{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_55586/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_55586","id":"gutenberg_55586","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55586","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Parenthood & Family Relations","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Teaching & Education","Education","Theosophy"],"text":"THE EDUCATION\n                              OF CHILDREN\n\n                          FROM THE STANDPOINT\n                             OF THEOSOPHY\n\n                                  BY\n                            RUDOLF STEINER\n                            PH. D. (VIENNA)\n\n                        AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION\n                    FROM THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION\n\n                              [Colophon]\n\n                           AMERICAN EDITION\n\n                          _THE RAJPUT PRESS._\n\n                          [Further colophon]\n\n                              _CHICAGO._\n\n                                 1911\n\n\n\n\n              COPYRIGHT 1911, BY WELLER VAN HOOK, IN THE\n                       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n IN VIEW OF THE MANY UNAUTHORIZED TRANSLATIONS OF DR. RUDOLF STEINER\u2019S\n WORKS, THE PUBLISHER BEGS TO GIVE NOTICE THAT ALL AUTHORISED EDITIONS,\n ISSUED UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF MR. MAX GYSI, BEAR THE SYMBOL OVERLEAF\n (CROSS IN PENTAGRAM).\n\n                           MAX GYSI, Editor,\n                         \u201cAdyar,\u201d Park Drive,\n                       Hampstead, London, N. W.\n\n\n\n\n                       THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN\n\n                   FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THEOSOPHY\n\n                         (TRANSLATED BY W. B.)\n\n\nPresent day life calls into question many things which man has\ninherited from his ancestors hence the numberless questions of the day,\nas for example: the Social Problem, the Woman\u2019s Movement, Education and\nSchool Questions, Law Reform, Hygiene, Sanitation, and so forth. We try\nto grapple with these questions in manifold ways. The number of those\nwho bring forward this or that remedy in order to solve this or that\nquestion, or at least to contribute something towards its solution, is\nimmeasurably great, and every possible shade of opinion is manifested\nin these endeavors; radicalism, carrying itself with a revolutionary\nair; the moderate view, full of respect for existing things and\ndesirous of fashioning out of them something new; or conservatism, up\nin arms, whenever old institutions and traditions are tampered with;\nand besides these main attitudes, there are all sorts of intermediary\npoints of view.\n\nHe who is able to probe deeply into life cannot help feeling one thing\nwith regard to these phenomena\u2014that the claims which are placed before\nmen in our time are met repeatedly by inadequate means. Many would like\nto re-form life, without really knowing it from its foundations. He\nwho would put forth a proposition as to life in the future, must not\ncontent himself with merely learning to know life superficially. He\nmust probe it to its depths.\n\nLife is like a plant that contains not only that which is visible\nto the eye, but also a future condition concealed within its secret\ndepths. He who has before him a plant that is just in leaf, is\nwell aware that later on blossoms and fruit will be added to the\nleaf-bearing stem. The germs of these blossoms and fruit are already\nconcealed within the plant. But it is impossible for one who merely\nregards it in its present condition to say how these organs will\nultimately appear. Only he who is acquainted with the nature of the\nplant can do so.\n\nHuman life also contains within itself the germs for its future.\nBut to be able to say anything about this future one must penetrate\ninto the hidden nature of man, and this, the present age, has no real\ninclination to do. It busies itself with the surface and thinks itself\ntreading on unsafe ground should it advance into that which is hidden\nfrom external observation. With the plant it is true the matter is\nconsiderably simpler. We know that its like has often and often brought\nforth flowers and fruit. Human life exists but once and the flowers\nwhich it is to bring forth in the future were not previously there.\nNone the less they exist in human life in embryo, just as much as the\nflowers of the plant which at present is only just bearing leaves.\n\nAnd it is possible to say something about this future, when one\npenetrates beneath the surface, into the heart of human nature. The\ndifferent reformatory ideas of the present can only become really\nfruitful and practical, when they are the result of this deep research\ninto human life.\n\nTheosophy is suited by its very nature to present a practical\nphilosophy, comprehending the whole sphere of human life. Whether or\nnot Theosophy, or that which in our time so often passes for it, is\njustified in putting forth such a claim, is not the point. The point\nconcerns rather the nature of Theosophy and what, by means of this\nnature, it is able to accomplish. It ought not to be a colorless theory\nto satisfy the mere curiosity of knowledge, nor yet a medium for those\nmen who, out of selfishness, would like to win for themselves a higher\ngrade of evolution. It can contribute something to the most important\nproblems of present day Humanity, in the development of its well-being.\n\nOf course if it acknowledges a mission of this kind it must expect to\nmeet with all manner of opposition and doubt. Radicals, Moderates and\nConservatives of all departments in life will surely raise such doubts\nagainst it. For at first it will be unable to please any one party,\nbecause its doctrines reach far beyond all party motives.\n\nAnd these doctrines have their roots wholly and solely in the true\nunderstanding of life. Only he who understands life will be able to\ntake his lessons from life itself. He will draw up no capricious\nschemes, for he knows that no other fundamental laws of life will\nprevail in the future than such as prevail in the present. Theosophy\nwill therefore of necessity have respect for the existing state of\nthings. Even, should it still find in what is existent, very much that\nmight be improved, yet it will not fail to perceive in the present\nthe germs of the future. But it knows, too, that for all things\nnascent there is a growth and a development. Therefore the germs for\na transformation and for a future growth will appear to Theosophy in\nthe existing state of things. It invents no schemes, it only calls\nthem forth from what already exists. But that which is so called forth\nbecomes in a certain sense itself a scheme, for it contains within\nitself the nature of evolution.\n\nFor this very reason the theosophical way of delving into the nature of\nman must yield the most fruitful and practical means for the solution\nof the vitally important questions of the present time.\n\nIt is my purpose to apply this to one such question, namely that of\neducation. We do not intend to advance any claims or pronounce a\nlearned dissertation, but to portray simply the child nature. From a\nstudy of the nature of the growing man, the educational standpoint here\nsuggested will develop quite naturally. But to proceed rightly with\nsuch a study it is necessary to contemplate the hidden nature of man in\ngeneral.\n\nThat which is cognised by the physical perception, that which the\nmaterialistic view of life considers to be the only important element\nin the nature of man, namely, his physical body, forms, according to\nspiritual research, only a part, a principle of human nature. This\nphysical body is subject to the same laws of physical life, is composed\nof the same matter and forces, as all the rest of the so-called\nlifeless world. Theosophy, therefore, maintains that man possesses this\nphysical aspect in common with the whole of the mineral kingdom. And it\nconsiders as physical body that part only in man which is able to mix,\nunite, to build up and to dissolve the very same materials, and after\nidentical laws, as are also at work in the mineral world.\n\nNow besides this physical body, Theosophy recognizes a second element\nin the constitution of man\u2014namely a vital or etheric body. And that\nthere may be no cause for the physicist to reject the term etheric body\nwe would point out that etheric is here used in a different sense from\nthe hypothetical ether of physics, and it must be taken to mean here\nthat which is about to be described.\n\nIt has been considered for some time past a most unscientific\nproceeding to speak of an \u201cetheric body\u201d of this kind. At the end of\nthe eighteenth and in the first half of the nineteenth century, it\nis true, it was not considered \u201cunscientific.\u201d It was then said that\nmatter and force operating in a mineral could not of their own power\nform themselves into a living being. For this there must be an especial\nindwelling \u201cforce,\u201d which was termed \u201cvital force.\u201d It was represented\nindeed that such a force operates in plants, in animals, and in human\nbodies, and produces the phenomena of life just as magnetic force in\nthe magnet causes attraction. In the succeeding period of materialism\nthis theory had been abandoned. It was then said that a living being\nbuilds itself up in the same way as a so-called lifeless being; no\nother forces prevail in an organism than those which are in the\nmineral\u2014they only operate in a more complicated manner; they build up\na more complex structure. At the present time, only the most obstinate\nmaterialists cling to this denial of the \u201cvital force.