Has Steiner Really Endorsed the Present
Global Vaccination Campaign?

By Brane Žilavec, Easter 2021

In the present time we are not only witnessing the unprecedented push to vaccinate all humanity against SARS-CoV-2 virus (the existence of which has never been scientifically proven), [1] but we are also witnessing the largest medical experiment in human history into which people are tricked without informed consent. [2] This doesn’t refer only to the use of experimental genetically modified vaccines (mRNA vaccines), but to the fact that due to immense rush to produce new vaccines there was simply not enough time to perform all stages of trials which usually take about five years. [3] For that reason alone all those people who are receiving the vaccine are participating in an experiment, the outcome of which will be known only in future. In spite of this people are constantly assured that new vaccines have passed rigorous safety tests and that “the standard for testing and monitoring vaccines is higher than for most other medicines, because they are unusual in the medical world in that they are put into the bodies of healthy people, especially healthy children.” [4] And Bill Gates has even exhibited some prophetic qualities, for he already knows that the new GM vaccines have been a great success. [5]

Due to these and many other good reasons, many people don’t trust the official explanations about the origin and reasons for the present ‘pandemic’ and the need for vaccination. On the other side we have many people who are seeing vaccines as the only solution to get out of the present ‘pandemic’. The outcome of all this is an increasing polarisation into two camps: the supporters and the opponents of vaccination.

One might expect that this polarisation is not present (with some exceptions) among the members of the anthroposophical movement for they have at their disposal the source of wisdom which can overcome very different views of such important questions as is the question of human health. At least one could expect that this crisis would spur an intensive social dialogue among the anthroposophists and especially among the anthroposophic medical staff – because “individual anthroposophic physicians, just as conventional physicians and other practitioners, have various personal opinions about the utility of vaccinations.” [6]

In spite of all these facts which call for a sceptical approach – or at least some serious reservation – the representatives of the International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA) and the Medical Section at the Goetheanum – or anthroposophic ‘policy makers’ (as they call themselves) – are welcoming “the development of safe and effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in the hope that they will play an important role in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic.”

But this was not yet the end of unexpected surprises, for they are also supporting the goal to vaccinate the whole global population [7] – with the exception of children – with new Covid vaccines on the basis of voluntary informed consent. They agree that “SARS-CoV-2 vaccines must be available and accessible worldwide” and for that purpose they “call for more solidarity and cooperation among countries” [8] to ensure that also the poorer countries will be capable of vaccinating their population. [9]

The social aspect:
Do not be fanatical in the matter of vaccination

Let’s start with the question: Is there any argument in Steiner’s work that would support such obvious inclination in favour of vaccination? There is one short passage from a conversation on smallpox vaccination (from a workshop held during a conference for doctors in Dornach in 1924) which seems to give an argument for a pro-vaccine position of anthroposophic doctors. In this workshop there was raised the following question: “Where I live the effect of education and so on is very difficult, so what should I do about it?” [10]

Steiner’s answer was: “Well, in such situations you have to vaccinate. There’s nothing for it. Not for medical reasons but on general anthroposophical grounds I would emphatically not recom­mend any fanatical opposition to vaccination. We are not aiming to put up a fanatical opposition to these things; what we want to do is change things in an overall way by means of insight. With any physicians who are friends of mine I have always made known my opposition to acting fanatically, for example in the case of Dr Asch who abso­lutely insisted on not vaccinating. I have always been against this attitude. If one doctor doesn’t vaccinate, well then, another will. It is entirely absurd to act fanatically in isolation.” [11]

Let’s look on this description in more detail. Steiner has expressed his objection to fanatical opposition to vaccination in the cases when doctor resist to vaccinate those who wish to be vaccinated. For only in such a case will people find another doctor who will then vaccinate. However, this doesn’t mean general endorsement of all vaccination campaigns without thorough understanding of the reasons for their implementation. Steiner is clearly saying that things need to be guided by means of insight and not on the basis of dogmatic positions which do not take into account all possible benefits and dangers of vaccination.

