursuit. He said that almost no one except himself understands the true nature of alchemy, but he said much the same about numerous superstitions and fallacies that he endorsed. His followers have accepted his perspective, which is why SteinerBooks printed, for instance, the book ALCHEMISTS THROUGH THE AGES (SteinerBooks, 1971). Here is how the publisher described this tome: 

“[This] well-researched book...is a fascinating panorama of alchemical searches over the centuries, in which the quest is only secondarily the transmutation of base metal into gold. The real quest of the alchemists is the transformation of themselves — the unfolding of the higher self from out of the baser self....” 

In other words, “true” alchemy was a forerunner of Anthroposophy, the “science” that helps us evolve to become our truer, higher selves. But Anthroposophists believe much the same about innumerable other superstitions and fallacies that they embrace as forerunners of their belief system. To be an Anthroposophist means occupying a mental universe in which alchemy, astrology, magic, divination, and many other ancient falsehoods are embraced as truth or, at a minimum, as precursors of Truth— i.e., Anthroposophy.

(So alchemy was different from what you thought. Steiner's followers accept alchemy as Steiner redefined it. Don't doubt, however, that Anthroposophists also tend to accept alchemy and other fallacies in their old-fashioned, literal forms. Thus, Arthur E. Waite, the author of ALCHEMISTS THROUGH THE AGES, assures us that alchemists did turn base metals into gold. 

"I am of the opinion, from the evidence at hand, that metallic transformations did occur in the past." [Ibid., p. 33.])

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"People who want to be anthroposophists...must pour what they have been during their dreamless sleep into the pure thoughts of anthroposophy with the help of their strong will ... We must not read anthroposophical books in the way we usually read ... Generally, people read only with their waking life ... To read anthroposophical books, we must enter into them with our whole being. Since we are unconscious during sleep and have no thoughts then — though our will is, of course, still there — we must put our whole will into the reading of anthroposophical books. If you make the contents of an anthroposophical book the object of your will, then you will become immediately clairvoyant....” — Rudolf Steiner, EARTHLY KNOWLEDGE AND HEAVENLY WISDOM (SteinerBooks, 1990), pp. 30-31.

You must will yourself to believe Anthroposophical teachings, you must close your thoughts as if in deep sleep but exert your will. And then, bingo, you will clairvoyant. Or, anyway, you may convince yourself that you are clairvoyant. All unknowing, Steiner prescribed a process of self-deception; this is the essence of Anthroposophy. And, indeed, Steiner's followers exert their will in just this way. And quite a few of them teach in Waldorf schools. Do you find this a comfortable thought?

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

Waldorf education is anti-intellectual. It stresses arts, crafts, manual work, gardening — almost anything except vigorous use of the brain. The reason lies deep in the worldview that shapes this education. Rudolf Steiner taught that the brain is not capable of true thought. True thinking, he said, is clairvoyance, and this occurs not in the brain but in immaterial, invisible “organs of clairvoyance.” In brief, Waldorf education is built on an extraordinary fallacy. Hence it threatens to lead children far from reality and from the ability to think rationally about reality.

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We’ve read a lot recently about the Waldorf attitude toward computers and high technology in general. Waldorf schools want to minimize children's exposure to high-tech devices for reasons that amount to mere superstition. According to Steiner and his followers, modern progress is a delusion, a snare. Technology, they say, is the magic of demons. 

“[T]he spirituality of the cosmos is driven out through what is created in the form of demons. This great and wonderful modern progress [sic] has in fact brought about not only a demonology, but a demon magic; and in manifold ways modern technology is demon magic.” — Anthroposophist Georg Unger, “On ‘Mechanical Occultism’”, a lecture 

There are good reasons to be cautious about high technology. And then there are the Waldorf reasons.

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At most Waldorf schools, there is an inner council of senior faculty members called the College of Teachers. The members study Rudolf Steiner's teachings, pray and meditate, and make administrative decisions for the school. 

“The College of Teachers of which I was privileged to be a member for many years had a strong tendency to oscillate between two extremes and I have seen similar tendencies in my travels as a visiting teacher [at other Waldorf schools]. One extreme is the position that the College should concern itself with purely spiritual matters and leave the nuts and bolts to other groups or individuals. The other is that the College should take the responsibility for everything, right down to the shape of the bathroom doorknob. Proponents of the first view say that it is the task of the College to maintain the lines of communication with the spiritual beings who hover over the school, and if the College doesn’t do it perhaps no one will. The school is a spiritual organism and there must be an organ to receive and cherish what flows in from the spirit [realm]. Those who take the second view say that decisions about nut and bolts are spiritual matters.” — Waldorf teacher Keith Francis. [See “Ex-Teacher 9”.]

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Rudolf Steiner’s followers have long had difficulty distinguishing the fascinating from the absurd, the profound from the sham. But this is what enables them to be Rudolf Steiner’s followers. 

“Today much of the original occult wisdom of the Tarot has long been forgotten ... Therefore this republication of Arthur Edward Waite’s classic work on the Tarot will certainly evoke considerable interest in this important chapter in the ever-fascinating record of man’s endless striving toward knowledge of the Eternal.” — Paul M. Allen, Introduction, THE PICTORIAL KEY TO THE TAROT (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1971), p. iv.

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"Waldorf parents are more intelligent and affluent than most, which is why they tend to refuse many or all vaccinations for their children.” — Cynthia Parker, SLATE (11-23-2011). 

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"When the Gods created man, they gave him defects so that he could test his strength on them. We should thank the Gods for our defects, for combating them makes us strong and free." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM THE CONTENT OF THE ESOTERIC CLASSES, Recollections of Participants, Part 2 (transcript, 71. EL, Kassel, 12-11-'10), GA 266.

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"It should be understood by any school or institution seeking affiliation with AWSNA [the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America] that Waldorf Education is based on Anthroposophy, the philosophy initiated by Rudolf Steiner. Waldorf is a trademark name in the United States and is reserved for independent schools which meet the membership standards established by AWSNA ... Only schools which have been accepted as Sponsored or Full Members of AWSNA may represent themselves as Waldorf schools or use the words ‘Waldorf’ or ‘Rudolf Steiner’ in their names or subtitles.” — Why Waldorf Works, 11-22-2011 

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Steiner, looking back to human prehistory: 

Short form: 

“[T]he human being who lived then was in his external form half man and half fish ... The more imperfect of these fish-men became kangaroos.”

Longer form: 

“There was once a large expanse of land where today there is the Atlantic Ocean [Atlantis] ... In that earlier time there was not yet such a solid bony skeleton. Human beings could have had only soft cartilage, like sharks. Also they could not have breathed through lungs as we do today. At that time they had to have a kind of swimming bladder and a kind of gills, so that the human being who lived then was in his external form half man and half fish. We cannot escape the fact that man then looked quite different — half man and half fish ... The more imperfect of these fish-men became kangaroos, those a little more advanced became deer and cattle, and the most perfect became apes or men. You see from this that man did not descend from apes: man was there, and all the mammals really descended from him, from these human forms in which man remained imperfect. So we must say that the ape descended from man, not that man descended from the ape. That is so, and we must be quite clear about it.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH AND MAN AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), pp. 54-55.

