[Magdalen] Greetings and question about the Photian Heresy

[Jay Weigel]

Hi Brad, good to see you in the pub again and please have the barkeep pour
you the beverage of your choice, whatever that may be, No Waldorf schools
here in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where I am now
resident. I believe the most radical approach to education may be taken by
the (modern) Mennonites at the Eastern Mennonite schools in Harrisonburg,
near where we live. My three grandsons, however, are dealing with the
public education system in east Tennessee, which is a different ballgame
altogether. Grandson #1 attended the local Episcopal day school, which is
preschool-grade 8, and now is in his second year of public high school
where he seems to be doing all right, although not outstandingly. Grandson
#2 is flourishing in the public schools and was just selected by Duke
University in their 7th grade academic talent search--not a nerd, but a
well-rpounded kid who also plays basketball and is respected by his peers.
Grandson #3 is an endearing and quirky kid who is doing well enough in
public school but would probably flourish in an alternative environment;
he's just got that wild kind of mind that his teachers don't quite know
what to do with.

On Sun, Sep 20, 2015 at 6:03 PM, Jon Egger <revegger at gmail.com> wrote:

> GTSYH Brad!  I've often wondered if your photos in Instagram were a peek
> into Waldorf education.  I've encouraged my daughter and SiL to look into
> the KC Waldorf School.  They have no children yet, and as of now they want
> them to go to Saint Paul's Episcopal Day School in midtown KC.
> Grace and peace,
> brud
>
>
> On Sun, Sep 20, 2015 at 4:51 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > It's all about who writes the prevailing history books isn't it?
> > Lynn
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On Sep 20, 2015, at 4:38 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Brad
> >
> > Lovely to hear your "voice" again and that you are happy.
> >
> > Waldorf education is popular in South Africa albeit with small groups of
> > people - we had two Waldorf schools in the Cape Town area that I knew of.
> > The one was quite familiar to me as we used to go there on Saturdays for
> an
> > organic market. They tried to keep the fees affordable but as a result
> the
> > building was kind of collapsing...
> >
> > The school went to the max in terms of encouraging children's
> > imaginations...sometimes I wondered if this were entirely a good thing as
> > they could present as very spaced out at times - but in any case,
> > preferable to the traumatised children who too often emerged from the
> > public schooling system.
> >
> > As for the Dark Ages, I'm with you in believing that they definitely did
> > not exist. As far as I can tell, the era of the 9th Century, far from
> being
> > a time when things fell apart, marked the Golden Age of the Muslim
> > civilisation, and a degree of recovery for the Byzantines. There's also
> > some controversy about the so-called "Carolingian Renaissance" but that
> > seemed to mark a period between the early and late Middle Ages in which
> > there was more writing and cultural development.
> >
> > It seems that the notion of a Dark Age is a prejudiced characterisation
> > from people who idealised the bloodthirsty Roman Empire (such as
> Petrarch),
> > or Protestants who wanted to characterise these years as years of
> gathering
> > Catholic corruption and spiritual decay.
> >
> > Steiner seems, somehow, to have picked up on this idea and made his own
> > narrative out of it - but there's nothing Dark there except our own
> > ignorance of that time, in which many very good things began, such as
> > charities and public hospitals.
> >
> > The guy who taught my boys Art was very influenced by Steiner's ideas, he
> > was a fine teacher of both children and adults. I can recall having some
> > interesting conversations with him about the influence of colour and
> other
> > sensory factors on learning process.
> >
> > Montessori schools are also very popular here - they encourage
> exploration
> > and experimentation rather than freely ranging imagination but have a
> > philosophy of the child as a natural learner that is not dissimilar to
> > Waldorf.
> >
> > I am currently studying neuropsychology and have been reading some
> > interesting things about "dynamic core" theory - the underpinning of
> > consciousness, which seems to shed some light on problems such as
> > hyperactivity and various forms of sensitive temperament in children. The
> > key brain structure is the thalamus.
> >
> > In Renaissance and early Modern times people were forever cutting up
