"Anyone who invokes their guardian angel, therefore, should beware. It may not be as fluffy and cuddly as you'd have it. It will protect you, yes - but only the 'you' who serves its plan for your self. It will guide you, certainly - but who knows what sojourn in the wilderness this might entail? And, because the personal daimon is, finally, grounded in the impersonal Ground of Being itself, you will inevitably be led way, way out of your depth."
W.B. Yeats: Mythologies (1959) Quoted at:  
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/90/angels_and_daimons.html (website link no longer valid)

Newcomer? Brand new? You are probably, and quite rightly, wondering what the dickens any of this has to do with Steiner Schools or Camphill.
It may be that most kids (and their parents) can complete the entire curriculum of Steiner/Waldorf and encounter no mention of any such topic. At least not unless some conflict has emerged since that does seem to be the trigger for Anthroposophy falling back on the esoterica that is more generally kept under wraps. Well, it does negate the necessity of evidence, and at a stroke shifts discussion to the realm of belief. So how does one proffer one's own viewpoint in the face of this? Learn the lingo.
Pages 'The Job' offers a link to a brief lexicon of New Age expressions, and 'Language' discusses some of the now  clichéd responses you questions will meet. Neither is comprehensive, but perhaps they offer something of a quick start.
Others, particularly those encountering the tighter, live-in communities such as Camphill might have heard hints and whispers indicating that we all have a Guardian Angel- at least until we reach age twenty-eight, by which time our individual "I" has incarnated, and our Guardian Angel departs.
This mention opens the door to more. Go deeper, and you will find that a whole panoply of supposed spiritual entities influence almost every aspect of "Principles of Rudolf Steiner. Spiritual hierarchies, elemental beings, medieval temperaments, and karma are all there. While you may think you have some understanding of such things, please bear in mind that we are now looking at esoteric significances.
This page largely focuses on Guardian Angels, and from there spiritual guardianship, as an indicator of how much more- and sometimes how much less- there is to such areas of study than meets the eye for most people. 
 
Do we hear yells of "nonsense"?
Try this precis from Skylark Books, an Anthroposophic publishing house:
"Based on his own personal experience and cognition, Rudolf Steiner spoke of angels and other spiritual beings as concrete reality. Their existence, he said, is a spiritual and scientific fact that can be researched and studied by a disciplined clairvoyance (as opposed to channelling/mediumship or visions)"
http://www.skylarkbooks.co.uk/Shop/media/Guardian_Angels.htm accessed 19/07/08
 
According to Skylark Steiner, needed do no more than turn to "his own personal experience and cognition", which doesn't exactly claim such revelations to have originated with Steiner, perhaps such an inference is there. Neither is there any hint of where else Steiner's 'spiritual and scientific fact' might have come from.
How about books, and his affinity with Theosophy before his 'excommunication' as described by Gary Lachman?(1)
One doesn't need to hold a university degree in the history of religions to see that Steiner, undoubtedly well read, did not divine any of this, he simply seems to have given the nod to Zarathustra, Dionysius the Areopagite and Saint Thomas Aquinas. They had it right -according to Steiner- much to their spiritual relief we can be sure. Mind you, it probably also indicates that the humblest of people of the cloth had it right too from way back when. It's even less of a big deal once one considers Steiner's claim to a previous incarnation as St.Thomas Aquinas, (see 'Steiner & Wegman'  page) so, one can argue that Steiner was doing no more than congratulating his own reflection so to speak. What were the odds of him disagreeing with St. Thomas?

How about reading the Patrick Harpur's Fortean Times Article in full? One article.From there, even those who have no extensive reading will have sufficient background to join the anthro conversations, and perhaps assume appropriate posturing if so inclined. There is also a good chance that having read this article, you will be au fait with all things spiritual to at least the same extent as many of the wannabe's you will encounter. 
You have your own thoughts, aspirations and gut-feelings. So do others, and some will assert a degree of something mystical to them: spirit guides, the ability to see elemental beings i.e. the undines, sylphs, salamanders and gnomes Steiner 'proved' existed.
Search your innermost. Can you be sure the thoughts there are not of a mystical nature. After all, we do all have a personal daimon (see From Angels to Daimons section of the Fortean Times article). So let's consider our own daimon- call him Sid. Why can't the stuff Sid feeds you be every bit as valid as that fed to your 'Spiritual Superior' at your anthro centre?
And so it goes. Read more at your leisure. Decide for yourself how far you are prepared to bend and buckle to those claiming spiritual superiority over you. Such things are crucial in anthro circles. 
 
 

 
 

As ever at this website, no attempt has been made to provide exhaustive information. Rather, the intention is to provide a sufficient base for visitors to read further and formulate their own questions, particularly when faced with a stance of 'it's spiritual, so you won't/don't understand', which can often be translated as "I haven't a clue how to answer that"
Finally, let's consider this:
"Ita Wegman crossed the threshold March 4, 1943 in Arlesheim, Switzerland. She was a dear friend, colleague and longtime soulmate of spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner. Ita Wegman and Rudolf Steiner woke to their previous karmic connections of former lifetimes. Steiner beckoned all those around him to wake up with a sense of urgency. After 1879, it is now possible to transcend individual thoughts and think with one's angel and the Archangel Michael - the ruling Time spirit from 1879 to 2179. Steiner said of Ita Wegman that she was the only one around him who could discern between the human and the God working in him."
 
http://www.soulebrations.com/ (website link no longer valid) accessed 06/07/08


Science or belief? Weigh it up. Draw your own conclusions: Read some Steiner, watch some Discovery Channel.
Or better still, ask Sid.


 

(1) Gary Lachman:Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work. Tarcher/Penguin, New York, 2007.p170
 
 
Published 20/07/08