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Yesterday we heard Rudolf Steiner's account of a time when humans were "half man and half fish." Today we will follow Steiner into an earlier phase. There is no scientific basis for Steiner's statements, but he has a (partial) answer for that:

"We cannot escape the fact that man then looked quite different — half man and half fish. And if we go back to still earlier times we find that man was much, much softer. If we go still further back he was watery, quite fluid. So naturally no fossils were formed then; man was just absorbed into the rest of the earth's fluids. So that is the way we have grown into what we are today. When we are still in our mother's womb, we are a little bag of fluid. But that is something very small. In those times we were huge, great fluid or jelly-like beings." — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH AND MAN AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), p. 55.

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"Religion is a core subject of the Waldorf curriculum and is taught once a week from classes 1 to 12. The Religion lesson strives to strengthen feelings of wonder and devotion and to awaken a longing for what is beautiful and true. This is done through a study of creation stories, the study of ancient cultures, biographies and conversation as each class finds security and meaning in the journey towards becoming truly human ... In addition to the weekly Religion lessons, our school also offers a Sunday Children’s Service which is conducted by the Religion teachers/Service holders.” — The Rudolf Steiner School, King’s Langley, UK 

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Short form: 

"With inspiration we can read the karma of a person from the lines in his left hand.”

Longer form: 

“The way to real knowledge of these things [e.g., palm reading — chiromancy]...comes only at the end, just as the way to astrology comes only at the last stages of spiritual knowledge ... A very special talent which someone or other may possess is necessary in order to be able to get to the bottom of the lines in the hand. The lines are, it is true, closely connected with the development of a human being. You need only compare your own hands and look at the lines in the left hand and in the right. Even in ordinary life there is a difference, for one person writes with his right hand, another with his left. With inspiration we can read the karma of a person from the lines in his left hand.” — Rudolf Steiner, COURSE FOR YOUNG DOCTORS (Mercury Press, 1994), lecture 7, GA 316. Young and naïve doctors, evidently.

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At Waldorf schools, even childhood play is seen through the lens of esoteric dogma. 

“[P]rimal memory is experienced ... It enlivens many an early game or even transfigures it ... [T]he incarnation of the soul into the physical body, is the subject of countless games ... The children are playing at becoming incarnated.” — Heidi Britz-Crecelius, CHILDREN AT PLAY - Using Waldorf Principles to Foster Childhood Development (Park Street Press, 1996), p. 105.

Primal memory, in Waldorf belief, is the imprint of past lives in the spirit realm. Incarnation is the main purpose of childhood, and Waldorf faculties often think it is the main objective of schooling.

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"The beginning of the Bible is very much smiled at, and indeed justifiably, when it is understood to say that once upon a time some god formed a man out of a clod of earth. People regard that as impossible and naturally they are right. No god can come along and make a human being out of a lump of earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH AND MAN AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), GA 354, pp. 1-2.

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The following is not a spoof. I did not make it up. Taken from a book published by Rudolf Steiner College, it is a sample of Anthroposophical discourse. The teachers at typical Waldorf schools study such texts. 

“The important educational factors in the first years of life are learning to eat, to take in substance and transform it — an action of the ego [1] — and learning to sleep, which is a breathing rhythm between the soul-spirit [2] and the earthly body [3]. Until the change of teeth [4], the child lives in an organism [5] in which there lives a replica of the spiritual world. [6] The archetype of the physical body as the Word of the Zodiac [7], the impress of the planets on the life organs — lungs, liver, heart, etc. — and the movements they made during the embryonic period [8], this is the content of the body of formative forces [9], which is imbued with life from the cosmic ether [10], which the soul-spirits of children draw to themselves in the moon-sphere [11] before their birth.” — Audrey E. McAllen, SLEEP - An Unobserved Element in Education (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2004), p. 33.

[1] The “I” or ego body — the third of our invisible bodies to incarnate.

[2] The combined soul and spirit.

[3] The physical body.

[4] The loss of baby teeth, signifying the incarnation of the etheric body, the first of our invisible bodies.

[5] The physical body, perfected during the first seven years of life.

[6] Children come to Earth bearing the imprint of the spirit realm.

[7] Astrology. The physical body is the exhaled embodiment of stellar powers. The "Word of the Zodiac" is the expressed formative effect of the stars and their gods, the foremost of whom is the Sun God, the embodied Word of God.

[8] Astrological influences are especially great upon embryos.

[9] The etheric body.

[10] The universal etheric medium.

[11] The region bounded by the orbit (so-called) of the moon.

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The following is from the website Waldorf Answers [November 15, 2011]: 

“The role of the heart in the human organism is very complex ... The discussion of the heart in Waldorf education is primarily concerned with doing justice to the complexity of the role of the heart in the human body and in human life. The picture of it as a mechanical ‘pump’ reflects only in a very simplified way one aspect.” 

This is misleading. Rudolf Steiner taught that the heart is not a pump,* and this false view is sometimes conveyed to Waldorf students. Steiner was wrong. The heart is a pump.** Asserting otherwise demonstrates how seriously Steiner and his followers have disconnected themselves from reality. Defenders of Waldorf schooling would do well to admit that Steiner was wrong about at least a few things. But this is generally unthinkable to them, so they desperately defend him on almost all counts — cutting the ground out from under themselves in the process.

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

** “Heart — organ that serves as a pump to circulate the blood.” — ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

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"I'm enough of an artist to draw freely on my imagination, which I think is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." — Albert Einstein

Waldorf schools, which emphasize imagination, like to cite quotations such as this, as if such statements are endorsements of the Waldorf/Steiner approach. But several points need to be made. Einstein was not dismissing real-world knowledge, as Steiner often did. All of Einstein’s work stands on a firm, extensive base of scientific knowledge, whereas Steiner often disparaged science. [See “Steiner’s ‘Science’”.] Also, Einstein did not mean what Steiner meant by “imagination.” Einstein was speaking of the ability to form clear, logical, true mental pictures on the basis of correct information. Steiner was speaking of a form of clairvoyance that humans will perfect after we move to Jupiter. “On the planet which will replace our Earth, the whole of humanity will have this psychic-consciousness or Imagination, the 'Jupiter' consciousness.” — Rudolf Steiner, UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993), p. 30.

All sensible people know that imagination, as discussed by Einstein, is important. All sensible people should also know that imagination, as discussed by Steiner, is a pipe dream.

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"Steiner describes [his] mandalas and their accompanying forms as arising out of the ‘occult script’ and he says ... ‘When a [design] has a particular lawfulness, it works so as to lead a person directly to great cosmic mysteries....’” — Van James, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF FORM (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2007), p. 139 

The “occult script” (also called the “stellar script”) is the hidden writing that makes up the Akashic Record, a celestial storehouse of knowledge accessible through clairvoyance. That’s what Steiner said, anyway, and it is what his followers still believe.

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Classes for Waldorf teacher-trainees (Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue):  

• “Spiritual Streams and Sun Initiates*  (1.0 credits) [sic]. This course is an exploration of the spiritual streams identified by Rudolf Steiner in The Search for the New Isis, selected lectures from Karmic Relationship, and World History in the Light of Anthroposophy.”  

• “The Master Thesis Project Course will be introduced as a modern path of initiation,** wherein proficiency to conduct research in a number of different venues allows the individual to gain access to a greater breadth and depth of knowledge....”

An “initiate” is an aspirant who has been accepted into an inner circle. A spiritual initiate possesses hidden or occult spiritual knowledge. Aspiring Waldorf teachers are taught about spiritual initiation, and they are led toward such initiation. Waldorf teachers who believe themselves to be initiates bring the fruits of initiation into their work in Waldorf schools.