> brains
> > in the hope of finding "the seat of the soul". As it happens, there is a
> > sort of bony seat in there, the Pituitary Gland rests in it.
> >
> > Sally D
> >
> > > On Sunday, September 20, 2015, brad daly <bwdaly at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Greetings old friends of the Magdalen list,
> > >
> > > I hope this message finds you all well.
> > >
> > > I popped in today because I was hoping one of the scholarly denizens of
> > the
> > > pub might be able to help elucidate the Photian Schism for me a little
> > bit.
> > >
> > > First, some background: I'm now in my sixth year of teaching at the
> > Alabama
> > > Waldorf School. Without going into a lot of background on Waldorf
> > > education, I'll just say it's an alternative educational philosophy
> that
> > > conceives of and runs a school differently than mainstream education.
> It
> > > was founded by the Austrian mystic Rudolf Steiner and based upon his
> > > syncretic religion/philosophy of anthroposophy, though anthroposophy
> > never
> > > explicitly appears in the curriculum. (That is, we don't teach
> > > Anthroposophy to the children the ways in which a Roman Catholic
> school,
> > > for example, would teach Christianity.) If you want to read more, the
> > > Wikipedia entry on Waldorf education is quite thorough and balanced.
> > >
> > > I'm generally pretty skeptical of anthroposophy, but I do love the
> school
> > > and the way it is run. I wish I'd been a Waldorf student when I was a
> > kid.
> > >
> > > In an effort to be a good sport and a genuine desire for of
> > anthroposophy,
> > > I've started attending a community anthroposophy class that the school
> is
> > > offering for parents/teachers/etc who don't have formal Waldorf
> training.
> > >
> > > Something that has come up is that Rudolf Steiner, founder of
> > anthroposophy
> > > and Waldorf education, sees something about the Eighth Ecumenical
> Council
> > > (Constantinople, 869 CE) as a cataclysmic turning point in human
> history,
> > > specifically the 11th Canon of the council. Here's the text of the 11th
> > > Canon from the Fordham University website:
> > >
> > > *CANON 11*
> > >
> > > *Summary: The Old and New Testaments teach that man has but one
> rational
> > > and intellectual soul.*
> > >
> > > *Text. While the Old and New Testaments teach that man has one rational
> > and
> > > intellectual soul, and this is the teaching also of all the fathers and
> > > doctors of the Church, some persons, nevertheless, blasphemously
> maintain
> > > that he has two souls. This holy and general council, therefore,
> > > anathematizes the authors and adherents of that false teaching. Anyone
> > > presuming to act contrary to the decision of this great council, shall
> be
> > > anathematized and cut off from the faith and society of Christians.*
> > > From what I can gather, Steiner believed that humans had both a
> "spirit"
> > > and a "soul," and that the council's anathematization of this idea
> > "severed
> > > a tether to heaven," in the words of one of my colleagues, leading to
> the
> > > so-called "Dark Ages," from which humanity only began to emerge in the
> > > Renaissance.
> > >
> > > Now, I was educated in the tradition that rejects the idea of the Dark
> > > Ages, but I think the idea was very current in the historiography of
> > > Steiner's era. I've not yet even brought up the idea that there were no
> > > Dark Ages to the class because I wanted to do some more research on the
> > > Photian Schism and the theological implications behind it.
> > >
> > > I will say, from my readings, that the schism sounds more political
> than
> > > theological, and that the doctrine of a soul-spirit dichotomy seems
> like
> > a
> > > very minor issue within the field of church history. The most recent
> book
> > > on the schism itself appears to be Dvornak's from 1948.
> > >
> > > The impression anthroposophists seem to have is that the dual soul
> > doctrine
> > > was popular and somehow metaphysically true prior to the schism, and
> that
> > > the councils decision was a major turning point for humanity. I'm
> > thinking
> > > that only anthroposophists seem to understand the story this way,
> perhaps
> > > because the only version of the story they've ever heard in Steiner's.
> > >
> > > So, old friends, does anyone here have any wisdom you'd like to share
> on
> > > the Photian Schism, the dual-soul doctrine, or Waldorf Education,
> either
> > > from personal experience or from reading and studying?
> > >
> > > --Brad
> > >
> > > --
> > > brad daly
> > > http://www.bradbrad.com
> > > http://www.flickr.com/bradbrad
> > >
> >
>