NormalizeHEADmain

1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1684 deletions

diff --git a/old/55586-0.txt b/old/55586-0.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index cfb051f..0000000
--- a/old/55586-0.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,1684 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Education of Children, by Rudolf Steiner
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Education of Children
-       From the standpoint of theosophy
-
-Author: Rudolf Steiner
-
-Release Date: September 20, 2017 [EBook #55586]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Chris Curnow, Les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                             THE EDUCATION
-                              OF CHILDREN
-
-                          FROM THE STANDPOINT
-                             OF THEOSOPHY
-
-                                  BY
-                            RUDOLF STEINER
-                            PH. D. (VIENNA)
-
-                        AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION
-                    FROM THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION
-
-                              [Colophon]
-
-                           AMERICAN EDITION
-
-                          _THE RAJPUT PRESS._
-
-                          [Further colophon]
-
-                              _CHICAGO._
-
-                                 1911
-
-
-
-
-              COPYRIGHT 1911, BY WELLER VAN HOOK, IN THE
-                       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
-
- IN VIEW OF THE MANY UNAUTHORIZED TRANSLATIONS OF DR. RUDOLF STEINER’S
- WORKS, THE PUBLISHER BEGS TO GIVE NOTICE THAT ALL AUTHORISED EDITIONS,
- ISSUED UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF MR. MAX GYSI, BEAR THE SYMBOL OVERLEAF
- (CROSS IN PENTAGRAM).
-
-                           MAX GYSI, Editor,
-                         “Adyar,” Park Drive,
-                       Hampstead, London, N. W.
-
-
-
-
-                       THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
-
-                   FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THEOSOPHY
-
-                         (TRANSLATED BY W. B.)
-
-
-Present day life calls into question many things which man has
-inherited from his ancestors hence the numberless questions of the day,
-as for example: the Social Problem, the Woman’s Movement, Education and
-School Questions, Law Reform, Hygiene, Sanitation, and so forth. We try
-to grapple with these questions in manifold ways. The number of those
-who bring forward this or that remedy in order to solve this or that
-question, or at least to contribute something towards its solution, is
-immeasurably great, and every possible shade of opinion is manifested
-in these endeavors; radicalism, carrying itself with a revolutionary
-air; the moderate view, full of respect for existing things and
-desirous of fashioning out of them something new; or conservatism, up
-in arms, whenever old institutions and traditions are tampered with;
-and besides these main attitudes, there are all sorts of intermediary
-points of view.
-
-He who is able to probe deeply into life cannot help feeling one thing
-with regard to these phenomena—that the claims which are placed before
-men in our time are met repeatedly by inadequate means. Many would like
-to re-form life, without really knowing it from its foundations. He
-who would put forth a proposition as to life in the future, must not
-content himself with merely learning to know life superficially. He
-must probe it to its depths.
-
-Life is like a plant that contains not only that which is visible
-to the eye, but also a future condition concealed within its secret
-depths. He who has before him a plant that is just in leaf, is
-well aware that later on blossoms and fruit will be added to the
-leaf-bearing stem. The germs of these blossoms and fruit are already
-concealed within the plant. But it is impossible for one who merely
-regards it in its present condition to say how these organs will
-ultimately appear. Only he who is acquainted with the nature of the
-plant can do so.
-
-Human life also contains within itself the germs for its future.
-But to be able to say anything about this future one must penetrate
-into the hidden nature of man, and this, the present age, has no real
-inclination to do. It busies itself with the surface and thinks itself
-treading on unsafe ground should it advance into that which is hidden
-from external observation. With the plant it is true the matter is
-considerably simpler. We know that its like has often and often brought
-forth flowers and fruit. Human life exists but once and the flowers
-which it is to bring forth in the future were not previously there.
-None the less they exist in human life in embryo, just as much as the
-flowers of the plant which at present is only just bearing leaves.
-
-And it is possible to say something about this future, when one
-penetrates beneath the surface, into the heart of human nature. The
-different reformatory ideas of the present can only become really
-fruitful and practical, when they are the result of this deep research
-into human life.
-
-Theosophy is suited by its very nature to present a practical
-philosophy, comprehending the whole sphere of human life. Whether or
-not Theosophy, or that which in our time so often passes for it, is
-justified in putting forth such a claim, is not the point. The point
-concerns rather the nature of Theosophy and what, by means of this
-nature, it is able to accomplish. It ought not to be a colorless theory
-to satisfy the mere curiosity of knowledge, nor yet a medium for those
-men who, out of selfishness, would like to win for themselves a higher
-grade of evolution. It can contribute something to the most important
-problems of present day Humanity, in the development of its well-being.
-
-Of course if it acknowledges a mission of this kind it must expect to
-meet with all manner of opposition and doubt. Radicals, Moderates and
-Conservatives of all departments in life will surely raise such doubts
-against it. For at first it will be unable to please any one party,
-because its doctrines reach far beyond all party motives.
-
-And these doctrines have their roots wholly and solely in the true
-understanding of life. Only he who understands life will be able to
-take his lessons from life itself. He will draw up no capricious
-schemes, for he knows that no other fundamental laws of life will
-prevail in the future than such as prevail in the present. Theosophy
-will therefore of necessity have respect for the existing state of
-things. Even, should it still find in what is existent, very much that
-might be improved, yet it will not fail to perceive in the present
-the germs of the future. But it knows, too, that for all things
-nascent there is a growth and a development. Therefore the germs for
-a transformation and for a future growth will appear to Theosophy in
-the existing state of things. It invents no schemes, it only calls
-them forth from what already exists. But that which is so called forth
-becomes in a certain sense itself a scheme, for it contains within
-itself the nature of evolution.
-
-For this very reason the theosophical way of delving into the nature of
-man must yield the most fruitful and practical means for the solution
-of the vitally important questions of the present time.
-
-It is my purpose to apply this to one such question, namely that of
-education. We do not intend to advance any claims or pronounce a
-learned dissertation, but to portray simply the child nature. From a
-study of the nature of the growing man, the educational standpoint here
-suggested will develop quite naturally. But to proceed rightly with
-such a study it is necessary to contemplate the hidden nature of man in
-general.
-
-That which is cognised by the physical perception, that which the
-materialistic view of life considers to be the only important element
-in the nature of man, namely, his physical body, forms, according to
-spiritual research, only a part, a principle of human nature. This
-physical body is subject to the same laws of physical life, is composed
-of the same matter and forces, as all the rest of the so-called
-lifeless world. Theosophy, therefore, maintains that man possesses this
-physical aspect in common with the whole of the mineral kingdom. And it
-considers as physical body that part only in man which is able to mix,
-unite, to build up and to dissolve the very same materials, and after
-identical laws, as are also at work in the mineral world.
-
-Now besides this physical body, Theosophy recognizes a second element
-in the constitution of man—namely a vital or etheric body. And that
-there may be no cause for the physicist to reject the term etheric body
-we would point out that etheric is here used in a different sense from
-the hypothetical ether of physics, and it must be taken to mean here
-that which is about to be described.
-
-It has been considered for some time past a most unscientific
-proceeding to speak of an “etheric body” of this kind. At the end of
-the eighteenth and in the first half of the nineteenth century, it
-is true, it was not considered “unscientific.” It was then said that
-matter and force operating in a mineral could not of their own power
-form themselves into a living being. For this there must be an especial
-indwelling “force,” which was termed “vital force.” It was represented
-indeed that such a force operates in plants, in animals, and in human
-bodies, and produces the phenomena of life just as magnetic force in
-the magnet causes attraction. In the succeeding period of materialism
-this theory had been abandoned. It was then said that a living being
-builds itself up in the same way as a so-called lifeless being; no
-other forces prevail in an organism than those which are in the
-mineral—they only operate in a more complicated manner; they build up
-a more complex structure. At the present time, only the most obstinate
-materialists cling to this denial of the “vital force.” A number of
-natural philosophers have taught that one must nevertheless admit some
-such thing as a vital force of a life-principle.
