Unsuspecting parents might be tempted to think that Waldorf teachers could not manipulate English classes for occult purposes. The students learn vocabulary, spelling, and grammar; they learn how to read and write; and they read some good books. How could a Waldorf school bend such studies to serve the occult religion that undergirds Waldorf: Anthroposophy? An absorbing pamphlet written by longtime Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson — it is titled TEACHING ENGLISH — explains how. Crucially, bear in mind that Wilkinson was not addressing parents of Waldorf students, or people considering Waldorf schools for their children, or critics of Waldorf education. He was giving advice to fellow Waldorf teachers. [1]

Wilkinson starts the chapter “The Origin of Language” by explaining that his remarks will be based on “indications” given by Rudolf Steiner. [2] He then quotes the Gospel of St. John:

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” [3] 

The study of literature, in Waldorf schools, is rooted in Biblical or, more generally, spiritual texts. Wilkinson proceeds to the story of Creation in Genesis, and he offers the following: 

“The Hebrew word translated as ‘God’ is ‘Elohim,’ and this, we understand from the experts, is a plural ... [T]herefore, it should be read ‘Gods.’ These Elohim or Gods are high-ranking spiritual beings ... The process of creation was that from these divine beings there flowed our [sic - probably means ‘out’] a sort of speech-music. this [sic] was of a spiritual nature not perceptible to the ordinary human ear. Different beings created different tones and this outflowing eventually crystallized in matter and became manifest.” [4]

Language comes to us from the gods, and indeed the creation of the universe was the activity of numerous gods: They effectively spoke or sang the universe into existence. This is the premise on which the study of language and literature is based, in Waldorf schools. And this premise entails various other Anthroposophical beliefs, most notably polytheism. Having begun with a Biblical verse, Wilkinson pivots from speaking of "God" to speaking of "Gods." Anthroposophy is a polytheistic faith, as Steiner indicated when he said this to Waldorf teachers: 

“We should always remember that when we do something, we are actually carrying out the intentions of the gods....” [5]

Language (and literature) are fundamentally divine, as seen from the Waldorf perspective. The gods used language to create the universe, and they built the capacity for language into the human being. 

"The human being is the product of the creative word ... The human being can recognize and use speech because...language has been built into his structure.” [6] 

Studying English (like studying virtually all subjects) in a Waldorf school is ultimately a spiritual undertaking, based on the workings of the gods, and devoted to exploring those workings. When we use or study language, we use the capacities built into us by divine intent.

Just as the gods used a magically potent form of language (their "speech-music"), so human language was originally magical and divine, according to Wilkinson and Steiner. Gradually, however, our language became corrupted as humanity "fell" and became ensnared in material existence. (This is a common theme in Anthroposophy: The material world is a degrading arena.) Our language deteriorated, and it fractured into the multiple languages used on Earth today. Wilkinson writes: 

“Originally a word was a manifestation or expression of the inner nature of the object. Thus, in speaking, man was intimately connected with the world around. In the course of evolution he has developed into a being with a self-conscious ego and, as such, he stands outside nature and divorced from it. When words are spoken therefore, he no longer experiences the being of things...but [he] accepts [the words] as [mere] labels ... Further descent into physical existence is also the reason for the development of different languages.” [7] 

Considered devotionally, nothing could be more important than the study of language with its original, magical properties. On the other hand, if we nowadays are merely pushing around labels, the study of language may seem to be a trivial pursuit. Wilkinson holds out the hope that by delving into grammar — the structure of language — we can reconnect with the magic still lying dormant within language. 

“[I]n teaching grammar what was unconscious is brought to consciousness ... When we say ‘bring to consciousness,’ this is not to be equated with intellectual understanding.” [8]

Intellectual understanding, in Waldorf belief, is superficial; Wilkinson is suggesting that true language study can penetrate below the surface to reconnect with the divine underpinnings of our existence. The study of English in true Waldorf schools is, then, a spiritual — indeed, a religious — undertaking. To summarize the case Wilkinson makes for the importance of language study: In our time, language has become debased; yet language is built into us; even grammar is innately within our beings — and Wilkinson does not mean that our use of language reflects debasement. Just the opposite: 

“[L]anguage is a manifestation of the Divine, and ultimately, the study of language leads to an understanding of the Divine and man’s connection with it. In this sense, it is a religious study.” [9]

The religion involved is the polytheistic faith that underlies Waldorf education: Anthroposophy.

