An Emerging Anthroposophic Psychology

by William Bento, PhD

In recent years, William Bento worked with distinguished colleagues to establish a professional presence and training in North America for a psychology imbued with the insights of anthroposophy. The article that follows is one of his last; he passed on from a stroke on June 5th. — Editor

Introduction to an Anthroposophic Psychology

I will attempt to give an abbreviated view of the context out of which Rudolf Steiner brought forward his ideas in the Berlin lecture series of 1909, 1910 and 1911, now published and entitled, A Psychology of Body, Soul and Spirit. Its former title was Anthroposophy (wisdom of the body), Psychosophy (wisdom of the soul), and Pneumatosophy (wisdom of the spirit). If one lives with the idea that Steiner was taking every opportunity to address the origin, nature and destiny of humanity, many developmental aspects of his talks fall into place.

His view on cosmology was both anthropocentric and Christ centered. He wished to reveal the esoteric beginnings of humanity from the standpoint of the cosmos. Each time he told the cosmological story layers of insight were added to his book, Esoteric Science: An Outline. The telling of the story compelled the listener to enter into picture building, imagining what cannot be seen by the sensible eye. In fact, it prompted one’s “I” to develop an organ of supersensible cognition. We can simply refer to it as imaginative cognition. I need not elaborate on how Steiner refuted the “Big Bang Theory.” Rather than to speak of abstract forces Steiner brought the living being-ness of the Cosmos by introducing the many beings of the Spiritual Hierarchies who served the Godhead. Hence the origin of the human being does not begin in some primal soup, but within the imaginative powers of the Godhead wherein all manner of beings cooperated in a unity and for a divine purpose. Civilizations of our forefathers always told the stories of their relationship with the Cosmos, honored the many spiritual beings that participated in the human creation, and conducted rituals and ceremonies to invoke their continued participation in human evolution.

In this particular series of lectures Steiner addresses the nature of the Human Being, as he can be understood from the standpoint of the senses and from the phenomenological view of the soul. There is very little borrowing of ancient ideas about the soul nor is there much reference to modern concepts and formulations of the anatomy of the soul. Steiner attempts to bring a descriptive narrative of soul processes in which we are involved all the time. It is presented in a form that accentuates our own experiences and places them in a cohesive developmental context. And as such it bypasses the thorny dilemmas of theoretical and philosophical debates about the human soul. In today’s world there is a great deal of confusion, skepticism, and delusions about the nature of the human soul. The term “psyche” used by Freud had the meaning of soul. This term meant something much larger than the narrow meaning it has today. Soul meant a dimension that was both sacred and at the core of one’s character. Unfortunately, soul as used by Freud was translated into English as merely being mind. Although mind was in vogue in the Western world at the turn of the 20th century, it left out the greater dimension of the soul and its relationship with the cosmos. The whole birth of psychology suffers from a loss of a genuine understanding of soul. It has as a consequence been fraught with an intellectual convention of materialism. Fundamentally the soul has been abstracted from the spirit and driven deeper into the mechanisms of the body. In an approach to Anthroposophic Psychology realignment between body, soul, and spirit is sought for. This search is not for a new set of concepts to illuminate the realities of soul life, but to reinstate the heart of psychology. To state it succinctly, psychology offers us a path of knowing what lives as soul warmth and soul light when we take interest in each other’s lives. Psychology must not be relegated to an individual affair. It is a collective responsibility to create healthy conscious community that connects us to each other, to the endowment of the resources of the Earth, and to the wonders of the Cosmos.

Emphasis on the “I” as the spiritual executor of the soul is given a high premium in an anthroposophic paradigm. The “I” becomes the bearer of one’s destiny. It navigates through the karmic conditions set up by previous lives and contributes to the future course of humanity. But most important of all is its responsibility for imparting meaning to our individual development. In the realm of psychotherapy the “I” is the great transformer of our soul life. There the spirit must be found and be engaged with at the most profound level. Soul wisdom must be united with love for the spirit. When this attitude is fully embraced psychotherapy no longer becomes an intervention to alleviate pain and suffering, it becomes a means to bear and transform pain and suffering into wisdom and love. The path of Anthroposophic Psychotherapy and Counseling becomes a path of initiation, a path of self-education in the fullest sense of the word educare, to draw out one’s sense of destiny.