-
-Thus the new science approaches in a certain sense the teaching
-of Theosophy in regard to the vital body. Nevertheless there is a
-considerable difference between the two. Science today, by means of
-intellectual observations founded on the facts of ordinary perception,
-has accepted the idea of a kind of vital force. But this is not the
-method of a truly spiritual research, such as Theosophy aims at, and
-from the results of which proceed the theosophical teachings. It cannot
-be pointed out too often, how Theosophy on this point differs from the
-current science of the day. The latter considers the experience of the
-senses to be the basis of all knowledge, and whatever is not built upon
-this basis it treats as unknowable. From the impressions of the senses
-it draws deductions and conclusions. But anything that goes further it
-puts aside, as being beyond the limits of human knowledge. To Theosophy
-such a prospect resembles the view of a blind man who only takes into
-consideration those things that he can touch, and what he may infer
-from the touched object by reasoning, but who sets aside the statements
-of those who can see as being beyond the faculty of human perception.
-For Theosophy shows that man is capable of evolution, that through
-the developing of new organs he may conquer for himself new worlds.
-Around the blind man there is color and light, but he cannot perceive
-them, because he does not possess the requisite organs. Around man, so
-Theosophy teaches, there are many worlds, and he can observe them, if
-only he develops the organs necessary for the purpose.
-
-Even as the blind man looks upon a new world as soon as he has
-undergone a successful operation, so can man, through the developing
-of higher organs, perceive worlds quite different from those which
-he observed at first with his ordinary senses. Now whether or not
-it is possible to operate on one who is bodily blind depends on the
-conditions of the organs; but those higher organs by which one may
-penetrate into the upper worlds, exist in embryo in every human being.
-Anyone can develop them, who has the patience, endurance and energy to
-make use of those methods which are described in my two books entitled
-“The Way of Initiation” and “Initiation and Its Results.”[1]
-
-Theosophy does not speak of limitations to man’s knowledge through
-his organism; but says, on the contrary, that he is surrounded by
-worlds for which he has the organs of perception. It indicates the
-means by which to extend the temporary limits. It also occupies itself
-with the investigation of the vital, or etheric body, and to what
-in the following may be called the yet higher principles of human
-nature. It admits that only the physical body can be accessible to the
-investigation of the bodily senses, and that from this standpoint one
-can at most only chance on something higher by a train of reasoning.
-But it gives information as to how one can open up for oneself a world
-in which these higher principles of human nature appear before the
-observer, just as the colors and light of objects appear before the
-blind-born person after his operation. For those who have developed the
-higher organs of perception, the etheric or vital body is an object
-of actual observation, and not a theory resulting from intellectual
-activity or a train of reasoning.
-
-Man has this etheric, or vital body, in common with the plants and
-animals. It causes the matter and forces of the physical body to
-form themselves into the manifestations of growth, of reproduction,
-of the internal motions of the fluids, etc. It is also the builder
-and sculptor of the physical body, its inhabitant and its architect.
-The physical body can therefore also be called an image or expression
-of this vital body. Both are approximately the same in man as regards
-form and size, yet they are by no means quite alike. But the etheric
-body in animals and still more in plants, differs considerably from the
-physical body with regard to its shape and dimension.
-
-The third principle of the human being is the so-called body of
-feeling, or astral body. It is the vehicle of pain and pleasure, of
-impulse, desire, passion, and so forth. An entity composed merely of
-a physical and an etheric body has nothing of all this, to which may
-be ascribed the term—sensation. The plant has no sensation. If many a
-learned man of our time concludes that plants have a certain power of
-sensation, from the fact that many of them respond to a stimulus, by
-movement, or in other ways, he merely shows that he does not know the
-essence of sensation. The point is, not whether the being in question
-responds to an outward stimulus, but rather whether the stimulus
-reflects itself through an inner experience, such as pleasure or pain,
-impulse, desire, etc. If this be not the standard of sensation, one
-would be justified in asserting that blue litmus paper has a sense of
-feeling for certain substances, because on coming into contact with
-them, it turns red.[2]
-
-Man has the astral body in common with the animal world only. It is
-thus the medium for the life of sensation and feeling.
-
-One must not fall into the error of certain theosophical circles and
-think that the etheric body and astral body consist merely of finer
-matter than that which exists in the physical body. For this would
-mean simply the materialisation of these higher principles of human
-nature. The etheric body is a form of living forces; it is composed of
-active forces, but not of matter—and the astral body or body of feeling
-is a form consisting of colored luminous pictures revolving within
-themselves.[3]
-
-The astral body differs in form and size from the physical body. It
-appears in man in the form of an oblong egg, in which the physical and
-the etheric bodies are embedded. It projects on all sides beyond these
-two like a luminous cloud.
-
-Now in the nature of man there is a fourth principle which he does
-not share with other earthly creatures. This is the vehicle of the
-human “I”. The little word “I” as we call it in English is a word that
-separates itself from all other words. He who duly reflects on the
-nature of this word, gains access at the same time to an understanding
-of human nature. Every other word may be used by all men in the same
-way to suit some corresponding object. Anyone can call a table “table,”
-any one can call a chair “chair,” but with the word “I” it is not so.
-No one can use it as an indication of some one else, for each person
-can only speak of himself as “I”. Never can the word “I” sound in my
-ears as a reference to myself. For a man in designating himself “I”,
-must name himself within himself. A being that can say to himself “I”
-is a world in himself. Those religions which are built up on the basis
-of Theosophy have always felt this. They have therefore said that with
-the “ego” the God begins to speak within—the God who, among lower
-beings, is manifested only from without in the surrounding phenomena.
-
-The vehicle of this lastly developed capacity is now “the body of the
-ego,” the fourth principle of the human being.[4] This body of the
-ego is the vehicle of the higher human soul, and through it man is
-the crown of all earthly creation. But the ego in present humanity
-is by no means a simple entity. Its nature can be recognized when a
-comparison is made between men of different stages of evolution. Take
-for instance the uneducated savage and the average European, and
-compare these again with a lofty idealist. Each one of them has the
-faculty of saying to himself “I” for the “body of the ego” is existent
-in each of them. But the uncivilized savage gives way with this “I” to
-his passions, his impulses and appetites, almost like an animal. The
-more highly developed man allows himself to follow certain inclinations
-and desires, others he checks or suppresses. The idealist has formed,
-in addition to the original inclinations and passions, others that are
-higher. This is all due to the fact that the “ego” has been at work
-on the other principles of the human being. And it is precisely the
-mission of the “ego” to ennoble and purify the other principles by its
-own power.
-
-So the lower principles, under the influence of the “ego,” have become
-more or less changed within a man who has surmounted the conditions
-in which the outer world has placed him. Take the case of the man who
-is just raising himself above the level of the animal—when his “ego”
-flashes out he still resembles the animal with regard to his lower
-principles. His etheric or vital body is solely the medium of the
-living constructive forces of growth and propagation. His astral body
-only gives expression to such impulses, desires and passions as are
-stimulated by his outer nature. All the time that the man is struggling
-on through successive lives, or incarnations, from this degree of
-culture to an ever higher evolution, his ego is remodelling the other
-principles. In this way the astral body becomes the medium of purified
-pleasurable and unpleasurable sensations, refined desires and longings.
-And the etheric, or vital body, also transforms itself. It becomes the
-vehicle of habits, of permanent inclinations of temperament and of
-memory. A man whose ego has not yet influenced his vital body has no
-remembrance of the experiences he undergoes. He lives just as he has
-been brought up by Nature.
-
-The whole development of civilisation expresses itself for man in
-this working of the ego upon the subordinate principles. This working
-penetrates even to the physical body. Under the influence of the ego,
-the physiognomy, the gestures and movements, the whole appearance of
-the physical body, change.
-
-One can also discern how differently the various mediums of
-civilisation affect the individual principles of the human being. The
-common factors of civilisation influence the astral body. They bring
-to it other kinds of pleasure, displeasure, impulse, etc., than it
-originally had. Absorption in a work of art influences the etheric
-body, for a man obtains through a work of art, the presentiment
-of something higher and nobler than that which is offered by the
-environment of the senses, and thus transforms his vital body. A
-powerful means for the purification and ennoblement of the etheric
-body is religion. Religious impulses have, in this way, their sublime
-mission in the evolution of humanity.
-
-That which is called conscience is nothing but the result of the work
-of the ego on the vital body, through a succession of incarnations.
-When a man perceives that he must not do certain things, and when
-through this perception, an impression is made on him, deep enough to
-communicate itself to his etheric body, the conscience begins to be
-formed.
-
-Now this work of the ego on the subordinate principles can either be
-one that belongs rather to the whole human race, or it can be quite
-individually a work of the single ego upon itself. In the first change
-of man, to a certain extent, the whole human race takes part; the
-latter must depend on the inner activity of the ego. When the ego grows
-strong enough entirely to remodel the astral body through its own
-strength, then that which the ego makes of this astral body or body
-of feeling is called the “Spirit-Self” (Geistesselbst)[5] or as they
-say in the East, Manas. This transformation consists essentially in
-an imbuing, in an enriching of the inner being with higher ideas and
-perceptions. But the ego can arrive at yet higher and more intimate
-work with regard to the special entity of man. This occurs when not
-merely the astral body is enriched, but when the etheric or vital
-body becomes transformed. Man learns a certain amount in the course of
-life, and when he looks back on his life from any point, he is able to
-say to himself: “I have learnt much,” but how much less is he able to
-speak of a change of temperament and character, of an improvement or
-deterioration of the memory, during life. Learning affects the astral
-body, whilst the latter transformations affect the ethic or vital body.
-It would therefore be no inapt simile to compare the change of the
-astral body in life to the movement of the minute-hand of the clock,
-the change of the vital body to that of the hour-hand.
-
-When a man enters upon the higher, or so-called occult training, the
-chief thing to bear in mind is that he at once begins this latter
-transformation by the innermost might of the ego. He must work quite
-consciously and individually at the changing of habits, temperament,
-character, memory, etc. As much of this vital body as he works upon in
-this way becomes transformed into the “Life-Spirit” (Lebensgeist), or
-as the Eastern expression has it, into Buddhi.
-
-On a yet higher stage of evolution man attains to powers by which he
-can effect a transformation of his physical body (as for example,
-changing the pulse and the circulation of the blood). As much of the
-physical body as is transformed in this way, is called “Spirit-Man”
-(Geistesmensch)—Atma.
-
-The changes which are effected in the lower principles by man, not as
-an individual, but rather as a whole group of the human race, or a
-part of it, such as a nation, a tribe, or a family—have in Theosophy,
-the following names. The astral body, or body of feeling, when
-transformed by the ego is called the emotional soul; the transformed
-etheric body becomes the rational soul, and the transformed physical
-body, the self-conscious soul. But it is not to be supposed that the
-transformation of these three principles takes place successively.
-It takes place in all three bodies simultaneously, from the moment
-when the ego flashes out. Indeed the work of the ego is not generally
-speaking perceptible until a part of the self-conscious soul is formed.
-
-It is seen from the foregoing paragraph that there are four principles
-in the Being of Man: the physical body, the etheric or vital body,
-the astral or body of feeling and the ego-body;—the emotional soul,
-the rational soul, the self-conscious soul—and indeed the yet higher
-principles of human nature also,—the Spirit-Self (Manas), the
-Life-Spirit (Buddhi), the Spirit-Man (Atma) appear as the products of
-the transformation of these four principles. In speaking about the
-sources of our human capacities, only these four principles can be
-taken into account.
-
-As a teacher works upon these four principles of the human
-constitution, one must, in order to work in the right way, penetrate
-into the nature of these divisions of man. Now it must by no means
-be imagined that these parts develop themselves in man in such a way
-that at any one moment of his life—say at his birth—they are all
-equally advanced. On the contrary their development takes place at the
-various life-periods in a different way. And the right foundations for
-education and instruction depend on the knowledge of this law of the
-evolution of human nature.
-
-Before physical birth the nascent human being is enclosed on all sides
-by an alien physical body. It does not come into contact independently
-with the outward physical world. The physical body of the mother forms
-its environment. This body alone can influence the maturing fœtus.
-Physical birth consists precisely in the fact that the physical body
-of the mother releases the child, thereby causing the surroundings
-of the physical world to influence him immediately. The senses open
-themselves to the outward world, and this latter is thereby able
-to exercise those influences over the child which were previously
-exercised by the physical body of the mother.
-
-For a spiritual comprehension of the world such as is represented by
-Theosophy, the physical body is then actually born, but not yet the
-etheric or vital body. As the child until the moment of its birth is
-surrounded by the physical body of the mother, so too until the time
-of his second teeth, about the age of seven, is he surrounded by an
-etheric and an astral covering. Not until the time of the change of
-teeth does the etheric covering release the etheric body. Then until
-the time of puberty there still remains an astral covering.[6] At this
-period the astral or desire body also becomes free on all sides, as did
-the physical body at the time of the physical birth and the etheric
-body at the time of the second teeth.
-
-Thus then, Theosophy must speak of three births of man. Certain
-impressions, which are intended to reach the etheric body can reach it
-as little, up to the time of the second teeth, as the light and air of
-the physical world can reach the physical body while it remains in the
-womb of the mother.
-
-Before the coming of the second teeth the free vital body is not at
-work. As the physical body, whilst in the womb of the mother, receives
-powers which are not its own, and within that protective covering
-gradually develops its own, so is this also the case with these later
-powers of growth, until the time of the second teeth. Only at this
-period does the etheric body perfect its own powers in conjunction with
-the inherited and alien ones. During this time, while the etheric
-body is freeing itself, the physical body is already independent. The
-etheric body which is gradually freeing itself, perfects that which
-it has to give to the physical body. And the final point of this work
-is the child’s own teeth, which come in the place of those he has
-inherited. They are the densest things embedded in the physical body
-and therefore at this period appear last.
-
-After this period, the child’s own etheric body takes care of its
-growth alone. Only the latter still remains under the influence of
-an enveloped astral body. As soon as the astral body becomes free as
-well, a period is terminated for the etheric body. This termination
-takes place at the time of puberty. The reproductive organs become
-independent, because from henceforth the free astral body does not
-work inwardly, but openly encounters the external world.
-
-As one is not able to let the influences of the outward world affect
-the child physically before it is born, so those powers (which are the
-same to him as the impressions of the physical surroundings to the
-physical body) should not be allowed to affect the etheric body before
-the time of the second teeth. And the corresponding influences upon the
-astral body ought only to be brought into play at the time of puberty.
-
-Common phrases, such as, “the harmonious training of all the powers and
-talents,” and the like cannot form the foundation for a true system of
-education, for this can only be built upon a genuine knowledge of the
-human being. We do not mean to affirm that the above-mentioned phrases
-are incorrect, but only that they are as valueless as if one were to
-say with regard to a machine, that all its parts must be brought into
-harmonious working order. Only he who approaches it, not with mere
-phrases, but with a real knowledge of the particular kind of machine,
-can handle it. This applies also to the art of education, to the
-knowledge of the principles in a human being and of their individual
-developments; one must know which part of the human being should be
-influenced at a certain time of life, and how to bring such influences
-to bear upon him in a suitable manner. There is indeed no doubt that
-a really intelligent system of education, such as is outlined in
-these pages, can make its way but slowly. This is due to the manner of
-viewing things in our day, wherein the facts of the spiritual world
-will still be considered for a long time as merely the overflow of a
-mad fantasy, while common-place and entirely superficial phrases will
-be regarded as the result of a really practical way of thinking. We
-shall here proceed to give a free outline of what will be considered by
-many at the present time a mere mirage of the fancy, but which will in
-time come to be an accepted fact.
