Laurel,
Yes, I agree with most of what you say. I have read a bit about Waldorf education. I did not see anything in article that said he was Jewish?
Laurel Loflund - 26 April 2008 12:05 AM
Steiner’s personal history I am not familiar with; the sections in the wikipedia article where some accused him of being Jewish were news to me. I do know that he could not in any way be called an orthodox Christian; that is, part of the historic, recognized as Christian, church. Anthroposophy to me sounds like a form of gnosticism; the spiritual is presented as separate and more valuable than the physical world.
All that being said, I love their attitude to children and the nurturing of them. The toys are sweet; Waldorf education (I visited Waldorf preschools as part of researching what kind of teacher I wished to become) seems gentle and somehow down-to-earth.
Anyone else have information to contribute?
God bless,
Laurel
Waldorf Education…
In Frequently Asked Questions About Waldorf Education? Waldorf supporter David Schlesinger responds to the question, “Are Waldorf schools religious?” by writing, “In the sense of subscribing to the beliefs of a particular religious denomination or sect, no. Waldorf schools, however, tend to be spiritually oriented and are based out of a generally Christian perspective. The historic festivals of Christianity are observed in the classrooms and in school assemblies. Classes in religious doctrine are not part of the Waldorf curriculum, and children of all religious backgrounds attend Waldorf schools. Spiritual guidance is aimed at awakening the child’s natural reverence for the wonder and beauty of life.”
His ideas about organic farming…
Biodynamic farming & gardening
Biodynamic agriculture, or biodynamics, comprises an ecological and sustainable farming system, that includes many of the ideas of organic farming (but predates the term). In 1924, a group of farmers concerned about the future of agriculture requested Steiner’s help; Steiner responded with a lecture series on agriculture. This was the origin of biodynamic agriculture, which is now practiced throughout much of Europe, North America, and Australasia. A central concept of these lectures was to “individualize” the farm by bringing no or few outside materials onto the farm, but producing all needed materials such as manure and animal feed from within what he called the “farm organism”. Other aspects of biodynamic farming inspired by Steiner’s lectures include timing activities such as planting in relation to the movement patterns of the moon and planets and applying “preparations”, which consist of natural materials which have been processed in specific ways, to soil, compost piles, and plants with the intention of engaging non-physical beings and elemental forces. Steiner, in his lectures, encouraged his listeners to verify his suggestions scientifically, as he had not yet done.
The early decades of the twentieth-century agriculture started using inorganic fertilizers such as nitrogen “condensed” from the air and subsequently applied to the fields. Steiner believed that the introduction of this chemical farming was a very detrimental. Stating “Mineral manuring is a thing that must cease altogether in time, for the effect of every kind of mineral manure, after a time, is that the products grown on the fields thus treated lose their nutritive value. It is an absolutely general law.” Steiner was convinced that the quality of food in his time had degraded, and he believed the source of the problem was chemical farming’s use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, however he did not believe this was only because of the chemical or biological properties relating to the substances involved, but also due to spiritual shortcomings in the whole chemical approach to farming. Steiner considered the world and everything in it as simultaneously spiritual and material in nature, an approach termed monism. He also believed that living matter was different from dead matter. In other words, Steiner believed synthetic nutrients were not the same as their more living counterparts.
The name “biologically dynamic” or “biodynamic” was coined by Steiner’s adherents. A central aspect of biodynamics is that the farm as a whole is seen as an organism, and therefore should be a closed self-nourishing system, which the preparations nourish. Disease of organisms is not to be tackled in isolation but is a symptom of problems in the whole organism.
Although the number biodynamic farms in the world is relatively small, as of 2006 about one quarter of the farms in India have adopted biodynamic practices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture
