Waldorf Problems

 

WEIRD WALDORF

 

Rudolf Steiner held meetings with the teachers at the first Waldorf school. He used these meetings to set out the direction and purpose of Waldorf education. You can find most of the following statements in the two-volume set FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER. [1] For further substantiation, please visit
http://homepage.mac.com/nonlevitating/36.html

Steiner told his teachers that they must serve the “divine cosmic plan” (which Steiner happened to know all about) of the “gods” (note the plural: gods). He informed the teachers that they were on a messianic mission to save the world: They would be “the means by which that streaming down from above [i.e., the gods' beneficience] will go out into the world.” It would be almost impossible to believe that Steiner made such grandiose and heretical remarks except that he did. This conception of Waldorf schooling is so essential, let's look at Steiner's his words again: “Among the faculty, we must certainly carry within us the knowledge that we are not here for our own sakes, but to carry out the divine cosmic plan. We should always remember that when we do something, we are actually carrying out the intentions of the gods, that we are, in a certain sense, the means by which that streaming down from above will go out into the world.” [2] Note, please, that Steiner  fully included himself: He didn't say to the teachers "you" will do so-and-so, he said "we." The core of the divine cosmic plan, and hence of Waldorf's purpose, entails the future evolution of humankind. (I outline Steiner's fantastic visions of the future at  http://steiner-predicts.com.)
 
In fulfilling the holy plan of the "gods," Waldorf teachers are directed by religious doctrines. But the religion involved is not orthodox Christianity or any other large, recognizable faith. It is Anthroposophy, the weird faith Steiner himself whipped up (mainly by cribbing from Theosophy [3]). If they are faithful to Steiner,Waldorf teachers work to fulfill Anthroposophy as a faith. Steiner conducted himself as a religious leader, for example by writing prayers for the teachers and students to recite, in unison, in school.[4] He presented himself as a master of virtually all knowledge, a savant, a clairvoyant guide to the mysteries of the universe. [5] Messianic self-promoters are always extremely dangerous. Old Texas proverb: If you meet someone who has all the answers, run for your life!
 
Steiner sometimes seemed to lack the courage of his convictions (for the sake of argument, let's stipulate that Steiner believed what he said—this raises the question of his sanity, but let's not trouble ourselves over that). Steiner worried about opposition to his weird, occult tenets. One solution he tried was to instruct Waldorf teachers to keep those tenets secret. They were not to use the word "prayer," for instance. (“Never call a verse a prayer, call it an opening verse before school. Avoid allowing anyone to hear you, as a faculty member, using the word ‘prayer.’”[6]) They should also stay mum about the low academic standards at Waldorf: the school would not prepare students for final examinations, but Steiner didn't "dare" to reveal this. (“It is a question of whether we dare tell those who come to us that we will not prepare them for the final examination at all, that it is a private decision of the student whether to take the final examination or not.” [7]). Similarly, Steiner told his teachers not to reveal the tenet that some people are "not really human." (Some “children are born with a human form, but are not really human beings ...Imagine what people would say if they heard that we say there are people who are not human beings....” [8]).
 
On specific subjects, especially sciences, Steiner gave his teachers truly bizarre guidance. He explained to them that the earth doesn't orbit the sun. Rather, the sun is flying through space, with three planets ahead of it and three trailing behind. [9] As for the earth itself, Steiner taught that islands such as Great Britain are not attached to the ocean floor. Instead, they float, and are held in position by the stars. [10]
 
Basic to Steiner's religion are the borrowed concepts of karma and reincarnation. [11] Steiner said that upper school students might be given instruction about reincarnation, but only in the most cautious manner. [12] (Steiner’s explanation for why some people are “not really human” is that “they are not reincarnated, but are human forms filled with a sort of natural demon.” [13])
 
Critically important: Steiner affirmed that "Anthroposophy will be in the school." [14] So, it is clear that children attending a Waldorf school receive their "educations" within a miasma of mystic nonsense. The harm inflicted can last a lifetime.
 
To wrap this up. I've already told part of my story as a Waldorf student and graduate (see my essays "Unenlightened: The Inside Story of an Occult Education" and/or "I Went to Waldorf"):
http://homepage.mac.com/nonlevitating/one.html
and/or 
http://homepage.mac.com/nonlevitating/two.html
 
In another essay ("My Sad, Sad Story"—I can laugh at myself, too) I pick up the story following my graduation from a Waldorf school. (I should stress that I write about my own experiences only because I have a right to tell about them. Other Waldorf graduates and their parents have more powerful stories, but it is up to them to decide whether to tell those stories. I will not invade their privacy.)

For more, visit
http://waldorfcritics.org

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

[2] Ibid., p. 55.

[3] For Steiner’s discussion of Theosophy, see e.g., Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SPIRITUAL PROCESSES IN HUMAN LIFE AND IN THE COSMOS (Anthroposophic Press, 1994), and Rudolf Steiner, SPIRITUALISM, MADAME BLAVATSKY, AND THEOSOPHY: AN EYEWITNESS VIEW OF OCCULT HISTORY (Anthroposophic Press, 2001). According to Christopher Bamford, editor-in-chief of SteinerBooks “[S]teiner felt the necessity of refounding Theosophical insight... [H]e felt he had to infuse Theosophy, which had an anti-Christian bias, with the real meaning of Christ and the Mystery of Golgotha.” [Rudolf Steiner, WHAT IS ANTHROPOSOPHY: THREE SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVES ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE (Anthroposophic Press, 2002), p. 19, introduction by Christopher Bamford.]

[4] Rudolf Steiner, PRAYERS FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995).

[5] See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, THE FIFTH GOSPEL: FROM THE AKASHIC RECORD (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995) and Rudolf Steiner, READING THE PICTURES OF THE APOCALYPSE: Notes from Sixteen Lectures (SteinerBooks, 1993). To consult the Akashic Record (a cosmic storehouse of all knowledge) or to read the pictures of the Apocalypse, the necessary tool is clairvoyance.

[6] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 20.

[7] Ibid., p. 712.

[8] Ibid., pp. 649-650.

[9] Ibid., pp. 30-31. “[I]t is not that the planets move around the Sun, but these three, Mercury, Venus, and the Earth, follow the Sun, and these three, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, precede it.”

[10] Ibid., p. 607. “[A]n island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars.”

[11] See, e.g., Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS: Esoteric Studies (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974).

[12] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 184.

[13] Ibid., p. 649.

[14] Ibid., p. 495. I discuss this subject at length on the page “Foundations” at this Web site.