\u201d A number of\nnatural philosophers have taught that one must nevertheless admit some\nsuch thing as a vital force of a life-principle.\n\nThus the new science approaches in a certain sense the teaching\nof Theosophy in regard to the vital body. Nevertheless there is a\nconsiderable difference between the two. Science today, by means of\nintellectual observations founded on the facts of ordinary perception,\nhas accepted the idea of a kind of vital force. But this is not the\nmethod of a truly spiritual research, such as Theosophy aims at, and\nfrom the results of which proceed the theosophical teachings. It cannot\nbe pointed out too often, how Theosophy on this point differs from the\ncurrent science of the day. The latter considers the experience of the\nsenses to be the basis of all knowledge, and whatever is not built upon\nthis basis it treats as unknowable. From the impressions of the senses\nit draws deductions and conclusions. But anything that goes further it\nputs aside, as being beyond the limits of human knowledge. To Theosophy\nsuch a prospect resembles the view of a blind man who only takes into\nconsideration those things that he can touch, and what he may infer\nfrom the touched object by reasoning, but who sets aside the statements\nof those who can see as being beyond the faculty of human perception.\nFor Theosophy shows that man is capable of evolution, that through\nthe developing of new organs he may conquer for himself new worlds.\nAround the blind man there is color and light, but he cannot perceive\nthem, because he does not possess the requisite organs. Around man, so\nTheosophy teaches, there are many worlds, and he can observe them, if\nonly he develops the organs necessary for the purpose.\n\nEven as the blind man looks upon a new world as soon as he has\nundergone a successful operation, so can man, through the developing\nof higher organs, perceive worlds quite different from those which\nhe observed at first with his ordinary senses. Now whether or not\nit is possible to operate on one who is bodily blind depends on the\nconditions of the organs; but those higher organs by which one may\npenetrate into the upper worlds, exist in embryo in every human being.\nAnyone can develop them, who has the patience, endurance and energy to\nmake use of those methods which are described in my two books entitled\n\u201cThe Way of Initiation\u201d and \u201cInitiation and Its Results.\u201d[1]\n\nTheosophy does not speak of limitations to man\u2019s knowledge through\nhis organism; but says, on the contrary, that he is surrounded by\nworlds for which he has the organs of perception. It indicates the\nmeans by which to extend the temporary limits. It also occupies itself\nwith the investigation of the vital, or etheric body, and to what\nin the following may be called the yet higher principles of human\nnature. It admits that only the physical body can be accessible to the\ninvestigation of the bodily senses, and that from this standpoint one\ncan at most only chance on something higher by a train of reasoning.\nBut it gives information as to how one can open up for oneself a world\nin which these higher principles of human nature appear before the\nobserver, just as the colors and light of objects appear before the\nblind-born person after his operation. For those who have developed the\nhigher organs of perception, the etheric or vital body is an object\nof actual observation, and not a theory resulting from intellectual\nactivity or a train of reasoning.\n\nMan has this etheric, or vital body, in common with the plants and\nanimals. It causes the matter and forces of the physical body to\nform themselves into the manifestations of growth, of reproduction,\nof the internal motions of the fluids, etc. It is also the builder\nand sculptor of the physical body, its inhabitant and its architect.\nThe physical body can therefore also be called an image or expression\nof this vital body. Both are approximately the same in man as regards\nform and size, yet they are by no means quite alike. But the etheric\nbody in animals and still more in plants, differs considerably from the\nphysical body with regard to its shape and dimension.\n\nThe third principle of the human being is the so-called body of\nfeeling, or astral body. It is the vehicle of pain and pleasure, of\nimpulse, desire, passion, and so forth. An entity composed merely of\na physical and an etheric body has nothing of all this, to which may\nbe ascribed the term\u2014sensation. The plant has no sensation. If many a\nlearned man of our time concludes that plants have a certain power of\nsensation, from the fact that many of them respond to a stimulus, by\nmovement, or in other ways, he merely shows that he does not know the\nessence of sensation. The point is, not whether the being in question\nresponds to an outward stimulus, but rather whether the stimulus\nreflects itself through an inner experience, such as pleasure or pain,\nimpulse, desire, etc. If this be not the standard of sensation, one\nwould be justified in asserting that blue litmus paper has a sense of\nfeeling for certain substances, because on coming into contact with\nthem, it turns red.[2]\n\nMan has the astral body in common with the animal world only. It is\nthus the medium for the life of sensation and feeling.\n\nOne must not fall into the error of certain theosophical circles and\nthink that the etheric body and astral body consist merely of finer\nmatter than that which exists in the physical body. For this would\nmean simply the materialisation of these higher principles of human\nnature. The etheric body is a form of living forces; it is composed of\nactive forces, but not of matter\u2014and the astral body or body of feeling\nis a form consisting of colored luminous pictures revolving within\nthemselves.[3]\n\nThe astral body differs in form and size from the physical body. It\nappears in man in the form of an oblong egg, in which the physical and\nthe etheric bodies are embedded. It projects on all sides beyond these\ntwo like a luminous cloud.\n\nNow in the nature of man there is a fourth principle which he does\nnot share with other earthly creatures. This is the vehicle of the\nhuman \u201cI\u201d. The little word \u201cI\u201d as we call it in English is a word that\nseparates itself from all other words. He who duly reflects on the\nnature of this word, gains access at the same time to an understanding\nof human nature. Every other word may be used by all men in the same\nway to suit some corresponding object. Anyone can call a table \u201ctable,\u201d\nany one can call a chair \u201cchair,\u201d but with the word \u201cI\u201d it is not so.\nNo one can use it as an indication of some one else, for each person\ncan only speak of himself as \u201cI\u201d. Never can the word \u201cI\u201d sound in my\nears as a reference to myself. For a man in designating himself \u201cI\u201d,\nmust name himself within himself. A being that can say to himself \u201cI\u201d\nis a world in himself. Those religions which are built up on the basis\nof Theosophy have always felt this. They have therefore said that with\nthe \u201cego\u201d the God begins to speak within\u2014the God who, among lower\nbeings, is manifested only from without in the surrounding phenomena.\n\nThe vehicle of this lastly developed capacity is now \u201cthe body of the\nego,\u201d the fourth principle of the human being.[4] This body of the\nego is the vehicle of the higher human soul, and through it man is\nthe crown of all earthly creation. But the ego in present humanity\nis by no means a simple entity. Its nature can be recognized when a\ncomparison is made between men of different stages of evolution. Take\nfor instance the uneducated savage and the average European, and\ncompare these again with a lofty idealist. Each one of them has the\nfaculty of saying to himself \u201cI\u201d for the \u201cbody of the ego\u201d is existent\nin each of them. But the uncivilized savage gives way with this \u201cI\u201d to\nhis passions, his impulses and appetites, almost like an animal. The\nmore highly developed man allows himself to follow certain inclinations\nand desires, others he checks or suppresses. The idealist has formed,\nin addition to the original inclinations and passions, others that are\nhigher. This is all due to the fact that the \u201cego\u201d has been at work\non the other principles of the human being. And it is precisely the\nmission of the \u201cego\u201d to ennoble and purify the other principles by its\nown power.\n\nSo the lower principles, under the influence of the \u201cego,\u201d have become\nmore or less changed within a man who has surmounted the conditions\nin which the outer world has placed him. Take the case of the man who\nis just raising himself above the level of the animal\u2014when his \u201cego\u201d\nflashes out he still resembles the animal with regard to his lower\nprinciples. His etheric or vital body is solely the medium of the\nliving constructive forces of growth and propagation. His astral body\nonly gives expression to such impulses, desires and passions as are\nstimulated by his outer nature. All the time that the man is struggling\non through successive lives, or incarnations, from this degree of\nculture to an ever higher evolution, his ego is remodelling the other\nprinciples. In this way the astral body becomes the medium of purified\npleasurable and unpleasurable sensations, refined desires and longings.\nAnd the etheric, or vital body, also transforms itself. It becomes the\nvehicle of habits, of permanent inclinations of temperament and of\nmemory. A man whose ego has not yet influenced his vital body has no\nremembrance of the experiences he undergoes. He lives just as he has\nbeen brought up by Nature.\n\nThe whole development of civilisation expresses itself for man in\nthis working of the ego upon the subordinate principles. This working\npenetrates even to the physical body. Under the influence of the ego,\nthe physiognomy, the gestures and movements, the whole appearance of\nthe physical body, change.\n\nOne can also discern how differently the various mediums of\ncivilisation affect the individual principles of the human being. The\ncommon factors of civilisation influence the astral body. They bring\nto it other kinds of pleasure, displeasure, impulse, etc., than it\noriginally had. Absorption in a work of art influences the etheric\nbody, for a man obtains through a work of art, the presentiment\nof something higher and nobler than that which is offered by the\nenvironment of the senses, and thus transforms his vital body. A\npowerful means for the purification and ennoblement of the etheric\nbody is religion. Religious impulses have, in this way, their sublime\nmission in the evolution of humanity.\n\nThat which is called conscience is nothing but the result of the work\nof the ego on the vital body, through a succession of incarnations.\nWhen a man perceives that he must not do certain things, and when\nthrough this perception, an impression is made on him, deep enough to\ncommunicate itself to his etheric body, the conscience begins to be\nformed.\n\nNow this work of the ego on the subordinate principles can either be\none that belongs rather to the whole human race, or it can be quite\nindividually a work of the single ego upon itself. In the first change\nof man, to a certain extent, the whole human race takes part; the\nlatter must depend on the inner activity of the ego. When the ego grows\nstrong enough entirely to remodel the astral body through its own\nstrength, then that which the ego makes of this astral body or body\nof feeling is called the \u201cSpirit-Self\u201d (Geistesselbst)[5] or as they\nsay in the East, Manas. This transformation consists essentially in\nan imbuing, in an enriching of the inner being with higher ideas and\nperceptions. But the ego can arrive at yet higher and more intimate\nwork with regard to the special entity of man. This occurs when not\nmerely the astral body is enriched, but when the etheric or vital\nbody becomes transformed. Man learns a certain amount in the course of\nlife, and when he looks back on his life from any point, he is able to\nsay to himself: \u201cI have learnt much,\u201d but how much less is he able to\nspeak of a change of temperament and character, of an improvement or\ndeterioration of the memory, during life. Learning affects the astral\nbody, whilst the latter transformations affect the ethic or vital body.\nIt would therefore be no inapt simile to compare the change of the\nastral body in life to the movement of the minute-hand of the clock,\nthe change of the vital body to that of the hour-hand.\n\nWhen a man enters upon the higher, or so-called occult training, the\nchief thing to bear in mind is that he at once begins this latter\ntransformation by the innermost might of the ego. He must work quite\nconsciously and individually at the changing of habits, temperament,\ncharacter, memory, etc. As much of this vital body as he works upon in\nthis way becomes transformed into the \u201cLife-Spirit\u201d (Lebensgeist), or\nas the Eastern expression has it, into Buddhi.\n\nOn a yet higher stage of evolution man attains to powers by which he\ncan effect a transformation of his physical body (as for example,\nchanging the pulse and the circulation of the blood). As much of the\nphysical body as is transformed in this way, is called \u201cSpirit-Man\u201d\n(Geistesmensch)\u2014Atma.\n\nThe changes which are effected in the lower principles by man, not as\nan individual, but rather as a whole group of the human race, or a\npart of it, such as a nation, a tribe, or a family\u2014have in Theosophy,\nthe following names. The astral body, or body of feeling, when\ntransformed by the ego is called the emotional soul; the transformed\netheric body becomes the rational soul, and the transformed physical\nbody, the self-conscious soul. But it is not to be supposed that the\ntransformation of these three principles takes place successively.\nIt takes place in all three bodies simultaneously, from the moment\nwhen the ego flashes out. Indeed the work of the ego is not generally\nspeaking perceptible until a part of the self-conscious soul is formed.\n\nIt is seen from the foregoing paragraph that there are four principles\nin the Being of Man: the physical body, the etheric or vital body,\nthe astral or body of feeling and the ego-body;\u2014the emotional soul,\nthe rational soul, the self-conscious soul\u2014and indeed the yet higher\nprinciples of human nature also,\u2014the Spirit-Self (Manas), the\nLife-Spirit (Buddhi), the Spirit-Man (Atma) appear as the products of\nthe transformation of these four principles. In speaking about the\nsources of our human capacities, only these four principles can be\ntaken into account.\n\nAs a teacher works upon these four principles of the human\nconstitution, one must, in order to work in the right way, penetrate\ninto the nature of these divisions of man. Now it must by no means\nbe imagined that these parts develop themselves in man in such a way\nthat at any one moment of his life\u2014say at his birth\u2014they are all\nequally advanced. On the contrary their development takes place at the\nvarious life-periods in a different way. And the right foundations for\neducation and instruction depend on the knowledge of this law of the\nevolution of human nature.\n\nBefore physical birth the nascent human being is enclosed on all sides\nby an alien physical body. It does not come into contact independently\nwith the outward physical world. The physical body of the mother forms\nits environment. This body alone can influence the maturing f\u0153tus.\nPhysical birth consists precisely in the fact that the physical body\nof the mother releases the child, thereby causing the surroundings\nof the physical world to influence him immediately. The senses open\nthemselves to the outward world, and this latter is thereby able\nto exercise those influences over the child which were previously\nexercised by the physical body of the mother.\n\nFor a spiritual comprehension of the world such as is represented by\nTheosophy, the physical body is then actually born, but not yet the\netheric or vital body. As the child until the moment of its birth is\nsurrounded by the physical body of the mother, so too until the time\nof his second teeth, about the age of seven, is he surrounded by an\netheric and an astral covering. Not until the time of the change of\nteeth does the etheric covering release the etheric body. Then until\nthe time of puberty there still remains an astral covering.[6] At this\nperiod the astral or desire body also becomes free on all sides, as did\nthe physical body at the time of the physical birth and the etheric\nbody at the time of the second teeth.\n\nThus then, Theosophy must speak of three births of man. Certain\nimpressions, which are intended to reach the etheric body can reach it\nas little, up to the time of the second teeth, as the light and air of\nthe physical world can reach the physical body while it remains in the\nwomb of the mother.\n\nBefore the coming of the second teeth the free vital body is not at\nwork. As the physical body, whilst in the womb of the mother, receives\npowers which are not its own, and within that protective covering\ngradually develops its own, so is this also the case with these later\npowers of growth, until the time of the second teeth. Only at this\nperiod does the etheric body perfect its own powers in conjunction with\nthe inherited and alien ones. During this time, while the etheric\nbody is freeing itself, the physical body is already independent. The\netheric body which is gradually freeing itself, perfects that which\nit has to give to the physical body. And the final point of this work\nis the child\u2019s own teeth, which come in the place of those he has\ninherited. They are the densest things embedded in the physical body\nand therefore at this period appear last.\n\nAfter this period, the child\u2019s own etheric body takes care of its\ngrowth alone. Only the latter still remains under the influence of\nan enveloped astral body. As soon as the astral body becomes free as\nwell, a period is terminated for the etheric body. This termination\ntakes place at the time of puberty. The reproductive organs become\nindependent, because from henceforth the free astral body does not\nwork inwardly, but openly encounters the external world.\n\nAs one is not able to let the influences of the outward world affect\nthe child physically before it is born, so those powers (which are the\nsame to him as the impressions of the physical surroundings to the\nphysical body) should not be allowed to affect the etheric body before\nthe time of the second teeth. And the corresponding influences upon the\nastral body ought only to be brought into play at the time of puberty.\n\nCommon phrases, such as, \u201cthe harmonious training of all the powers and\ntalents,\u201d and the like cannot form the foundation for a true system of\neducation, for this can only be built upon a genuine knowledge of the\nhuman being. We do not mean to affirm that the above-mentioned phrases\nare incorrect, but only that they are as valueless as if one were to\nsay with regard to a machine, that all its parts must be brought into\nharmonious working order. Only he who approaches it, not with mere\nphrases, but with a real knowledge of the particular kind of machine,\ncan handle it. This applies also to the art of education, to the\nknowledge of the principles in a human being and of their individual\ndevelopments; one must know which part of the human being should be\ninfluenced at a certain time of life, and how to bring such influences\nto bear upon him in a suitable manner. There is indeed no doubt that\na really intelligent system of education, such as is outlined in\nthese pages, can make its way but slowly. This is due to the manner of\nviewing things in our day, wherein the facts of the spiritual world\nwill still be considered for a long time as merely the overflow of a\nmad fantasy, while common-place and entirely superficial phrases will\nbe regarded as the result of a really practical way of thinking. We\nshall here proceed to give a free outline of what will be considered by\nmany at the present time a mere mirage of the fancy, but which will in\ntime come to be an accepted fact.\n\nAt physical birth, the physical human body is exposed to the physical\nenvironment of the external world, whilst previously it was encircled\nby the protective body of the mother. That which the forces and fluids\nof the mother\u2019s body did to it previously must now be done by the\nforces and elements of the outer physical world. Up to the time of the\nsecond teething, at the age of seven, the human body has a mission to\nperform for itself, which is essentially different from the missions\nof all the other life-epochs. The physical organs must form themselves\ninto certain shapes during this time; then structural proportions must\ntake definite directions and tendencies. Later on growth takes place,\nbut this growth in all future time proceeds on the bases of the shapes\nwhich were in process of formation until the time mentioned. If normal\nshapes have been forming themselves, normal shapes will afterwards\ngrow, and conversely from abnormal bases will proceed abnormal results.\nOne cannot make amends in all the succeeding years for that which, as\nguardian, one has neglected during the first seven years. As the right\nenvironment for the physical human body is provided by Nature, before\nbirth, so after birth it is the duty of the guardian to provide it.\nOnly this correct physical environment influences the child in such a\nway that his physical organs mould themselves into the normal forms.\n\nThere are two magic words which epitomise the relation which is\nformed between the child and its environment. These are: Imitation\nand Example. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, called man the most\nimitative of animals, and for no other period of life is this more\napplicable than for the age of childhood up to the time of the second\nteething. The child imitates whatever takes place in its physical\nenvironment, and in the imitation his physical organs mould themselves\ninto the forms which then remain to them. The term physical environment\nis to be taken in the widest sense imaginable. To it belongs not only\nthat which takes place materially round the child, but everything that\nis enacted in his surroundings, everything that may be observed by his\nsenses, everything that from all points of physical space can influence\nhis spiritual forces. To it also belong all actions, moral or immoral,\nsensible or foolish, that the child may see.\n\nIt is not by moral texts, nor by rational precepts, but by what is\ndone visibly before the child by the grown-up people around him, that\nhe is influenced in the manner indicated. Instruction produces effects\nonly upon the etheric body, not upon the physical, and up to the\nage of seven the etheric body is surrounded by a protective etheric\nshell, just as the physical body until physical birth is surrounded\nby the body of the mother. That which ought to be developed in this\netheric body in the way of ideas, habits, memory, etc., before the\nage of seven, must develop itself \u201cspontaneously,\u201d in the same way\nas the eyes and ears develop themselves in the womb of the mother\nwithout the influence of the external light. It is written in an\nexcellent educational book, Jean Paul\u2019s _Levana_ or _Pedagogics_, that\na world-traveller learns more from his nurse in his early years than\nin all of his travels put together. This is undoubtedly true, but\nthe child does not learn by instruction, but by imitation. And his\nphysical organs form themselves through the influence of his physical\nsurroundings. A healthy vision is formed when the right colors and\nconditions of light are brought into the child\u2019s environment, and the\nphysical foundations for a healthy moral nature are formed in the brain\nand in the circulation of the blood, when the child sees moral things\nin his environment. When the child, up to the age of seven, sees only\nfoolish actions taking place around him, his brain assumes such forms\nas to make him also, in later life, capable only of foolishness.\n\nAs the muscles of the hand grow strong and powerful when they do work\nsuitable for them, so the brain and the other organs of the physical\nhuman body will be directed towards the right path, if they receive\nthe right impressions from their environment. An example will best\nillustrate the point in question. A doll can be made out of an old\npiece of cloth, by making two corners serve for arms, two for legs and\na knot for the head, with the eyes, nose and mouth painted in ink\u2014or\na so-called \u201cbeautiful\u201d doll can be bought with real hair and painted\ncheeks, and given to the child. The latter, it is hardly necessary to\nsay, is really horrible, and is calculated to ruin the child\u2019s sound\naesthetic taste for life. Here the question of education is quite a\ndifferent one. If the child has the rag-doll to look at, it has to\ncomplete out of its own imagination the impression of a human being\nwhich the doll is intended to convey. This work of the imagination\nhelps to build up the forms of the brain, so that it opens up as the\nmuscles of the hand expand by doing their natural work. When the child\npossesses the so-called \u201cbeautiful doll,\u201d there is nothing further for\nthe brain to do. It becomes, as it were, stunted and dried up, instead\nof expanding itself. If people could look into the brain after the\nmanner of the occultist and see it building itself up into forms, they\nwould certainly only give their children that kind of plaything which\nis really able to stimulate the creative powers of the brain. All toys\nthat are only composed of dead mathematical forms have a desolating\nand deadening effect on the child\u2019s formative powers, whilst on the\nother hand everything that stimulates the perception of something\nliving tends to influence in the right direction. Our materialistic\nage produces but few good toys\u2014such for instance as that in which two\nmovable pieces of wood are made to represent two smiths facing one\nanother and hammering at some object. Such things may still be bought\nin the country. Very good also are those picture books in which the\nfigures are made to be pulled by strings, thus enabling the child to\ntransform the dead picture into a representation of action. All this\nproduces an inner activity of the organs, and out of this activity the\nright form of the organs builds itself up.\n\nOf course these things can only just be indicated here, but in the\nfuture occult science will be called upon to point out that which in\neach particular case is necessary, and this it is able to do. For it\nis not an empty abstraction, but a body of vital facts quite able to\nfurnish the guiding-lines for practical matters.\n\nOne or two further examples will serve as illustrations. According\nto occult science a so-called nervous excitable child should be\ntreated differently from a lethargic and inactive one, with regard to\nits surroundings. Everything must be taken into consideration, from\nthe color of the room and the various objects by which the child\nis generally surrounded, to the color of the clothes in which it is\ndressed. One may often do the wrong thing, unless willing to be guided\nby occult science, for a materialistic tendency will in many cases hit\non just the opposite of what is right. An excitable child should be\nclothed and surrounded with red or reddish-yellow colors, whilst for\nthe opposite type of child, blue or bluish-green should be selected.\nFor, in accordance with the color used outwardly is the complementary\ncolor produced inwardly. Thus, for instance, green is produced by red;\norange-yellow by blue, and of this one may easily be convinced by\nlooking for a time on a spot of a particular color and then quickly\ndirecting the eyes to a white surface. This complementary color is\nproduced by the physical organs of the child, and in turn reacts upon\nthe corresponding organic structures necessary to the child. Red in\nthe environment of an excitable child produces inwardly the green\ncomplementary picture. The activity thus produced by the sensation of\ngreen has a calming effect and the organs take upon themselves the\ntendency to composure.\n\nOne rule must invariably be taken into consideration at this period\nof life\u2014that the physical body has to create for itself the standard\nof what is suitable to it. It does this through the corresponding\ndevelopment of desire. Generally speaking it may be said that the\nhealthy physical body desires only what is good for it. And as long\nas it is a question only of the physical body of the growing child,\none ought to notice carefully what it is that is sought by the healthy\ndesires, cravings and pleasures. Joy and pleasure are the powers which\ndraw out the physical forms of the organs, in the best way.\n\nA very great error may be committed in this direction by not placing\nthe child in the suitable physical conditions with regard to its\nenvironment. This can especially be the case with regard to the\ninstinct of nourishment. The child can be overfed with things that\nmake him completely lose healthy instincts of nourishment, whilst\nthrough correct feeding they can be preserved for him so fully, that\nhe will ask (even to a glass of water) for that which under given\ncircumstances is good for him, and will refuse anything that may be\nharmful. When occult science is called upon to construct a system of\neducation, it will be able to specify, even to the particular articles\nof nourishment and table luxuries, all that has here to be considered.