Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 118
Due to space limitations, in this presentation I will only illustrate the first three points of my
list.
Clinging to Rejected Knowledge
In a book explaining the curriculum to parents, Cusick (1992) illustrates the correspondence
of the parts of the plant to the alchemical processes as they might be presented in fifth
grade botany. I‘ve added the historic alchemical names in square brackets:
Flower: Centrifugal forces (expansion). Loosening and refining substances in
scent. Optimal rarification and extension of substance (warmth process)
[alchemical ―sulfur‖]
Leaf: Balance between above and below: watery substances and processes
meet airy ones. In intake of water and transpiration, in uptake and
elimination of gasses above and below tendencies meet (light process).
[alchemical ―mercury‖]
Root: Centripetal forces (contraction). Consolidation of substance to the solid
state. Consolidation of forms. Suctional, absorbtive forces (salt process).
[alchemical ―salt‖]
It may be hard to believe, but this is quite possibly the content of a fifth-grade botany
lesson. It‘s far from what anyone outside Anthroposophy would call science. Cusick (p. 29)
illustrates ―the temperaments‖ with a diagram credited to Steiner. A circle is divided into
four pie-slices, labeled:
Melancholic: Attention not easily aroused but strong quality present
Choleric: The greatest amount of attention and strength most easily aroused
Sanguine: Attention easily aroused but little strength present
Phlegmatic: The least amount of attention and strength the least easily
aroused
This is a revival of the medieval ―four humors‖ theory of personality. Waldorf teachers are
instructed to classify students according to ―the temperaments.‖
Note that on this page Cusick simply talks about ―the temperaments,‖ with no qualification
that the use of this theory today is exclusive to Anthroposophists. This is a rhetorical trick
that is used over and over with Waldorf parents. An Anthroposophical concept such as ―the
temperaments,‖ ―the festivals,‖ or ―the elements‖ is introduced by being referred to as a
fact. The parent simply doesn‘t have time to think through the implications of the purported
fact, and is hooked into discussing the issue from an Anthroposophical perspective.
Teachers Must Commit to Anthroposophy
In most Waldorf schools there are two classes of teachers. The senior teachers form a group
called the ―college of teachers‖ that runs the school. Junior teachers aren‘t invited to join
the college until they are ready to commit themselves to Anthroposophy. Richards wrote
(op. cit., p. 16):
A community is thus created among the teachers by the fact that they are
students together and are connected through a meditative life. In almost
every school, you will find some teachers who do not enter so fully into this
consciousness, and they are met with flexibility. But the teachers who do
commit themselves make up the ―college of teachers,‖ who, by and large,
govern the school‘s affairs.

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 119
Thus it is only through passing a religious test that a Waldorf teacher can achieve full
status, with a voice in the government of the school.
Secrecy: Guarded Knowledge
There are many things in the Anthroposophical world-view that are too strange to be
revealed unless the listeners have been properly prepared, i.e. sufficiently indoctrinated. For
example, Waldorf teachers aren‘t likely to tell new parents anything about the role of Lucifer
in Anthroposophy. Steiner taught that there is a trinity of spirits concerned with the
evolution of humanity. The trinity is composed of two opposites and a harmonizing spirit.
The opposites are Lucifer and Ahriman, taken from the dual gods of Zoroastrianism, the
ancient Persian religion. They are gods of light and darkness in conflict with each other.
Lucifer leads humanity to develop art, beauty, flexibility, and religious fervor. Ahriman
promotes science, hardening, and rigidity. Both are necessary for evolution, but either
influence is evil in excess or at the wrong time. The two polar gods are balanced by the
Christ Spirit, whose role is not to redeem humanity but to help it balance between the
opposing tendencies.
Popular Waldorf master teacher Eugene Schwartz put it this way in his Waldorf Teacher‘s
Survival Guide:
Most of that which contributes to our work as teachers, preparation work,
artistic work, even meditative work, is under the guardianship of Lucifer. We
can become great teachers under his supervision, for he is responsible for
much that has blossomed in the unfolding of civilization and culture in the
past. However, if our goal is only to be a great teacher, if we look on
everything else in the life of the school merely as a distraction from our
pedagogical work, we are in danger of falling prey to Lucifer.
This is one of the reasons that Steiner wanted Waldorf teachers to assume
responsibility for the administrative life of the school. Answering phone calls,
writing memos and letters, etc.—all those activities that compel us to meet
the outside world on its own terms—bring us into connection with Ahriman,
who holds the secret of the future.
If, every day, we can do some administrative/office work as well as carry out
our classroom responsibilities, we can go a long way towards balancing the
activities of Lucifer and Ahriman. (Schwartz, 1992, p. 54)
A reading of this passage stimulated an interesting denial when David Alsop, then the head
of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, was interviewed on a Baltimore
radio talk show:
Well, it‘s obviously problematic, um, ah, my feeling is that Eugene Schwartz
has totally missed the boat here and the way that he has written this in his
book, uh, is misleading and erroneous and causing a great deal of trouble. In
our Waldorf schools, and as you know, there are over 650 of them around the
world serving probably 100,000 students. I think you‘d be hard pressed to
find any parent in any Waldorf school and even any teacher in any Waldorf
school say that they are under the guidance of Lucifer, and I cannot
understand why Mr. Schwartz wrote this. I can‘t understand why PLANS is
picking this one quote out of this very obscure book and running with it like
this, but it is just flat out wrong. (WCBM, 1999)
That ―very obscure book‖ is a popular publication of the main West Coast teacher training
college, where Alsop has his office. A posting to the Waldorf-critics discussion list
corroborated the relevance of Lucifer to Waldorf education. A parent wrote: