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Subtle Agroecologies
others through the Life Science Trust 1 and the author’s subsequent working with and studying this
approach, to inform what is set out here.
The four stages are usually preceded by a preliminary stage of recognising one’s habitual
responses. In my own practice and my own teaching of this process, I place more emphasis on this
pre-stage than others do. Perhaps, this is because I am a philosopher by training and thus am aware
of the epistemologically controversial nature of claims such as ‘being able to see how the world
really is’. Moreover, this pre-stage is useful for highlighting that Goethean observation requires a
challenging switch from our culturally habitual dualistic thinking to a more holistic thinking.
A real strength of the Goethean approach is that it lays out a formal staged process. Skilled
practitioners will move between and meld these stages, but to begin with, it helps to explore them
in a systematic way. This might seem and, at times, feel slow and pedantic, but the point is that we
can follow consciously and rigorously what is happening in the world and in ourselves as the practice progresses. Experiencing this process can sometimes be unnerving or strange; for example,
we may become aware for the frst time of odd physical responses, insights or mystical states.
However, we now have a careful record and thus a fuller understanding of this shifting relationship
between our external and internal worlds that can then be moved into and out of by retracing our
steps.
CHOOSING THE THING TO STUDY
As with any research question or journey of enquiry, we need to have a focus – what is it that you
will be observing? For early practice with Goethean study, it is good to work with something that
draws your attention in some way; not necessarily something you already know a lot about or for a
practical purpose – that can come later when you are familiar with the method. Being able to fnd
the thing that it would be fruitful to study is as much about waiting for it to call you, to just wander
around and let something strike you. This requires patience and a child-like receptivity to hear what
it is about the world that you are particularly suited to explore. Being drawn to something could be
an attraction or curiosity or it could be a feeling of revulsion or challenge – a troublesome ‘weed’
plant, for example.
When teaching this approach, or helping people to familiarise themselves with it, I always recommend working with some aspect of the plant realm to start with, even if your later focus will
be on an animal or landscape or something from the human realm such as an organisation or farm
community. The plant was foundational for Goethe’s understanding of his method of investigation.
Practice with a plant yields benefts later on with more complex organisms, such as animals, and less
responsive entities such as rocks. With a plant you can more easily reach an understanding of what
these stages feel like and so be more comfortable about the process.
Before moving on, you need to have selected – or perhaps we can say you need to have been
selected by – your plant.
PRE-STAGE: CLEARING THE WORKSPACE
Our ways of thinking, feeling, moving, responding and simply being in the world are shaped by
our physical environment, culture, personal history and a whole web of interactions. Many of these
are permeated by the dominant Western tradition of mind-body dualism, scientifc reductionism
and the practical concerns of survival. It is one thing to know this but quite another to escape it.
Mind-body dualism, for example, shapes our language so that even to express how something
1 The Life Science Trust organised a remarkable series of seminars through residential workshops (some 7 or 9 days and
some 3 weeks), each focused on a particular realm of nature, for example, rocks or plants or animals. They were held
over a number of years between the 1990s to 2000s at various venues in the UK and latterly at The Life Science Centre,
Pishwanton in Scotland. Participants generally attended at least four workshops to experience this method with a range
of phenomena such as: colour, the plant, the animal, the human skeleton or the landscape.
Subtle Agroecologies
others through the Life Science Trust 1 and the author’s subsequent working with and studying this
approach, to inform what is set out here.
The four stages are usually preceded by a preliminary stage of recognising one’s habitual
responses. In my own practice and my own teaching of this process, I place more emphasis on this
pre-stage than others do. Perhaps, this is because I am a philosopher by training and thus am aware
of the epistemologically controversial nature of claims such as ‘being able to see how the world
really is’. Moreover, this pre-stage is useful for highlighting that Goethean observation requires a
challenging switch from our culturally habitual dualistic thinking to a more holistic thinking.
A real strength of the Goethean approach is that it lays out a formal staged process. Skilled
practitioners will move between and meld these stages, but to begin with, it helps to explore them
in a systematic way. This might seem and, at times, feel slow and pedantic, but the point is that we
can follow consciously and rigorously what is happening in the world and in ourselves as the practice progresses. Experiencing this process can sometimes be unnerving or strange; for example,
we may become aware for the frst time of odd physical responses, insights or mystical states.
However, we now have a careful record and thus a fuller understanding of this shifting relationship
between our external and internal worlds that can then be moved into and out of by retracing our
steps.
CHOOSING THE THING TO STUDY
As with any research question or journey of enquiry, we need to have a focus – what is it that you
will be observing? For early practice with Goethean study, it is good to work with something that
draws your attention in some way; not necessarily something you already know a lot about or for a
practical purpose – that can come later when you are familiar with the method. Being able to fnd
the thing that it would be fruitful to study is as much about waiting for it to call you, to just wander
around and let something strike you. This requires patience and a child-like receptivity to hear what
it is about the world that you are particularly suited to explore. Being drawn to something could be
an attraction or curiosity or it could be a feeling of revulsion or challenge – a troublesome ‘weed’
plant, for example.
When teaching this approach, or helping people to familiarise themselves with it, I always recommend working with some aspect of the plant realm to start with, even if your later focus will
be on an animal or landscape or something from the human realm such as an organisation or farm
community. The plant was foundational for Goethe’s understanding of his method of investigation.
Practice with a plant yields benefts later on with more complex organisms, such as animals, and less
responsive entities such as rocks. With a plant you can more easily reach an understanding of what
these stages feel like and so be more comfortable about the process.
Before moving on, you need to have selected – or perhaps we can say you need to have been
selected by – your plant.
PRE-STAGE: CLEARING THE WORKSPACE
Our ways of thinking, feeling, moving, responding and simply being in the world are shaped by
our physical environment, culture, personal history and a whole web of interactions. Many of these
are permeated by the dominant Western tradition of mind-body dualism, scientifc reductionism
and the practical concerns of survival. It is one thing to know this but quite another to escape it.
Mind-body dualism, for example, shapes our language so that even to express how something
1 The Life Science Trust organised a remarkable series of seminars through residential workshops (some 7 or 9 days and
some 3 weeks), each focused on a particular realm of nature, for example, rocks or plants or animals. They were held
over a number of years between the 1990s to 2000s at various venues in the UK and latterly at The Life Science Centre,
Pishwanton in Scotland. Participants generally attended at least four workshops to experience this method with a range
of phenomena such as: colour, the plant, the animal, the human skeleton or the landscape.