Such an approach to the questions of vaccination shouldn’t be expected only from those who are opposed to vaccination, but also from those who speak or write in favour of it. But if we compare the manner of argumentation of viewpoints among anti-vaccine and pro-vaccine advocates in the present campaign of vaccination against the new coronavirus we find much more fanaticism among the proponents. For example, if the vaccines are really so safe and effective as the proponents are assuring us, then there would not exist any need for censorship and slandering of critics in media and internet platforms which is the modern variant of the burning of the books and prosecution of heretics in the medieval times.

Besides, we cannot simply transfer the almost 100 years old Steiner’s recommendation that “on general anthroposophical grounds” we should not express “any fanatical opposition to vaccination” to the present situation without serious critical evaluation of all circumstances in comparison to those that existed in his time. For this is not consistent with the following warning by Steiner: “Today the view is still widespread that there can be sentences which one forms and which can then be spoken on any occasion, because they have absolute validity. In reality, for our life in the present, there are no longer such sentences. Every sentence that is possible in a certain connection, is today impossible in another connection. That means, we have entered upon an epoch of humanity’s development in which we need to direct our view to this many-sidedness of living situations.” [12]

And the living conditions in Steiner’s time were in many aspects quite different from the present one. For example, at that time there was still a strong memory of millions of deaths in the Spanish flu pandemic while in the last few decades we are dealing mainly with attempts of the pharmaceutical industry to create new epidemics for the sake of increasing profits – as has been presented in the book Virus Mania. Besides, we have now much more serious health problems with the constant increase of non-communicable diseases than with all communicable-disease combined. This is evident from the following chart which shows deaths by cause in the world from 1990 to 2017: [13]

In the present crisis there is also coming to the surface an increasing amount of evidence about the extraordinary extent of corruption inside those systems whose basic task is to protect the public health and wellbeing: the political, scientific, medical, legal and media/information systems. [14] For sure this situation cannot be compared with the extent of corruption the hundred years ago.

It is interesting that Steiner has already in his time mentioned the negative impacts of the medical regulations which are one of the key tools for the control of the population in the present crisis. While speaking about the guidelines for treatments of children with special needs he said: “In dealing with adult mental patients you will not be able to apply the guidance in the same way; for something extraneous comes in there – namely, the law. And the moment you have to reckon with factors other than those that arise out of the nature of the case, the moment you have to do with hard and fast laws, the thing becomes unworkable. For what the law lays down cannot be individual in its application, it has to be general. So far as treatment of abnormal human beings is concerned, the law is a veritable poison. It is there in the world, however, and you have to reckon with it. The things of which we are speaking here cannot be applied fanatically; you have to let them percolate into life, in ways that are possible and practicable.” [15]

In the present crisis we have more than enough evidence of the ‘poisoning effect’ of bad medical regulations that are imposed upon population without any social dialogue. Such an authoritarian approach is the outcome of the extreme dominance of pharmaceutical corporations which would like if possible to take away even our basic human right to choose if we want to have a specific medical intervention or not.

Let’s look just at one example of how Big Pharma dictates the national health priorities. The NHS in Great Britain has committed to purchase Covid-19 vaccines from the US for an agreed price of around 35 billion pounds on the basis of pre-negotiated pandemic vaccine contracts that a number of wealthy countries have with vaccine manufacturers. [16] In the previous years the Big Pharma in the US had an annual income of about 50 billion dollars (35 billion pounds) while in the 1950s earnings were about 270 millions dollars. [17] This means that American pharmaceutical companies will now earn the same amount of money from single country as was before earned from all countries in the world.

Now, if we compare this amount with 150 billion pounds which includes costs of all other health services combined this is already a huge amount of money for one single disease! But beside vaccines there is also the cost of PCR tests and all the rest. In the above chart [18] we can see that the total costs of Covid-19 will be more than 70 billion pounds – that is almost half of the NHS budget in the year 2019/20!!

