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…
SINGING TO THE LIGHT
With Thanks to Mark Riegner
In his agricultural lectures, Rudolf Steiner described the tree as a living “mound of earth” from which grow leaves and flowers in a manner similar to herbaceous plants rooted in the soil. The trunk, however, is not simply piled up soil, but “transformed earth substance”. Consequently, the leaves of a tree need not “lift” themselves through a metamorphosis to reach the flower stage, as is necessary for many soil-swelling herbaceous plants.
Furthermore, the upright bole and outstretched limbs bear a special relationship to living processes, due to their position above the earth’s surface. Steiner indicated that whenever something is raised even slightly above the surrounding ground level – be it a tree, garden bed or compost heap – it will show an enhanced “tendency to life”. This the tree stands as a form differentiated from, and elevated above, its surroundings, and permeated with exceptional life-sustaining qualities.
How can dim subtle, life-sustaining qualities of trees become evident? An answer may be fund in those animals that spend a crucial part of their lives inhabiting trees: birds. In early spring, as the earth begins to reawaken, many birds are conspicuously active searching for nest sites, gathering nesting material and constructing their homes in trees. The dependence of many birds on trees for nest placement is well known, but what is actually speaking through this relationship? Do the subtle qualities of trees express themselves through birds? To answer these questions, birds and trees must be viewed within a broader context of animal nest placement so that a holistic picture can be created by interrelating various examples.
Accordingly, we begin our inquiry by directing our gaze not to the tree crowns above, but to the earth below. Our attention is drawn first to the reptiles, most of which lay eggs in a variety of nests. Typically, turtles, lizards and snakes excavate a pit or shallow depression in the earth, sometimes beneath a stone or log, deposit a clutch of hard – or leathery-shelled eggs, cover up the hole, and depart, never to see the results of their maternal efforts.
This behavior is exemplified in the magnificent sea turtles in which the female, after mating offshore, hauls herself out of the water onto an isolated tropical beach, laboriously drags her massive bulk up-shore, excavates a pit with her hind limbs, lays a large clutch of eggs, kicks sand over the white spheres, and returns to the mysterious seas from whence she came, her parental duties fulfilled.
Most lizards and many snakes dig similar simple nests, and likewise invest no further effort in the care of their progeny. Crocodilians, however, are different. These formidable reptiles typically do not excavate a simple pit in which their eggs are deposited, but construct a raised nest of decomposing vegetation, and mud or sand. American alligators, for example, build nests that can be two meters in diameter and almost one meter high. The construction of such a mound can be seen as an act of differentiation, a transformation of a portion of the earth into an, independent, yet integrated, form. Recalling Rudolf Steiner’s indications regarding the enhanced qualities of a raised earth formation, can we discover an “enhancement” within the crocodilians?
Indeed, we can, for not only do crocodilians build incubation mounds, they also perform a certain amount of parental care: the mother often guards the nest, assists the hatchlings to exit the nest, and, in some species, escorts the young to the water, where she casts a watchful eye over them during their first months of life. Thus, from an evolutionary perspective, a new quality of consciousness comes to expression in the crocodilians, which agrees with their habit of building raised earth formations.
Next, we return our gaze to the phenomena to discover what patterns if any, they themselves reveal. As mentioned earlier, most turtles, lizards and snakes scape pits for their eggs, or lay them beneath stones or logs; some, however, in like manner to crocodilians, form raised structures differentiated from the surroundings. The king cobra, for instance, is extreme among snakes in that the female will exert an inordinate effort in nest construction, which she does by gathering and forming into a mound foliage and twigs.
When the nest is completed, she lays from twenty to fifty eggs, and then guards them until they hatch. Unique among tortoises is the Burmese brown tortoise, which is the only member of its group to construct an incubation mount. And not surprisingly, it is the only tortoise that defends the nest until the eggs hatch. Apparently, at least among the reptiles we have thus far examined, there is a correspondence between the construction of a raised nest and parental effort in protection of the incubating eggs, and in the case of crocodilians, the young as well. (Note: Some lizards and snakes do not lay their eggs but retain them in their bodies until hatching).