The religious study Wilkinson outlines entails exposure to various mythic and fabulous tales, the sorts of stories that comprise a significant component of Anthroposophical doctrine. Steiner taught that myths are essentially true. 

“Actual facts concerning the higher Spiritual Worlds lie at the foundation of all myths.... ” [10] 

This is why myths are central in the Waldorf curriculum. Here are some of the recommendations Wilkinson makes for various grade levels, especially the lower grades when the children are most impressionable. The Anthroposophical agenda is unmistakable: 

◊ Grade 1: Little or no reading. “It is a mistake to try to learn to read before learning to write.” [11] Children can play with illustrated books having moving parts. “The themes of these are fairy stories, seasons, nature.” The kids can also be exposed to “such delightful creations as ‘The Song of the Elfin Miller'... and 'The Fairies.'” [12]

◊ Grade 2: “Fairy stories, legends, fables....” [13]

◊ Grade 3: “Old Testament stories, legends, stories of the saints, folk tales....” [14]

◊ Grade 4: “Norse stories [i.e., myths], scenes from ancient history ... alliterative poetry....” [15]

◊ Grade 5: “Indian, Persian, and Egyptian myths ... Greek myths ... Irish legends....” [16]

After that, Wilkinson's reading suggestions for higher grades become somewhat more conventional, although “folk legends” are specified for Grade 6 [17], for instance, and recommendations for the 11th grade include “Odysseus [sic] by Homer ... Niebelungenlied [a German epic poem derived, in part, from Norse myths]  ... Sunset and Evening Star (quiet contemplation and no fear of the beyond), [and] The Higher Pantheism (relation to the divine).” [18] 

Fairy tales, folk tales, myths, fables, spiritualistic narratives, legends — these are woven throughout the Waldorf curriculum, from beginning to end. Why? Students who hear and read all of these tales will have received a broad if somewhat shallow exposure to Anthroposophical beliefs, and they will have done so in an unmistakably religious context. Look again at the reading recommendations for Grade 3, which include stories from the Bible as well as “stories of the saints.” Waldorf schools usually claim to be nonsectarian. In how many nonsectarian schools are children asked to read or listen to “stories of the saints”?

At the Waldorf school I attended, my classmates and I were led through an English curriculum that generally conformed to Wilkinson/Steiner’s recommendations. For example, the class history printed in our 12th grade yearbook includes the following: 

“In the third grade we began our study of the Bible, and put on a play about Joseph’s coat of many colors ... Besides the three R’s, the fourth grade was occupied with the study of Norse myths. The high point of the year was the building of Yggdrasil, the Norse tree of life, out of paper. The fifth grade, where we learned about Greek and Egyptian myths....” [19]

Similarly, we studied THE ODYSSEY right on schedule, in the 11th grade. Our reading matter in high school contained a large dose of the mythical and even the theological. We were assigned THE DIVINE COMEDY (Dante’s description of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven) and PARADISE LOST (Milton’s account of mankind’s fall in the Garden of Eden). We were assigned spiritualistic essays from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s SELECTED WRITINGS and Thomas Carlyle’s ON HEROES AND HERO-WORSHIP. I still have my copies of these books, in which I carefully underlined the most overtly religious passages — the passages that I recall our teachers emphasizing. In addition, we were encouraged to read disguised Christian parables by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, who were members of a coterie now known as the Oxford Christians. [20] I remember Tolkien’s books being sold in our school lobby at Christmastime. That’s where I got my copies — after buying them, I read and reread THE LORD OF THE RINGS each year until I graduated.

We also studied literature having no immediately apparent connection to spiritualism. But a closer examination suggests that at least some of these works contain, in muted form, ideas consistent with Anthroposophy. For example, we were assigned Willa Cather’s MY ANTONIA, which deals with Manifest Destiny as enacted by a pair of Christian families: The forces of destiny want these white people to take possession of the North American continent, and religious faith helps the families overcome their difficulties. Destiny or karma is a central Anthroposophical concept, and Steiner’s elevation of whites above other races is one of his most appalling tenets. [See “Steiner’s Racism”.] The speaker at my class’s eighth grade graduation, Sylvester M. Morey, wrote a pamphlet in which he echoes Steiner’s argument that American “Indians” are less evolved than whites. [21]

