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Click the links to find out more information about any topic.
What is First Class? It is Anthroposophy's precursor to holding Spiritual Guardianship! So there.
Let's look at the RS Archive Caveat again: "No person is qualified to form a judgment on the contents of this work, who has not acquired — through the School of Spiritual Science itself or in an equivalent manner recognized by the School of Spiritual Science — the requisite preliminary knowledge. Other opinions will be disregarded: the authors decline to take them as a basis for discussion." (see Home Page)
This is what Anthroposophy is driving at, and what you should understand in the unlikely event of 'First Class' even being mentioned until you are fairly well on the way with your acceptence of Anthroposophy process.
It may not be the leading lights of your particular centre who holds the blue card of 'First Class' training (for want of a better word), but if the centre seeks any formal affiliation with the greater Anthroposophical movement, then such so 'qualified' people will be the ultimate decision takers and arbiters of the centre.
With this little bit of info, weigh up for yourself the probabitlities of really having any discourse that might be described os open and meaningful.
Visitors might care to ponder the differences between initiation and simple training.
It is readily recognised that Anthroposophy is by no means alone in having an initiation rite as a requirement of progress to higher echelons.
However, one might wonder if initiation is appropriate for any organisation seeking to be in regular receipt of public funding combined with being left in a position of trust with vulnerable people.
While membership of The General Anthroposophical Society doesn't appear to be an absolute requirement for those seeking an active association with any "initiative" of Anthroposophy, those thinking about such an association might find it worthwhile to query the degree of initiation of the leading lights of the initiative in question.
It seems that while membership of the General Anthroposophical Society isn't all that difficult to achieve, First Class initiation is a different matter.
"First Class" is the first class or step of initiation devised by Rudolf Steiner in response to requests from young Anthroposophists who sought to get more out of their membership of The Anthroposophical Society. Second and third classes were to have been produced as well, but Steiner shuffled off his mortal coil before achieving this.
Interested people may struggle a bit with something like text books for medical students, but the texts are available to anyone, and so finding out more can be taken from there. Despite assurances from Anthroposophy that First Class information is available (in one case at least, quoting publication information) we have found this to be extremely difficult to obtain.
Should you be moved enough to source a de facto publicly available copy of this course, please, please forward that information: we really would like to stand demonstrably corrected on this.
An American fellow Survivor (see Further Information page: Waldorf-Anthroposophy-Steiner-Survivors-Only) formerly quite heavily involved with Anthroposophy has kindly offered the following observations and recollections of First Class:-
"It is the next step towards being able to have clairvoyant vision into the spirit world and is a course on how to do this. You must be mentored by another member who has at least that level status and who is your direct guide. A man in my town has the actual books associated with this level of study.
I was told by a member of First Class that one applied to belong, but of course had to be approved based on his/her mentor, regional group head, and ASA (Anthroposophical Society of America) and of course, the Goetheanum (World Headquarters in Switzerland) itself to be approved...
The Spiritual Science (First Class course) books are definitely not available for public view and are guarded heavily by the few who own them. They are blue green and quite large.
The man who heads the Anthroposophical study group in my town owns them and I have seen them, but wasn't allowed to "touch" it or read it freely on my own even in his presence. He read to me from it like a lecture.
Sheesh.
A really creepy experience to say the least, and pretty insulting really."
It should be noted that one can't even be considered for admission to First Class without a two-year membership of the General Anthroposophical Society in the first place.
You can make up your own mind if this is proper "preparation" or just softening up.
There will ever be people who crave whatever it is they percieve to accrue from a form of initiation.
That's ok: few of them seek public funding and some of them even make disbursements.
Nor do they seek to get in control of your kids.
You might wonder though just what you might unwittingly be committing your son, daughter, brother, sister or even yourself to supporting on taking up any offer of a place at whichever Anthroposophical initiative you have in mind.
It lies with you.
Best wishes that whatever you decide on, it works for you.
Published 12/02/06
Last revised 22/11/10