-
-At physical birth, the physical human body is exposed to the physical
-environment of the external world, whilst previously it was encircled
-by the protective body of the mother. That which the forces and fluids
-of the mother’s body did to it previously must now be done by the
-forces and elements of the outer physical world. Up to the time of the
-second teething, at the age of seven, the human body has a mission to
-perform for itself, which is essentially different from the missions
-of all the other life-epochs. The physical organs must form themselves
-into certain shapes during this time; then structural proportions must
-take definite directions and tendencies. Later on growth takes place,
-but this growth in all future time proceeds on the bases of the shapes
-which were in process of formation until the time mentioned. If normal
-shapes have been forming themselves, normal shapes will afterwards
-grow, and conversely from abnormal bases will proceed abnormal results.
-One cannot make amends in all the succeeding years for that which, as
-guardian, one has neglected during the first seven years. As the right
-environment for the physical human body is provided by Nature, before
-birth, so after birth it is the duty of the guardian to provide it.
-Only this correct physical environment influences the child in such a
-way that his physical organs mould themselves into the normal forms.
-
-There are two magic words which epitomise the relation which is
-formed between the child and its environment. These are: Imitation
-and Example. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, called man the most
-imitative of animals, and for no other period of life is this more
-applicable than for the age of childhood up to the time of the second
-teething. The child imitates whatever takes place in its physical
-environment, and in the imitation his physical organs mould themselves
-into the forms which then remain to them. The term physical environment
-is to be taken in the widest sense imaginable. To it belongs not only
-that which takes place materially round the child, but everything that
-is enacted in his surroundings, everything that may be observed by his
-senses, everything that from all points of physical space can influence
-his spiritual forces. To it also belong all actions, moral or immoral,
-sensible or foolish, that the child may see.
-
-It is not by moral texts, nor by rational precepts, but by what is
-done visibly before the child by the grown-up people around him, that
-he is influenced in the manner indicated. Instruction produces effects
-only upon the etheric body, not upon the physical, and up to the
-age of seven the etheric body is surrounded by a protective etheric
-shell, just as the physical body until physical birth is surrounded
-by the body of the mother. That which ought to be developed in this
-etheric body in the way of ideas, habits, memory, etc., before the
-age of seven, must develop itself “spontaneously,” in the same way
-as the eyes and ears develop themselves in the womb of the mother
-without the influence of the external light. It is written in an
-excellent educational book, Jean Paul’s _Levana_ or _Pedagogics_, that
-a world-traveller learns more from his nurse in his early years than
-in all of his travels put together. This is undoubtedly true, but
-the child does not learn by instruction, but by imitation. And his
-physical organs form themselves through the influence of his physical
-surroundings. A healthy vision is formed when the right colors and
-conditions of light are brought into the child’s environment, and the
-physical foundations for a healthy moral nature are formed in the brain
-and in the circulation of the blood, when the child sees moral things
-in his environment. When the child, up to the age of seven, sees only
-foolish actions taking place around him, his brain assumes such forms
-as to make him also, in later life, capable only of foolishness.
-
-As the muscles of the hand grow strong and powerful when they do work
-suitable for them, so the brain and the other organs of the physical
-human body will be directed towards the right path, if they receive
-the right impressions from their environment. An example will best
-illustrate the point in question. A doll can be made out of an old
-piece of cloth, by making two corners serve for arms, two for legs and
-a knot for the head, with the eyes, nose and mouth painted in ink—or
-a so-called “beautiful” doll can be bought with real hair and painted
-cheeks, and given to the child. The latter, it is hardly necessary to
-say, is really horrible, and is calculated to ruin the child’s sound
-aesthetic taste for life. Here the question of education is quite a
-different one. If the child has the rag-doll to look at, it has to
-complete out of its own imagination the impression of a human being
-which the doll is intended to convey. This work of the imagination
-helps to build up the forms of the brain, so that it opens up as the
-muscles of the hand expand by doing their natural work. When the child
-possesses the so-called “beautiful doll,” there is nothing further for
-the brain to do. It becomes, as it were, stunted and dried up, instead
-of expanding itself. If people could look into the brain after the
-manner of the occultist and see it building itself up into forms, they
-would certainly only give their children that kind of plaything which
-is really able to stimulate the creative powers of the brain. All toys
-that are only composed of dead mathematical forms have a desolating
-and deadening effect on the child’s formative powers, whilst on the
-other hand everything that stimulates the perception of something
-living tends to influence in the right direction. Our materialistic
-age produces but few good toys—such for instance as that in which two
-movable pieces of wood are made to represent two smiths facing one
-another and hammering at some object. Such things may still be bought
-in the country. Very good also are those picture books in which the
-figures are made to be pulled by strings, thus enabling the child to
-transform the dead picture into a representation of action. All this
-produces an inner activity of the organs, and out of this activity the
-right form of the organs builds itself up.
-
-Of course these things can only just be indicated here, but in the
-future occult science will be called upon to point out that which in
-each particular case is necessary, and this it is able to do. For it
-is not an empty abstraction, but a body of vital facts quite able to
-furnish the guiding-lines for practical matters.
-
-One or two further examples will serve as illustrations. According
-to occult science a so-called nervous excitable child should be
-treated differently from a lethargic and inactive one, with regard to
-its surroundings. Everything must be taken into consideration, from
-the color of the room and the various objects by which the child
-is generally surrounded, to the color of the clothes in which it is
-dressed. One may often do the wrong thing, unless willing to be guided
-by occult science, for a materialistic tendency will in many cases hit
-on just the opposite of what is right. An excitable child should be
-clothed and surrounded with red or reddish-yellow colors, whilst for
-the opposite type of child, blue or bluish-green should be selected.
-For, in accordance with the color used outwardly is the complementary
-color produced inwardly. Thus, for instance, green is produced by red;
-orange-yellow by blue, and of this one may easily be convinced by
-looking for a time on a spot of a particular color and then quickly
-directing the eyes to a white surface. This complementary color is
-produced by the physical organs of the child, and in turn reacts upon
-the corresponding organic structures necessary to the child. Red in
-the environment of an excitable child produces inwardly the green
-complementary picture. The activity thus produced by the sensation of
-green has a calming effect and the organs take upon themselves the
-tendency to composure.
-
-One rule must invariably be taken into consideration at this period
-of life—that the physical body has to create for itself the standard
-of what is suitable to it. It does this through the corresponding
-development of desire. Generally speaking it may be said that the
-healthy physical body desires only what is good for it. And as long
-as it is a question only of the physical body of the growing child,
-one ought to notice carefully what it is that is sought by the healthy
-desires, cravings and pleasures. Joy and pleasure are the powers which
-draw out the physical forms of the organs, in the best way.
-
-A very great error may be committed in this direction by not placing
-the child in the suitable physical conditions with regard to its
-environment. This can especially be the case with regard to the
-instinct of nourishment. The child can be overfed with things that
-make him completely lose healthy instincts of nourishment, whilst
-through correct feeding they can be preserved for him so fully, that
-he will ask (even to a glass of water) for that which under given
-circumstances is good for him, and will refuse anything that may be
-harmful. When occult science is called upon to construct a system of
-education, it will be able to specify, even to the particular articles
-of nourishment and table luxuries, all that has here to be considered.