I think it was during our freshman or sophomore year in high school that we studied CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, the story of a remorseless, apparently irredeemable murderer. The novel would seem, initially, to be utterly disconnected from the mystical visions that Waldorf urged on us. Yet, considered more carefully, the novel can be interpreted as fitting the Anthroposophic worldview at least to the extent that it embodies a broad critique of modern life and its soullessness, along with a plea for spiritual redemption. Indeed, the book ends in a passage that is distinctly consonant with Anthroposophy: The murderer clutches a New Testament while the author projects for him “a new story, the story of the gradual rebirth of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his gradual passing from one world to another....” [22] 

Rebirth, in the form of reincarnation and spiritual evolution, is a basic Anthroposophical doctrine. Steiner said that “people live repeated earthly lives” [23], and one of his followers has correctly written this:

“Evolution is the great theme...of Steiner’s life work. It is, however, an evolution that goes far beyond anything dreamed of today in biology or geology.” [24] 

It is, in brief, a mystical form of evolution. The central goal of Anthroposophy is to see humanity regenerate itself, evolving ever upward, passing from lowly worlds to higher spirit worlds. [See “Evolution, Anyone?”] Thus, even a book like CRIME AND PUNISHMENT could be used by Waldorf teachers to subtly steer students toward Anthroposophical beliefs (albeit the actual intentions of the author might need to be shunted aside). [25]

I do not mean, of course, that any of the authors we read in our English classes were Anthroposophists — Cather, Dostoyevsky, and the others would have been shocked by such a suggestion. And I certainly do not mean that we students knew enough about Anthroposophy to spot all the potential connections between Steiner's doctrines and the works our teachers selected for us to read. But Waldorf schools have a long history of promoting Anthroposophy by stealth. Steiner cautioned Waldorf teachers not to be too open about their beliefs, yet he also made plain his intention for Waldorf schools to promote Anthroposophy. [26] Waldorf schools usually undertake this mission by indirection, by the quiet planting of seeds in students’ minds. Thus, in the English curriculum, a receptivity to Anthroposophy is subtly fostered through the frequent, repeated use of myths, legends, fables, spiritualistic fiction, devout poetry — and even modern realistic fiction that is open to certain interpretations. Most of the works we read were excellent; they were literary classics — no parent could complain about these assignments. Yet in Waldorf schools, virtually all literature is bent to the service of Rudolf Steiner's occult doctrines. The ultimate effect is to create a mental climate in which occultism in general, and Anthroposophy in particular, may flower. In sum, our teachers selected reading matter that was, in varying degrees, congruous with Anthroposophical positions — but because the literature we read was of high quality, and because the teachers did not belabor their Anthroposophical views, no one had definite cause to challenge what was being done.

Wilkinson is correct that language classes constitute "a religious study" in the Waldorf curriculum. Indeed, all classes at Waldorf are essentially religious. The religious content is often kept hidden from parents and others who might object, but it is pervasive and, for the students, unavoidable.

"It is possible to introduce a religious element into every subject ... Anyone who has some knowledge of Waldorf teaching will know that this statement is true ... This fundamental religious current flows through all of education." — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHILD'S CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE, Foundations of Waldorf Education (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 94.

In Anthroposophic belief, language is especially divine. The gods who made us and assist us are manifest in language, which is one of their primary gifts to us. 

“You will surely believe me when I say that the structure of language has not been formed by human beings ... It is extremely important to learn how to feel something definite in the activity of the spirits [i.e., gods] of language." — Rudolf Steiner, PRACTICAL ADVICE TO TEACHERS, Foundations of Waldorf Education (Anthroposophic Press, 2000), p. 59. 

In Anthroposophy, feeling is more important than thought; if we feel  the essence of language, we commune with the "spirits of language" — who are gods.

Speaking creates spiritual realities, Steiner said — the use of language is a divinely creative action. Steiner taught that we humans, having evolved higher, will be able to create realities through language: Like the gods, we will establish and shape reality through our utterances. It is for this reason that he made such strange pronouncements as this: 

"The larynx is the future organ of birth, the future organ of procreation. Now man brings forth the word by means of the larynx, but the larynx is the seed that will in future times develop to bring forth the whole human being...." — Rudolf Steiner, THE WORLD OF THE SENSES AND THE WORLD OF THE SPIRIT (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1947), lecture 2, GA 134. 

