Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 149
The final exercise in the session was a story about a Big Brown Bear. The
sound and movement she practiced was of course the B. Often it is the case
with individuals who have a perfectionist nature that they are quite sensitive
to what is around them. The B exercise helps to build a protective sheath
around a person which both sustains what is within and protects from what is
without. Putting the sound on a spiral further enhances this protective quality
(Virginia Efta‘s Therapeutic Eurythmy Report January – February 1999).
The Eurythmy reports were a total of six pages and document use of other ritual magic
practices like tracing a five-pointed pentagram, use of ―copper rods‖ ie., magic wands that
supposedly channel forces, and vibration of vowels which are thought to connect patients to
spiritual beings that work inside of them. In Anthroposophy, speech sounds as well as music
reflect the Word and, consequently, ―are in a formative relationship to the organs of the
physical body. In cases of specific illnesses, therefore, the organ affected can be reached by
the reiterated practice of specific speech sounds and rhythms‖ (Raffe, Hardwood, &
Lundgren, 1974, p. 26). This is why the child was made to practice the B in the form of ―Big
Brown Bear.‖ Because some people believe that God created the world by speaking it into
existence, words and letters are believed to be very powerful magic. This accounts for the
warning, ―But such exercises, like medicines, should be first prescribed by a physician
[Anthroposophical doctor] before they are carried out by a curative eurythmist‖ (Raffe et al,
1974, p. 26). Both the eurythmist and the Anthroposophical doctor must be highly trained
in Steiner‘s magical arts before operating their magic.
Brian Vickers points out in the book Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance that
the occult tradition does not recognize the distinction between words and things or between
literal and metaphorical language, as clearly distinguished in the contemporary scientific
tradition.
Words are treated as if they are equivalent to things and can be substituted
for them. Manipulate the one and you can manipulate the other. Analogies,
instead of being, as they are in the scientific tradition, explanatory devices
subordinate to argument and proof, or heuristic tools to make models that
can be tested, corrected, and abandoned if necessary, are, instead, modes of
conceiving relationships in the universe that reify, rigidify, and ultimately
come to dominate thought. One no longer uses analogies: One is used by
them. They become the only way in which one can think or experience the
world (Vickers, 1984, p. 95).
Steiner‘s cosmic dance would connect the pupil to the spiritual world because it was a
channel through which the spirit would reveal itself to human consciousness, ―a path of
experience to the zodiacal signs‖ (Powell &Worberg, 2002, p. 32). And as Steiner claimed,
―In causing people to do Eurythmy we link them directly with the supersensible world‖
(Steiner, 1970, p. 71). This modern form of temple dance is based on Steiner‘s concept of
cosmic principles that he claimed underlie the power of speech and music. By mirroring the
heavenly world upon earth, Eurythmy supposedly reveals the mysteries of the stars. ―A
central goal of this practice is to find a living relationship to the starry heavens, especially to
the spiritual realm of the signs or constellations of the zodiac‖ (Powell &Worberg, 2002, p.
32). ―It is a path through which man may again find a way to that self-knowledge which is
also a knowledge of the universe‖ (Raffe et al., 1974, p. 27). Eurythmy will bring the
powers of the soul into the proper relationship with the human body and will strengthen the
earthly and cosmic forces, enabling man to realize his ―I‖. Like the ancient Cabalists and
Renaissance magicians of the past, ―…Steiner regarded the human body as the creation of
the cosmic Word. Man is a microcosm spoken from the macrocosm‖ (Raffe et al., 1974, p.
26). ―For words are form…‖ asserts Anthroposophist Marjorie Spock, ―All things were made
by him (the Word that was God) … As we contemplate the world of nature which that Word
The final exercise in the session was a story about a Big Brown Bear. The
sound and movement she practiced was of course the B. Often it is the case
with individuals who have a perfectionist nature that they are quite sensitive
to what is around them. The B exercise helps to build a protective sheath
around a person which both sustains what is within and protects from what is
without. Putting the sound on a spiral further enhances this protective quality
(Virginia Efta‘s Therapeutic Eurythmy Report January – February 1999).
The Eurythmy reports were a total of six pages and document use of other ritual magic
practices like tracing a five-pointed pentagram, use of ―copper rods‖ ie., magic wands that
supposedly channel forces, and vibration of vowels which are thought to connect patients to
spiritual beings that work inside of them. In Anthroposophy, speech sounds as well as music
reflect the Word and, consequently, ―are in a formative relationship to the organs of the
physical body. In cases of specific illnesses, therefore, the organ affected can be reached by
the reiterated practice of specific speech sounds and rhythms‖ (Raffe, Hardwood, &
Lundgren, 1974, p. 26). This is why the child was made to practice the B in the form of ―Big
Brown Bear.‖ Because some people believe that God created the world by speaking it into
existence, words and letters are believed to be very powerful magic. This accounts for the
warning, ―But such exercises, like medicines, should be first prescribed by a physician
[Anthroposophical doctor] before they are carried out by a curative eurythmist‖ (Raffe et al,
1974, p. 26). Both the eurythmist and the Anthroposophical doctor must be highly trained
in Steiner‘s magical arts before operating their magic.
Brian Vickers points out in the book Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance that
the occult tradition does not recognize the distinction between words and things or between
literal and metaphorical language, as clearly distinguished in the contemporary scientific
tradition.
Words are treated as if they are equivalent to things and can be substituted
for them. Manipulate the one and you can manipulate the other. Analogies,
instead of being, as they are in the scientific tradition, explanatory devices
subordinate to argument and proof, or heuristic tools to make models that
can be tested, corrected, and abandoned if necessary, are, instead, modes of
conceiving relationships in the universe that reify, rigidify, and ultimately
come to dominate thought. One no longer uses analogies: One is used by
them. They become the only way in which one can think or experience the
world (Vickers, 1984, p. 95).
Steiner‘s cosmic dance would connect the pupil to the spiritual world because it was a
channel through which the spirit would reveal itself to human consciousness, ―a path of
experience to the zodiacal signs‖ (Powell &Worberg, 2002, p. 32). And as Steiner claimed,
―In causing people to do Eurythmy we link them directly with the supersensible world‖
(Steiner, 1970, p. 71). This modern form of temple dance is based on Steiner‘s concept of
cosmic principles that he claimed underlie the power of speech and music. By mirroring the
heavenly world upon earth, Eurythmy supposedly reveals the mysteries of the stars. ―A
central goal of this practice is to find a living relationship to the starry heavens, especially to
the spiritual realm of the signs or constellations of the zodiac‖ (Powell &Worberg, 2002, p.
32). ―It is a path through which man may again find a way to that self-knowledge which is
also a knowledge of the universe‖ (Raffe et al., 1974, p. 27). Eurythmy will bring the
powers of the soul into the proper relationship with the human body and will strengthen the
earthly and cosmic forces, enabling man to realize his ―I‖. Like the ancient Cabalists and
Renaissance magicians of the past, ―…Steiner regarded the human body as the creation of
the cosmic Word. Man is a microcosm spoken from the macrocosm‖ (Raffe et al., 1974, p.
26). ―For words are form…‖ asserts Anthroposophist Marjorie Spock, ―All things were made
by him (the Word that was God) … As we contemplate the world of nature which that Word