-For it is a practical teaching, applicable to life, and no mere
-colorless theory—as indeed one might suppose, from the mistakes of many
-Theosophists of today.
-
-Among the forces therefore which affect the physical organs by
-moulding them, must be included an element of joy with and amid
-the surroundings. Let the guardian be cheerful of countenance, and
-above all things let there be true and not artificial love—a love
-that flowing warmly through the physical environment, as it were,
-incubates, in the true sense of the word, the forms of the physical
-organs.
-
-When within such an atmosphere of love, the imitation of healthy models
-is possible, the child is in his right element. Special attention
-should therefore be given that nothing may happen in the child’s
-environment that he should not imitate. Nothing should be done that
-would necessitate saying to the child “You must not do that.” Of the
-way in which the child tries to imitate, one may be convinced by
-observing how it can copy written letters long before it can understand
-them. It is indeed an advisable thing for the child to copy the written
-characters first, and then later to learn their meaning. For imitation
-belongs to the developing stage of the physical body, whilst the
-mind responds to the etheric body, and this latter ought only to be
-influenced after the time of the second teeth, when its outer etheric
-covering is gone. Especially should the learning of speech by means of
-imitation take place in these years. For _by hearing_ the child best
-learns to speak. All rules and artificial teaching can do no good at
-all.
-
-In the early years of childhood it is especially important that such
-means of education as, for instance, songs for children should make
-as beautiful a rhythmic impression on the senses as possible. The
-importance lies in the beautiful sound rather than in the sense. The
-more invigorating the effect which anything can have upon the eye and
-ear, the better it is. The power of building up the organs which lies
-in dancing movements when put to a musical rhythm, for example, must
-not be under-estimated.
-
-With the change of teeth the etheric body throws off its outer
-covering, and then the time begins in which the training of the etheric
-body may be carried on from without. One must be clear as to what it is
-that can influence the etheric body in this way. The transformation and
-growth of the etheric body signify, respectively, the transformation
-and development of the affections, the habits, conscience, character,
-memory and temperament. One is able to influence the etheric body by
-pictures, by example, by regulated guidance of the imagination. Just
-as the child, until it has reached the age of seven, ought to be given
-a physical model which it can imitate, so too, in the environment of
-the developing child, between the period of the second teeth and that
-of puberty, everything should be brought into play that possesses an
-inner sense and value upon which the child may direct his attention.
-All that conduces to thought, all that works through image and parable,
-has now its rightful place.
-
-The etheric body develops its power when a well regulated imagination
-is directed upon that which it can unravel or extract for its guidance
-from living images and parables, or from such as are addressed to the
-spirit. It is _concrete_ and not _abstract_ ideas that can rightly
-influence the growing body—ideas that are spiritually rather than
-materially concrete. A spiritual standpoint is the right means of
-education during these years. It is therefore of paramount importance
-that the youth at this period has around him in his guardians
-themselves personalities through whose points of view the desirable
-intellectual and moral powers may be awakened in him.
-
-As “imitation” and “example” are the magic words for the training of
-children in their early years, so for the years now in question the
-corresponding words are “hero-worship” and “authority.” Natural and
-not forced authority must supply the immediate spiritual standpoint,
-with the help of which the youth forms for himself conscience, habits
-and inclinations, brings his temperament into regulated paths, and
-wins his own outlook on this world. The beautiful words of the poet:
-“Everyone must choose his own hero, in whose steps he may find the way
-to Olympus,” are of special value with regard to this epoch of life.
-
-Veneration and reverence are powers that assist the etheric body to
-grow in the right way. And he to whom it is impossible, during this
-period, to look up to anyone with unlimited reverence, will have to
-suffer on that account for the rest of his life. When this veneration
-is missing, the vital forces of the etheric body are checked. Picture
-to yourself the following in its effect on the youthful disposition:
-a boy of eight years of age is told of a person highly esteemed. All
-that he hears about him fills him with holy awe. The day draws near on
-which he is to see this honored person for the first time. A profound
-reverence overcomes him when he hears the bell-ring at the door, behind
-which the object of his veneration is to become visible. The beautiful
-feelings which are produced by such an experience, belong to the
-lasting acquisitions of life. And _that_ man is fortunate, who not only
-during the happy moments of life, but continuously, is able to look up
-to his teachers and instructors as to his natural authorities.
-
-To these living authorities, to these embodiments of moral and
-intellectual power, must be added the authorities perceived of the
-spirit. The grand examples of history, the tales of model men and
-women, must fix the conscience and the intellectual tendency—and not
-abstract moral truths, which can only do their right work, when, at the
-age of puberty, the astral body is freed from its astral covering.
-
-One ought especially to guide the teaching of history into courses
-determined by such points of view. Before the time of the second teeth,
-the stories, fairy tales, etc., which are told to the child, can only
-have for their aim, joy, recreation, and pleasure.
-
-After this time it will be necessary to use forethought concerning
-the matter that is to be related, so that pictures of life, such as
-he can beneficially emulate, may be set before the soul of the young
-person. It must not be overlooked that bad habits can be ousted by
-pictures correspondingly repulsive. Warnings against such bad habits
-and tendencies are at best of little avail, but if one were to let the
-living picture of a bad man affect the youthful imagination, explaining
-the result to which the tendency in question leads, one would do much
-toward its extermination.
-
-One thing to bear always in mind is, that it is not abstract
-representations that influence the developing etheric body, but living
-pictures in their spiritual clearness, and, of course, these latter
-must be applied with the utmost tact, for otherwise the opposite to
-what is desired will be the result. In the matter of stories it is
-always a question of the way in which they are told. The verbal
-narration of a tale can therefore not be successfully replaced by a
-reading of it.
-
-During the time between the second teeth and puberty, the
-spiritually pictorial, or, as one might also call it, the symbolical
-representation, ought to be considered in yet another way. It is
-necessary that the young person should learn to know the secrets of
-nature, the laws of life, as far as possible through symbols and not by
-the means of dry and intellectual ideas. Allegories about the spiritual
-relation of things ought so to reach the soul that the law and order of
-existence underlying the allegories is rather perceived and divined,
-than grasped by the means of intellectual ideas. The saying that “all
-things transient are only symbols” ought to form an all-important
-motto for the education during this period. It is very important for
-a person to receive the secrets of nature in allegories before they
-appear to his soul in the form of natural laws, etc. An example will
-make this clear. Supposing one wished to speak to a young person of the
-immortality of the soul, of its going forth from the body, one might
-as an instance make the comparison of the butterfly emerging from the
-chrysalis. As the butterfly comes forth from the chrysalis, so the soul
-comes forth from the shell of the body after death. No one who has not
-previously received them by means of some such image, will adequately
-grasp the right facts in the abstract ideas. For by such a simile one
-speaks not only to the intellect, but also to the sensations and
-feelings, to the whole soul. The youth having gone through all this,
-approaches the matter in quite a different attitude of mind when it
-is given to him later in intellectual conceptions. Indeed the man who
-cannot first approach the riddle of existence with this feeling is much
-to be pitied. It is necessary that the teacher should have similes at
-his disposal for all natural laws and secrets of the world.