In other words, we will give birth through our voice boxes, not through our wombs.

Waldorf students will rarely be told such doctrines. But they will spend their days in the atmosphere created by teachers who believe such things, and who will find clever ways to at least suggest them. To consider how religious meaning can be slipped into Waldorf classes covertly, see "Sneaking It In".

At Waldorf schools, the study of English is usually intertwined with the study of history. The rationale informing these two subjects, as studied in Waldorf schools, is essentially one and the same. Truth is found in myth, not in factual knowledge. The Waldorf vision of human development is tied fundamentally to occult imaginings that are expressed mythically.

Here is a brief synopsis of the Waldorf history curriculum, provided by Roy Wilkinson in another of his booklets, in this case TEACHING HISTORY:

“From [ages] six to nine there is no [study of] history proper. Single stories can be told with historical background, but there should be no attempt at sequence [because the kids can't follow sequences] ... At the age of nine or ten, the [study of] history is still interwoven with the period we call ‘study of home surroundings.’ This is a geographical-historical study of the immediate environment ... In the next year the study branches out into definite subjects, of which history is one. It is at this stage (age eleven) that the contents of this booklet become relevant. The child now has an awareness of time, but no logical faculty. Pictures in the mind are still the most potent form of educational material, and since history has its beginnings in mythology, the mythologies provide what is needed. The oriental (not China or Japan) mythologies and civilizations, plus Greece and Rome, will take us through age eleven to the turning point of twelve. The age of twelve brings a marked development of the bony system, and a feeling of independence. The material civilization of the Romans and their insistence on law fit this age of the child. It is worth repeating that, in general, up to the age of twelve, complete pictures or biographies or descriptions of characteristic events will be most effective. As with other subjects, what the child loves in these years, he will understand later... At the ages of thirteen and fourteen comes the beginning of conceptual thinking. The great change marked by the Reformation and the beginnings of modern natural science parallel in history this human development. After fourteen, one can begin to deal with reasons, causes, effects and historical motives of this most important period and proceed up to modern times.” [27]

Several characteristics of Waldorf schooling arise in this synopsis. I deal with these matters at various essays at this website, so for now I’ll simply list a few. If you want to dig into any of this further, please consult the Waldorf Watch Table of Contents and Index.

◊ The study of history begins with "stories" and weaves along a procession of mythologies. "[H]istory has its beginnings in mythology." The underlying Anthroposophical belief is that myths are essentially true, and the beings described in them — gods — actually exist. [See, e.g., "The Gods".] History begins and ends with forms of literature. (One Waldorf text gives the following prescription for the final years of history study: "Classes 11-12 (Ages 17-18) [T]he history of literature ... [T]he "pre-literary” themes of the Middle Ages … [R]eview of the history of English literature … [G]reat literary figures of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries…." — Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), pp. 177-179.)

◊ Factual knowledge and a coherent framework of explanation are intentionally omitted until well into the upper-middle grades. Notice that Wilkinson says children don’t develop a sense of time or an ability to think sensibly until at least age eleven. In Waldorf schooling, all children of a given age are considered to be essentially alike; they all stand at a certain stage of evolution or incarnation. Kids are considered unable to think rationally until late in their development, and their individual interests are largely ignored. [See "Waldorf Curriculum" and "Methods".]

◊ Odd racial/national judgments are passed (no myths from China or Japan are studied, indeed there is no study of those nations’ civilizations). In Waldorf belief, nations and races have their own "group souls" (essentially, gods that oversee them; spirits that all members of the group share). Differences between nations and races are deeply important. Waldorf teachers are expected to pick and choose wisely from world cultures, guided always by Anthroposophical dogma. [See, e.g., "Races" and "Differences".]

◊ Strange physiological/psychological tenets crop up (the “bony system” develops a lot around age twelve, feeding a sense of independence). The entire Waldorf approach is rooted in the extremely strange description of human nature given by Rudolf Steiner. If you do not believe, for instance, that humans incarnate invisible bodies, you will find little justification for Waldorf schooling. [See, e.g., "Oh Humanity  - The Key to Waldorf". On such matters as our "bony system", see "What We're Made Of" and "Our Parts".]

