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Healing
the Earth: The Work of Rudolf Steiner in the Region
by Bryan Wessling, Ed.D
In the wake of the devastation of World War I, Rudolf
Steiner envisioned a new kind of school would educate
human beings able to create a just and peaceful society.
Although curriculum guidelines were given by Steiner,
individual teachers were given wide berth in choosing
how to bring the curriculum to the children in a living,
fresh way, taking into account the needs of that particular
group of children. Really learning able to recognize each
child’s individuality is at the core of what Waldorf
a Waldorf teacher devotes him or herself to when this
path of teaching is taken seriously. Shining Rivers Waldorf
School in Webster Groves offers the quality of education
that this approach can bring. It should come as no surprise
that Steiner’s holistic view caused him to also
speak and write on topics related to the environment and
medicine (among others).
Protecting and Restoring the Environment with
Biodynamic Agriculture
The first organized movement towards developing sustainable
agriculture was biodynamic agriculture, which developed
from indications given by Rudolf Steiner in the early
1900’s. With uncanny clarity, Steiner predicted
the possible damage to the environment which would follow
if destructive farming methods were allowed to continue
unchecked. Those results are seen today in many ways.
One of these is the alarming loss of pollinating insects.
Last April, there was a U.S. Senate hearing on the problem
of “colony collapse” of honeybees. In July,
Gunther Hauk, a widely-respected bee specialist, who has
spent more than 25 years working with Steiner’s
recommendations regarding honeybees and agriculture, helped
found the Spikenard Farm and Apiary in Carrolton, Illinois.
Anthroposophic Medicine
Anthroposophic Medicine is a holistic and human-centered
approach to medicine. It recognizes and uses the vast
information acquired by modern medicine in the fields
of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and diagnosis, then
add a knowledge of the laws of the living organism, of
the psyche, and the spirit. This requires - besides an
ongoing professional, personal, and moral development
- the active inner participation in spiritual scientific
studies outlined by Rudolf Steiner. The result is an integrated
image of the whole human being in illness and in health.
This makes it possible to have a holistic but also rational
approach to physiology, pathology and therapy. Since 1985,
Anthroposophical medicine has been available to St. Louisans
through Webster Family Physicians in Webster Groves.
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