Copyright Alan Whitehead & Earthschooling: No Part of this book, post, URL, or book excerpt may be shared with anyone who has not paid for these materials.
Alan speaks in a very symbolic and esoteric manner in some parts of his books. Although they can be read anthroposophically, passages speaking of Atlantis, archangels, gods, etc. do not need to be taken literarily to be meaningful. The more you read, the more you will realize he uses many different religions to express ideas in a symbolic manner and not in a religious manner. His writings are not religious. In some places his writings are meant to refer to religious events in a historical way. In some places he is using religious figures (from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, Ancient Roman and Greek Religions, etc.) in a symbolic manner. However, at no point is he promoting a specific religion or speaking from a religious point of view.
I have kept the writing as close to one-hundred percent original so you will also find that he speaks of Australia often and some spelling or manners of speaking may be cultural. Any words I have changed are presented like this: <word>.
Also keep in mind that these books are written by a Waldorf teacher with decades of experience who also studied with a Steiner student himself, so he speaks to an audience that is dedicating their lives to the Waldorf method without exception.
Because of this, all of his views are not reflected in the Earthschooling curriculum and not all of them may be ones you want to embrace or are able to use. In all of Alan Whitehead’s writings the opinions are his own and may not align with Earthschooling or Waldorf Books. In some cases, we will be updating some of these chapters in the future with additional and/or updated information.
Ultimately, however, as I read through these passages I find I can distill wisdom from even those paragraphs that do not resonate with me.
We invite you to read with an open mind and heart and with eagerness to learn and discuss…
BEHOLD THE LIGHT CLASS 9
The small group of teachers sat staring at the blank film screen in the school library; the end of the spool click – click – clicked in mechanical repetition, which the materialist might mistakenly call ‘rhythm’. Chairperson was the first to snap out of the mood of sweet tragedy created by the film they had just seen. He turned off the machine.
“Well,” he signed, returning to the large, oval, cedar table “I think we have to congratulate the Class 9 teacher on a fine and very moving effort – sniff. It’s hard to believe a class of 15-year-olds could produce something so, so tasteful – and technically complex.”
“thank you,” smiled the artistic Class 9 Guardian, shyly drawing small abstractions on the polished surface of the table “I thought that I would tune in to the 15-year-old need to express the Jupiter, or Zeus, aspect of their souls, in an activity combining artistic excellence and scientific skills. Of course a film does that to the nth degree.
Imagination is the most important educational principle in high school teaching. Imagination is the bridge between the arts and sciences – so imagination we used – with the usual 90 percent perspiration of course.”
“But I thought logical thinking and all that was the most important.” Interjected Academic, the Class 7 teacher, looking over his spectacles.
“Of course thinking is important to the blossoming soul of the adolescent, but imaginative thinking. The reductionist, analytical logic of Aristotle must be transformed to an expansionist, synthetic cognition, enriched with imagination at every turn. Imagination which expresses itself in many ways – humor; anecdote; aphorism; story; hidden and unexpected relationships; spiritual revelation even.”
“You’re right,” exclaimed Athletic “last year with my Class 9, I was giving them a lesson on anatomy – of the human head actually. Well it turned out to be a three-fold learning path. We discovered that Medieval painters had, in a picture of God creating the world, represented exactly the 7 layers of the head, from the internal ‘white brain’, right through the laminates of the cerebral cortex, dura mater, etc. – to the skin/hair covering.”
“How nice,” said Artistic “but back to the film…”
“Not only that, the students noted the same relationships from their geology unit of the year before. The latest scientific theory says that there is a core of gold (white brain) in the center of the earth, with seven layers through the magma, hydrosphere, atmosphere, etc. – right up to the ionosphere – the electrified counterpart of skin and hair! And in all three examples, art, anatomy and geology, the properties were the same – remarkable! That’s imagination in teaching, and the students love it!”
There was an appreciative silence around the table.
“Can I get back to my film? Asked Artistic sweetly.
“Of course,” said Chairperson responding but not hearing, he went on thoughtfully “It would seem that this art/science duality is important to our teenagers – I daresay those two giants of art and science in the 20thCentury, Picasso and Einstein, would make better role models than some of the deranged ‘entertainers’ the kids seem to idolize. And both placed imagination in the highest-human-faculty category.”
“Would one of those deranged entertainers be John Lennon?” said Athletic acidly “He was a bit of a 20thCentury giant you know. His song “Imagine’ is one of the immortal rock classics – image that!”
“Can I go on?” barked Artistic, then after calming down “in the film I used figures from the historical period which the students are unconsciously recapitulating in their 15th year, the Renaissance.”