◊ Wilkinson accepts Steiner’s claim that thinking is largely a pictorial process (related to imagination and the production of intuited images in the mind). Conceptual thinking doesn’t even begin until about age thirteen, so “reasons, causes, effects and historical motives” shouldn’t be presented until age fourteen or so. [See, e.g., "Thinking Cap" and "Waldorf Curriculum". For the Waldorf view of rational thought and the use of the brain, see "Steiner's Specific".]

◊ Waldorf schools in general try to impede the maturation of their students. “[I]n a Waldorf school...one of the tasks of the teachers is to keep the children young.” [28] This is most marked in the lower grades, but it persists to some degree throughout the curriculum. Waldorf schools especially want to keep children from learning to think for themselves ("critical thinking" is discouraged). [See "Criticism".] The English and history curriculums are designed with these goals in mind.

THE WALDORF SCHOOL APPROACH TO HISTORY, by Werner Glas, shines additional light on all this. History is not a process amenable to merely rational consideration, Glas says. It is a mystic process guided by astrological influences. Mankind’s progression from one civilization to the next is inseparable from the unscrolling of the zodiac. The astrological powers of Cancer prevailed from 7227 BC to 5067 BC, then Gemini prevailed from 5067 to 2907 BC, followed by Taurus to 747 BC, then Aries to 1413 AD, and so on. 

“As a consequence, while the sun now rises in the beginning of spring in Pisces, at the time of Christ it rose in Aries. Legends and myths point to this super-historical reality. The Egyptians worshipped the Apis Bull [Taurus]. Minos still has [i.e., had] a Bull culture.” [29] 

So, the culture of ancient Egypt was largely determined by the ascendancy of Taurus the bull; ditto Crete, under King Minos. But then the precession of the equinoxes led to the ascendancy of Aries, so human history shifted. As soon as Aries arose, 

“Jason is already searching for the Gold Fleece of the Ram [Aries]. Christ is considered as a Lamb....” [30] 

Notice the astonishing mix of myth, astrology, and history in this “Waldorf school approach to history.” Egyptian religion embodied the forces of the sign of the bull. When the zodiac shifted, Jason — son of a king in Thessaly — led his Argonauts to seek the creature embodied in the new ascendant sign, a ram, Aries. Even Christ is considered a “lamb” because he was born under the sign of Aries. This is history and faith turned into astrological superstition. [31] 

Steiner called the periods exemplified by various human civilizations “cultural epochs.” [32] He said humanity makes spiritual evolutionary progress as it moves from cultural epoch to cultural epoch — that is, from the influence of one sign to the zodiac to the next. Thus, ancient Greeks, living under a new sign, were more evolved than ancient Egyptians, who lived under older signs. [33] The progress achieved by mankind over the course of history manifests itself primarily in new, higher stages of spiritual consciousness. 

“One of the most stimulating aspects of history is a study of the qualitative differences of various cultures. This kind of history reveals that man undergoes a development of consciousness ... [H]e unfolds different nuances of his soul in different epochs.” [34]

The pageant of history, as conceived in Waldorf education, is a chronicle not just of astrological influences but also of human reincarnation. People return to Earth over and over, passing through progressive stages of spiritual evolution. Likewise, Steiner taught that children recapitulate, in their earthly lives, the spiritual evolution of humanity as a whole. Therefore, at Waldorf schools, teaching kids history means chaperoning them through their own evolution. This is the limited sense in which Waldorf teachers aim to help children to mature. Young children are meant to remain young for as long as possible, but gradually emphasis shifts to a form of spiritual maturation. In the words of a history teacher of mine at the Waldorf School of Adelphi University, 

“There’s a proper time and method for particular subjects to be taught. The child recapitulates the cultural epochs of humankind.” [35]

At Waldorf schools, the study of history is neither rational nor scientific. It is certainly not rooted in objective fact. It is covert spiritual initiation. It is myth masquerading as fact. The resulting swirl of myth, fable, astrology, and misinformation can have deep, befuddling effects on kids' brains. Hence, we wind up with reports such as this: 

“One [Waldorf grad] told me that in her teens she was surprised to learn that the Greek gods were not historical figures, so thoroughly did the [Waldorf] curriculum meld myth and history.” [36]

— Compilation and commentary by Roger Rawlings

Waldorf student painting, 

courtesy of People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools.

