A woman I recently met, who we'll call Sara, shared this testimony today of her experiences with Waldorf education, that I thought were indeed helpful to share. Although I am personally not familiar with Waldorf's theories, and despite the fact that I have many friends who were raised in Waldorf schools and seem to have enjoyed themselves tremendously, I have always felt a little tug to just stay away. I'm glad I did.
She writes:
"It's been on my mind to share my cautionary tale about my experiences with Waldorf and "Waldorf inspired" homeschooling since I discovered something in the past week.
Waldorf education and methods cannot be separated from Steiner's Anthroposophy, an occult science. It permeates everything. Under all those gently colored images is something really dark. I was involved in Waldorf off and on from 2011 until this year.
So many Christian and Catholic moms are doing Waldorf inspired homeschooling or incorporating elements of it into their existing curricula that I think it's important to let people know what they could be getting into.
It's a common refrain by the Waldorf community that Anthroposophy is not taught to children in the schools. It is true in that they do not receive didactic instruction in a subject called anthroposophy. What Waldorf leaves out is that every single element of curriculum and methodology is anthroposophical in nature and intent. The teachers are all educated at anthroposophical schools and read anthropos texts including Steiners visions for education.
Teachers are taught to do inner work in order to communicate with spiritual realms in order to facilitate the actual goal of Waldorf education: to help the child first fully incarnate their soul into their body and then to help guide the soul toward an improved reincarnation in the hope that the "whole child" will be pure enough to shed his body and enter the spirit realm.
Even though I was going to homeschool, the anthroposophical influence was very strong. The "gentle" curriculum that I purchased included "inner work" for mothers. At first, I thought this meant self improvement. Not so much. I was invited to join groups to study Steiner by other homeschooling moms.
Some of the biggest proponents of Waldorf homeschooling are very anthroposophist and want to lead you in.
Anthroposophists also believe that Jesus was a sun god, aka Apollo. So, all the so called Christian festivals they celebrate are actually not about Jesus.
Some argue that they can use the elements of Waldorf without being Waldorf. Maybe this is the case, but I think it is important to share exactly why Waldorf does what it does. Each aspect of Waldorf education has an underlying spiritual importance in anthroposophy.
Some examples:
Stockmar Beeswax Crayons: Yes, they are beautiful. But when you purchase them your money goes to an anthroposophical company in Germany. Each color has an intentional occult significance.
Soft colors in the classroom, play silks, expressionless dolls, songs for every activity are how early childhood Waldorf educators create a "dream like" atmosphere in order for the still incarnating little ones to remember their past lives.
Gnomes and fairies. Cute but actually considered to be real beings. This is taught to children as part of the science curriculum.
Wet on Wet Watercolors are meant to create colorful hazy forms that represent Steiner's view of the spiritual realm.
Nature Tables are intended to be altars to the spiritual world that is concealed by the natural world. Hence the fairies and gnomes that are usually displayed along with the various images of nature.
Delayed academics, while not evil on its own, the purpose of it in Waldorf education is to keep children focused on the spiritual world until they are able to fully incarnate into their bodies at 7.
Festivals that appear to be Christian in origin have an underlying occult significance.
Form drawing (with the beeswax crayons) is a method toward clairvoyance.
I really want to share this because once I learned how evil Waldorf really was/is, I realized why I'd felt so oppressed spiritually during my time with it. I started believing that the world in front of me wasn't real but was an illusion like The Matrix. I was terrified all the time. Making nature tables and having a rhythm of the day, painting wet on wet water colors, reading the inner work stuff, and singing all those verses were not making me feel peaceful at all. It made me feel dark. So, now that I did some research about it, I realized why.
I want to save you from that by sharing some of what I learned."
I want to thank Sara for speaking up about what she discovered. Have you had any experiences with Waldorf, and would you like to share them below?