* In Anthroposophical belief 

◊ a “Sun Initiate” was a spiritualist on Atlantis who had special knowledge of the spiritual forces emanating from the Sun

◊ spiritual streams are lines of spiritual wisdom developed by various schools of initiates

◊ Isis — the Egyptian goddess of fertility — is the divine female principle

◊ everything (even divinity) is evolving into new, generally higher forms

** One of Steiner's key texts, HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, bears the subtitle "A Modern Path of Initiation".

To be continued. [See "Teacher Training".]

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Classes for Waldorf teacher-trainees (Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue):  

•  “The Four Temperaments (0.5 credits). A study of how to recognize in the child the four temperaments....”  

• “Cosmic and Human Evolution  (1.0 credits). Through this course, students will understand the evolution of the cosmos, the kingdoms of nature, and of the human being from the standpoint of Anthroposophy.”  

• “Seven Planetary Soul Types (0.5 credits) ... [H]ow they relate to the seven visible planets and the constitution of the human being.”  

•  “The Evolution of Consciousness through Art History. A spiritual overview of the visual arts ... [T]he changing evolution of consciousness of the human being from the ancient mystery centers to the modern age ... [W]orld art within the Post-Atlantean cultural epochs....”  

• “Human Development and Pedagogical Implications, Level II (3.0 credits) ... [S]tudents explore the spiritual archetypes of the human being, as given by Rudolf Steiner, as well as an introduction to Astrosophy ... [S]oul and constitutional types in children ... [M]editative work of the teacher....”

Consider. There are people who, when they read this catalogue, do not roll their eyes. Instead some of them sign up, take the classes, and then go out into the world as Waldorf teachers. There is no bright line separating Rudolf Steiner’s occultism from the views found among Waldorf faculty. They are the same.

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A training course for Waldorf teachers: 

"Human Development and Pedagogical Implications, Level I (3.0 credits). This course offers a background theoretical foundation to the practical classes in the first year. The causes of learning and behavior difficulties, human development from an anthroposophical perspective, the incarnation process in the first seven years, the twelve senses and movement development are important themes...."  — Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue.

Thus far in our short review of courses offered by Rudolf Steiner College, we have seen that aspiring Waldorf teachers are taught about planetary stages of evolution (Old Saturn to Future Vulcan), karma, reincarnation, macrocosm/microcosm (the belief that the universe is an enlarged version of the human being), astrology, astrosophy, seven-year-long phases of incarnation, and the twelve (yes, 12) human senses. Aspiring Waldorf teachers are steeped in mystic Anthroposophical doctrines — "human development from an anthroposophical perspective." This training, in and of itself, raises serious doubts about the fitness of such teachers to guide the development of young children.

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A course for Waldorf teachers in training: 

"Astronomy — Macrocosm, Microcosm (2.0 credits). This course combines viewing the night sky, studying the constellations and rhythmic movements of the planets, and their correlations with the human form, rhythms of life, stages of consciousness and how the human individuality is related to the starry worlds and the Earth. We will discover the relationship between astronomy and the human body, astrology and the human soul, and astrosophy with the human spirit."  — Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue.

Astrology underlies many Waldorf beliefs and practices. Astrosophy (meaning "star wisdom") is a variant form of astrology, also important in the Waldorf belief system. [See "Astrology", "Waldorf Astrology", "Star Power", and "Astrosophy".]

Thus far in our short review of courses offered by the Rudolf Steiner College, we have seen that aspiring Waldorf teachers — who will offer to "educate" your children — are taught about planetary stages of evolution (Old Saturn to Future Vulcan), karma, reincarnation, macrocosm/microcosm (the belief that the universe is an enlarged version of the human being), astrology, and astrosophy. And they are instructed that these beliefs, as wrapped up in Anthroposophy, are fundamental to Waldorf education.

"The curriculum and methods arise from an understanding of this ontology." — The Philosophical Foundations of Waldorf Education (7.5 credits). 

When such teachers offer to "educate" your children, will you say yes?

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A course for Waldorf teachers in training: 

"The Philosophical Foundations of Waldorf Education (7.5 credits). Waldorf education is based on Anthroposophy, a transpersonal and phenomenological world-view [sic]. It is necessary for the Waldorf educator to grasp this view of the human being because Waldorf pedagogy arises directly from this understanding. The curriculum and methods arise from an understanding of this ontology." — Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue.

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"Karma and Reincarnation (1.5 credits). This course is an in-depth exploration of Rudolf Steiner’s original insights into the nature of reincarnation and karma. Texts include Manifestations of Karma, Theosophy, Reincarnation and Karma, World History in the Light of Anthroposophy, and selected lectures from the 8 volumes titled Karmic Relationships."  — Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue.

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"Cosmic and Human Evolution (1.5 credits). This course explores the stages of cosmic and human evolution from Ancient Saturn through Ancient Sun, Ancient Moon and Earth evolutionary cycles, and lays seeds to understand further stages of evolution in Future Jupiter, Future Venus and Future Vulcan stages. Texts include Esoteric Science: An Outline and Spiritual Hierarchies and Their Reflection in the Physical World." — Rudolf Steiner College 2011-2012 Catalogue.

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"Modern Mandalas. In 1907 Rudolf Steiner created linear patterns drawn in connection with the seven planets. They were pure artistic forms carried out in a mandala format ... Steiner’s description of...what one can receive from [them] is in accord with mandala tradition.” — Van James, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF FORM (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2007), pp. 74-75.

Mandalas are representations of the universe. Generally cIrcular, they are used in meditation and sacred rituals. The doctrines of Anthroposophy recognize two sets of seven planets. The planets having astrological powers — and symbolized by Steiner’s mandalas — are Saturn, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus. A somewhat different line-up of seven "planets" is found in the Anthroposophical account of human spiritual evolution. These planets or planetary stages are Saturn, the Sun, the Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan. Both of these lists include “planets” that are not planets (the Sun, the Moon, Vulcan), and both lists exclude some real planets (Uranus and Neptune). In reality, the solar system has eight planets, not seven. Counting outward, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Steiner knew about Uranus and Neptune, but he denied that they are members of the solar system. (If we count Pluto, the solar system actually has nine planets. And if additional planets are discovered farther out from the Sun...)

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"We [Waldorf teachers] want to be aware that physical existence is a continuation of the spiritual, and that what we have to do in education is a continuation of what higher beings [the gods] have done without our assistance. Our form of educating can have the correct attitude only when we are aware that our work with young people is a continuation of what higher beings have done before birth." [Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 37.] 

A question worth asking is how Waldorf teachers know what the gods did and what the gods want.

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"Most Waldorf parents are unfamiliar not only with Waldorf's history but with what goes on in Waldorf classrooms. They are seduced by the fluffy knitted kindergartens and don't see that in the classroom, the methods are rigid and authoritarian, and have nothing in common with their fantasies about 'democracy' or 'creative thinking. They don't get that the kid was required to copy exactly what the teacher told him/her to copy off the blackboard, or that the kids are not supposed to respond to what they are learning or learn to analyze it, only absorb it and repeat it and be 'reverent' toward it." — Former Waldorf parent Diana Winters. [See "Waldorf Now".]

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From the publisher of OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE: 

“The anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner is not a theoretical system, but the results of research based on direct observation ... Whereas the findings of natural science are derived from observations made through the senses, the findings of spiritual science, or anthroposophy, are 'occult' inasmuch as they derive from direct observation of realities which are hidden to everyday perception ... A substantial part of Occult Science is occupied by a description of the preliminary training which is necessary to make such spiritual observations.”  — Rudolf Steiner Press, downloaded 11-2-2011.

Steiner’s “observations” consisted of the use of clairvoyance. Natural science uses the senses and the equipment available to scientists in the real world; Steiner's “occult science” depends on a form of “observation” that is in fact mere fantasy or delusion. [See “Clairvoyance”.] The “preliminary training” described in OCCULT SCIENCE and in Steiner’s book HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS is training in the development of clairvoyance. This is the fundamental effort expected of all Anthroposophists, including  Waldorf teachers. "Not every Waldorf teacher has the gift of clairvoyance, but every one of them has accepted wholeheartedly and with full understanding the results of [clairvoyant] spiritual-scientific investigation concerning the human being.” — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), Vol. 2, p. 224. [See “The Waldorf Teacher’s Consciousness”. ] Waldorf teachers' reliance on clairvoyance would make sense if the training worked; and the training might work if clairvoyance existed. But it doesn't, so the training doesn't, so the reliance doesn't. This is a house of cards that collapses in the least breeze of rationality.

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"Because Waldorf is a private school, it does not adhere to the laws governing public schools, or any laws as we would soon discover. Parents are ruled by the school. I tried talking to the teacher and different members of the faculty only to be told to do what they ask and our child will benefit greatly. Any resistance on my part would have a negative impact on my daughter's education. So we did everything they asked. Did not question the ridiculous nature of what was asked, but went along with the herd. It was beginning to feel like a cult.

"This was the beginning of the slow and painful end to my love of the Waldorf School. There would be much worse incidents to come and one terrible, traumatic experience that left me and my family traumatized for life. I can no longer stay silent.” — Former Waldorf parent Carol Wyatt. [See “Our Experience”.]

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"The discovery of Pluto...is a textbook demonstration of the occult guidance of history [i.e., the influence of occult powers on human history] ... [C]ertain necessities of an astrological nature were involved in the timing of the planet’s discovery ... By transits of Saturn and Uranus to the position of Pluto’s discovery [i.e., by making an astrological chart of these things], the timing of the explosion at Hiroshima and the detonation of the first hydrogen bomb in 1952 were determined with great accuracy. This coincidence also makes clear the nature of at least part of the [demonic] forces introduced through Pluto.” — David B. Black, THE COMPUTER AND THE INCARNATION OF AHRIMAN (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1981), pp. 31-32.

This is a fairly representative example of “deep” and “intellectual” discourse among Rudolf Steiner’s followers (notice who published this little Black book). A footnote on p. 31 provides another example: “Pluto was discovered at about the time of Godel’s proof [i.e., an unrelated mathematical proof], and so would have some association with it.” Anthroposophists assume that everything is interconnected in mysterious, spiritual ways. Nothing happens by chance, really — everything has a hidden, astrological/mystical/gnostic cause. Black’s main point about the discovery of Pluto is that the discovery was connected with the invention of computers and the incarnation of the demon Ahriman in human affairs (as signaled by the dropping of the first A-bomb and the test of the first H-bomb). Perhaps so, perhaps so. Pluto was discovered in 1930. Hiroshima was bombed in 1945. The first H-bomb was detonated in 1952. According to Steiner, Ahriman descended to Earth in 1879. Coincidence? I think not! Ahriman came to Earth, and a mere 51 years later, Pluto was discovered; and then just 22 years after that, an H-bomb was tested. Aha!

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"1879 was mentioned by Rudolf Steiner as having particular significance in the history of [the arch-demon] Ahriman and most specifically November of that year. At that time, a battle between the [archangel] Michael...and Ahriman begun in 1841, ended with Ahriman being cast out of the heavenly spheres to the earth, specifically into the heads of humans. Direct results of this event were experienced by Thomas Edison....” — David B. Black, THE COMPUTER AND THE INCARNATION OF AHRIMAN (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1981), p. 25.

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There has been widespread discussion recently of the Waldorf aversion to computers. In Waldorf belief, the arch-demon Ahriman — a monster of intellect and technology — incarnates in sophisticated modern computers. 

“[T]he computer has taken a giant step in furthering its ability to imitate the human being. In particular, the technical basis for a separate, incarnating consciousness has been laid — but a consciousness of a purely intellectual, mechanical (albeit self-aware) nature. With the achievement of the stored program computer [i.e., a computer that carries its programs internally], it begins to be possible to talk in terms of a (macrocosmic) incarnation vehicle capable of sustaining the being of Ahriman.” — David B. Black, THE COMPUTER AND THE INCARNATION OF AHRIMAN (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1981), p. 33. 

Although technologically outdated, this dotty little book is still available from the publisher.

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Mysticism suffuses just abot everything in genuine Waldorf schools. The schools place great emphasis on play. Why? Waldorf teachers think that playing children enact and thus manifest mystical truths. 

“Already at a very early age, the child enjoys the game of hide-and-seek ... These games reflect the transition from there to here, from the spiritual to the physical world, which takes place every morning on waking up.” — Heidi Britz-Crecelius, CHILDREN AT PLAY: Using Waldorf Principles to Foster Childhood Development (Park Street Press, 1996), p. 18.

In Waldorf belief, the soul leaves the body during sleep and travels to the spirit realm — in reality, not in dreams. Specifically, the astral body and the ego body leave the Earth while the physical body and the etheric body remain behind. “[W]e go to sleep at night, setting forth with our Ego and astral body, leaving behind the body of our waking life...until we re-awaken.” — Rudolf Steiner, “Man as a Picture of the Living Spirit” (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1972), a lecture, GA 228. Children do not yet have fully incarnated astral bodies and egos, but they go the spirit worlds nonetheless, and their play reflects this. Or so Waldorf faculties believe.

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"[Y]ou must know that until the age of fourteen, children do not form judgments, and  that if you require them to form judgments, you destroy their brains. It is pedagogical nonsense to use modern calculators to replace the memorization of arithmetic with judgment; this destroys the human brain and makes it decadent." — Rudolf Steiner,  EDUCATION AS A FORCE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE  (Anthroposophic Press, 1997),  p. 140.

Steiner's views regarding both technology and the brain were baseless. He deplored most mechanical devices (except those that benefited himself directly, such as the automobiles in which he was driven around), and he disparaged the use of the brain — not just among young children, but everyone. The "modern calculators" he was talking about were abacuses. [See SOUL ECONOMY (Anthroposophic Press, 2003 ), p. 173.]

The brain and intellect have some value for knowing the lowly physical realm, Steiner said, but they have nothing to do with real knowledge. And children should not be encouraged to think until they have been thorough indoctrinated in mystic beliefs (thus ensuring that they will "think" only what they have been primed to think). [See, e.g., "Thinking", "Thinking Cap", and "Steiner's Specific — Thinking Without Our Brains".]

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•  "Our school is not a religious school, and no particular religion or philosophy is taught ... [C]hildren [in the school] will learn about some of the world’s great spiritual movements ... A key point to remember for you as parents is that Waldorf education is based on the spiritual nature of the child, and that your family's particular beliefs will be respected.” — 2011-2012 PARENT HANDBOOK, Anchorage Waldorf School, p. 12.