One reason why so many people are still believing in media propaganda is that “in regard to conditions of the times, people are strongly inclined not actually to touch reality but to take things according to what suits them. Forming a judgment that is really objective is, naturally, not so easy as forming one which aims most directly toward easy formulation. Judgments that are objective are not readily reduced to formulas; especially when they take hold of the social, the human, or the political life, because in these fields the opposite of what is assumed is almost always true. Only when the effort is made not to form any kind of judgment regarding such relationships, but to form pictures – in other words, when we ascend to the imaginative life – shall we take the path which is approximately right. In our epoch it is of special importance to make the effort to form pictures, not really abstract, isolated judgments.” [19]

All kinds of fanaticism are based on isolated judgments and one-sided truths which are taking possession of those who passionately believe in them. But such an approach doesn’t lead to a true understanding of any disputed issue, including the issue of vaccination that has come to the fore in the present crisis with such force. For “truth cannot be gained from an understanding that seeks to encompass an object in a single glance, but only from putting together the true views resulting from different perspectives.” [20] And this is what is really lacking in many conclusions and judgments about various aspects of the present ‘corona pandemic’, including in the anthroposophical ones.

For all these reasons I assume that in the present situation Steiner might well say that “it is entirely absurd to fanatically support the effort to vaccinate all people in the world with new Covid-19 vaccines, [21] for there are already enough people with blind faith in the system of medicine that relies on illusory promises of ‘eternal health’ while we are simultaneously witnessing apocalyptic increases of diseases. We have a medical system which does not build upon the innate healing powers of individuals, but instead enslaves people to long-term dependency on drugs from birth to death. This is the sin against the human freedom and proper spiritual development of humanity. What we really urgently need is renewal of education, medicine, nutrition and agriculture by means of spiritual science. And in the social realm we urgently need the renewal of the existing social structures by means of social threefolding.”

However there is little hope that we can achieve the renewal of the medical system without establishing alliances with all people and movements – including the anti-vaccine movements – which are opposing authoritarian and corrupt system of governance that limits or suppress our right for free choice of medical therapies. For our main power is in the number of people who are willing to unite in common fight for what they consider the core ideals of human existence. As the experiences in the present ‘corona pandemic’ are showing we are already in the midst of this fight between those who want to take even more control of our lives from what they already have, and those who are opposing them. And due to the present crisis caused by the deeds of those people who are part of the existing undemocratic and unhealthy system of decision-making, we can also witness the emergence of new initiatives, movements and alliances that aim to establish a more healthy society in the realm of human health and in the realm of social structures.

Therefore the question that arises is: On which side of this intensified battle will be the members of anthroposophic medicine and other members of the anthroposophic movement?

Anthroposophic Pro-Vaccine Statements as Modern ‘Papal Bulls’

Another question which can be raised in regard to the two pro-vaccine statements of IVAA and the Medical Section at the Goetheanum is: Would Steiner – if he was still president of the Anthroposophical Society – approved such action? The answer is quite simple: There is nothing in the essential revelations of spiritual science to support such a deed!

On the contrary, there are enough well-founded reasons as to why the members of the anthroposophical movement should not issue such statements – even in a case where they contained only indisputable claims. Steiner’s approach was based on the principle that “the spiritual scientist is obliged to state the truth of things. His attitude must never be agitatorial, and he must be confident that when a person has perceived the truth of what he says, he will then proceed to do the right thing” [22] or he will continue with doing the wrong thing if  he is not yet able to grasp the truth.

This attitude is the only one suitable for the present time, the age of the consciousness soul when one of the main tasks of humanity is to develop ethical individualism in the atmosphere of absolute freedom of cultural life. [23] Since the human being is now in the process of emancipation from the old hierarchical structures “he can no longer expect directions from above. There are no temples any more that give such directions. Neither can the Goetheanum be expected to give directions. Only the individual is left.” [24]

People need to find their own way in the confusion of the present time, for “man can never become a free being unless his actions have their source in those ideas which are rooted in the intuitions of the single individual. This ethical individualism only recognises as the final goal of man’s moral development what is called the free spirit, which struggles free of the constraint of natural laws and all conventional moral norms” [25] that are issued by outer authorities.