The amphibians, which include frogs, toads, and salamanders, constitute a group whose appearance on earth preceded that of the reptiles. As a general rule, amphibians must return to an aquatic environment in order to lay their eggs. The eggs are characteristically deposited in clusters or in strings; no nest is built and parental care absent, although there are exceptions. In the Puerto Rican coqui frog, for example, the male defends the egg mass until the miniature frogs (not tadpoles) hatch.
This unusual behavior is associated with an equally unusual placement of the egg cluster: not submerged, as is typical, but on an elevated leaf. Thus, although the coqui does not go so far as to construct a raised nest, the eggs are still deposited in an elevated position. Also associated with the raised location of the eggs is an enhanced consciousness evident in the adult’s parental behavior.
At this point, we pause briefly to identify a “hidden” gesture, which is gradual becoming apparent through our examples: when an animal makes an effort to raise eggs above the general surroundings, a higher level of consciousness emerges in the form of parental care. Can we find a parallel situation regarding nest placement and parental care among birds?
In Australia, and on neighboring Indo-Pacific landmasses is found a group of peculiar birds whose nesting behavior is perhaps equivalent to the most sophisticated of the reptiles: the megapodes, which includes the mound-builders. Several species of these pheasant-like fowl pile up decaying vegetation in an act of differentiation not unlike that of crocodilian. Into these mounds they lay their eggs. Their incubation, unique among birds, is accomplished not by a brooding adult, but by one or other of the parents carefully regulating the mound’s heat – generated by organic decay – by moving or replenishing portions of vegetation. When the eggs hatch, parental care terminates. The extremely precocial chicks can run and fend for themselves immediately on hatching and, again unique among birds, some can fly within twenty-four hours of leaving the nest!
Interestingly, there are several coral island-swelling megapodes that lay their eggs in pits dug in sandy beaches. No mounds are erected. After the eggs are buried, the female departs, entrusting incubation to the sun, as in sea turtles. The obvious parallel to sea turtle breeding is further underscored when occasionally these marine reptiles emerge from the surf to lay their eggs coincidentally when megapodes are depositing theirs. Side by side, the respective mothers excavate pits, lay their eggs, bury their future offspring, and then abandon them. Thus, nest type and associated parental behavior (or lack of it) in megapodes parallels the sequence observed in reptiles, ranging from sea turtles to crocodilians. One megapode, the Australian lyrebird, elevates its – somewhat elaborate – nest, often in trees, taking great care to raise its one chick, though the male does build display mounds. It is also one of the finest songbirds on earth (see later). Excluding megapodes, all other birds incubate their eggs (or have other incubate them) by brooding, show some degree of parental care, and most fashion at least a rudimentary nest.
We will next examine the familiar group of ducks, geese, and swans. These mainly aquatic birds typically build simple nests of locally gathered vegetation.
These rudimentary nests rest on the surface of the ground as slightly differentiated forms or are situated in tree hollows and therefore remain relatively undifferentiated from the environment. When the brooded eggs hatch, a parent leads the precocial chick (ducklings, goslings, or cygnets) to water, or to species’ respective foraging areas, but does not feed the young; the chicks feed themselves and, in this respect, the amount of parental care is minimal. There is an exception: the Australian magpie goose collects food and brings it to the goslings for direct feeding. Moreover, it is unusual in that it perches in trees – a somewhat incongruous behavior for such a large bird. Thus, although the Magpie Goose nests on the ground, it exhibits an affinity to elevated heights in it perching behavior, which corresponds with its exceptional parental activities.
Regarding the remaining wetland waterfowl is the position of a nest relative to the ground related to the expansion of consciousness in the various species? AS mentioned earlier, some duck (North America wood duck, mandarin duck, bufflehead, various whistling ducks) have elevated nests but, like typical waterfowl, do not feed their young directly. These ducks, however, locate their nests in tree cavities. Here, we recall Rudolf Steiner’s remarks that a tree can be seen as an elevated “mound of earth”.
