Waldorf High School Main Lesson: The Word

We begin by exploring the power and origin of sounds and words. It is fascinating to see the impact that sound has on the material world as witnessed by the use of Chladni Plates in science or the images recorded by Dr Emoto’s experiments on the molecular structure of water. We will experience the personal impact of ancient Sanskrit mantras and realise that as children we ask about our own births but as young adults we question how everything came to be.

We will explore the ancient mythologies of the world during this course, discovering parallels in many of the ancient civilizations – exploring tales from the Old Testament, the Indian Vedas, Chinese I Ching, Mesopotamia’s Gilgamesh, The Torah and the Quran. Each student will have the opportunity to research and present the creation myth of a different culture, you will also invent your very own creation mythology.

In Section 4 we steep ourselves in Ancient Greek mythology. We will unpack the Olympian pantheon as examples of archetypes and identify our own strengths and challenges in them. Each student chooses a God or Goddess that resonates with them and creates a collage.

We become familiar with Homer and his epic of the ten year Trojan War as recorded in “The Iliad,” we then launch into the remarkable journey of Odysseus and explore our own lives as examples of The Hero’s Journey. As we study and reflect on “The Odyssey,” journaling at every turn, we face our fears and make peace with the masculine and feminine aspects of ourselves as symbolised by the various magical creatures Odysseus encounters during his ten years wandering.

In our final section we trace the many tributaries of the English language, beginning some 100 000 years ago! We see how each new culture brought something to bear, from the Gaelic speaking Celts, to the Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, Normans and eventually how the language mysteriously evolved without the assistance of invasions.

We beat out the rhythm of Old English in “Beowulf” and sing-song through the bawdy Middle English of some of Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” eventually enjoying the birth of Modern English in Shakespeare’s writing. You will come to experience English as a World Language that is always evolving.

All reading material is included in the Resources. I have included MP3s of all my lectures should you prefer to listen rather than watch, although some include slides. All you need is a dedicated journal.