-
-In this matter it is quite clear what an enriching effect occult
-science must have upon practical life. Any one constructing from a
-materialistic and intellectual mode of representation, similes for
-himself and then propounding them to young people, will usually make
-but little impression upon them. For such a person ought first to
-puzzle out the similes himself with all his mental capacities. Those
-similes which one has not first applied for oneself, do not have a
-convincing effect on those to whom they are imparted. When one talks to
-somebody in parables, then he is not only influenced by what one says
-or shows, but there passes a fine spiritual stream from the speaker to
-the hearer. Unless the speaker himself has an ardent feeling of belief
-in his similes, he will make no impression on the one to whom he gives
-them. In order to create a right influence, one must believe in one’s
-similes oneself as if in realities; and that can only be done when one
-possesses the mystical tendency, and when the similes themselves are
-born of occult science. The real occultist does not need to worry
-about the above-mentioned simile of the soul going forth from the
-body, because for him it is a truth. To him the butterfly evolving
-from the chrysalis represents the same experience on a lower stage of
-nature’s existence as the going forth of the soul from the body at a
-higher stage development. He believes in it with all his might, and
-this belief flows forth as if in invisible streams from the speaker
-to the listener, and inspires conviction. Direct life-streams then
-flow forth from teacher to pupil. But for this end it is necessary
-for the teacher to draw from the full source of occult science; it is
-necessary that his word and all that goes forth from him, should be
-clothed with feeling, warmth and glowing emotion from the true occult
-view of life. For this reveals a magnificent perspective of the whole
-subject of education. Once the latter allows itself to be enriched from
-the life source of occult science, it will itself become permeated
-with a profound vitality. It will give up groping in the dark, so
-common in this particular domain of thought. All educational methods,
-all educational sciences, that do not continually receive a supply of
-fresh sap from such roots, are dried up and dead. For all world-secrets
-occult science has fitting similes, similes not rising from the mind of
-man but drawn from the essence of things, having been laid down as a
-basis by the forces of the world at their creation. Occult science must
-therefore be the basis for any system of education.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A power of the soul to which particular attention ought to be given at
-this period of development is that of memory. For the cultivation of
-the memory is connected with the transformation of the etheric body.
-This has its effect in the fact that precisely during the time between
-the coming of the second teeth and that of puberty it becomes free,
-so that this is also the period in which the further development of
-the memory should be looked after from outside. The memory will be
-permanently of less value to the person in question than it might have
-been, if at this period what is necessary to it is neglected. That
-which has thus been neglected cannot afterwards be retrieved.
-
-An intellectual and materialistic way of thinking is liable to bring
-about many mistakes in this direction. A system of education arising
-from this way of thinking is easily prejudiced against that which is
-acquired merely by the memory. It will not tire at times of directing
-itself with the greatest ardor against the mere training of the memory,
-and rather makes use of the most ingenious methods that the young
-person may not mechanically absorb what he does not really understand.
-An opinion merely intellectual and materialistic is so easily persuaded
-that there is no means of penetrating into things except by abstract
-ideas; it is only with difficulty that thinkers of this kind come to
-the conclusion that the other subjective powers are at least just as
-necessary to the comprehension of things, as the intellect itself. It
-is not merely a figure of speech to say that one can understand just as
-well with the feelings, the emotions, the mind, as with the intellect.
-Ideas are only one of the means by which to understand the things of
-this world, and only to materialists do they appear the only means.
-There are, of course, many people who do not imagine that they are
-materialists, but who nevertheless consider an intellectual conception
-to be the only means of comprehension. Such men profess perhaps to hold
-an idealistic, perhaps even a spiritual conception of the world and
-life. But the attitude of their souls toward both is materialistic.
-For the intellect is, as a matter of fact, the soul’s instrument for
-the comprehension of material things.
-
-And here, concerning the deeper foundations of the understanding, let
-us quote from that excellent educational book, by Jean Paul already
-mentioned—a work containing generally golden ideas concerning education
-and deserving of much more consideration than at present it receives.
-It is of much more value to the guardian than many of the writings
-on these lines that enjoy the highest repute. The passage under
-consideration runs thus:
-
-“Do not be afraid of unintelligibility, even if it be of whole
-sentences; your look and the manner of your expression, added to the
-eager desire to understand, elucidates the one half, and with this,
-and in due time, the other half also. For with children, as with the
-Chinese and with men of the world, the manner of pronunciation is half
-the language. Bear in mind, that they understand their language as well
-as we understand Greek or any other foreign tongue before learning to
-speak it. Trust to the deciphering of time and to association. A child
-of five years of age understands indeed the words “yet,” “truly,” “on
-the contrary,” “of course”; but for a definition of them one must go
-not to the child, but to the father! The little word “but” reveals a
-small philosopher. If the eight-year-old child with his growing power
-of speech is understood by a child of three, why should you then
-confine your language to his babbling? Always speak several years in
-advance (for in books genius speaks to us centuries in advance); with
-the child of a year, speak as if it were two, with the child of two as
-if it were six, for the difference of growth may diminish in inverse
-proportion to the years. Generally speaking, all learning is apt to be
-too much ascribed to the credit of the teacher—therefore the teacher
-ought to bear in mind that the child possesses half his world, namely,
-the spiritual (such as his moral and metaphysical ideas), already
-complete and taught within himself, and that therefore a language
-composed only of concrete images can never impart spiritual ideas,
-but can only light them up. The joy and assurance used in speaking
-to children ought to be given as if the assurance and joy came from
-themselves. We can learn speech from them, just as we teach them by
-means of speech; by means of bold and yet correct word-painting, such
-as for instance I have heard spoken by children of three and four years
-of age: ‘leg-fish’ for otter; ‘pig-iron’ for the fork used in eating
-bacon; ‘the air-mouse’ (unquestionably superior to our word ‘bat’) and
-so on.”
-
-It is true that this passage refers to the understanding (before the
-intellectual comprehension) as exercised in another sphere than that of
-which we are now speaking, but for this also, the words of Jean Paul
-have an important meaning. Just as the child receives into his soul’s
-organism the construction of speech, without making use of the laws
-of grammatical structure with intellectual comprehension, so too,
-for the cultivation of his memory, the youth ought to learn things
-of which he will not until later acquire an actual understanding.
-That which has been acquired in this period of life, at first in a
-purely mechanical way, is best put into ideas, afterwards, just as
-one learns more easily the rules of a language when one can already
-speak it. All the talk of work learned by rote and not understood is
-nothing more than a materialistic prejudice. For instance, the youth
-needs only to acquire by a few examples the most necessary rules of
-multiplication, for which the fingers are far better suited than an
-abacus, and then to learn fully, by rote, the multiplication table.
-If one so proceeds, one takes into account the nature of the growing
-child. But a mistake may be made with regard to this, if, during the
-time that the memory is forming itself, too much is demanded of the
-intellect. The intellect being a power of the soul, and only born at
-the time of puberty, ought not to receive an outward influence before
-this period. Until the time of puberty, the youth should assimilate
-into the memory treasures over which mankind has meditated; later on
-it is time to permeate with ideas that which has been impressed upon
-his memory. A man ought therefore not to retain merely what he has
-understood, but he ought now to understand the things that he knows;
-that is to say, the things of which he has already taken possession by
-means of the memory, just as the child does, when learning to speak.
-This applies to a wider sphere. At first, assimilation of historical
-events by mere rote, then comprehension of the same by means of ideas.
-At first, a good impression upon the memory of geographical data, then
-an understanding of the relationship of each thing with the rest, etc.
-In certain respects all comprehension through ideas should be done by
-means of the stored treasures of the memory. The more the youth already
-knows through the memory before he comes to comprehension, the better
-it is. It is hardly necessary to explain that all this applies only to
-the period, of which we are speaking, and not to any later period. If
-one learns a subject in later life, either by going over it again, or
-in any other way, the opposite process to that here described might be
-correct and desirable, although even then a great deal depends upon the
-particular spiritual nature of the student. But at the time of life of
-which we have already spoken the spirit must not be parched by being
-overcrowded with intellectual ideas.
