HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN BEING AND THE SETENNIA BASED ON RUDOLF STEINER

Abstract

By outlining some broad brushstrokes pertaining to anthroposophical and theosophical cosmology, this article argues that imagination is not just another element within the human whole but is in fact a crucial part and plays a significant role in the 'whole'. However, imagination is not necessarily positive per se, but highly dependent on the context and for what purposes one exercises it. Without context and purpose, images, so closely related to imagination and so prevalent in our visual culture today, can in fact be detrimental to holistic growth, especially of children. On the other hand, through context and meaningful purpose, imagination, being a bridge to wholeness, can equally be instrumental in healing fragmentation, not only in the individual, but in society as a whole. Imaginative education, it is suggested, can be a means for "conscious participation" and therefore for human evolution.