Steiner, Rudolf *

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was a follower of Madame Blavatsky and rose to become head of the German Theosophists. However, in 1913, he developed his own brand of Theosophy, which he called Anthroposophy. This movement was based on the idea that the human intellect has the ability to contact spirit worlds. He designed and built a temple, the Goetheanum, for his burgeoning movement. The Goetheanum was burned down by people assumed to have been Nazis.

Steiner, who was born in Austria, was a keen supporter of the pan-German cause and consorted with known racists, although he was not overtly racist himself. However, Waldorf schools initially founded by Steiner in the 1920’s are still operating today in the United States and Europe and are still dogged by accusations of racism^(b). A colouring book designed for young Waldorf pupils, based on Steiner’s writings, can be viewed online^(a). It includes Atlantean flying machines and power sources. His strange cosmology included a flat Earth and his medical advice was equally weird^(d).

Steiner, with the aid of ‘spirit guides’, has offered some bizarre descriptions of Atlantis, which he claimed gradually sank in the western Atlantic around 10,000 BC, citing Scott-Elliot as a source. Steiner clearly identified the eastern portions of both the Americas as formerly Atlantean territory and in a lecture advised that “If one wished to find remnants of Atlantis, one could dig down beneath Montreal, Tennessee, or Brazil instead of the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.” ^(e)

A selection of excerpts from Steiner’s publications has been republished by Atlantisforschung that reveals the extent to which he was divorced from reality^(f).

A large amount of Steiner’s work is now available in pdf format^(c).

^(a) https://www.openwaldorf.com/atlantis.pdf (offline Feb.2018)

^(b) https://iamjunius.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/origin-of-the-specious-race-lies-and-stereotypes-in-rudolf-steiner%E2%80%99s-anthroposophy/

^(c) https://www.rsarchive.org/Books/

^(d) https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/steiners-blunders

^(e) Atlantis by Rudolf Steiner, A Spiritual Science ARJ2 Review by Bobby Matherne (archive.org) *

^(f) Atlantis – after Rudolf Steiner – Atlantisforschung.de