The Waldorf curriculum is geared to the incarnation of three invisible bodies: the etheric body at age 7, the astral body at age 14, and the ego body at age 21. [See "Incarnation".] This bears directly on the English curriculum in Waldorf schools. The following quotations come from a recently published overview of Anthroposophy and Waldorf education.

◊ "Fable - story in which animals speak and act as human beings ... Fables and stories of saints form part of the story-telling curriculum of Class Two in Waldorf schools. In fables...every animal [displays] only one determining quality ... In stories of saints, on the other hand...saints are lord and master of their own astral body [sic]. Both types of stories offer the child support as the astral body begins to emancipate itself. This process starts at about age seven and is concluded...at approximately age 14."  — Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 43.

◊ "Saints' legends — [F]ables and saints' legends form the main story material told throughout the school year in Class Two of Waldorf schools ... In the lives of saints...the stories are of human beings who have overcome imbalance to achieve self-mastery. Saints can be said to have mastered all lower influences of the astral body. That is why, in these legends, saints are often depicted surrounded by loving and obedient animals ... The lives of saints are told to children at about age seven because, at that phase, their own astral body [sic] starts to develop a certain independence. For the first time they will be confronted with all the influences inherent in this 'astrality'." — Ibid., p. 105.

Roy Wilkinson tells us more about the teaching of history at Waldorf schools in his self-published booklet TEACHING HISTORY III: The Fourth Cultural Epoch (Roy Wilkinson, 1974). The subtitle alone tells us volumes. The historical narrative Wilkinson offers is controlled by the occult fables espoused by Rudolf Steiner. "Cultural epochs" are phases of human evolution connected with such events as the sinking of Atlantis. (Yes, Atlantis.) Steiner said that Atlantis existed, so of course...

The broad outlines of human history, according to Wilkinson (faithful to Steiner) is a record of spiritual evolution. Humans began life on/during Old Saturn, and we gradually segued to Old Sun, Old Moon, and now Present Earth. [See the entries for these terms in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] Early in our life on Earth, we possessed innate clairvoyance; we have lost that capacity; but thanks to Steiner — and, we should add, the gods — we will have new, improved clairvoyance soon.

During the "fourth cultural epoch" in Europe, humans for the first time became capable of rational thought. According to Steiner, Asians, Africans, and others who did not make the Aryan journey to Europe were unable to think in any meaningfully sensible way (although their unschooled clairvoyant intuitions were often profound). In the future, we will proceed to forms of consciousness transcending rational thought. 

But let's stick with the past, however briefly. Here is Wilkinson's summary statement:

"Our general theme in teaching history is the development and evolution of the human being. It traces the development of man from the time when he was conscious of a spiritual world but had little self-consciousness, to a time of awareness of the material world only, and a strong consciousness of himself as an individual with growing powers of thinking.

“The Graeco-Roman period shows:

     "1. The further conquest of the physical world;

     "2. The development of individuality;

     "3. The birth of thinking.” — TEACHING HISTORY III, p. 1.

The study of history at Waldorf schools, in other worlds, is geared to the occult, ahistorical fantasies promoted by Rudolf Steiner. The consciousness ancient people had of the spiritual realm was, essentially, clairvoyance. We will hear more from Wilkinson on this subject presently.

Footnotes for the preceding sections

(Scroll down for a link to additional sections.)

[1] Roy Wilkinson, TEACHING ENGLISH (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1976, reprinted 1997).

In this essay, when I speak of Waldorf schools, I generally mean Waldorf schools that are devoted to Rudolf Steiner and his vision. Wilkinson was a committed, Steiner-believing, Anthroposophy-embracing Waldorf teacher, and he addressed himself to other Waldorf teachers who, he assumed, shared his perspective. His advice is likely to be followed in what I call genuine Waldorf schools (schools that affirm Steiner's Anthroposophical preachments). Wilkinson's advice may be disregarded, to one degree or another, in "Waldorf" schools that have veered away from Anthroposophy, to one degree or another.

[2] THE HOLY BIBLE, New Testament, John 1:1.

[3] TEACHING ENGLISH, p. 2.

[4] Ibid., p. 2.

[5] Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 55.

[6] TEACHING ENGLISH, p. 3. (Wilkinson reverts to speaking of "God." Anthroposophists often vary their terms this way, often to make Anthroposophy seem consistent with monotheistic faiths. But fundamentally Anthroposophy is polytheistic. [See "Polytheism".])

