Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 141
Overhearing some Waldorfers discussing the seating arrangement of a class, where dark
haired children were to sit by the windows to absorb light, I paused, wondering ―what is
going on?‖ In another surrealistic Waldorf moment there was talk of switching left-handed
children over to the right hand. Wasn‘t this practice frowned upon now? When I learned that
black and brown crayons were not permitted in the kindergartens, I asked my daughter‘s
teacher how it would be possible for African Americans to draw themselves. The teacher told
me that she would show the child how to ―smudge‖ their color from an assortment of other
colors. I remarked that it seemed racist. What was going on? I later learned from reading
Steiner that ―black is the spiritual image of the lifeless‖ and that dark skin is a sign of
spiritual inferiority. Once I was assured that Anthroposophy was ―so new,‖ but in the future
all schools would implement such educational advancements. Although some people at the
school seemed to be so well meaning, kind, so earnest in their ―strivings‖, and so devoted
to offering the best education possible to children, something was ―off‖ and, like others at
the school, I couldn‘t quite put my finger on it.
In winter 2001-2002, long after we‘d left the school, an attempt was made to answer other
questioning parents trying to fathom Anthroposophy and the school‘s connection to it.
Teacher M. Karlstad tried to soothe concerns in an article, Pleasant Ridge and
Anthroposophy, published in the school‘s paper CALYX. Making reference to Steiner‘s
teachings, she admits in so many words that Anthroposophy is an ―egregore‖—the magic
term for the collective energy or group soul believed to be created by a group working on
the physical plane. This being is supposedly supported and enlivened by high spiritual
beings that support the group‘s activities—though the average person would not grasp this.
She also recognizes that Steiner describes Anthroposophy ―as a path of knowledge,…one
way for the spiritual in the human being to find its way to the spiritual in the universe,‖ but
she doesn‘t give details about Steiner‘s path, such as his color meditations, and fails to
explain that the path, when practiced, supposedly makes the spirit world active and visible
in the physical realm. She believes that ―Anthroposophy is neither religious nor secular,‖
because it transcends religion and ―either/or categories‖ and reassures parents that
teachers and staff don‘t have to be Anthroposophists, but are only asked to be ―open‖ to
Anthroposophy, and to work from that perspective. Sadly, once again, she perpetuates the
myth that Waldorf is nonsectarian, that Anthroposophy is philosophy, scientific and ―not
religious,‖ and that being spiritual is something other than being religious. She clearly
states that Waldorf differs from other educational systems because it ―acknowledges a
spiritual basis to our lives and includes development of the spiritual side of our being,‖
noting that this is what makes Anthroposophy ―appear as if it were a religion.‖ Ms. Karlstad
also talks about the future…
Rudolf Steiner frequently described Anthroposophy as a living, spiritual being.
The word ―being‖ can also be translated as ―force.‖ It‘s important for people
to think of this spiritual being or force in a way that feels free and allows
them to decide for themselves if this is something that resonates with their
own perceptions of the world. In Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts (1924),
Steiner described Anthroposophy as a path of knowledge, as one way for the
Spiritual in the human being to find its way to the Spiritual in the Universe
(Karlstad, 2001-2002, p. 2).
At our school, faculty and staff are asked to be open to the ideas of
Anthroposophy, not to be anthroposophists. That means to be willing to look
at, and at times have lively debate about, the educational ideas that have
arisen out of Steiner‘s relationship to Anthroposophy. These ideas are the
philosophical (not religious) foundation upon which the pedagogical work of
Waldorf schools is based. Talking about Anthroposophy as a philosophy and
not a religion may be interpreted as doublespeak, but the spiritual realm is
Overhearing some Waldorfers discussing the seating arrangement of a class, where dark
haired children were to sit by the windows to absorb light, I paused, wondering ―what is
going on?‖ In another surrealistic Waldorf moment there was talk of switching left-handed
children over to the right hand. Wasn‘t this practice frowned upon now? When I learned that
black and brown crayons were not permitted in the kindergartens, I asked my daughter‘s
teacher how it would be possible for African Americans to draw themselves. The teacher told
me that she would show the child how to ―smudge‖ their color from an assortment of other
colors. I remarked that it seemed racist. What was going on? I later learned from reading
Steiner that ―black is the spiritual image of the lifeless‖ and that dark skin is a sign of
spiritual inferiority. Once I was assured that Anthroposophy was ―so new,‖ but in the future
all schools would implement such educational advancements. Although some people at the
school seemed to be so well meaning, kind, so earnest in their ―strivings‖, and so devoted
to offering the best education possible to children, something was ―off‖ and, like others at
the school, I couldn‘t quite put my finger on it.
In winter 2001-2002, long after we‘d left the school, an attempt was made to answer other
questioning parents trying to fathom Anthroposophy and the school‘s connection to it.
Teacher M. Karlstad tried to soothe concerns in an article, Pleasant Ridge and
Anthroposophy, published in the school‘s paper CALYX. Making reference to Steiner‘s
teachings, she admits in so many words that Anthroposophy is an ―egregore‖—the magic
term for the collective energy or group soul believed to be created by a group working on
the physical plane. This being is supposedly supported and enlivened by high spiritual
beings that support the group‘s activities—though the average person would not grasp this.
She also recognizes that Steiner describes Anthroposophy ―as a path of knowledge,…one
way for the spiritual in the human being to find its way to the spiritual in the universe,‖ but
she doesn‘t give details about Steiner‘s path, such as his color meditations, and fails to
explain that the path, when practiced, supposedly makes the spirit world active and visible
in the physical realm. She believes that ―Anthroposophy is neither religious nor secular,‖
because it transcends religion and ―either/or categories‖ and reassures parents that
teachers and staff don‘t have to be Anthroposophists, but are only asked to be ―open‖ to
Anthroposophy, and to work from that perspective. Sadly, once again, she perpetuates the
myth that Waldorf is nonsectarian, that Anthroposophy is philosophy, scientific and ―not
religious,‖ and that being spiritual is something other than being religious. She clearly
states that Waldorf differs from other educational systems because it ―acknowledges a
spiritual basis to our lives and includes development of the spiritual side of our being,‖
noting that this is what makes Anthroposophy ―appear as if it were a religion.‖ Ms. Karlstad
also talks about the future…
Rudolf Steiner frequently described Anthroposophy as a living, spiritual being.
The word ―being‖ can also be translated as ―force.‖ It‘s important for people
to think of this spiritual being or force in a way that feels free and allows
them to decide for themselves if this is something that resonates with their
own perceptions of the world. In Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts (1924),
Steiner described Anthroposophy as a path of knowledge, as one way for the
Spiritual in the human being to find its way to the Spiritual in the Universe
(Karlstad, 2001-2002, p. 2).
At our school, faculty and staff are asked to be open to the ideas of
Anthroposophy, not to be anthroposophists. That means to be willing to look
at, and at times have lively debate about, the educational ideas that have
arisen out of Steiner‘s relationship to Anthroposophy. These ideas are the
philosophical (not religious) foundation upon which the pedagogical work of
Waldorf schools is based. Talking about Anthroposophy as a philosophy and
not a religion may be interpreted as doublespeak, but the spiritual realm is