When we fully understand this ethical principle then it becomes obvious that any form of guidelines which are used to force people to “the most suitable” behaviour goes against the imperative that we regard “the Will-element, and everything in another person’s subconscious, as something which should on no account be intruded upon; it must be regarded as his innermost sanctuary. We need consider only how unpleasant to a healthy soul-life is the feeling that the Will of another man is being put under compulsion.” We should always keep in mind that “the only healthy way to gain influence over another person’s Will is through cognition. Cognition should be the means whereby one soul comes to an understanding with another. A person must first translate his wishes into a conceptual form; then they may influence another person’s cognition, and they should touch his Will only by this indirect route. Nothing else can be satisfactory in the highest, most ideal sense to a healthy life of soul.” [26]

For there is only “one authority to which we should submit ourselves willingly and of our own free will, and that is the authority of truth, so that all we can achieve, not only in what we say but also in what we do, in all our individual deeds, may be permeated by truthfulness.” [27] This means that one needs to explain on the basis of good arguments why he or she thinks that people should be vaccinated and then leave it to them to decide if these arguments suffice or not.

If there was any real need for a statement about vaccination, then representatives of IVAA and the Medical Section should just explain why each individual anthroposophic doctor and other members of staff need to decide if they support or do not support the present vaccination campaign against Covid-19.

However, by issuing pro-vaccine statements the anthroposophic ‘policy makers’ have intervened into or interfered with the “innermost sanctuary” of free Will of other members of the medical sector. Such intervention is nothing less than the modern version of the issuing of papal bulls in the Middle Ages in which clear instructions about proper moral behaviour in regard to various life controversies were given to the faithful. By issuing the pro-vaccine statements they demonstrated the unwillingness to follow the principle that the issue of “human freedom must be placed by us today in the centre of each and every true spiritual-scientific consideration.” [28] For “it is important today for anthroposophy to be presented in such a way as to be based to the smallest possible extent on belief in authority. In this age of intellectualism, we should not appeal to people’s belief in authority but to their capacity for intelligent examination.” [29]

One can wonder if “anthroposophic institutions, Waldorf schools, medical clinics, and the Anthroposophical Society and its branches will actively, openly, and positively support what the Medical Section at the Goetheanum is calling for: informed consent for all, support of the importance and scientific necessity of a non-vaccinated population, and resistance against this vaccine being given to children and among schooling communities, for whom it is entirely unnecessary and could have devastating effects?” [30]

This is far too little for what all anthroposophic institutions and sections of the Anthroposophical Society should be doing in regard to vaccination if they were to grasp the essence of the spiritual battle of the present time. [31] For “spiritual science is a new sap of life, and humanity needs such new sap from time to time.” Spiritual science is “not just knowledge and doctrine, but also a force of life and a substance of our soul. Seen in this light, spiritual science is capable of working in life in such a way that it frees human beings from cares and worries. And that is how it has to work in our time, for it owes its existence not to arbitrariness, but to the knowledge that it is needed.” If we make enough effort then “spiritual knowledge will be medicine for our soul.” And by means of this medicine “all discord and all disharmonies of life will disappear when opposed by the harmonious thoughts and feelings” stimulated by revelations of all-encompassing spiritual wisdom. [32]

