Anthroposophy in Norway 53

Chapter 7 in Norway

Ingvild Sælid Gilhus

Rudolf Steiner and Norway

Rudolf Steiner visited Norway eight times between 1908 and 1923. He was invited by Richard Eriksen, the chairman of the Christiania lodge of the , who had met Steiner in Germany in 1907. In addition to about seventy-five lectures to selected groups, Steiner also gave about twenty- five public lectures, some of them very well attended. His visits were sometimes covered by the main newspapers, which contributed to make Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy known in Norway. From 1908 articles and books by Steiner were translated into Norwegian. The authors Ingeborg Møller and Martha Steinsvik were in addition to Richard Eriksen active in promoting Anthroposophical ideas in Norway in the early days of the movement. In 1913, the Theosophical Vidar lodge (founded in 1911), consisting of forty members, headed by Richard Eriksen, collectively resigned from the Theosophical Society. They joined the , which had been established in Germany in December 1912. This “conversion” was a protest against the creation of the Order of the Star in the East and the strong Indian influence on , and a support of Steiner’s Anthroposophy with its Christological orientation. The name of the lodge, Vidar, was a tribute to Old Norse mythology and to the lectures which Steiner had given on this topic in Christiania (Oslo) the year before. Very soon, Anthroposophical groups were established in Bergen, Lillehammer, Stavanger, and Trondheim, in addi- tion to Christiania (Oslo). Steiner attracted a number of gifted people. A famous Norwegian clairvoy- ant healer, Marcello Haugen, was invited to the Anthroposophical Society in Germany, where he created something close to a sensation because of his psy- chic powers, and people flocked to him to get healings. Nevertheless, Haugen was soon excluded by Steiner, probably because Steiner regarded him as unruly. According to Steiner, clairvoyance belonged to an earlier stage in human development (Parmann 1979: 75 ff). Twenty-five Norwegian Anthroposo­ phists sent a protest letter to Steiner on that occasion. In 1926 Richard Eriksen, who had initially recommended Marcello Haugen to Steiner, resigned from the Anthroposophical movement, and wrote critical articles against Anthropo- sophy and Theosophy.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004325968_009 54 Sælid Gilhus

The Anthroposophical Society

The Vidar lodge was a precursor of Antroposofisk Selskap (Anthroposophical Society) that was established in 1923 as the Norwegian national society within The General Anthroposophical Society. Today Antroposofisk Selskap has about 1,000 members in twenty-one local groups. Since 1914, its headquarters have been in Oscarsgate 10 in Oslo. The Anthroposophical movement includes many gifted people, among them several authors. In Norway the movement has been associated with a cultural elite, mainly expressing a conservative view of culture, though there are radical voices among the Norwegian Anthroposophists as well. Prominent Anthroposophists in Norway have been the authors Ingeborg Møller (1878– 1964), Ivar Mortensson-Egnund (1857–1934), Olav Aukrust (1883–1929), Alf Larsen (1885–1967), Aasmund Brynildsen (1917–1974), André Bjerke (1918– 1985), Jens Bjørneboe (1920–1976), Peter Normann Waage (b. 1953), and Kaj Skagen (b. 1949). They are celebrated authors in Norwegian society, whose influence has reached far beyond the circle of Anthroposophists. At the same time they have contributed to giving Anthroposophy a good reputation in Norway. Larsen, Bjerke, Waage, and Skagen have also been editors of Anthro­ posophical periodicals. The most active spokesperson for Anthroposo­phy is Norway today is the lawyer Cato Schiøtz (b. 1948). There are two Anthroposophical publishing houses in Norway, Antropos forlag, which also runs a bookshop, and Vidarforlaget. Antropos forlag has pub- lished more than two hundred books by Rudolf Steiner, most of them translations into Norwegian. In addition to Vidar (1915–1940), which was the first Anthroposophical journal outside Germany, Janus (1933–1941), Spektrum (1946–1954), Horisont (1955–1967), and Arken (1978–1989) have been the main Anthroposophical periodicals. Some of these have combined the promotion of Anthroposophy with broader cultural interests. The two main Anthroposophi- cal periodicals in Norway today are Libra and Antroposofi i Norge.

Waldorf Schools and

Why and to what degree have Norwegians been attracted to Anthroposophy? The practical applications of Anthroposophy have been far more significant in Norway that its religious and philosophical dimensions: ‘It seems as if the Anthroposophical fruits are reasonably savoury, while the Anthroposophical tree is far less attractive’ (Waage and Schiøtz 2000: 6). The most important fruits of the Anthroposophical tree are the Waldorf schools (in Norway called