Children are the future of the Aeon
I've been reading Maria Montessori's book, The Secret of Childhood, in which she describes her experimental observations of children, which lie as the foundations for what's now known as the "Montessori method" of schooling. I know next to nothing about the actual methodology, but the theory behind the method is in essence Thelemic: it is through the unrestricted exercise of the deep internal will of the growing child, which is love, that a whole human unfolds into a life of freedom, power, and wisdom. She calls entry into this state of being "normalization". A state of health and wholeness is "normal" because it's what naturally lies hidden within oneself. This "normal" state is different from the "ordinary" state, because what is ordinary, or common for people is a state of dysfunction, which arises out of a learned restriction of what comes natural to the human. Her understanding is that most of our dysfunctions can be traced to childhood. Dysfunctions arise when we become diverted from our internal drives and natural proclivities.
Each chapter of this book is full of thought-provoking things- some of which are quite challenging and sometimes even repugnant to my own opinions, and some of which seem to shed new light on topics that I've been thinking about for a while. Here's a page or so of something that I found to be extremely vital. The book was published in 1966, so please excuse the sexist language.
A child's desire to work represents a vital instinct since he cannot organize his personality without working: A man builds himself through working. There can be no substitute for work, neither affection nor physical well-being can replace it. And on the other hand, if this instinct to work becomes diverted, there is no remedy for it either in the example of others, or in punishments. A man builds himself by carrying out manual labor in which he uses his hands as the instruments of his personality and as an expression of his intellect and will, helping him to dominate his environment. A child's instinct for work is a proof that work is instinctive to man and characteristic of the species.
Why then has work, which should be a source of great satisfaction and a principle of health and regeneration (as it is for children), been rejected by adults who simply regard it as a harsh necessity? It may be due to the fact that society has lost the proper motives for work. The profound instinct for work remains hidden within man as a recessive trait: it has been deviated by a desire for possessions, for power, and by apathy and attachment. Amid such conditions, work depends solely on external circumstances or is occasioned by the mutual struggles of deviated men. It thus becomes forced labor which in turn gives rise to powerful psychological emotional barriers. And this is why work seems hard and repugnant.
But when because of favorable circumstances work flows naturally from an inner impulse, it assumes an entirely different character, even in adults. When this happens, work becomes fascinating and irresistible and raises a man above his diverted self. Examples of this may be found in the toils of an inventor, the discoveries of explorers, and the paintings of artists. When a man is engaged in such war, he becomes possessed of an extraordinary power and experiences again that natural instinct that enables him to express his own individuality. This instinct is like a powerful stream that gushes forth from the earth and provides nourishment for mankind. It is the source of true progress in civilizations.
The intimate connection between work and the attainment of normality is the best proof of the fact that a man has a natural instinct for work. Nature urges him on to build something by himself that will be an expression of his own existence and further the ends of creation itself. The perfection of man's works is not to be measured by man's own personal needs, but by the mysterious designs of his instinct to work. By a fatal deviation, man has been separated form his goal in life. If a child is to become the kind of man [or woman] that he[/she] should, his development must be intimately united with his own guiding instinct.
It seems like dysfunction is part of human nature simply because it's everywhere. Our society depends upon it. If an airborne pandemic of deep emotional security, and a genuine sense of personal empowerment were to sweep the earth, the global money machine would collapse like nothing. If most of you (and this includes me) were to suddenly adopt radical honesty, your lives would likely fall apart (before being reborn in a new form). Dysfunction is not a hard-wired aspect of human nature, but it is an aspect of human potential. Like many of the marvellous toys that make up our environment, dysfuction is a human invention. God bless the ability to invent. The imagination. It's a double-edged sword. Our poison apple. It's the source of our power and the source of our illusions.
I think dysfuctional behaviors (excess fear, excess hatred, inferiority complexes, tyrany, possessiveness, egotism, etc, etc) have been around for as long as we were capable of asking "what if?" Sometimes our "what ifs" about the world and about ourselves are totally incorrect (such as the idea that a human's deepest internal drives are destructive, imho). When we base our behaviours on incorrect ideas, we often create problems, or dysfunctions.
When a dysfunctional person raises or teaches a child, you're extremely likely to see those same illnesses perpetuated through the generations. Most of the problems I now struggle with originated from my (relatively ordinary) childhood. I think the same goes for almost everyone. I think that the work of people like Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner- early pioneers in the science of childhood education- is some of the most important work that a human can do in this age. Never before have we held so much power over our fate. Never before have we had such ability to mould the fabric of reality. The condition of our psyches is what will determine our fate.
I have an idealistic view of a future in which the implication of the saying "the child is the father of the man" is fully acknowledged, and the will of the child is carefully nurtured and allowed to do the work that it wishes to do. Children will grow up emotionally mature, and self-directed. A society that fears age, tranquillizes itself with fantasy, consumes itself into passivity, and hates itself for all the mistakes it keeps perpetuating, will be a thing of the past. If we respect our children's true needs, and nurture them in an honest fashion, careful not to chain them down with our frantic, suffocating issues, I think we might survive the next hundred years!