In "The Riddle of Humanity" (1916) Rudolf Steiner offers a schema that connected the twelve senses and seven life processes to the zodiac and the planets respectively. In the last 99 years there have been research and therapeutic practices within the anthroposophical movement that have given these correlations validity. And we can take heart that this work has been done. As we stand one year from the centennial of the lectures of "The Riddle of Humanity" we may take hope that a more thorough approach to applying this schema to the human soul may take place. Not in a prescriptive manner, but as a map to navigate the ever evolving terrain of the soul.

Ancient wisdom practices always had the cosmos in mind when any attempt at restoring health or intervening in a healing process was undertaken. But today, in world that has ignored the cosmos and relegated it to mere superstition and myth, we must rediscover the reality of living within the cosmos. Not only as we can determine it as the vast celestial space that enfolds us but as the dynamic realm of living forces that permeates the interior space within us. In the Psychosophy Seminars that took place from 2001 to 2004, preceded by five years of annual conferences exploring the mental health paradigm from an anthroposophical viewpoint, a group of us attempted to facilitate an experiential and cognitive learning of the innate relationship between cosmology and psychology.

The two individuals who were primarily responsible for crafting the Psychosophy Seminars curriculum went on to obtain higher accredited degrees and licensure in the field of psychology. James Dyson, MD, went through training in one of the foremost schools of Psychosynthesis in London and graduated with a Master’s degree, and I attended the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and graduated with a PhD in clinical psychology, procuring a license to practice in 2006. From the culmination of the Psychosophy Seminars to the present we have continued to collaborate on researching ways in which an Anthroposophic Psychology could fructify the mainstream psychologies, and particularly the transpersonal approaches to psychology that have acknowledged the spiritual nature of the human being. Although another cycle of Psychosophy Seminars could not take place there were a number of gatherings under the title of the Psychosophy Circle, wherein alumni met to support each other’s continued studies and research. Each meeting was followed by public workshops. Dr. Roberta Nelson, who attended and facilitated groups in the Psychosophy Seminars, joined Dr. Dyson and myself in co-presenting content. These events would not have been nearly as successful were it not for the insightful guidance of our eurythmists, Karen Derreamuax and Gillian Schoemaker, also graduates of the Psychosophy Seminars.

As time went on a most remarkable event occurred at a Medical Section conference in September 2012 in Dornach, Switzerland. A report on this conference can be found in full text at APANA [apana-services.org]. The conference addressed anthroposophical approaches in psychiatry, psychotherapy, and psychosomatics. During this time a group of psychotherapists met under the guidance of Ad and Henrietta Dekkers from Holland. At the conclusion of these meetings the International Federation of Anthroposophic Psychotherapy Associations was founded. I was fortunate to be in attendance and a founding member of IFAPA. It was not long after this event that I recognized the time for an accredited and/or certified training in Anthroposophic Psychology had come, a dream held by Dyson, Nelson, and myself. As destiny would have it a core group of individuals rallied around the emerging task and agreed to make the ideal a reality. as two other anthroposophically inspired psychologists committed to form the Anthroposophic Psychologists Association of North America with us. These two individuals are on the core faculty of APA- NA: Dr. David Tresemer, one of my most significant collaborators in the research and development of New Star Wisdom, and Dr. Edmund Knighton, a fellow graduate of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and a talented psychologist in the field of teaching psychosomatics. I hope having shared context to the emerging relationships involved in the APANA initiative, the reader may gain a sense for the guiding ideals in this endeavor.

A psychology emerging from an anthroposophic cosmology

In the word itself cosmology reveals its study. It etymologically means the logical order of the origin and development of the Cosmos. Embedded in the meaning of the word cosmology is the sense of a teleological significance to the purpose of existence. Is there a higher study than this? With the loss of a consensus cosmology in Western civilization we have fallen into an abyss of abstractions. The Big Bang Theory is a perfect example of this. The theory itself suggests we are all here by chance without any higher purpose. Such a view coupled with the vast array of stars in our known galaxy can give rise to a feeling that the human being is an insignificant creature. It also lends itself to the argument that there is no moral world order to abide by. In this perspective any assertion that there is a moral world order is viewed as mere speculation or a myth at best. The very idea that for millennia men and women have believed and prayed to a God, whether known and unknown, has been dismissed as an aberration instead of being seriously considered that the need for a God is a central factor in man’s search for meaning.