-
-It is also true that teaching by mere sense-objects, if carried too
-far, is the result of a materialistic view of life. At this age
-every idea must be spiritualised. One ought not, for instance, to be
-satisfied with merely producing a sense-impression of a plant, a grain
-of seed, or a blossom. Everything should seem as an allegory of the
-spiritual. A grain of seed is, in truth, not merely what it appears
-to the eye. Invisibly the whole new plant inhabits it, and that such
-a thing is more than what the sense perceives, must be absolutely
-realised with the perception, the imagination, and the feelings. The
-mysterious presence of latent existence must really be felt. Nor can it
-be objected that such a proceeding would weaken the perception of pure
-sense; on the contrary, by a persistent adherence to sense perceptions
-alone, Truth itself would be the loser. For the complete reality of a
-thing exists in Spirit and in Matter, and accurate observations can
-be no less carefully carried out if one brings to the study not only
-the physical senses, but also the spiritual faculties. If people could
-only perceive, as the Occultist is able to, how both body and soul
-are spoiled by mere object-teaching, they would not then lay so much
-stress upon it. Of what value is it from the highest point of view,
-if young people are shown all kinds of physical experiments in the
-mineral, vegetable and animal worlds, if with such a study one does
-not suggest the application of the sense allegory to the feeling of
-spiritual mystery? Certainly a materialistic mind will not be able to
-make anything of what has here been said, and of that the Occultist is
-only too conscious. Yet it is also clear to him that a really practical
-method of education can never proceed from the materialistic mind. So
-practical does such a mind imagine itself, and yet so unpractical is it
-in reality, when it is a matter of considering life vitally. Opposed to
-the true reality, materialistic opinions seem only fantastic, while
-to the materialist, the interpretations of occult science must, of
-necessity, appear equally fantastic. Doubtless, too, there will remain
-many obstacles which must be overcome before the fundamental teachings
-of occult science, arising from life itself, will permeate the art of
-education. But that is to be expected, for at present these truths are
-strange to many; nevertheless, if they be really the truth, they will
-incorporate themselves into all culture.
-
-Only through the sure conviction that they are the only educational
-means by which to work upon young people, can the teacher always find
-the right way to deal correctly with each individual case. Thus, he
-must know how the individual powers of the soul —such as thinking,
-feeling and willing—ought to be treated, and how their development may
-react upon the etheric body; while this itself, between the period when
-the second teeth appear and that of puberty, can be perfectly moulded
-by outside influences.
-
-The foundations for the development of a healthy and powerful will can
-be laid by the right management, during the first seven years, of those
-fundamental principles of education which have already been considered.
-For such a will must have for its support the fully developed form of
-the physical body. From the period of the second teething it begins
-to be a matter of making the etheric body, which is now developing,
-supply those powers to the physical body by which it can solidify its
-form and make itself firm. That which makes the most vivid impression
-upon the etheric body also reacts most forcibly upon the strengthening
-of the physical. And the strongest impulses are evoked in the etheric
-body through those perceptions and ideas by which a person feels and
-experiences his own relation to the everlasting Universe, that is
-to say, through religious experiences. The will, and along with it,
-the character, of a person will never develop healthily if he cannot
-experience at this epoch of life, profound religious impulses. The
-result of the uniform organisation of the will is that the person feels
-himself to be an organic fragment of the whole world. If the person
-does not feel himself to be indissolubly connected with a Supreme
-Spirit, then must the will and character remain unstable, discordant
-and unhealthy.
-
-The emotional nature is developed in the right direction by means of
-the allegories and sense-pictures already described, and especially by
-all which, whether from history or from other sources, presents to us
-the figures of persons with character. An absorption in the mysteries
-and beauties of Nature is also of importance in the upbuilding of the
-emotional world. And here it is particularly well to consider the
-culture of the sense of beauty, and the awakening of the feeling for
-what is artistic. Music should supply that rhythm to the etheric body
-which then enables it to perceive in everything the rhythm otherwise
-concealed. A young person will be deprived of much in all his after
-life, who does not receive at this period the benefit of cultivating
-the musical sense. To him in whom this sense is altogether lacking,
-a certain aspect of the Universe must remain hidden. Nor should,
-however, the other arts be, by any means neglected. The awakening of
-the sense for architectural form, as also for plastic shape, for line,
-design and harmony of color—not one of these ought to be omitted in
-the plan of education. So simply, perhaps, might all this be done,
-under special circumstances, that the objection that circumstances
-allow of no development at all in this direction can never be valid.
-One can do much with the simplest means, if the right sense in this
-direction prevails in the teacher himself. The joy of life, the love
-for existence, the strength to work—all these arise for the whole
-being, out of the cultivation of the sense of beauty and art. And the
-relations of man to man—how ennobled and how beautiful will they become
-through this sense! The moral sense, which will, at this period, be
-developed by pictures of life and by standard authorities, will also
-gain a certain stability if, through the sense of beauty, the good is
-recognized as beautiful and the bad as ugly.
-
-Thought in its own shape, as an inner life of distilled ideas, must,
-at the period in question, be kept in the background. It must develop
-spontaneously, as it were, uninfluenced from without, while the soul
-is nourished by means of similes and pictures representing life and
-the mysteries of nature. Thus, in the midst of the other experiences
-of the soul between the seventh year and the time of puberty, thought
-must grow and the faculty for judgment be matured, so that after a
-successful puberty the person becomes capable of forming his own
-opinions concerning the matters of life and knowledge, with complete
-independence. Indeed, the less one works directly upon the critical
-faculty, and the more one works indirectly through the development
-of the other spiritual powers, the better will it be for the whole
-after-life of the person concerned.
-
-Occult science lays down the principles, not only for the spiritual
-side of education, but also for the purely physical. Thus, to give
-a characteristic example, let us consider gymnastics and children’s
-games. Just as love and joy must permeate the environment during the
-first years of childhood, so too the growing etheric body must be
-taught really to experience from bodily exercise a feeling of its own
-expansion, of its ever increasing strength. For instance gymnastic
-exercises ought to be so carried out that with every movement, with
-every step, the feeling rises in the inner self of the boy or girl:
-“I feel increasing power within me.” And this feeling should manifest
-itself within as a healthy delight, as a sensation of pleasure. For
-the devising of gymnastic exercises, in this sense, it is of course
-necessary to possess more than a merely intellectual knowledge of
-the human body, anatomically and physiologically. It is necessary to
-possess a close intuitive and sympathetic knowledge of the relation
-of joy and comfort to the postures and movements of the human body.
-The formulator of such exercises ought himself to experience how
-one movement or posture of the limbs will produce a pleasant and
-comfortable sensation, but another a loss of strength, and so forth. A
-belief that gymnastics and bodily exercises can be cultivated in this
-direction is one that can only be supplied to the educator by occult
-science, or, above all, by a mind sympathetic to such thought. One
-does not even require the power of vision in the spiritual worlds,
-but only the inclination to apply to life what has been given out by
-occultism. If, especially in such practical departments as this of
-education, occult knowledge were applied, then all the useless talk of
-how this knowledge has yet to be proved would straightway cease. For
-to him who should rightly apply it, this knowledge would itself be a
-proof through the whole of life by making him healthy and strong. By
-such means he would perceive, through and through, that it is true in
-actual practice, and this he would find a better proof than any manner
-of “logical” and so-called “scientific” reasons. One can best know
-spiritual truths by their fruits, and not through a pretended proof,
-however scientific, for such could hardly be anything more than a
-logical skirmishing.
