Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

OklahomabyJoe GlosemeyerIn his “Epistle to Burlington,” Alexander Pope advises us to “consultthe genius of the place in all.” Rudolf Steiner tells us that the forces of theliving earth “influence the human being in various ways according to thegeographical formation.” He has also pointed out that it was the ethericgeography of Tintagel that inspired King Arthur and his knights in their missions.With this background, the following considerations are offered in thehope of stimulating a conversation that will shed light on this “genius”—inthis particular case, the one for Oklahoma.Rudolf Steiner has said that the human body and the world around itare related as microcosm to macrocosm. Close examination reveals the samecare that has formed the body as a temple of the spirit has also formed thegeography as a temple for a chosen people. Work on the temple for Oklahomansfirst emerged from the primeval waters during the Paleozoic age.At a time when most of the North American continent was coveredby a shallow sea, an island known as the Ozark Dome emerged in the middleof this sea. Land in northeastern Oklahoma is a part of that formation. Later,new formations began to appear in southern Oklahoma. Limestone depositswere buckled upward to a height of two miles. Today, what remains ofthat effort is known as the Arbuckle Mountains. During the same period,west of the Arbuckles, granite peaks emerged, now known as the WichitaMountains. Another region arose from the sea during the Permian period:the sandstone ridges of the Ouachita Mountains made their appearance tothe east of the Arbuckles. These three ranges, the Arbuckles, the Wichitasand the Ouachitas, stretch across southern Oklahoma almost from border toborder, the only mountains in this country that run east and west in alignmentwith the solar forces.68