There is an existential terror in living with the notion that the culmination of one’s life is nothing more than a pile of ashes. Although most people do not give much thought to this popular belief, it nevertheless impacts a majority of people even though it is below the surface of consciousness. It is astounding that so few professionals in the field of mental health ever give much attention to a client’s world outlook and how it shapes their soul’s disposition. In America we are so mesmerized by a culture of amusement and distraction that little time is spent in serious reflection on the values and purposefulness of our lives. Thirty years ago Neil Postman brilliantly characterizes this phenomenon in his book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death" (1985). Seven years later he wrote "Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture (1992)". In this epic work he identifies one of the most crucial issues facing our post-modern world—the proliferation and intoxication with technology. He not only makes an astute diagnosis of the ills of the post-modern world, he addresses the cause behind the illnesses of our time. He declares that the rise of technopoly is due to a lack of cosmology guiding Western civilization. Indications gained from cosmological aspects provided a compass by which to navigate the course of the future and understand the terrain of the past. Technopoly has filled a vacuum and provides the magic, which was once a task of the spiritual and religious institutions of society. And who can deny the magic afforded by technology!

Spiritual and religious institutions are hard pressed to maintain their own viability in the face of the countless scientific and technological advances proclaiming to lead humanity into a progressive future. By comparison such institutions are seemingly antiquated and insufficient to capture the minds and hearts of the younger generations. In describing the nature of the human being metaphors abound that make the machine the template for understanding the species of humankind. The brain is a computer, the heart is a pump, the functioning of vital organs are the result of a well oiled machine, etc. What we have surrendered in our culture to technopoly is the image of the human being. It is no longer sacrosanct. It is subject to all sorts of phantasmagoria, for instance the robotic-man where the body parts are interchangeable as with the many animated superheroes with extraordinary powers.

The phrase “man is made in the image and likeness of God” is no longer an unquestioned proposition. It once evoked the image of the cosmos as the face of God. The likeness of God provoked a relationship to the creative powers in the human being. Let us take a page from the ancients, which described the image of God within the form of the human being. Rudolf Steiner reveals this relationship in his lecture series in Christiana (Oslo), Norway from June 2-12, 1912, entitled "Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy, and Philosophy". At this time he imparted the correlation between the zodiacal signs and their glyphs to the human body parts. He referred to it as the Mysterium Magnum, the Great Mystery. Although Steiner did not expound upon the glyphs, it was a wellknown fact among ancient astrologers and esotericists that the glyphs were not abstractions. They were drawn from initiates with clairvoyant perception. The down streaming light from the stars within a particular constellation imprinted upon the physical body. These sculpting etheric forces not only contained a creative capacity, they contained moral impulses as well. And with each sign of the zodiac there were spiritual hierarchical beings at work gifting the human being with senses to apprehend the divine creation.

We can imagine the glyphs of the zodiac as the living skeletal form of the human body. Consider these sculpting forces as light that is infused with wisdom. It bears the archetypal forms of all living things, and as such the entire macrocosm is contained in the microcosm of the human being. “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God” (Gospel of St. John, Chapter 1 verse 1). The Logos lives in the light. And the light reveals the mystery of Life. For ancient humanity this was understood and proclaimed in many ways. From the Spirit the human being was created, created in the image and likeness of God. An Anthroposophic Psychology seeks to make this declaration a guiding principle. By uniting Star Wisdom with Soul Wisdom AP- ANA strives to provide an impetus for a renaissance of the living spirit of Anthroposophia for the twenty-first century!

William Bento PhD, Founding Executive Director of Anthroposophic Psychology Associates of North America (APANA), crossed the threshold on June 5, 2015, just before his 64th birthday. He had created many different relationships with many clients as a psychologist, a mentor, and one who consulted the workings of the heavens (astrosophy—astro, star—Sophia, wisdom). He nurtured the development of psychology at Rudolf Steiner College, where he worked for several years. He wrote "Lifting the Veil of Mental Illness", contributed to "Signs in the Heavens: A Message for Our Time", and contributed to "The Counselor" (see below). His annual Holy Nights Journal tracked those important nights between December 24 and January 7, helping many find insights into the year past and the year to come. His final achievement was the establishment of APANA, for which he gathered an excellent faculty who will continue to offer this program in the United States.