“Of course!” cried Athletic, leaping to his feet (he could never stay still for too long) “I thought I recognized the theme of the film – it was Romeo and Juliet. The archetypal Renaissance romantics, expressing as longing and desire in the soul of Class 9; in its best sense, a longing for higher ideals, the striving for same, so often ending in heartbreak. Romeo and Juliet is one of the world’s truly great tragedies.”
“Do you mind?” Artistic had had enough “If he butts in again, I’m going home!” Athletic reddened – and not from enthusiasm. He sat down.
“This longing and desire, as my esteemed colleague calls it, was implanted into the human soul in the second stage of the Ancient Moon; the Exusiai, or Spirits of Form, in creating the third member of Man, the abdomen, of our wonderful worldly coil, placed within it, as a balancing factor, a seed of spirituality. This was to prevent too rapid a descent into matter; albeit only supersensible liquid at that stage.
The to-ing and fro-ing between body and spiritual love one sees in 15-year-olds, is a dim reflection of this lofty cosmic principle. A principle superbly depicted in Romeo and Juliet, a story about, you will note, two 15-year-olds!
Given a sensitive, enriching and informed environment, our young people will not fall prey to wantonness of various kinds – their ‘longings’ will reach higher – especially their expectations about relationships. Deprive them of ideals, and they will slide into the cesspool of cynicism.”
“I don’t quite understand?” queried Prim the Class 2 teacher. She was busily sewing a small doll; her children were making dolls for the fete ‘And that means everybody – she had told them sternly ‘even me.’Lead by example was her credo. “I noticed that the setting of the film was modern, and some of the er, more colorful language – well it surely wasn’t Shakespeare – they wouldn’t have put up with it when I was a girl.”
“No, profanity is fast becoming de-mystified,” replied Artistic distractedly, she was adding a complicated element to her ‘table art’ “and until we do take its teeth out, the thing will always retain an indecent interest for teenagers – and other ‘immatures’!” she concluded, looking meaningfully round the table. Well not quite conclude perhaps.
“The expletives are just words, like any other; words we may use on occasions for impactful or figurative effect – we don’t hold with swearing for its own sake of course.
Anyway, back to the film; although 15-year-olds are experiencing a Renaissance consciousness, they arecitizens of the 20th Century – young Michaelians. We don’t therefore merely go back and regurgitate someone else’s spiritual life – choke on cultural re-heats! We take the essence and clothe it in modern images and language. This relates only to artistic expression – it’s hard to teach history that way! Prior to the film, we studied Shakespeare, among other great Renaissance figures – from this we distilled this spiritual essence for our film.”
“Hmmm, Shakespeare,” mused Chairperson “the quintessential writer; how well this co-exists with the greatest of cultural needs of Class 9, writing – the ‘Getting of Wisdom’ – the Jupiter faculty. This incidentally was the name of an excellent book (and film) written by and about a 15-year-old wordsmith. But some 15-year-olds vehemently abjure the written word.
This show that they’re passing through the ‘wisdom year’ in negative mode. If this is the case, they must absorb wisdom on a lower level – the wisdom of the earth rather than the gods; wisdom through the sciences.”
“This meeting ins about Class 9 – I’m the Class 9 Guardian, and I can’t get a word in!” a third, even heavier, silence fell like a wet horse blanket over the contrite gathering. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I prepared all this…oh it doesn’t matter. To continue with this Jupiter/Wisdom theme; Mankind has traditionally, among other media, disseminated its treasure of wisdom through the written word. In this sense, Jupiter is Regent of Writing. That’s why in the Jupiter year, many Class 9 students are moved with an irresistible impulse to write. We’ve done so much of it this year – letters to the editor; poetry; scripts; short stories; research. And we’ve made a point of studying great word wrights – this followed naturally on from the speech emphasis in Class 8.”
“Gosh, that reminds me!” said Prim with uncharacteristic ardor “When I was 15, many golden summers ago I’m afraid, I was gripped by a passion to write poetry. Only the other day I read some of my old poems, and they still brought tears to my eyes. That spiritual intensity is something I’ve never been able to re-capture – the syntax wasn’t so hot though – (giggle). “The group waited for another outburst from the talented but emotional Artistic, but this time the silence that settled over them was as diaphanous as a silken veil.
“Anyway, I have given time this year” she went on quietly “to the study of other Renaissance role models, as well as writers. This period is represented in its most sublime form in 15th and 16th century Italy, with the Famous Four – Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo. Behold (composite) Man!”
Chairperson took up the story, he just couldn’t resist “these four represent, in a cultural sense, and in the same order given by Artistic, the four ‘bodies’ of Man; the Physical, Etheric, Astral and Ego – the architect, sculptor, painter and thinker. Of course in the Renaissance spirit, they were all manifold talents. They remind us of our divine origins, and that’s why we study them. Cosmic wisdom lives in this great four-fold principle.”