\nFor it is a practical teaching, applicable to life, and no mere\ncolorless theory\u2014as indeed one might suppose, from the mistakes of many\nTheosophists of today.\n\nAmong the forces therefore which affect the physical organs by\nmoulding them, must be included an element of joy with and amid\nthe surroundings. Let the guardian be cheerful of countenance, and\nabove all things let there be true and not artificial love\u2014a love\nthat flowing warmly through the physical environment, as it were,\nincubates, in the true sense of the word, the forms of the physical\norgans.\n\nWhen within such an atmosphere of love, the imitation of healthy models\nis possible, the child is in his right element. Special attention\nshould therefore be given that nothing may happen in the child\u2019s\nenvironment that he should not imitate. Nothing should be done that\nwould necessitate saying to the child \u201cYou must not do that.\u201d Of the\nway in which the child tries to imitate, one may be convinced by\nobserving how it can copy written letters long before it can understand\nthem. It is indeed an advisable thing for the child to copy the written\ncharacters first, and then later to learn their meaning. For imitation\nbelongs to the developing stage of the physical body, whilst the\nmind responds to the etheric body, and this latter ought only to be\ninfluenced after the time of the second teeth, when its outer etheric\ncovering is gone. Especially should the learning of speech by means of\nimitation take place in these years. For _by hearing_ the child best\nlearns to speak. All rules and artificial teaching can do no good at\nall.\n\nIn the early years of childhood it is especially important that such\nmeans of education as, for instance, songs for children should make\nas beautiful a rhythmic impression on the senses as possible. The\nimportance lies in the beautiful sound rather than in the sense. The\nmore invigorating the effect which anything can have upon the eye and\near, the better it is. The power of building up the organs which lies\nin dancing movements when put to a musical rhythm, for example, must\nnot be under-estimated.\n\nWith the change of teeth the etheric body throws off its outer\ncovering, and then the time begins in which the training of the etheric\nbody may be carried on from without. One must be clear as to what it is\nthat can influence the etheric body in this way. The transformation and\ngrowth of the etheric body signify, respectively, the transformation\nand development of the affections, the habits, conscience, character,\nmemory and temperament. One is able to influence the etheric body by\npictures, by example, by regulated guidance of the imagination. Just\nas the child, until it has reached the age of seven, ought to be given\na physical model which it can imitate, so too, in the environment of\nthe developing child, between the period of the second teeth and that\nof puberty, everything should be brought into play that possesses an\ninner sense and value upon which the child may direct his attention.\nAll that conduces to thought, all that works through image and parable,\nhas now its rightful place.\n\nThe etheric body develops its power when a well regulated imagination\nis directed upon that which it can unravel or extract for its guidance\nfrom living images and parables, or from such as are addressed to the\nspirit. It is _concrete_ and not _abstract_ ideas that can rightly\ninfluence the growing body\u2014ideas that are spiritually rather than\nmaterially concrete. A spiritual standpoint is the right means of\neducation during these years. It is therefore of paramount importance\nthat the youth at this period has around him in his guardians\nthemselves personalities through whose points of view the desirable\nintellectual and moral powers may be awakened in him.\n\nAs \u201cimitation\u201d and \u201cexample\u201d are the magic words for the training of\nchildren in their early years, so for the years now in question the\ncorresponding words are \u201chero-worship\u201d and \u201cauthority.\u201d Natural and\nnot forced authority must supply the immediate spiritual standpoint,\nwith the help of which the youth forms for himself conscience, habits\nand inclinations, brings his temperament into regulated paths, and\nwins his own outlook on this world. The beautiful words of the poet:\n\u201cEveryone must choose his own hero, in whose steps he may find the way\nto Olympus,\u201d are of special value with regard to this epoch of life.\n\nVeneration and reverence are powers that assist the etheric body to\ngrow in the right way. And he to whom it is impossible, during this\nperiod, to look up to anyone with unlimited reverence, will have to\nsuffer on that account for the rest of his life. When this veneration\nis missing, the vital forces of the etheric body are checked. Picture\nto yourself the following in its effect on the youthful disposition:\na boy of eight years of age is told of a person highly esteemed. All\nthat he hears about him fills him with holy awe. The day draws near on\nwhich he is to see this honored person for the first time. A profound\nreverence overcomes him when he hears the bell-ring at the door, behind\nwhich the object of his veneration is to become visible. The beautiful\nfeelings which are produced by such an experience, belong to the\nlasting acquisitions of life. And _that_ man is fortunate, who not only\nduring the happy moments of life, but continuously, is able to look up\nto his teachers and instructors as to his natural authorities.\n\nTo these living authorities, to these embodiments of moral and\nintellectual power, must be added the authorities perceived of the\nspirit. The grand examples of history, the tales of model men and\nwomen, must fix the conscience and the intellectual tendency\u2014and not\nabstract moral truths, which can only do their right work, when, at the\nage of puberty, the astral body is freed from its astral covering.\n\nOne ought especially to guide the teaching of history into courses\ndetermined by such points of view. Before the time of the second teeth,\nthe stories, fairy tales, etc., which are told to the child, can only\nhave for their aim, joy, recreation, and pleasure.\n\nAfter this time it will be necessary to use forethought concerning\nthe matter that is to be related, so that pictures of life, such as\nhe can beneficially emulate, may be set before the soul of the young\nperson. It must not be overlooked that bad habits can be ousted by\npictures correspondingly repulsive. Warnings against such bad habits\nand tendencies are at best of little avail, but if one were to let the\nliving picture of a bad man affect the youthful imagination, explaining\nthe result to which the tendency in question leads, one would do much\ntoward its extermination.\n\nOne thing to bear always in mind is, that it is not abstract\nrepresentations that influence the developing etheric body, but living\npictures in their spiritual clearness, and, of course, these latter\nmust be applied with the utmost tact, for otherwise the opposite to\nwhat is desired will be the result. In the matter of stories it is\nalways a question of the way in which they are told. The verbal\nnarration of a tale can therefore not be successfully replaced by a\nreading of it.\n\nDuring the time between the second teeth and puberty, the\nspiritually pictorial, or, as one might also call it, the symbolical\nrepresentation, ought to be considered in yet another way. It is\nnecessary that the young person should learn to know the secrets of\nnature, the laws of life, as far as possible through symbols and not by\nthe means of dry and intellectual ideas. Allegories about the spiritual\nrelation of things ought so to reach the soul that the law and order of\nexistence underlying the allegories is rather perceived and divined,\nthan grasped by the means of intellectual ideas. The saying that \u201call\nthings transient are only symbols\u201d ought to form an all-important\nmotto for the education during this period. It is very important for\na person to receive the secrets of nature in allegories before they\nappear to his soul in the form of natural laws, etc. An example will\nmake this clear. Supposing one wished to speak to a young person of the\nimmortality of the soul, of its going forth from the body, one might\nas an instance make the comparison of the butterfly emerging from the\nchrysalis. As the butterfly comes forth from the chrysalis, so the soul\ncomes forth from the shell of the body after death. No one who has not\npreviously received them by means of some such image, will adequately\ngrasp the right facts in the abstract ideas. For by such a simile one\nspeaks not only to the intellect, but also to the sensations and\nfeelings, to the whole soul. The youth having gone through all this,\napproaches the matter in quite a different attitude of mind when it\nis given to him later in intellectual conceptions. Indeed the man who\ncannot first approach the riddle of existence with this feeling is much\nto be pitied. It is necessary that the teacher should have similes at\nhis disposal for all natural laws and secrets of the world.