Accordingly, having a nest in the tree cavity would be similar to having a nest in the ground, but the earth substance is transformed and raised up on the tree. Therefore, nesting in a tree cavity, although elevated, is equivalent to nesting openly on the ground. In other words, there is little difference in behavior and development between ground-nesting and tree-nesting waterfowl; the enhancement that would have accompanied nesting in an elevated position is compromised by nesting inside the trunk.
If the expression of consciousness in waterfowl stands above that of megapodes, the mound-builders, which in turn parallels that of reptiles, how does it manifest in our common garden and countryside birds? It becomes obvious that a further behavior enhancement is expressed in our small, feathered neighbors, for unlike waterfowl, these birds provide the ultimate service to their nestlings by feeding them directly and catering to their offspring’s every need. In addition, many of these birds construct elaborate nests – an act of marked differentiation – often situated at varying heights in trees or shrubs, but in other sites as well, such as caves and cliff tops.
There is, however, an apparent discrepancy. Some birds, such as blackbirds, finches, robins and thrushes, fashion open, cup-shaped nests of fine materials, often secured to branches or placed in hedges, while others, such as kookaburras, woodpeckers, and starlings, inhabit tree holes, yet all show a similar degree of parental care.
Based on our previous observations, e would expect an augmented behavioral development in the cup-nest architects, which create a well differentiated form compared with the tree cavity nesters, which do not differentiate a structure from the environment.
But on closer scrutiny, the phenomena do indeed exhibit difference. Those birds that typically build complex, well differentiated nests also produce some of the most beautiful sons in the animal kingdom, while the hole-nesters characteristically emit only twittering, chattering or simple whistling vocalizations. The songbirds not only occupy the crown of avian behavioral development, they also often occupy the crowns of trees from which they broadcast the arrival of spring and a renewed impulse for growth, reproduction, and regeneration. Apparently, the enhanced “tendency to” associated with forms elevated above their surroundings ins announced in song from treetops. The songbird expresses in sound the tree’s enhanced relationship to life.
By re-examining and interrelating our observations, a gesture becomes evident. From sea turtle to alligator to megapode to waterfowl to tree-swelling songbird, there is a sequential positioning of one’s nest ever nearer the heavens. And with each further impulse to approach the cosmos, a new expression of consciousness is born, as seen in the sequence: no parental care – care of eggs, no care of young – care of eggs, minimal care of young – care of eggs, maximum care of young – care of eggs, maximum care of young, well-developed song. Just as trees are rooted in the earth and reach towards the cosmos, so too are some members of the animal kingdom “rooted” in the earth while other “reach” towards the heavens.
And it is through the songbirds, and their intimate relationship to the skyward-stretching limbs of trees, that the cosmos becomes audible to human ears.
Rudolf Steiner enlightened the world on the 12 senses in the circle of the Zodiac in a lecture at Dornach in August 1916. He begins with the senses of touch, the most primitive and archetypal, at number 1, then move clockwise round with life, movement, balance, smell, taste, sight, warmth, hearing, word, thought, and finally to the sense of ego at 12. As he explains: “Here we must think of the living human being as having 12 distinct senses … Add to the twelve domains the corresponding signs of the Zodiac, and you have the macrocosm – and this becomes the microcosm in the 12 senses of the human being.”
“Suppose we stand facing east, there flows into us from left to right, north to south, the currents connected with the formation of the physical body. This current was already present during the formation of the earth. From the other direction, from the south, flow the etheric currents. The forces from front to back, east to west, originate in the sentient (astral) body. From the rear forward, west to east, we have the currents of the sentient soul (first of the 3-fold aspects of ego).” Rudolf Steiner, October 1909
FROM: Sacred Fauna: Zoology in Light of Steiner’s Spiritual Science
Four Kingdoms Companion volume to: Sacred Places Minerals & Land; Sacred Fauna Botany; Sacred Faces A Study of Man
Important Earthschooling Notes
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.
END NOTE
Alan has presented dialogue in his writings in an expressive form, where he tries to capture the accent of the person he was with to give his writing more authenticity and to allow the reader to “be with him” in his experience. In no place in his writings is he using expressive language to make fun of or demean the speaker. So, as a person with a linguistics and anthropology degree I find this enriching and informative to me as the reader. Thus, we have made the decision to leave all expressive writing in its original form.
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