If one wonders why members of the anthroposophical movement have not yet reached a state of “the harmonious thoughts and feelings” in regard to the present corona pandemic and vaccination – by means of modern mystery wisdom in the form of anthroposophy – then we might find one indication of possible reason in the fact that only “if men make their opinions more inward, then they come to a common opinion. It is a matter of inner experience, for example, that three times three makes nine, or that the three angles of a triangle make up 180 degrees. That is inner knowledge, and matters of inner knowledge need not be argued about. Of such a kind also are all spiritual truths. What is taught by spiritual science is discovered by men through their inner powers; along the inward path men will be led to absolute agreement and unity. There cannot be two opinions about a fact without one of them being wrong. The ideal lies in the greatest possible inwardness of knowledge that leads to peace and to unity.” [33]

As members of anthroposophical movement “we must understand that wisdom is the same for all.” The fact that we still disagree about many things demonstrates that we “have not yet found the way of coming together in one and the same wisdom. We will be able to do so if we truly apply ourselves to this wisdom and grow as individual as possible. If we find the spirit of the wisdom that is the same for all we will get out of the habit of saying: That’s the way I see it; that’s my point of view. We have to understand that there is no particular point of view when it comes to the wisdom that is the same for all, that having a point of view means that one has not yet progressed far enough” [34] in the study of anthroposophical spiritual science.

For complementary perspectives on vaccination see:

The Grand Delusion of the Materialistic Approach to Artificial Immunization

Why Is Anthroposophic Medicine Taking an Official Pro-Vaccination Stance?

The Spiritual Impacts of Vaccines and Mineral Drugs on the Future Evolution of Humanity

For more articles about the ‘corona pandemic’ see:
Burning Questions of Health & Disease