\n\nIn this matter it is quite clear what an enriching effect occult\nscience must have upon practical life. Any one constructing from a\nmaterialistic and intellectual mode of representation, similes for\nhimself and then propounding them to young people, will usually make\nbut little impression upon them. For such a person ought first to\npuzzle out the similes himself with all his mental capacities. Those\nsimiles which one has not first applied for oneself, do not have a\nconvincing effect on those to whom they are imparted. When one talks to\nsomebody in parables, then he is not only influenced by what one says\nor shows, but there passes a fine spiritual stream from the speaker to\nthe hearer. Unless the speaker himself has an ardent feeling of belief\nin his similes, he will make no impression on the one to whom he gives\nthem. In order to create a right influence, one must believe in one\u2019s\nsimiles oneself as if in realities; and that can only be done when one\npossesses the mystical tendency, and when the similes themselves are\nborn of occult science. The real occultist does not need to worry\nabout the above-mentioned simile of the soul going forth from the\nbody, because for him it is a truth. To him the butterfly evolving\nfrom the chrysalis represents the same experience on a lower stage of\nnature\u2019s existence as the going forth of the soul from the body at a\nhigher stage development. He believes in it with all his might, and\nthis belief flows forth as if in invisible streams from the speaker\nto the listener, and inspires conviction. Direct life-streams then\nflow forth from teacher to pupil. But for this end it is necessary\nfor the teacher to draw from the full source of occult science; it is\nnecessary that his word and all that goes forth from him, should be\nclothed with feeling, warmth and glowing emotion from the true occult\nview of life. For this reveals a magnificent perspective of the whole\nsubject of education. Once the latter allows itself to be enriched from\nthe life source of occult science, it will itself become permeated\nwith a profound vitality. It will give up groping in the dark, so\ncommon in this particular domain of thought. All educational methods,\nall educational sciences, that do not continually receive a supply of\nfresh sap from such roots, are dried up and dead. For all world-secrets\noccult science has fitting similes, similes not rising from the mind of\nman but drawn from the essence of things, having been laid down as a\nbasis by the forces of the world at their creation. Occult science must\ntherefore be the basis for any system of education.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA power of the soul to which particular attention ought to be given at\nthis period of development is that of memory. For the cultivation of\nthe memory is connected with the transformation of the etheric body.\nThis has its effect in the fact that precisely during the time between\nthe coming of the second teeth and that of puberty it becomes free,\nso that this is also the period in which the further development of\nthe memory should be looked after from outside. The memory will be\npermanently of less value to the person in question than it might have\nbeen, if at this period what is necessary to it is neglected. That\nwhich has thus been neglected cannot afterwards be retrieved.\n\nAn intellectual and materialistic way of thinking is liable to bring\nabout many mistakes in this direction. A system of education arising\nfrom this way of thinking is easily prejudiced against that which is\nacquired merely by the memory. It will not tire at times of directing\nitself with the greatest ardor against the mere training of the memory,\nand rather makes use of the most ingenious methods that the young\nperson may not mechanically absorb what he does not really understand.\nAn opinion merely intellectual and materialistic is so easily persuaded\nthat there is no means of penetrating into things except by abstract\nideas; it is only with difficulty that thinkers of this kind come to\nthe conclusion that the other subjective powers are at least just as\nnecessary to the comprehension of things, as the intellect itself. It\nis not merely a figure of speech to say that one can understand just as\nwell with the feelings, the emotions, the mind, as with the intellect.\nIdeas are only one of the means by which to understand the things of\nthis world, and only to materialists do they appear the only means.\nThere are, of course, many people who do not imagine that they are\nmaterialists, but who nevertheless consider an intellectual conception\nto be the only means of comprehension. Such men profess perhaps to hold\nan idealistic, perhaps even a spiritual conception of the world and\nlife. But the attitude of their souls toward both is materialistic.\nFor the intellect is, as a matter of fact, the soul\u2019s instrument for\nthe comprehension of material things.\n\nAnd here, concerning the deeper foundations of the understanding, let\nus quote from that excellent educational book, by Jean Paul already\nmentioned\u2014a work containing generally golden ideas concerning education\nand deserving of much more consideration than at present it receives.\nIt is of much more value to the guardian than many of the writings\non these lines that enjoy the highest repute. The passage under\nconsideration runs thus:\n\n\u201cDo not be afraid of unintelligibility, even if it be of whole\nsentences; your look and the manner of your expression, added to the\neager desire to understand, elucidates the one half, and with this,\nand in due time, the other half also. For with children, as with the\nChinese and with men of the world, the manner of pronunciation is half\nthe language. Bear in mind, that they understand their language as well\nas we understand Greek or any other foreign tongue before learning to\nspeak it. Trust to the deciphering of time and to association. A child\nof five years of age understands indeed the words \u201cyet,\u201d \u201ctruly,\u201d \u201con\nthe contrary,\u201d \u201cof course\u201d; but for a definition of them one must go\nnot to the child, but to the father! The little word \u201cbut\u201d reveals a\nsmall philosopher. If the eight-year-old child with his growing power\nof speech is understood by a child of three, why should you then\nconfine your language to his babbling? Always speak several years in\nadvance (for in books genius speaks to us centuries in advance); with\nthe child of a year, speak as if it were two, with the child of two as\nif it were six, for the difference of growth may diminish in inverse\nproportion to the years. Generally speaking, all learning is apt to be\ntoo much ascribed to the credit of the teacher\u2014therefore the teacher\nought to bear in mind that the child possesses half his world, namely,\nthe spiritual (such as his moral and metaphysical ideas), already\ncomplete and taught within himself, and that therefore a language\ncomposed only of concrete images can never impart spiritual ideas,\nbut can only light them up. The joy and assurance used in speaking\nto children ought to be given as if the assurance and joy came from\nthemselves. We can learn speech from them, just as we teach them by\nmeans of speech; by means of bold and yet correct word-painting, such\nas for instance I have heard spoken by children of three and four years\nof age: \u2018leg-fish\u2019 for otter; \u2018pig-iron\u2019 for the fork used in eating\nbacon; \u2018the air-mouse\u2019 (unquestionably superior to our word \u2018bat\u2019) and\nso on.\u201d\n\nIt is true that this passage refers to the understanding (before the\nintellectual comprehension) as exercised in another sphere than that of\nwhich we are now speaking, but for this also, the words of Jean Paul\nhave an important meaning. Just as the child receives into his soul\u2019s\norganism the construction of speech, without making use of the laws\nof grammatical structure with intellectual comprehension, so too,\nfor the cultivation of his memory, the youth ought to learn things\nof which he will not until later acquire an actual understanding.\nThat which has been acquired in this period of life, at first in a\npurely mechanical way, is best put into ideas, afterwards, just as\none learns more easily the rules of a language when one can already\nspeak it. All the talk of work learned by rote and not understood is\nnothing more than a materialistic prejudice. For instance, the youth\nneeds only to acquire by a few examples the most necessary rules of\nmultiplication, for which the fingers are far better suited than an\nabacus, and then to learn fully, by rote, the multiplication table.\nIf one so proceeds, one takes into account the nature of the growing\nchild. But a mistake may be made with regard to this, if, during the\ntime that the memory is forming itself, too much is demanded of the\nintellect. The intellect being a power of the soul, and only born at\nthe time of puberty, ought not to receive an outward influence before\nthis period. Until the time of puberty, the youth should assimilate\ninto the memory treasures over which mankind has meditated; later on\nit is time to permeate with ideas that which has been impressed upon\nhis memory. A man ought therefore not to retain merely what he has\nunderstood, but he ought now to understand the things that he knows;\nthat is to say, the things of which he has already taken possession by\nmeans of the memory, just as the child does, when learning to speak.\nThis applies to a wider sphere. At first, assimilation of historical\nevents by mere rote, then comprehension of the same by means of ideas.\nAt first, a good impression upon the memory of geographical data, then\nan understanding of the relationship of each thing with the rest, etc.\nIn certain respects all comprehension through ideas should be done by\nmeans of the stored treasures of the memory. The more the youth already\nknows through the memory before he comes to comprehension, the better\nit is. It is hardly necessary to explain that all this applies only to\nthe period, of which we are speaking, and not to any later period. If\none learns a subject in later life, either by going over it again, or\nin any other way, the opposite process to that here described might be\ncorrect and desirable, although even then a great deal depends upon the\nparticular spiritual nature of the student. But at the time of life of\nwhich we have already spoken the spirit must not be parched by being\novercrowded with intellectual ideas.