Anthroposophy and Ecofascism 118
Continuing my commentary on the 36th paragraph of Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and Ecofascism.
In addition, Rudolf Steiner has identified two further milestones in the development of children between the ages of 7 and 14, that is, between the 1 st and 8 th grade.* The first occurs around age 9 years four months, and the second around age 11 years eight months. Now it should be noted that these divisions, especially in such precision, are archetypal, that is they will almost never correspond exactly with any one particular child. In the particular child the markers of the starting and ending of the whole period in question is the age between first dentition and puberty, the actual age being of secondary importance. The first milestone comes at the end of the first third of this period, and is referred to in Waldorf circles as “the nine year change.” Prior to the nine-year change, the child lives in a consciousness that encompasses the entire immediate environment, and does not distinguish between inner and outer, between self and other. After the nine-year change, the child experiences strongly the separation of self from world. The transition is not immediate or quick, it starts even years earlier, with occasional moments of awakening, which often remain as significant memories in the child's later life, and these moments then become more frequent. After the nine year change (whether it occurs at nine years four months or much earlier or later) the process is complete, so that the separateness is now the normal state of consciousness, and the united consciousness is experienced as lost.
In addition, Rudolf Steiner has identified two further milestones in the development of children between the ages of 7 and 14, that is, between the 1 st and 8 th grade.* The first occurs around age 9 years four months, and the second around age 11 years eight months. Now it should be noted that these divisions, especially in such precision, are archetypal, that is they will almost never correspond exactly with any one particular child. In the particular child the markers of the starting and ending of the whole period in question is the age between first dentition and puberty, the actual age being of secondary importance. The first milestone comes at the end of the first third of this period, and is referred to in Waldorf circles as “the nine year change.” Prior to the nine-year change, the child lives in a consciousness that encompasses the entire immediate environment, and does not distinguish between inner and outer, between self and other. After the nine-year change, the child experiences strongly the separation of self from world. The transition is not immediate or quick, it starts even years earlier, with occasional moments of awakening, which often remain as significant memories in the child's later life, and these moments then become more frequent. After the nine year change (whether it occurs at nine years four months or much earlier or later) the process is complete, so that the separateness is now the normal state of consciousness, and the united consciousness is experienced as lost.
* See among others, Rudolf Steiner, The Roots of Education. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1997. Page 69
posted by Daniel | 5:00 PM
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