Steiner taught that man was the first living being on Earth, and that in nonphysical form man existed before the Earth as we know it came into existence. Thus, the creation of man came long before the account Wilkinson gives. Still, man assumed his physical form only during the present Earth stage of cosmic evolution, Steiner taught, and in this sense Wilkinson is faithful to Steiner's teachings about the creation of humanity.

[7] Ibid., pp. 3-4.

[8] Ibid., p. 5.

[9] Ibid., p 6.

[10] Rudolf Steiner, UNIVERSE EARTH AND MAN IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO EGYPTIAN MYTHS AND MODERN CIVILIZATION (Kessinger Publishing, 2003), p. 94.

The word “myth” is often taken to mean falsehood or fantasy. There’s good reason for this. At least some myths are little more than entertainments, dramatic tales of heroes and villains, earthly and celestial. They are not unlike comic book plots. Combing through these, interpreting them in elaborate ways, in a search for factual information about reality, is a fool’s errand.

On the other hand, various myths may convey certain forms of truth, as scholars such as Edith Hamilton and Joseph Campbell have shown. But these truths are emotional, moral, psychological — they are reflections of innate human dispositions and capacities, our yearnings, dreams, and subconscious natures. They are not expositions of external cosmological realities — they are not presentations of “actual facts” about the universe.

Steiner taught that myths are pictorial representations, created by clairvoyant seers. All mythologies, he said, are true; and all myths told by indigenous people are true: All of them are true: 

“All mythologies — Greek, Roman, Germanic, and all the myths of indigenous peoples — are only pictorial, symbolic representations of supersensible truths." — Rudolf Steiner, SPIRITUALISM, MADAME BLAVATSKY, AND THEOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 61. 

This sweeping generalization is breathtaking, but Steiner went event further, arguing that all fairy tales are also true. 

“[T]he legends and fairy-tales of the various peoples are expressive of wonderful powers and wonderful events. If from the new standpoint of spiritual investigation we meditate upon the old legends and myths, allowing those grand and powerful pictures which have come down from primeval times to work upon our minds, we shall find, if we have been equipped for our task by the methods of occult science, that these legends and myths are the expressions of a most profound and ancient wisdom.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE OCCULT SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOOD (Health Research, 1972), pp. 6-7.

[11] TEACHING ENGLISH, p. 20.

In Waldorf belief, children should not learn to read until their etheric bodies incarnate. [See "Incarnation".]

[12] Ibid., p. 21.

"Fairy tales are...the final remains of ancient clairvoyance ... What was seen in a dream was told as a story ... All fairy tales in existence are thus the remnants of the original clairvoyance." — Rudolf Steiner, ON THE MYSTERY DRAMAS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1983), p. 93.

[13] TEACHING ENGLISH, p. 22.

[14] Ibid., p. 25.

[15] Ibid., p. 29.

[16] Ibid., p. 30.

[17] Ibid., p. 35.

[18] Ibid., p. 44.

[19] 1964 PINNACLE, The Waldorf School of Adelphi University (Inter-Collegiate Press, 1964).

[20] See R. J. Reilly, ROMANTIC RELIGION (Lindisfarne Press, 2006). Lewis’s Christianity lies near the surface of his fiction; Tolkien’s is more hidden. For analyses of the Christian message in Tolkien’s books, see Ralph C. Woods, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TOLKIEN (Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) and Kurt D. Bruner & Jim Ware, FINDING GOD IN THE LORD OF THE RINGS (SaltRiver, 2001). [For a brief examination of Tolkien’s and Lewis’s trilogies, see "Light and Dark".]

[21] Sylvester M. Morey, AMERICAN INDIANS AND OUR WAY OF LIFE (The Myrin Institute Inc. , 1961). On p. 18, Morey says 

“The white man has been swept along in the tide of evolution....” 

The “red man” has not, he says.

[22] Fyodor Dostoyevsky, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Penguin Books, 1951), p. 559.

[23] Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 46.

[24] Rudolf Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. xii, introduction by Clopper Almon.