\n\nIt is also true that teaching by mere sense-objects, if carried too\nfar, is the result of a materialistic view of life. At this age\nevery idea must be spiritualised. One ought not, for instance, to be\nsatisfied with merely producing a sense-impression of a plant, a grain\nof seed, or a blossom. Everything should seem as an allegory of the\nspiritual. A grain of seed is, in truth, not merely what it appears\nto the eye. Invisibly the whole new plant inhabits it, and that such\na thing is more than what the sense perceives, must be absolutely\nrealised with the perception, the imagination, and the feelings. The\nmysterious presence of latent existence must really be felt. Nor can it\nbe objected that such a proceeding would weaken the perception of pure\nsense; on the contrary, by a persistent adherence to sense perceptions\nalone, Truth itself would be the loser. For the complete reality of a\nthing exists in Spirit and in Matter, and accurate observations can\nbe no less carefully carried out if one brings to the study not only\nthe physical senses, but also the spiritual faculties. If people could\nonly perceive, as the Occultist is able to, how both body and soul\nare spoiled by mere object-teaching, they would not then lay so much\nstress upon it. Of what value is it from the highest point of view,\nif young people are shown all kinds of physical experiments in the\nmineral, vegetable and animal worlds, if with such a study one does\nnot suggest the application of the sense allegory to the feeling of\nspiritual mystery? Certainly a materialistic mind will not be able to\nmake anything of what has here been said, and of that the Occultist is\nonly too conscious. Yet it is also clear to him that a really practical\nmethod of education can never proceed from the materialistic mind. So\npractical does such a mind imagine itself, and yet so unpractical is it\nin reality, when it is a matter of considering life vitally. Opposed to\nthe true reality, materialistic opinions seem only fantastic, while\nto the materialist, the interpretations of occult science must, of\nnecessity, appear equally fantastic. Doubtless, too, there will remain\nmany obstacles which must be overcome before the fundamental teachings\nof occult science, arising from life itself, will permeate the art of\neducation. But that is to be expected, for at present these truths are\nstrange to many; nevertheless, if they be really the truth, they will\nincorporate themselves into all culture.\n\nOnly through the sure conviction that they are the only educational\nmeans by which to work upon young people, can the teacher always find\nthe right way to deal correctly with each individual case. Thus, he\nmust know how the individual powers of the soul \u2014such as thinking,\nfeeling and willing\u2014ought to be treated, and how their development may\nreact upon the etheric body; while this itself, between the period when\nthe second teeth appear and that of puberty, can be perfectly moulded\nby outside influences.\n\nThe foundations for the development of a healthy and powerful will can\nbe laid by the right management, during the first seven years, of those\nfundamental principles of education which have already been considered.\nFor such a will must have for its support the fully developed form of\nthe physical body. From the period of the second teething it begins\nto be a matter of making the etheric body, which is now developing,\nsupply those powers to the physical body by which it can solidify its\nform and make itself firm. That which makes the most vivid impression\nupon the etheric body also reacts most forcibly upon the strengthening\nof the physical. And the strongest impulses are evoked in the etheric\nbody through those perceptions and ideas by which a person feels and\nexperiences his own relation to the everlasting Universe, that is\nto say, through religious experiences. The will, and along with it,\nthe character, of a person will never develop healthily if he cannot\nexperience at this epoch of life, profound religious impulses. The\nresult of the uniform organisation of the will is that the person feels\nhimself to be an organic fragment of the whole world. If the person\ndoes not feel himself to be indissolubly connected with a Supreme\nSpirit, then must the will and character remain unstable, discordant\nand unhealthy.\n\nThe emotional nature is developed in the right direction by means of\nthe allegories and sense-pictures already described, and especially by\nall which, whether from history or from other sources, presents to us\nthe figures of persons with character. An absorption in the mysteries\nand beauties of Nature is also of importance in the upbuilding of the\nemotional world. And here it is particularly well to consider the\nculture of the sense of beauty, and the awakening of the feeling for\nwhat is artistic. Music should supply that rhythm to the etheric body\nwhich then enables it to perceive in everything the rhythm otherwise\nconcealed. A young person will be deprived of much in all his after\nlife, who does not receive at this period the benefit of cultivating\nthe musical sense. To him in whom this sense is altogether lacking,\na certain aspect of the Universe must remain hidden. Nor should,\nhowever, the other arts be, by any means neglected. The awakening of\nthe sense for architectural form, as also for plastic shape, for line,\ndesign and harmony of color\u2014not one of these ought to be omitted in\nthe plan of education. So simply, perhaps, might all this be done,\nunder special circumstances, that the objection that circumstances\nallow of no development at all in this direction can never be valid.\nOne can do much with the simplest means, if the right sense in this\ndirection prevails in the teacher himself. The joy of life, the love\nfor existence, the strength to work\u2014all these arise for the whole\nbeing, out of the cultivation of the sense of beauty and art. And the\nrelations of man to man\u2014how ennobled and how beautiful will they become\nthrough this sense! The moral sense, which will, at this period, be\ndeveloped by pictures of life and by standard authorities, will also\ngain a certain stability if, through the sense of beauty, the good is\nrecognized as beautiful and the bad as ugly.\n\nThought in its own shape, as an inner life of distilled ideas, must,\nat the period in question, be kept in the background. It must develop\nspontaneously, as it were, uninfluenced from without, while the soul\nis nourished by means of similes and pictures representing life and\nthe mysteries of nature. Thus, in the midst of the other experiences\nof the soul between the seventh year and the time of puberty, thought\nmust grow and the faculty for judgment be matured, so that after a\nsuccessful puberty the person becomes capable of forming his own\nopinions concerning the matters of life and knowledge, with complete\nindependence. Indeed, the less one works directly upon the critical\nfaculty, and the more one works indirectly through the development\nof the other spiritual powers, the better will it be for the whole\nafter-life of the person concerned.\n\nOccult science lays down the principles, not only for the spiritual\nside of education, but also for the purely physical. Thus, to give\na characteristic example, let us consider gymnastics and children\u2019s\ngames. Just as love and joy must permeate the environment during the\nfirst years of childhood, so too the growing etheric body must be\ntaught really to experience from bodily exercise a feeling of its own\nexpansion, of its ever increasing strength. For instance gymnastic\nexercises ought to be so carried out that with every movement, with\nevery step, the feeling rises in the inner self of the boy or girl:\n\u201cI feel increasing power within me.\u201d And this feeling should manifest\nitself within as a healthy delight, as a sensation of pleasure. For\nthe devising of gymnastic exercises, in this sense, it is of course\nnecessary to possess more than a merely intellectual knowledge of\nthe human body, anatomically and physiologically. It is necessary to\npossess a close intuitive and sympathetic knowledge of the relation\nof joy and comfort to the postures and movements of the human body.\nThe formulator of such exercises ought himself to experience how\none movement or posture of the limbs will produce a pleasant and\ncomfortable sensation, but another a loss of strength, and so forth. A\nbelief that gymnastics and bodily exercises can be cultivated in this\ndirection is one that can only be supplied to the educator by occult\nscience, or, above all, by a mind sympathetic to such thought. One\ndoes not even require the power of vision in the spiritual worlds,\nbut only the inclination to apply to life what has been given out by\noccultism. If, especially in such practical departments as this of\neducation, occult knowledge were applied, then all the useless talk of\nhow this knowledge has yet to be proved would straightway cease. For\nto him who should rightly apply it, this knowledge would itself be a\nproof through the whole of life by making him healthy and strong. By\nsuch means he would perceive, through and through, that it is true in\nactual practice, and this he would find a better proof than any manner\nof \u201clogical\u201d and so-called \u201cscientific\u201d reasons. One can best know\nspiritual truths by their fruits, and not through a pretended proof,\nhowever scientific, for such could hardly be anything more than a\nlogical skirmishing.