   NOTES

  1. There is a good description of the difference between real and fake isolation of the virus in Statement on Virus Isolation by Dr. Tom Cowan (an anthroposophic doctor), Sally Fallon Morell, MA, and Dr. Andrew Kaufman, MD.
  2. The practice of voluntary/informed consent is the outcome of the Nuremberg Code, a set of ethical principles for human experimentation, created as a result of the Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War. Therefore every medical experiment requires the explicit/written voluntary consent of each individual. For that reason all those who in the case of the Covid-19 vaccination withhold information that people participate in an experiment, are committing a criminal act. For example in the brochure NHS Covid-19 vaccination guide for older adults that is sent by post with an invitation to book coronavirus vaccine appointments there is no any warning that people are invited to participate in a vaccine experiment. Neither is this done in the phone call from the local NHS service.
  3. Usually the development of vaccines through testing and final approval for public use takes up to 5 years. The various vaccines for Covid have all been developed and approved in less than a year. This means that none of the vaccines have yet been subject to proper trials. Many of them skipped early-stage trials entirely, and the late stage human trials have either not been peer reviewed, have not released their data, will not finish until 2023 or were abandoned after ‘severe adverse effects’. Source: Kit Knightly, 5 Questions To Ask Your Friends Who Plan To Get The Covid Vaccine, Global Research, 18.02.2021
  4. Source: UK Parliament, Covid-19 Vaccination debate, 14.12.2021
  5. Bill Gates wrote on 27 January 2021 that “due to the success of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19” we will “see huge advances over the next five years in our ability to develop new vaccines.” Source: Bill and Melinda Gates, The year global health went local, 27.01.2021
  6. Ricardo R. Bartelme, MD, Anthroposophic Medicine: A Short Monograph and Narrative Review - Foundations, Essential Characteristics, Scientific Basis, Safety, Effectiveness and Misconceptions, 2020
  7. Beside Bill Gates there are many others who for various reasons promote the push for global vaccination. Among them are Tony Blair (known for his false claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq), Pope Francis (who calls opposition to Covid vaccine suicidal denial) and even Vladimir Putin (who has otherwise adopted much more sensible and moderate lockdown measures in Russia in comparison to EU, USA, Australia and China – but he still believes in the existence of a dangerous virus).
  8. The source of all quotes from IVAA and the Medical Section: Anthroposophic Medicine Statement on Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, Brussels and Dornach, 12 January 2021
  9. As some anthroposophists are showing surprising ignorance of the worldwide geopolitical realities, including in the so-called ‘poorer countries’, I recommend them to look at the mysterious disappearance and death of the “Covid-19 denying president” of Tanzania, John Magufuli. One can hardly imagine something like this happening in Europe, but in Africa, the Middle East, South America and South Asian countries it is still possible.
  10. Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 22.04.1924; On Epidemics, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011. The title of this extract is: Do not be fanatical in the matter of vaccination. In another translation there is given information that this report is based on “a transcript of fragmentary character.” 
  11. Same source as above
  12. Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 12.10.1921; The Art of Lecturing , www.rsarchive.org
  13. Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, Causes of Death, Our World in Data, December 2019. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) include cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and respiratory disease. Injuries include road accidents, homicides, conflict deaths, drowning, fire-related accidents, natural disasters and suicides.
  14. Just two examples of the control of Big Pharma: The mainstream media in US counts Big Pharma’s advertising revenue at up to 80 percent of their income. Big Pharma gave $2 billion dollars during the last election cycle to US politicians. Source: see first link in note 17
  15. Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 26.06.1924; Curative Education, www.rsarchive.org
  16. S: Gourcesary Heavin, The Great Covid-19 Deception and What You Need to Know to Survive,  The Unz Review, 10.07.2020; Helen Branswell, The last pandemic was a ‘quiet killer.’ Ten years after swine flu, no one can predict the next one, 11.06.2019
  17. Source: American documentary series The Truth about Vaccines, 2020
  18. Source: The NHS budget and how it has changed, 11.12.2020
  19. Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 06.12.1918, The Challenge of the Times, www.rsarchive.org. There are plenty of examples of forming pictures on my website. They are at the beginning of the introductory texts to an holistic approach to nutrition and the fundamental principles of nutrition. In the articles about the corona pandemic there is also one picture (The Opposition between the Disease and Health Promoting Impacts on the Human Being) that is more enlightening than innumerable details of materialistic medical science in regard to the question as to why people get ill.
  20. Rudolf Steiner, source unknown
  21. Bill Gates explained clearly his aim: “One of the questions I get asked the most these days is when the world will be able to go back to the way things were in December before the coronavirus pandemic. My answer is always the same: when we have an almost perfect drug to treat Covid-19, or when almost every person on the planet has been vaccinated against coronavirus.” Source: Mike Whitney, Is the Lockdown the Greatest Policy Disaster in U.S. History? 18.05.2020
  22. Rudolf Steiner, Munich, 08.01.1909; Problems of Nutrition, www.rsarchive.org
  23. For further explanation see Free Development of Ethical Individualism as the Key Impulse of the Present Age
  24. Manfred Schmidt-Brabant, The Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker, Temple Lodge, 1996
  25. Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 27.10.1918; From Symptom to Reality in Modern History, www.rsarchive.org
  26. Rudolf Steiner, Karlsruhe, 05.10.1911; From Jesus to Christ, www.rsarchive.org
  27. Rudolf Steiner, Munich, 25.08.1912; Initiation, Eternity and the Passing Moment, www.rsarchive.org
  28. Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, 14.08.1920; Spiritual Science as a Foundation for Social Forms, www.rsarchive.org
  29. Rudolf Steiner, Milan, 21.09.1911; Buddha and Christ, www.rsarchive.org
  30. Michael Givens, Deceptive Messengers, Anthroposophical Society Portland Branch Newsletter, February 2021
  31. New confirmation that the anthroposophic movement urgently needs to establish an alliance with the anti-vaccine movements and other human rights organisations is the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that made compulsory vaccination lawful! See Report: Gates & Soros NGOs control European court that ruled compulsory vaccines lawful, 9.04.2021
  32. Rudolf Steiner, Berlin, 25.05.1909; The Principle of Spiritual Economy, www.rsarchive.org
  33. Rudolf Steiner, Cologne, 07.06.1908; Ascension and Pentecost, www.rsarchive.org
  34. Rudolf Steiner, Berlin, 25.03.1907; Original Impulses for the Science of the Spirit , Completion Press, 2001