-
-At puberty the astral body is first born. With the free outward
-development which follows, all that which is unfolded by the world
-of externalised perceptions, by one’s judgment and the unfettered
-understanding, will first rush inward upon the soul. It has already
-been mentioned that these faculties of the soul, hitherto uninfluenced
-from within, ought to be developed by the right management of
-educational means, just as unconsciously as the eyes and ears evolve
-themselves in the womb. But with puberty the time has arrived when the
-person is ready to form his own judgment concerning the things which
-he has hitherto learned. No greater injury can be inflicted on any one
-than by too soon awakening within him his own judgment. One should
-only judge when one has already stored up the necessary qualifications
-for judging and comparing. If, before this, one creates one’s own
-independent opinions, then these will have no sure foundations. All
-one-sidedness in life, all dreary “confessions of faith” which are
-based upon a few mere scraps of knowledge, and the desire to judge from
-these human conceptions that have been approved through long ages of
-time, rest upon just such mistakes in education. Before qualified to
-think, one must place before oneself, as a warning, what others have
-thought. There is no sound thinking which has not been preceded by a
-sound perception of the truth supported by obvious authority. If one
-wishes to follow out these principles of education, one must not allow
-people, at too early an age, to fancy themselves able to judge, for in
-avoiding this, one will leave them the possibility of allowing life
-to work upon them from every side, and without prejudice. For by one
-such judgment, which is not founded on the precious basis of spiritual
-treasures, he who makes it will have placed a stumbling-block in the
-path of his life. For if one has pronounced a judgment on any subject,
-one will always be influenced by having done so; one will no longer
-regard an experience as one might have regarded it, if one had not
-erected an opinion which is henceforth intertwined with the subject
-in question. In young people the disposition to learn first and then
-to judge, should be present. That which the intellect has to say of
-a certain subject ought only to be said when all the other powers of
-soul have spoken; before that the intellect ought only to play the
-part of mediator. It should only serve to lay hold of what is seen and
-felt, to apprehend it as it there exists, without allowing the unripe
-judgment to take possession of the matter. Therefore the youth ought
-to be shielded from all the theories concerning a thing, before the
-above-mentioned age, and it should be especially emphasized that he
-should face the experiences of life in order to admit them into his
-soul. A growing individual can certainly be made acquainted with what
-people have thought concerning this or that, but one should avoid
-letting him form opinions which arise from a premature judgment. He
-should receive opinions with the feelings, without deciding at once for
-one view or the other, not attaching himself to a party, but thinking,
-as he listens: “One has said this, and the other that.” Before all
-things a large measure of tact is necessary in the cultivation of
-this sense by teachers and guardians, but occult knowledge is exactly
-calculated to supply such tact.
-
-It has only been possible to develop here a few aspects of education
-in the light of Occultism, but it has only been intended to give a
-hint as to what problems of civilisation this philosophy will have to
-solve. Whether it can do so depends on whether the inclination for such
-a way of thinking henceforth broadens out in ever widening circles.
-In order that this may take place, two things are necessary: first,
-that people should abandon their prejudice against Occultism. He who
-will truly associate himself with it, will soon see that it is not
-the fantastical trash which so many today imagine it to be. This is
-not intended as a reproach to such people, for everything which our
-time offers as a means of education must, at first, engender the view
-that occultists are fantastics and dreamers. On the surface any other
-view is hardly possible, for there appears to be the most complete
-diversity between what is known as Occult Science or Theosophy, and all
-that the culture of the present day suggests as the principles for a
-healthy view of life. Only a deeper consideration reveals to us how
-entirely in opposition the views of the present must remain without
-these principles of occult science—how, indeed, they themselves call
-out these very principles and in the long run cannot remain without
-them. The second thing that is necessary is connected with the sound
-development of Theosophy itself. Life will only welcome Theosophy, if
-in theosophical circles the knowledge is made to permeate everywhere
-that it is important to make these teachings bear fruit in the widest
-manner for all conditions of life, and not merely to theorize about
-them. Otherwise people will continue to look upon Theosophy as a kind
-of religious sectarianism, only fit for some fanatical enthusiasts. But
-if it performs positive useful spiritual work, then the theosophical
-movement cannot, in the long run, be refused an intelligent hearing.
-
-FOOTNOTES
-
-[1] “_The Way of Initiation_,” or How to Attain Knowledge of the Higher
-Worlds,“ by Rudolph Steiner, Ph.D., with a Foreword by Annie Besant,
-and some biographical Notes of the author by Edouard Schuré. Second
-edition, 237 pages, cloth, crown 8vo, 3/10 post free.
-
-“_Initiation and its Results._” A sequel to “The Way of Initiation.”
-Second edition. 3/9 post free. To be obtained from the Theosophical
-Publishing Society, 161 New Bond Street, London, W.
-
-
-[2] This distinction is important, for the ideas of the present time
-with regard to this subject are rather inaccurate. The difference
-between the vegetable and the creature gifted with the power of
-sensation is completely lost sight of, because the essential
-characteristic of sensibility is not clearly defined. When a being (or
-an object) responds to an exterior impression by showing any effect
-whatever, it is inaccurate to conclude that this impression has been
-felt. To bear out this conclusion the impression must be experienced
-inwardly, that is to say, the outside stimulus must produce a kind
-of interior reflection. The great progress of natural science, which
-a true Theosophist must sincerely admire, has thrown our abstract
-vocabulary into confusion. Some of our biologists are ignorant of the
-characteristics of sensibility, and thus accredit it to beings who are
-devoid of it. Sensibility such as is comprehended by those biologists,
-can, it is true, be attributed to organisms deprived of it. But what is
-understood by Theosophy as sensibility is a totally different quality.
-
-[3] A distinction must be made between the conscious inner life of the
-astral body and the perception of this life by outward clairvoyant
-observation. Here this latter perception by a trained clairvoyant is
-intended.
-
-
-[4] The reader need not object to the technical term “Body of the
-ego,” because there is nothing of gross physical matter meant by it,
-but occult science being forced to employ the vocabulary of ordinary
-language, the words applied to Theosophy ought from the outset to be
-taken in a spiritual sense.
-
-
-[5] The terms “Spirit-Self”, “Life-Spirit” and “Spirit-Man” need not
-mystify the reader; they stand for those transmutations of our grosser
-bodies which are the results of conscious effort and pure aspirations;
-they form, in other words, the Higher Trinity, called in Eastern
-terminology: Manas, Buddhi and Atma, respectively. (Trans.)
-
-[6] Were these affirmations to be wrongly interpreted, the objection
-might be raised that a child before cutting his second teeth is not
-deprived of memory, and that before reaching the age of puberty, he
-possesses the inherent faculties of the astral body. It must not be
-forgotten that the etheric and astral bodies are in existence from the
-moment of physical birth, although surrounded by the protecting shell
-described. It is precisely this envelope, protecting the etheric body,
-which permits of a remarkably good memory before the cutting of the
-second teeth. The existence of physical eyes in the embryonic being,
-concealed in the womb of the mother, is analogous. And in the same way
-that the physical eyes sheltered from all external influence do not
-owe their development to the physical sunlight, so also education from
-without should not intervene before the cutting of the second teeth in
-the training of the memory. Very much to the contrary, the spontaneous
-growth of the memory will be noticeable, provided there is food for it
-within reach, and no attempt be made to train it by means of exterior
-methods.
-
-This observation applies equally to the qualities belonging to the
-astral body before puberty. Provision should be made for their
-training, but bearing in mind that this body is still encompassed by a
-protecting shell. It is something wholly different to take care of the
-germs which are in process of development within the astral body before
-puberty and to expose the freed astral body _after_ puberty to what
-it can assimilate in the outer world, _without_ the protecting shell.
-This distinction is certainly very subtle, but without its careful
-consideration the whole significance of education cannot be understood.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Transcriber's Notes
-
-Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other
-spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
-
-The half title immediately before the title page has been removed.
-
-Italics are represented thus _italic_.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's The Education of Children, by Rudolf Steiner
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN ***
-
-***** This file should be named 55586-0.txt or 55586-0.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/5/8/55586/
-
-Produced by Chris Curnow, Les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
-  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
-  are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
-    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-    Chief Executive and Director
-    gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-