Rudolf Steiner
Goethe
|
|
(Books on/by Rudolf Steiner)
In 1924 Rudolf Steiner gave eight lectures at a remote farming community
in Silesia. Steiner's work at this point had already initiated considerable
interest in Anthroposophy,
a concept based on the scientific writings of Goethe's.
The farmers in that area worried about a decline in crops and animal welfare
and Steiner was approached to look into the matter. Eventually, and with
considerable logistical difficulties, the now famous eight lectures were
given in June, 1924. Attended by about sixty people, these lectures outline
the foundation of what is now broadly called the biodynamic approach to
farming. The lectures are recorded in the book 'Agriculture'.
Steiner explained that the health of plants, soil and animals depends on
a conscious relationship and interplay of earth and soil with subtle cosmic
and astral forces. He gave practical instructions on how to treat the soil,
manure and compost, how to make special biodynamic fertilising preparations and
generally harness the natural forces that are neglected in the modern approach
to agriculture.
The biodynamic approach to agriculture
is now practised in many countries of the world.
An article by Michael Bate, Head Gardener at Weleda
UK Ltd
In the last hundred years,
there have been two major developments on the land that seem
to go hand in hand - the increasing mechanisation of agriculture
and the sense that nature is becoming degraded and is losing
its vitality. Add to this the pollution of the environment, the
signs of illness in trees and violent changes in the weather,
and we can feel that nature is crying out for both a new way
of understanding the environment and a new way of working the
land to heal the earth.
It was concern about worrying trends developing in agriculture that led
farmers to ask Rudolf Steiner to give his "Agriculture" lectures
in 1924, on which the biodynamic agricultural movement is founded.
What he set out there can be regarded as a new understanding for life
which recognises a spiritual dimension and enlarges the basis of science
to include the cosmic and what is beyond the sense-perceptible. Biodynamics
has a holistic world-view that, for example, sees the influence of planetary
rhythms on the growth of plants and animals as of equal importance to
a purely chemical analysis.
It is, however, the regeneration of the forces that work through the
soil to the plant, aided by enlivened compost or manure, that is the
central aim of biodynamics and which is conspicuously different to other
organic systems. When crops are harvested from the land it is not only
their substance which is taken out but also the forces and vitality which
make them worth eating. To give back this vitality we use special therapeutic preparations for
the soil, the plants and also for the compost and manure.
At the heart of biodynamics is the ideal of the farm as self-sufficient,
a mixed farm providing its own seeds, fertility, feed for a wide range
of different animals and a range of environments from ponds and hedges
to orchards, woods and pasture. It is the art of the farmer to develop
the right blend of animals, crops and environments to encourage bird
and insect life, to provide a harmonious and sustainable balance for
that particular holding. In this sense each farm is an organism or "individuality" shaped
by the interrelationship of the farmer and the land.
Increasingly farmers are also actively working to involve the community
in helping to support them in caring for the land, whether by box schemes,
community trust ownership schemes, school visits, etc.
There are biodynamic farms and gardens in more than 30 countries on five
continents.
There are Biodynamic Associations in 26 different Countries. As well
as fostering the practical development of biodynamics they arrange conferences,
offer training, produce journals and undertake research. The world-wide
movement has its centre in Switzerland.
Here are some links (each will open a new window):
Soil and Health
(very good)
Biodynamic
AgriCulture Australia
Biodynamic
Gardening, A How-To Guide
Biodynamic
Association of America
|