\n\nAt puberty the astral body is first born. With the free outward\ndevelopment which follows, all that which is unfolded by the world\nof externalised perceptions, by one\u2019s judgment and the unfettered\nunderstanding, will first rush inward upon the soul. It has already\nbeen mentioned that these faculties of the soul, hitherto uninfluenced\nfrom within, ought to be developed by the right management of\neducational means, just as unconsciously as the eyes and ears evolve\nthemselves in the womb. But with puberty the time has arrived when the\nperson is ready to form his own judgment concerning the things which\nhe has hitherto learned. No greater injury can be inflicted on any one\nthan by too soon awakening within him his own judgment. One should\nonly judge when one has already stored up the necessary qualifications\nfor judging and comparing. If, before this, one creates one\u2019s own\nindependent opinions, then these will have no sure foundations. All\none-sidedness in life, all dreary \u201cconfessions of faith\u201d which are\nbased upon a few mere scraps of knowledge, and the desire to judge from\nthese human conceptions that have been approved through long ages of\ntime, rest upon just such mistakes in education. Before qualified to\nthink, one must place before oneself, as a warning, what others have\nthought. There is no sound thinking which has not been preceded by a\nsound perception of the truth supported by obvious authority. If one\nwishes to follow out these principles of education, one must not allow\npeople, at too early an age, to fancy themselves able to judge, for in\navoiding this, one will leave them the possibility of allowing life\nto work upon them from every side, and without prejudice. For by one\nsuch judgment, which is not founded on the precious basis of spiritual\ntreasures, he who makes it will have placed a stumbling-block in the\npath of his life. For if one has pronounced a judgment on any subject,\none will always be influenced by having done so; one will no longer\nregard an experience as one might have regarded it, if one had not\nerected an opinion which is henceforth intertwined with the subject\nin question. In young people the disposition to learn first and then\nto judge, should be present. That which the intellect has to say of\na certain subject ought only to be said when all the other powers of\nsoul have spoken; before that the intellect ought only to play the\npart of mediator. It should only serve to lay hold of what is seen and\nfelt, to apprehend it as it there exists, without allowing the unripe\njudgment to take possession of the matter. Therefore the youth ought\nto be shielded from all the theories concerning a thing, before the\nabove-mentioned age, and it should be especially emphasized that he\nshould face the experiences of life in order to admit them into his\nsoul. A growing individual can certainly be made acquainted with what\npeople have thought concerning this or that, but one should avoid\nletting him form opinions which arise from a premature judgment. He\nshould receive opinions with the feelings, without deciding at once for\none view or the other, not attaching himself to a party, but thinking,\nas he listens: \u201cOne has said this, and the other that.\u201d Before all\nthings a large measure of tact is necessary in the cultivation of\nthis sense by teachers and guardians, but occult knowledge is exactly\ncalculated to supply such tact.\n\nIt has only been possible to develop here a few aspects of education\nin the light of Occultism, but it has only been intended to give a\nhint as to what problems of civilisation this philosophy will have to\nsolve. Whether it can do so depends on whether the inclination for such\na way of thinking henceforth broadens out in ever widening circles.\nIn order that this may take place, two things are necessary: first,\nthat people should abandon their prejudice against Occultism. He who\nwill truly associate himself with it, will soon see that it is not\nthe fantastical trash which so many today imagine it to be. This is\nnot intended as a reproach to such people, for everything which our\ntime offers as a means of education must, at first, engender the view\nthat occultists are fantastics and dreamers. On the surface any other\nview is hardly possible, for there appears to be the most complete\ndiversity between what is known as Occult Science or Theosophy, and all\nthat the culture of the present day suggests as the principles for a\nhealthy view of life. Only a deeper consideration reveals to us how\nentirely in opposition the views of the present must remain without\nthese principles of occult science\u2014how, indeed, they themselves call\nout these very principles and in the long run cannot remain without\nthem. The second thing that is necessary is connected with the sound\ndevelopment of Theosophy itself. Life will only welcome Theosophy, if\nin theosophical circles the knowledge is made to permeate everywhere\nthat it is important to make these teachings bear fruit in the widest\nmanner for all conditions of life, and not merely to theorize about\nthem. Otherwise people will continue to look upon Theosophy as a kind\nof religious sectarianism, only fit for some fanatical enthusiasts. But\nif it performs positive useful spiritual work, then the theosophical\nmovement cannot, in the long run, be refused an intelligent hearing.\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n[1] \u201c_The Way of Initiation_,\u201d or How to Attain Knowledge of the Higher\nWorlds,\u201c by Rudolph Steiner, Ph.D., with a Foreword by Annie Besant,\nand some biographical Notes of the author by Edouard Schur\u00e9. Second\nedition, 237 pages, cloth, crown 8vo, 3/10 post free.\n\n\u201c_Initiation and its Results._\u201d A sequel to \u201cThe Way of Initiation.\u201d\nSecond edition. 3/9 post free. To be obtained from the Theosophical\nPublishing Society, 161 New Bond Street, London, W.\n\n\n[2] This distinction is important, for the ideas of the present time\nwith regard to this subject are rather inaccurate. The difference\nbetween the vegetable and the creature gifted with the power of\nsensation is completely lost sight of, because the essential\ncharacteristic of sensibility is not clearly defined. When a being (or\nan object) responds to an exterior impression by showing any effect\nwhatever, it is inaccurate to conclude that this impression has been\nfelt. To bear out this conclusion the impression must be experienced\ninwardly, that is to say, the outside stimulus must produce a kind\nof interior reflection. The great progress of natural science, which\na true Theosophist must sincerely admire, has thrown our abstract\nvocabulary into confusion. Some of our biologists are ignorant of the\ncharacteristics of sensibility, and thus accredit it to beings who are\ndevoid of it. Sensibility such as is comprehended by those biologists,\ncan, it is true, be attributed to organisms deprived of it. But what is\nunderstood by Theosophy as sensibility is a totally different quality.\n\n[3] A distinction must be made between the conscious inner life of the\nastral body and the perception of this life by outward clairvoyant\nobservation. Here this latter perception by a trained clairvoyant is\nintended.\n\n\n[4] The reader need not object to the technical term \u201cBody of the\nego,\u201d because there is nothing of gross physical matter meant by it,\nbut occult science being forced to employ the vocabulary of ordinary\nlanguage, the words applied to Theosophy ought from the outset to be\ntaken in a spiritual sense.\n\n\n[5] The terms \u201cSpirit-Self\u201d, \u201cLife-Spirit\u201d and \u201cSpirit-Man\u201d need not\nmystify the reader; they stand for those transmutations of our grosser\nbodies which are the results of conscious effort and pure aspirations;\nthey form, in other words, the Higher Trinity, called in Eastern\nterminology: Manas, Buddhi and Atma, respectively. (Trans.)\n\n[6] Were these affirmations to be wrongly interpreted, the objection\nmight be raised that a child before cutting his second teeth is not\ndeprived of memory, and that before reaching the age of puberty, he\npossesses the inherent faculties of the astral body. It must not be\nforgotten that the etheric and astral bodies are in existence from the\nmoment of physical birth, although surrounded by the protecting shell\ndescribed. It is precisely this envelope, protecting the etheric body,\nwhich permits of a remarkably good memory before the cutting of the\nsecond teeth. The existence of physical eyes in the embryonic being,\nconcealed in the womb of the mother, is analogous. And in the same way\nthat the physical eyes sheltered from all external influence do not\nowe their development to the physical sunlight, so also education from\nwithout should not intervene before the cutting of the second teeth in\nthe training of the memory. Very much to the contrary, the spontaneous\ngrowth of the memory will be noticeable, provided there is food for it\nwithin reach, and no attempt be made to train it by means of exterior\nmethods.\n\nThis observation applies equally to the qualities belonging to the\nastral body before puberty. Provision should be made for their\ntraining, but bearing in mind that this body is still encompassed by a\nprotecting shell. It is something wholly different to take care of the\ngerms which are in process of development within the astral body before\npuberty and to expose the freed astral body _after_ puberty to what\nit can assimilate in the outer world, _without_ the protecting shell.\nThis distinction is certainly very subtle, but without its careful\nconsideration the whole significance of education cannot be understood.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other\nspelling and punctuation remains unchanged.\n\nThe half title immediately before the title page has been removed.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_.","title":"The Education of Children from the Standpoint of Theosophy","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":13196}