•  "[P]arents need to be aware of the fact that Waldorf Schools ARE teaching religion [i.e., Anthroposophy] ... The almost outright ban of media in any form for preschool and elementary children, especially TV and computers, can sound wonderful to the average parent, most of whom are all too aware of the problems that too much exposure to the mass media will bring, but for the Waldorf educator it has a much deeper and important meaning. They believe that Steiner stated that such things embody a materialistic spirit named Ahriman who alienates the human being from his spiritual roots ... The gnomes that permeate Waldorf schools, craft fairs and publications are not just a return to a fanciful lost world of childhood, they are beings that are truly believed in and are used in a variety of ways. They can displace teachers and students emotions and reactions, they can evade children's questions about the world and how it works, they mystify children asking questions about things like topics sex, violence, illness or death. They can even be threatening and confusing since children who don't see gnomes often feel like there is something wrong with them....” — A former Waldorf student teacher. [See “Ex-Teacher 5”.]

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"Please do not think I am trying to promote conservative or reactionary tendencies by what I am going to say, but it is true that, inasmuch as education is concerned, there was greater freedom during the times when liberalism was nonexistent — not to mention democracy. Lack of freedom has crept in only during the times of liberalism and democracy." — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHILD’S CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 203.

To investigate Steiner's views — which underpin Waldorf schooling — on such matters, see "Freedom" and "Democracy".

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"[T]he purpose of education is to help the individual fulfill his karma. The teacher is an intermediary and his task is to guide the incarnating individualities [i.e., children] into the physical world and equip them for earthly existence, bearing in mind what they bring with them from the past and what they are likely to take with them into the future.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 52.

There are various ways to describe the purpose of Waldorf education, none of which have much to do with teaching academic subjects to the kids or helping the kids to develop real-world skills. Waldorf schools try to usher the souls of young children from spirit realms to the Earth, guiding them to fulfill their spiritual destinies, and preparing them for their further spiritual evolution. All of this is circumscribed by Rudolf Steiner's occult teachings. Parents who choose Waldorf schools for their children, and governments that decide to provide financing for Waldorf schools, need to understand what they are opting for.

(How can Waldorf teachers know what children bring from their lives before birth, and how can they foresee what the children will likely take into their future lives? They think they do so mainly through the use of clairvoyance, as per Rudolf Steiner's instructions.)

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Waldorf schools almost always deny that they teach Anthroposophy to their students. But often, in various ways, they do teach it. Here is Steiner explicitly telling Waldorf teachers who explain an Anthroposophical religious doctrine to the students:

"[E]xplain that there are higher gods, the archangels* ... These archangels exist to guide whole groups of human beings, that is, the various peoples and such. You must teach this clearly so that the children can learn to differentiate between the god spoken of by Protestantism, for instance, who is actually only an angel, and an archangel, who is higher than anything that ever arises in the Protestant religious teachings. “  — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 46.

* In the Waldorf belief system, Anthroposophy, angels are gods one level above humans, while archangels are gods two levels above humans. Angels guide individual humans; archangels guides peoples, nations, and races. In all, Anthroposophy speaks of nine ranks of gods. We ourselves will ultimately become the tenth rank. [See "Polytheism" and "Tenth Hierarchy".] It is also worth noting how Steiner distinguishes between his religion and at least one form of Christianity. Anthroposophy is often mistakenly considered a Christian denomination. It is not. [See "Was He Christian?" and "Sun God".] 

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"The first mathematicians were priests. Mathematics was not a mere physical science, but a revelation of divinity ... [Math has] an ethical quality ... It manifests order in the world ... One could go even further and say that this is a divine wisdom manifesting itself, and in this sense, mathematics becomes a religious study. In thinking mathematically one is tracing the divine pattern.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, TEACHING MATHEMATICS (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1994), pp. 2-3. (Or, as Steiner said, "It is possible to introduce a religious element into every subject, even into math lessons. Anyone who has some knowledge of Waldorf teaching will know that this statement is true." — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHILD's CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 94.)

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"An immoral action not only implies a subsequent karmic punishment; it is rather in the most fundamental respect an action that one definitely ought not to do ... If [for example] one steals, one plants into the essential human being the seed that will cause one to develop a slimy, repulsive substance and to surround oneself with pestilent odors in the future ... In stealing, man places into himself something that amounts to the same thing as a flaying of the human being.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SPIRITUAL RESEARCH FOR MORAL ACTION (Anthroposophic Press, 1981), GA 127.

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"A growing question in Waldorf kindergartens and schools is to what extent is Waldorf education bound to the Christian religion and to what extent is it more universal. The answer points towards the modern mysteries, for Waldorf education is centered around the Christ as a Universal Being who has helped humans in their development from the beginning of time. Rudolf Steiner speaks of the Christ in the present time as dwelling in the etheric world surrounding the Earth through which each incarnating soul passes ... Waldorf education strives to create a place in which the highest beings, including the Christ, can find their home, but it is not connected to one religion or another.” — Joan Almon, WHAT IS A WALDORF KINDERGARTEN (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 53. Almon is a Waldorf teacher and co-general secretary of the Anthroposophical Society of America. 

Waldorf schools usually deny that they are religious institutions — except when they admit that they are. The schools also usually deny that they are specifically Christian — except when they claim that they are. The truth is that Waldorf schools are very religious, but the religion involved is not Christianity — it is Anthroposophy. Here are some of the Anthroposophical doctrines peeking out from the above quotation. Bear in mind that these arise in a SteinerBooks publication about Waldorf kindergartens: 

• “Modern mysteries”: Anthroposophy consists of “occult” or “mystery” knowledge of the spirit worlds attained through clairvoyance. In this sense, "mysteries" are occult spiritual truths.

• “Christ as a Universal Being”: The Christ in Anthroposophy is not the Son of God as Christians usually conceive Him; rather, Christ is the Sun God, a god centered on the Sun who (according to Anthroposophical belief) has been worshipped by various peoples in various ways throughout history. Christ came to Earth more or less as described in the Bible, Steiner taught, but Christ also acted to influence human evolution at other times and places. 

• “Christ...dwelling in the etheric world”: In Anthroposophical doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ has already occurred, but not on the physical Earth; instead, Christ returned to the invisible “etheric” world beyond the Earth. 

• “Incarnating souls”: This concept is crucial to Waldorf education; Waldorf teachers are less interested in conveying knowledge to their students than in helping the students to incarnate here on Earth. 

• “The highest beings”: These are gods. Anthroposophy is polytheistic, it recognizes a vast number of gods arrayed in a hierarchy that extends from spirits just a bit higher than humans to deities vastly higher than humans. 

• “Create a place in which the highest beings...can find their home”: Anthroposophy is centered on human beings, not gods. Indeed, Anthroposophy teaches that the gods worship us, and we will one day evolve to be higher than the existing nine ranks of gods. The universe is, or will be, ours, and we make it a fit place for the gods to dwell. Waldorf schools, as an active extension of Anthroposophy, seek to realize this ideal, to the greatest extent possible, here and now. Waldorf schools are, in this sense, temples or churches — homes of the gods. 

• “Not connected to one religion”: Anthroposophy is a religion, but a very odd one. Among its odder doctrines is the belief that it is not a religion, per se, but a “science” — specifically, the “occult science” or “spiritual science” described by Rudolf Steiner in such books as AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE. As indicated previously, this “science” entails the use of clairvoyance to study the higher spirit worlds. 

[For more on these matters, see, e.g., “Everything”, “Sun God”, “Polytheism”, “Why? Oh Why?”, “Is Anthroposophy a Religion?”, "Was He Christian?", “Incarnation”, etc.]