“As I was saying,” said Artistic with a hint of resignation “I used the Fab four of the 15th Century to study the four Psychological types, so important in understanding adolescent development, The being of Michelangelo throws light on the first of these, the Introvert – inwardly passionate but outwardly incommunicado.
Then there’s Donatello, the Passive type, highly skilled and with an enviable level of inner calm. Number three are the Gregarious, Raphael types – everyone love them with their hair-flying-in-the-wind lust for life, they also look elegant, filling our lives with charm.
Finally there’s the Dominant – the leader, the Leonardo type – capable, calm and confident!”
Artistic’s table art, a symbolic representation of the Creation of the World and Man, was complete. She leaned back to admire it, adding a touch here, a wipe there – would anyone speak? Eventually Chairperson did, breaking this rather pleasant silence, his tone grave.
“It’s funny isn’t it how things inter-relate – starting with Saturn in Class 8, the ‘soul’ years of adolescence develop through the 7 Planets – a soul manifestation – right up (or down!) to the Moon at about 21. The year many girls, er, women, have their first baby; genetics is under the governance of the Moon. Class 9 then is a Jupiter year of unfoldment. But it’s also the Piscean, or 9th, year in the great cycle of the Educational Zodiac; and as any astrologer knows, Jupiter lives in the House of Pisces.
The nominal quality of Pisces is Destiny – living in the feet, region of Pisces. Destiny is the Path of Life, in fact Shakespeare was a Piscean initiate, the sun moved into (Northern Hemisphere) Pisces in its eternal precession through the zodiac only a century before the bard wrote his great plays. So much of his work, like Romeo and Juliet, embodies concerns of human destiny – karma even.
The numerology interests me too – 15-year-olds are 1+5=6; Jupiter is the 6the planet, a not unimportant connection. This Jupiter/destiny/writing theme extends to the greatest script of all – the Akashic Chronicle. If we as teachers smooth the path for our students’ destiny, how much more likely it will be for them to cultivate the spiritual perceptions necessary to read the Book of Light – the Akasha.”
“Very interesting.” Said Artistic without sincerity “But to change the subject; don’t teenagers put adults to shame when it comes to the senses? Their lightening-strike responses are remarkable. I have one boy who can catch a speeding baseball from almost any position – even between his legs! Why is this.” She was sure no-one would know, but Chairman took the bait off the hook with ease.
“Well the period 14 to 21 is the unfolding of the Astral – the sentient – Body, the senses yet? The senses were perfected on Ancient Moon, the period, in a higher form, teenagers are re-living. The sense on Old Moon were psychic of course.”
“Thanks, you don’t mind if I go on do you? The Astral Body is an ‘image’ supersensible organ, that’s why I place so much emphasis on the arts…” Artistic had regained the ball with difficulty, but Kindergarten snatched it out of her hands.
“I think that the Social Sciences are the most important, after all, the period 14 to 21 is the Age of Venus, in development terms. The Social Sciences are the ‘love’ subjects, love of our fellow man. These young people flower into ambassadors of ‘love’ both psychically and physically, with their beautifully curved bodies and features…”
“Quite,” said Prim “but we don’t need to elaborate.” She held up her little doll, exquisite in style, with a flowing dress and long, wool hair. Anatomical details like eyes ad hands were suggestions only, leaving the child’s imagination room to play.
“Just like we allow the child’s life of fancy to be active with this simple doll, we must give the same freedom, in a higher sense, to our teenagers. Lesson presentation should not be too comprehensive, give them plenty of discovery opportunities, use suggestion more than dogma, let them express concepts through the arts. But most important of all, like the littlies, leave room for a sense of awe and mystery – the play of fancy – a second (adolescent) in-fancy!”
Athletic nodded sagely, but then frowned “There is another ‘fancy’ aspect we can’t ignore, when the student ‘fancies’ the teacher. Rather than surreptitiously currying this complimentary but hazardous attention, the teacher should counter it by, for instance, parading his wife and children before the class – this sure dampens their ‘longing’.
The boys often fancy themselves as Great White Hunters at this age; they’re telling us that they need to confront challenge of some kind in the world – mainly physical. Find controlled ways for them to express this – take them parachute jumping or something.
Indeed ‘fancy’, or imagination, comes in many forms at different ages. As Picasso, Einstein, and even, yes, John Lennon, would say ‘this is the dawning of the Day of Imagination – behold the Day!’”
“Now this, in fact, is the real purpose of imagination: not to create fantasies, but to make us aware of other times and other places. When it actually happens, we realize that ‘imagination’ is a totally inadequate word for this faculty that can lift us to the heights out of the present moment, and make us aware that we are, in some curious sense, citizens of eternity.” Colin Wilson
The lengths some people will go to discourage new initiatives in high school education!
Leave a Reply