[25] Let's look even more deeply. Dostoyevsky forecasts “a new story, the story of the gradual rebirth of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his gradual passing from one world to another....” Those final words (“passing from one world to another”) would appeal to any Anthroposophist, bringing particular Anthroposophic teachings to mind. According to Steiner, mankind has evolved through a series of "planetary stages." In this sense, we have passed from world to world; this is the basic paradigm of our spiritual evolution. Steiner taught that we previously existed at evolutionary levels that he called Old Saturn, Old Sun, and Old Moon. We now live on Present Earth. In the future, we will pass to additional worlds or stages of spiritual development: Future Jupiter, Future Venus, and Future Vulcan. I know it sounds incredible, but Steiner insisted on this outline of humanity’s past and future. To quote another of his supporters: 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the last few pages [describing Steiner’s planetary scheme of evolution] have taxed some readers’ capacity for giving Steiner the benefit of the doubt and left them wondering who could possibly believe this science fiction story. Yet this cosmic history is the backbone of Steiner’s work.” — Gary Lachman, RUDOLF STEINER (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007), p. 147. [For more on these matters, see "Everything" and the essays that follow it.]

The stages of evolution, bearing the names of planets, should not be confused with the planets that we see in the sky today. In Anthroposophical doctrine, Old Saturn was a period during which the entire solar system manifested in a form very different from the condition of the solar system today. In that stage of cosmic evolution, the forces of Saturn (i.e., the gods of Saturn) were predominant. The Saturn that we see today is a small remnant of that time. Likewise, the other "planetary stages" of evolution should not be confused with the planets that exist during our present stage of evolution. Nonetheless, central to Anthroposophy is a narrative of humans passing from planet (or planetary stage) to planet(ary stage), evolving ever upward. Anthroposophists can easily find at least reflections of such ideas in the words I have quoted from CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Indeed, having students read such words may be a fine way to subtly urge an openness to such ideas as upward human passage from world to world.

[26] I go into this at some length in other essays on this website. At this point, it may be sufficient to offer this quotation: 

“One of the most important facts about the background of the Waldorf School is that we were in a position to make the anthroposophical movement a relatively large one. The anthroposophical movement has become a large one.” — Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 156.

[27] Roy Wilkinson, TEACHING HISTORY: The Ancient Civilizations; India; Persia; Egypt and Babylonia; The Fourth Cultural Epoch: Greece and Rome (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1992), pp. 5-6.

[28] A.C. Harwood, PORTRAIT OF A WALDORF SCHOOL (The Myrin Institute Inc., 1956), pp. 15-16.

[29] Werner Glas, THE WALDORF SCHOOL APPROACH TO HISTORY (Anthroposophic Press, 1963), p. 37.

[30] Ibid., p. 37.

[31] For Christians, this treatment of Christ is virtually sacrilege. Christians should realize how unorthodox Steiner’s view of Christ was — and how unorthodox that view remains today in many Waldorf schools. Steiner said that Christ was a Sun being, or, specifically, the Sun God. [See “Everything” and "Was He Christian?"]

[32] I discuss this, also, in “Everything”.

[33] The cultural differences between peoples reflect different stages of spiritual development, according to Steiner. This doctrine is related to Steiner’s racist teachings. [See “Steiner’s Racism”.]  

[34] Werner Glas, THE WALDORF SCHOOL APPROACH TO HISTORY — excerpted in Laurens van der Post, INTUITION, INTELLECT, AND THE RACIAL QUESTION (Myrin Institute, 1964), p. 29.

An aside of minor relevance: Laurens van der Post, author of INTUITION, INTELLECT, AND THE RACIAL QUESTION, is typical of spiritual fellow travelers embraced by Anthroposophists. Van der Post gained fame in the 1960s as an “advocate” of the African Bushmen. His patronizing attitude toward those black Africans passed for racial enlightenment in those days. J. D. F. Jones, authorized biographer of van der Post, learned to his shock that van der Post actually knew little of the Bushmen and was, in general, a fraud. [J. D. F. Jones, TELLER OF MANY TALES: The Lives of Laurens van der Post (Carroll & Graf, 2001).] Van der Post was celebrated at the Waldorf school I attended. The Myrin Institute, publisher of INTUITION, INTELLECT, AND THE RACIAL QUESTION, was closely associated with the school. [See “Unenlightened.”] Van der Post preyed on the credulity of sincere spiritual seekers, much as Steiner did. 

[35] Peter Curran, TAMARACK TALK, Nov. 21, 2006. For a slightly different version, see WHAT IS WALDORF EDUCATION?, a collection of essays by Steiner (Anthroposophic Press, 2003), pp. 21-22.

[36] See "Dorm Dad".

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