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"In early civilizations the mass of people lived in a child-like state and were guided and directed by personalities who in some respects were more mature, i.e., the priests and kings. These in turn were guides by spiritual beings — gods — and were what is known as ‘initiates,’ by which is meant that they had direct experience of a supersensible world.” — Waldorf educator Roy Wilkinson, TEACHING HISTORY, Vol. 1. (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2000), p. 4.

 This summarizes a portion of humanity’s evolution as described by Rudolf Steiner. Steiner’s account hinges on the concept of occult knowledge — secret knowledge of the spirit realm possessed by only a few “mature” human beings, aka initiates. Many ancient societies were indeed built upon such ideas, which have largely become obsolete in the modern world. But such ideas live on in the Waldorf belief system, which accepts them as objectively revealed Truth. 

• Note that the description is polytheistic — “gods.” The Waldorf belief system recognizes many gods. 

• “Initiation” is a basic term in occult spiritual traditions. People who rise in the ranks of spiritualists become “initiated” — they are admitted to the inner circle. Steiner described himself as such an initiate, and many Waldorf teachers believe that they, too, have been initiated. 

• In Waldorf belief, the “direct experience” of initiates is the use of clairvoyance. Steiner taught that people used to have natural clairvoyant powers that modern humans have lost. But he said that “initiates” like himself have attained a perfected form of clairvoyance. 

• According to Waldorf belief, the “supersensible world” is actually several worlds — spiritual worlds that we cannot perceived with our senses (they are above senses, they are "super-sensible"), but we can perceive them through clairvoyance.

When Waldorf teachers convey such “facts” to their students, openly or indirectly, they are teaching the kids Anthroposophy, not history. [To be continued.]

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Yesterday we examined a passage from a Waldorf teacher-training manual. Here is more from the same text.

“We can, therefore, trace historically the development of humanity from a period when the soul had an instinctive connection with the spiritual, through a time when there were intermediaries in the form of priests, to the present almost wholly materialistic civilization.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, TEACHING HISTORY, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2000), p. 5. 

This is an outline of human history, Waldorf-style. It is occult and mystical. Steiner said that we happen to live in a highly materialistic period* when his occult teachings are not self-evidently true, but he said that occult truths were obvious to people in the past and they will become obvious to people again in the future. The “instinctive connection with the spiritual” that ancient people had was natural clairvoyance, possessed by almost everyone then. In a later epoch, only the priests and initiates had direct knowledge of the higher worlds. Today, only Steiner’s followers and a very few others have such knowledge. When Waldorf students are given such ideas, they are not being taught history; they are being indoctrinated in Anthroposophy. 

* By "materialism," Steiner didn't simply mean that we love material possessions; he meant that we have incarnated more fully than ever before in the material world. We were less physically incarnated in the past and we will be less physically incarnated in the future. Our present deeply physical incarnation is what makes spiritual truths "occult" to us — that is, they are hidden from us at present.

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Waldorf teachers have a militant vision of the future. Standing on guard against the demon Ahriman and the Antichrist Sorat, they anticipate the apocalyptic War of All Against All. Sometimes this vision produces problems within a Waldorf faculty. 

“Anyone trapped in any dogmatic system of spiritual or religious belief will exhibit the same anti-social and alienating behavior anthroposophists often display ... Anthroposophy is an apocalyptic philosophy, and anthroposophists are quite consciously preparing the groundwork for the incarnation of Ahriman, for the development of Sorat and accompanying demonic entities, for the far-future war of All Against All, etc.  ... [T]his is why [a] typical, never-ending community conflict dynamic in a Waldorf school is accepted and intellectualized away as necessarily preferable to happy, healthy and balanced (normal) human interaction. Conflict is a particular type of ecstatic union: the spiritual feast. I witnessed many teachers who literally went out of their way to create issues if it happened to be too slow a month, problem-wise.” — A former Waldorf teacher. [See “Ex-Teacher 7”. Also see “Ahriman”, “Evil Ones”, and “All v. All”.]

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Waldorf schools usually deny that they are religious institutions. When they admit to any religious orientation, they present themselves as vaguely Christian. But their “Christianity” is not like anything you will find in the Bible or in a mainstream Christian church. Here, for instance, is Rudolf Steiner’s explanation and revision of the first beatitude in the Lord’s Prayer (Blessed are the poor in spirit): 

“[T]he members of [man’s] being — the physical and etheric bodies, the sentient, rational and consciousness souls, the ego, and even the higher soul members — receive new life through the nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven. These teachings are in complete accord with the teachings of primeval wisdom. In order for an individual to enter the spiritual world in earlier times, the etheric body had to be slightly separated from the physical body, which was thus formed in a special way. Christ Jesus therefore said in regard to the physical body, ‘Blessed are the beggars, the poor in spirit, for if they develop their ego-ruled bodies in the right way, they will find the Kingdom of Heaven.’” — Rudolf Steiner, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (Anthroposophic Press, 1978), lecture 2, "The Sermon on the Mount", GA 107.

The Anthroposophical — and unbiblical — terms in this passage include 

• the etheric body

• the sentient soul

• the rational soul

• the consciousness soul

• the “ego” (i.e., the “I” or "ego body")

• higher soul members

• primeval wisdom

• ego-ruled bodies.

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Waldorf schools can be criticized for many things. But the basic problem is this: They are very often dishonest about their intentions. The schools exist to promote Anthroposophy, but they almost never lay this out for parents who are considering enrolling their children. Some Waldorf representatives worry about this dishonesty, but so far they have not cleaned up Waldorf's act. One result is that many families get involved in Waldorf, stay for months or years, and only gradually recognize the truth. Leaving the schools then can be wrenching.

“There are those within the Anthroposophy/Waldorf movement who believe their own public relations are less than forthright. There are some who feel as frustrated at the deceptive marketing and misleading information as the parents do who make the gut-wrenching decision to pull children from their school. This is not a decision parents take without much thought, sadness and trepidation. In most cases, however, the decision simply must be made. Something is wrong. The education the parents were sold was simply not the education their children received. Beautiful, gentle, arts based, natural type of education has very little in common with a spiritual movement based on the religious/occult theories of one man and his followers.” — A former Waldorf parent. [See “Our Experience”.]

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"[S]tarting with the answer and working backward to the evidence — the opposite of the approaches of science and scholarship — one can seemingly reverse the burden of proof ... I call this process the Through-the-Looking-Glass Syndrome ... [T]he standards of objective inquiry are effectively reversed ... [A] person’s own intelligence can work against him when he is under the spell of the Through-the-Looking-Glass Syndrome: the intelligent person may be able to think up rationalizations and theoretical complexities of breathtaking cleverness, fooling first himself, then others.” — Joe Nickell, SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, November/December 2011.

The above statement was not written with Anthroposophy in mind, but it might have been. It applies to all forms of ideological self-deception. People can talk themselves — and others — into believing the most astonishing nonsense. We believe what we want to believe, regardless. Rudolf Steiner’s followers deceive themselves in precisely this way. [See “Why? Oh Why? Oh Why?” and “Fooling Ourselves”.]

Another passage in the same magazine throws light on the indoctrination of Waldorf students. Young children in Waldorf schools are discouraged from thinking while they are led to emotionally embrace their teachers’ beliefs and attitudes. The students will probably remain caught in this indoctrination later, even when their minds are better equipped to ask questions. 

