Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

We are pulled between two powerful forces. One seeks to lead us offthe earth, to live in fantasy, happily ever after, where life lacks importance,and personal happiness is the only objective. The other force locks us to theearth, denies the existence of the spirit, espouses behaviorism instead of trueeducation, and offers instant packaged solutions for every situation.It becomes obvious how etheric geography affects human cultureand vise versa. We begin to understand why Rudolf Steiner placed suchimportance on connecting geography and history.ConclusionRudolf Steiner indicated that, in the future, the study of geographywould prove as fruitful to the understanding of human destiny as the studyof the stars has been in the past. It is my hope that this essay will contributetoward thinking of the earth etherically as a living being and will help peopleunderstand their individual social situations through examining their localsurroundings and gain a true sense of place.Humanity must come to terms with what comes from the Earth. TheEarth produces forces that can overwhelm you and can create a one-sidednessif you do not meet what comes toward you with wakeful consciouness.Practical ExerciseThe exercise that follows is intended to bring about geographicalconsciousness and an understanding of the effects of environment on oursocial striving. Increased consciousness allows us to meet our “geographicplace” in a new way. Increased awareness allows us to rise above environmentalforces. While I created this for Waldorf school communities, it can beused by any individual or group who would like to recreate a relationshipto locality.The exercise is fairly simple. In general, you:1. Spend time to study your particular place where you arestriving.2. Find out where you are.3. Identify the human experience of your area. Create acharacterization of the problems.4. Determine what the one-sidedness in your local picture is.5. Decide what you need to work on to balance things out.Once you bring consciousness to the challenges, you will be on thepathway toward overcoming them. Specifically, a study group would write48