Download the article: Class 12 and the Constellations of the Zodiac
by Norman Davidson
Originally published in Child and Man, Vol. 23, No.2, 1989 (UK)

The illustration in figure I * shows the position of the planet Jupiter at its brightest in 1989 (end of December) among the stars of Gemini , the Twins. When pupils now in Class 12 in Waldorf schools entered Class I , Jupiter was almost in the same position, and in the intervening years moved one complete circuit of the zodiac.

When the pupils were in Class 6, Jupiter had moved only half-way round the zodiac and stood among the stars of Saggitarius. Then, they were about to have an introductory lesson in observational astronomy, making them familiar with the zodiacal constellations, among others, and with the basic laws of the turning sky.

In Class 12, when Jupiter has stepped through the entire zodiac and returned to its position at the feet of the Twins, the pupils are ready for another major study of astronomy, apart from any supportive studies of the subject in the years between.

For Class 12, Jupiter and the zodiac parallel the progress of the pupil through the school years. The zodiac itself stands as a complete circle in space and time, imaging the totality which the final-year student is brought, by the Waldorf curriculum, to experience in every subject, and to experience in the sum of all the subjects put together.

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Download the article: Class 7 Nutrition

The Clashing Rocks were an early hazard in Jason's journey, and in presenting aspects of Physiology to Class VII it is all too easy, even for the teacher whose own education has not itself already been formed in the materialistic tradition, to be trapped in matter. The 'Particular thing' can halt the proper description of the living process of which it is only a part, and the movement of the spirit somehow quickly crystallizes in mechanical technique. Main-lesson books are at risk of becoming records of frozen events, and, for once, beautiful illustration serves less the desired mood than the glorification of intellectual knowledge.

Download the article: Climate Crisis and Waldorf Education
by Benjamin Cherry

This article was originally published in the JOURNAL for Waldorf/R. Steiner Education Vol. 11.1, May 2009

From the pictures given by Rudolf Steiner in Occult Science, enlivened and deepened in the lessons of the School of Spiritual Science, our concepts gradually expand of what a human being is and how we are connected on all levels of existence with the world around us. Our relationship with the animals changes, with the plants and all that the earth holds and represents. Sun, moon and planets, even the stars themselves, become part of what, as a human being, I conceive myself to be.

In Rudolf Steiner's Karmic Relationships lectures of 1924 we are given one example after another of the working of karma in human evolution and history. Time and space disappear in the unfolding growth and drama of the soul's journey. Not only are we shown how the thoughts, feelings and actions of one life become transformed in a subsequent one; even volcanoes reveal themselves as effects of human activity in the past.1 What is within inexorably reveals itself without and what is without continuously becomes the teacher of what is within.

Download the article: Compost, Soil, Chemistry and Wholeness

by William Brinton
Originally published in Biodynamics, #220, 1998 -
This article delves into biodynamic farming and the different kind of thinking and seeing needed to understand it.

Elements. Nutrients and Healthy Farms
It is the dilemma of a modern analyst to be stretched between "parts" and "whole": between the mere "data" of a soil or compost test and the "meaningful" interpretation in view of the whole field or farm. Where do the data and parts stop being separate and become whole and relevant? Can we reach the whole farm by way of the isolated chemistry parts?

The word "analysis" comes from the Greek ana ="from above" and lyse= lysis "to separate". The analyst separates and distinguishes what was once whole. The data or parts of the laboratory chemist appear irrelevant to the untrained eye such that there is essentially no relation to any whole. Without knowing the context it would be very hard to take the data and say "oh - that's a soil", let alone say "oh, healthy soil!". Even if we can go the further distance, having experience, it is still possible that a lab report may suggest that a soil is infertile yet the grower feels good about it. Similarly, we can construct the forage ration analysis which indicates excellent feed, but the animals don't seem well.
Something is missing.

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