“[O]ur beliefs are tied to our loyalties ... Emotional ties predict what one is willing to believe ... ‘Most of us don’t stray far from the beliefs of our friends ... We will selectively filter out the facts that counter our views.’” — Kendrick Frazier, Ibid., p. 5. 

[See “Thinking”, “Spiritual Agenda”, and “Sneaking It In”.]

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Waldorf teachers tell their young students a great many fairy tales. This apparently innocent activity is actually a method of sneaking Anthroposophical doctrines into the classroom. Here is the hidden meaning of "Snow White", Waldorf-style: 

“In human development there are certain obvious stages of development. For the first seven years of its life the child is, so to speak, carried by heavenly powers. Then a change takes place ... [W]hen Snow White is seven, it is she who is the most beautiful. She has grown into her own being to a certain extent. The significance is that a new type of human being is coming into existence ... When the queen thinks she is eating Snow White's lungs and liver, she aims at acquiring the new powers ... Snow White...wanders alone in the woods and comes to a little hut which is the home of the seven dwarfs. The significance here is that the child's soul (and the human soul in general at a certain stage) is still in connection with the elemental powers ... The negative powers now attack the developing soul ... The elemental beings can assist humans to some degree but some things are beyond their powers ... [A] higher power is needed to awaken [Snow White]. The power of the higher self, in the form of the prince, arrives ... [T]he old magical powers must die. It is the beginning of a new era."  — Waldorf Teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE INTERPRETATION OF FAIRY TALES (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1997) , pp. 16-17.

A quick gloss: 

• Anthroposophists believe in many gods: There are many "heavenly powers" above us.

• The universe also includes "elemental beings" or nature spirits, invisible creatures such as gnomes and sylphs that dwell inside nature; they help humans, to some degree, but they can also be hostile.

• The "higher powers" aid humans to evolve toward becoming "a new type of human being." 

• Individual humans evolve on a seven-year schedule; until age seven, a child is in touch with the heavenly powers — s/he is "carried by heavenly powers." 

• After the seventh birthday, a child becomes significantly different — "a change takes place" and the child is more earthly — hence the elemental beings loom larger.

• Incarnating more fully on earth means becoming more autonomous: "[W]hen Snow White is seven...she has grown into her own being to a certain extent."

• Humans acquire "new powers" at each stage of life and during each future life; our evolution takes us forward into new historical epochs — so time and again, "It is the beginning of a new era."

• The death of the Queen/witch shows human spiritual evolution, as we set aside old powers ("the old magical powers must die") and move toward our new, higher powers.

• The handsome prince who awakens Snow White embodies the "higher power" of the evolved human spiritual ego, the transformed Self (in Anthroposophy, Christ the Sun God is our Prototype — we evolve to become like Him).

• There are beneficent powers but also "negative powers" such as evil gods, demons, black magicians and witches, and perverse elemental beings.

• The descent to Earth is a descent toward an unspiritual existence — a necessary step but a hazardous one, akin to wandering "alone in the woods."

The degree to which such Anthroposophical doctrines are conveyed to Waldorf students depends on the form of delivery used by individual Waldorf teachers. But conveying such doctrines is the intention. Note that THE INTERPRETATION OF FAIRY TALES was written by a Waldorf teacher and published by the Rudolf Steiner College, a Waldorf teacher-training institution.

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Waldorf schools emphasize imagination, inspiration, and intuition. You may be surprised by the reason. A basic tenet of Anthroposophy is that humanity is evolving upward through higher and higher stages of consciousness or cognition. If we live wisely and well, we move to higher forms of consciousness during our present lives, during our coming lives after death, and during our future evolution on other "planets."* Imagination, for instance, is the form of consciousness we will perfect on Jupiter. Inspiration is higher than imagination — we will perfect it on Venus — and intuition is higher still — we will perfect it on Vulcan. Essentially, these are all stages of "exact" or "strict" clairvoyance. Here is Steiner speaking of intuition, which involves contending with occult Moon forces. (As is often the case, Steiner's language is opaque. Persevere in reading it, even if it seems incomprehensible. If nothing else, you will be introducing yourself to the sorts of statements Steiner's followers pore over. These are the sorts of statements that underlie Waldorf education.) 

"Conscious Intuition, therefore, the highest development of strict clairvoyance, actually consists in arresting the actions which a sleepwalker is instinctively compelled by the Moon-forces to perform. Anyone who brings about this metamorphosis does not give himself up to the physical forces of the Moon but holds them in check within himself. Thus he is enabled to devote himself intuitively to the relevant spirituality; that is, he attains to Intuition." — Rudolf Steiner, THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS, lecture 7, GA 227.

*In Steiner's teachings, such "planets" are future evolutionary conditions of the entire solar system. The planets we see in the sky today are remnants and precursors of past and future stages. Waldorf schools work to prepare the way for future human evolution as  described by Steiner. In this effort, they rely heavily on clairvoyance. [See "The Waldorf Teacher's Consciousness".]

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In discussing yesterday’s Quote of the Day, we referred to the planetary stages of human evolution. Rudolf Steiner's teachings about planetary stages or "planetary conditions" form a key doctrine in the Waldorf belief system. Steiner taught that humans will evolve through seven major planetary stages, ranging from Old Saturn to Future Vulcan. He also said there were other “planets” before our seven (the gods began evolving during those planetary stages), and there will be others after we reach Vulcan. We have already evolved through Old Saturn, Old Sun, and Old Moon; ahead of us lie Future Jupiter, Future Venus, and Future Vulcan. None of this, obviously, has any factual basis; it is purely an article of faith in the Waldorf religion, Anthroposophy. The deviations from modern scientific knowledge are extreme. Still, the ideology upon which Waldorf education was built affirms these visions:

"In the course of our whole evolution we have seven Planetary conditions: Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan ... [W]e stand exactly in the middle of our Earthly evolution. This is frequently felt to be something extraordinarily important for man. We have behind us three Planets...and the same number still lie before us. But if we were standing on the Old Moon, we should see yet another Planetary condition before Saturn; if we were standing on future Jupiter we should no longer see Saturn, but in its place a Planet beyond Vulcan." — Rudolf Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 26, GA 93a.

[For more on all this, see “Everything”, “Steiner Static”, “Planetary Humans”, “Planetary Spirits”, “Vulcan”, etc.]

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In dimly lit rooms with pastel-shaded walls, Waldorf teachers sing quietly to their young students. They regale the children with myths and fairy stories. They coo and chant and recite, speaking musically, inspirationally. Some parents find all this delightful; some find it creepy. The main thing to note, however, is that it all derives from a system of mysticism, the Waldorf belief system, Anthroposophy. The sound of language, more than the meaning, is important in this system — it lures children into esoteric realms.

“[I]t is highly important that [Waldorf teachers] work at developing their own speech — musicality, rhythm, clarity, enunciation, plastic force, and so on. If we pay too little attention to our own speech...we cannot establish the soul mood ... Through the way we form sounds, we...transmit more than the actual meaning of words ... [I]n working with the musicality of language, with its structure and sounds, we are at work in a  wonderfully heavenly interval: a divine pause, a spiritual hiatus between our future and the student’s past. We entice the student from his or her givens from the past...into this divine hiatus.” — Magda Lissau, THE TEMPERAMENTS AND THE ARTS (The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 2003), pp. 135-136.

Waldorf education is meant to bring children to Anthroposophy. This is fine, if you approve of Anthroposophy. Decide whether you do before sending a child to a Waldorf school.

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"If it is to fulfill its purpose in accordance with the spiritual reality out of which it teaches, then a Waldorf school must be structured and make its administrative and financial decisions in accordance with the same spiritual reality. Those carrying the responsibility for the school — teachers, trustees or board members, and administrators — need to have some understanding of this reality, particularly of the threefold nature of all social and community life. To teach the children on the basis of the reality of the supersensible [i.e., supernatural] world and then work with the money as though no such supersensible world existed is to introduce a dishonesty, a lie, into the life of the school”. — Michael Spence, FREEING THE HUMAN SPIRIT - The Threefold Social Order, Money, and The Waldorf School (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 1999), opening words, p. 5.

Waldorf schools try to embody Rudolf Steiner’s social/political vision, called “threefolding.” [See "Threefolding".] The central idea (derived from Steiner’s numerological leanings) is that societies, like human beings, have three main component parts.* The idea is interesting. But more interesting is what often happens when Waldorf faculties discuss such things. With their attention focused on “practical” questions, they sometimes neglect to keep their guard up concerning matters of the spirit. Here we see an example. Intending to write about school finances, Michael Spence casually mentions the underlying purpose of Waldorf schools, which revolves around “spiritual reality.” The schools “teach the children on the basis of the reality of the supersensible world.” The schools are, in other words, religious — and the religion they practice is Anthroposophy.

* Three is the number of divine revelation, Steiner taught. See “Magic Numbers”.

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On the lighter side: According to Waldorf belief, colors — like everything else — have hidden meanings. There are positive colors and negative colors, high colors and low colors, colors that can be used for this and colors that must never be used for that. The following comes from a guide to painting the Waldorf way. Note that the “truths” about colors hinge on clairvoyance:

“The moral effect of color... To the inward vision of the soul [i.e., clairvoyance] the essential nature of each color is revealed ... Yellow: The eye is gladdened, the heart expanded and cheered ...  Yellowy Red: [I]mpetuous, robust, uneducated people...like this colour ... The colours on the minus side are blue, red-blue, and blue-red. Blue: brings darkness ...  Reddish blue: It may be said [occultly] to disturb rather than enlighten ... Bluey Red: [An] unquiet feeling ... [A] carpet of perfectly pure deep blue-red would be intolerable.” — Brunhild Müller, PAINTING WITH CHILDREN (Floris Books, 2010), pp. 9-10.

If you don’t believe in clairvoyance, and voodoo in colors, and bonzo rules (no blue-red carpets!) — Waldorf might not bring brightness into your life.

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"We must make an effort to speak a cosmic, extraterrestrial language ... [S]cience mocks any effort to go beyond the earthly. If one even begins to speak about the stars, the terrible mockery sets in right away, as a matter of course, from the natural-scientific side ... If one wants to understand the animals, one must take recourse to the extraterrestrial, for the animals are ruled by forces that are extraterrestrial. I showed you this yesterday with respect to the fish. I told you how moon and sun forces work into the water and shape him out of the water, if I may put it so. And in the same way, the bird out of the air ... The whole animal world is explainable in terms of the extraterrestrial. And even more so the human being. But when one begins to speak of the extraterrestrial, then the mockery sets in at once.” — Rudolf Steiner, “Fall and Redemption,” a lecture, 1923, GA 220 

As usual with Steiner, there is a great deal of nonsense in this statement. Speaking about the stars does not excite mockery in, for example, the natural science known as astronomy. But Steiner is talking about the astrological influences of the stars — the magical, mystical powers of the stars and the gods who live within them. Astrology does excite mockery, and for a very good reason. Astrology is nonsense. But this pseudoscience is close to the core of Anthroposophy, the ideology upon which Waldorf education is built. [See, e.g., “Astrology”, “Waldorf Astrology”, “Astrosophy”, “Planetary Spirits”, and “Planetary Humans”.] If nothing else, we should note Steiner’s explicit antagonism to modern science — that is, real knowledge — and his affirmation of superstition. This is the sort of thinking we find in and around Waldorf schools. Parents, before sending your children to Waldorf schools, consider this matter well.

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"Mohammedism is the first manifestation of [the arch-demon] Ahriman ... Mohammed's god, Allah, Eloha, is an Ahrimanic imitation or pale reflection of the Elohim [i.e., gods], but comprehended monotheistically. Mohammed always refers to them as a unity. The Mohammedan culture is Ahrimanic, but the Islamic attitude is Luciferic.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 75-76.

For more on the Anthroposophical view of Islam, see "Islam." There you will learn that Steiner dissed Islam for being monotheistic (the universe has many gods, Steiner taught), and that an important successor of Mohammed later reincarnated as that dreadful enemy of Germany, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States. [To make Ahriman's acquaintance, visit "Ahriman." Lucifer can be seen at "Lucifer", while traces of Woodrow Wilson crackle through "Steiner Static".]

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"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".]

What is "the anthroposophical personality"? To generalize: There is a layer of sweetness. Anthroposophists believe in angels and fairies and living spirits in the heavens and earth. But there is also smugness, a sense of superiority — Anthroposophists think they know more than anyone else about almost everything (and what they don't know isn't worth knowing). There are traces of pseudo-intellectualism: Anthroposophy is a complex system; adherents read brain-jarring tomes by Rudolf Steiner and others, and they develop intricate rationalizations to support what they read. There is inflexibility. Anthroposophy is The Truth, and anyone who assails it is probably demonic, while anyone who leaves the fold is beneath notice, having chosen The False. There is a countercultural inclination, a certain rebelliousness: Authorities are distrusted while the inviolable authority of the Self is affirmed. Overall, the Anthroposophical personality is defined by delusion. Believing that the heart is truer than the brain, Anthroposophists think that what they feel must be true. Believing in clairvoyance or "higher consciousness," Anthroposophists think that what they sense must be true. And thus rationality withers. Believing only what they wish to believe, Anthroposophists cut themselves off more and more from reality, they become more and more remote and more and more defensive (because, despite their determined efforts, a shadow of doubt haunts the Anthroposophical night).

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Anthroposophists usually deny that they are slavishly devoted to Rudolf Steiner, citing the Anthroposophical precept that they can develop their own powers of clairvoyance and thus attain their own, independent spiritual knowledge. But in practice, Anthroposophists usually defend Steiner tooth and nail, citing his work endlessly, and poring over all of his utterances and productions. Here, for instance, we have a book from the Rudolf Steiner Press that is devoted to interpreting a single painting attributed to Steiner. As is common for Anthroposophists, the author and publisher treat the painting with something akin to reverence.

“EASTER, [by] Angela Lord [Rudolf Steiner Press. 2011] — This marvelous book explores the deep meaning of the watercolor Easter (or 'Three Crosses') painted by Rudolf Steiner in April 1924. Living through this book into Steiner’s watercolor painting, the reader is led to contemplate the profound mysteries of not only colors and the sense world, but also the divine, cosmic, human invisible reality lying behind them and manifested in the unique event we celebrate as Easter. At first, the coloring and composition of the painting seem relatively simple. But the longer one looks at and mediates upon it, questions begin to press upon the viewer: • Why did Rudolf Steiner use the rainbow sequence of colors? • Why are the crosses so small, seen only from a distance? • Who or what are the white figures ‘below the earth’? • What is the painting actually about?” — SteinerBooks

In Anthroposophy, Easter is the brief reappearance of the Sun God before He ended his three-year occupation of the body of Jesus.]

 [R.R.]