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.
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.
