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Etheric Realms, Radionics and Biodynamics
I always thought of my farm as having a coherent identity whose various activities fitted together
and contributed to each other’s success, though at first my farm didn’t look as though that was
happening.
That first winter after growing the sorghum crop, I humbly and gratefully prayed to find out what
I needed to know. That was the first step as the next spring my neighbour, Shabari Bird, gave me
two books: Thompson and Bird’s best-selling ‘ Secret Life of Plants’ ( Thompson and Bird, 1989) and
Pfeiffer’s ‘ Biodynamic Farming and Gardening’ ( Pfeiffer, 1983), and introduced me to Peter Escher
who became my mentor in biodynamic farming, a quality, self-sufficient, regenerative system of
agriculture based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner. Biodynamics emphasises farming practices
intended to achieve balance between the physical and higher, non-physical realms by harnessing
both the cosmic and terrestrial forces. In the spirit of scepticism – rather than cynicism – I set about
studying the organisational forces identified by Steiner, who gave recipes for making preparations
to enhance these forces in order to build organisation into its environment so as to wean itself off
outside inputs.
These preparations are one of the fundamental practices in biodynamic agriculture. They consist of mineral, plant or animal manure extracts, usually fermented and applied in small proportions to compost, manures, the soil, or directly onto plants, after dilution and stirring procedures
called dynamisations. The original biodynamic ( BD) preparations are numbered 500−508. They are
intended to help moderate and regulate biological processes as well as to enhance and strengthen the
etheric forces on the farm ( Diver, 1999).
While setting up the small market garden, I also heard about something called the soil food
web. I had studied this microbial community of soil organisms and the name made perfect sense.
I could envision the soil food web as a symbiotic community of soil organisms where hundreds of
thousands of different life forms worked harmoniously together, sharing all the tasks. I felt certain
that this kind of synergistic ecosystem could enliven and unify my entire farm as an entity. I began
to encourage it with Dr. Pfeiffer’s Field Spray. As a young man, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961)
was guided in his studies by Steiner. He came to America and, with the help of Peter Escher, set up
laboratories in Spring Valley, New York. Pfeiffer looked at the task ahead: Steiner had said that the
most important thing was to apply the benefits of the agricultural preparations from his Agriculture
Course to the widest possible areas of the entire earth for its healing and the improvement of its
produce in every respect. This led Pfeiffer to produce his Field Spray, which contained all of the biodynamic preparations except the horn silica. So I used this spray around the house, up the driveway
to the highway, along the creek, fences, tracks and boundaries – and over the fields too. The thistles
disappeared except for a scattered few. Clover started to grow abundantly. The grass burst forth
earlier in spring and stayed green longer in autumn. The interplay became increasingly dynamic
between what went on above ground by day and what went on below ground by night.
Having studied biochemistry, what the biodynamic literature said about lime and silica and what
Peter showed me made good sense; I had known almost nothing about Steiner, but at least he was
precise enough about chemical nomenclature to mean calcium oxide when he said lime and silicon
dioxide when he said silica.
Strangely, biodynamics was the only form of agriculture I knew of that thought silica was important, even though silica comprises more than half of the earth’s crust. I also knew silica is structural
like carbon. It forms strong cell walls, connective tissues and transport vessels. Insect exoskeletons
are rich in silica. It creates the chalice that contains and circulates the mineral/ protein protoplasm
in living organisms.
It became my daily meditation to ask myself: what could I do to establish, grow and enhance
this biological reservoir and well of life so that it permeated every corner of my farm? When I listened with an ear to the soil, I imagined I could faintly hear the soil food web humming, breathing,
spinning, weaving, chirping, moaning, sighing, sleeping and, especially in winter, waking up and
renewing itself. I was growing an ecosystem, a teeming, diverse metropolis of soil organisms whose
complexity made a city like Tokyo look like a country village.
Etheric Realms, Radionics and Biodynamics
I always thought of my farm as having a coherent identity whose various activities fitted together
and contributed to each other’s success, though at first my farm didn’t look as though that was
happening.
That first winter after growing the sorghum crop, I humbly and gratefully prayed to find out what
I needed to know. That was the first step as the next spring my neighbour, Shabari Bird, gave me
two books: Thompson and Bird’s best-selling ‘ Secret Life of Plants’ ( Thompson and Bird, 1989) and
Pfeiffer’s ‘ Biodynamic Farming and Gardening’ ( Pfeiffer, 1983), and introduced me to Peter Escher
who became my mentor in biodynamic farming, a quality, self-sufficient, regenerative system of
agriculture based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner. Biodynamics emphasises farming practices
intended to achieve balance between the physical and higher, non-physical realms by harnessing
both the cosmic and terrestrial forces. In the spirit of scepticism – rather than cynicism – I set about
studying the organisational forces identified by Steiner, who gave recipes for making preparations
to enhance these forces in order to build organisation into its environment so as to wean itself off
outside inputs.
These preparations are one of the fundamental practices in biodynamic agriculture. They consist of mineral, plant or animal manure extracts, usually fermented and applied in small proportions to compost, manures, the soil, or directly onto plants, after dilution and stirring procedures
called dynamisations. The original biodynamic ( BD) preparations are numbered 500−508. They are
intended to help moderate and regulate biological processes as well as to enhance and strengthen the
etheric forces on the farm ( Diver, 1999).
While setting up the small market garden, I also heard about something called the soil food
web. I had studied this microbial community of soil organisms and the name made perfect sense.
I could envision the soil food web as a symbiotic community of soil organisms where hundreds of
thousands of different life forms worked harmoniously together, sharing all the tasks. I felt certain
that this kind of synergistic ecosystem could enliven and unify my entire farm as an entity. I began
to encourage it with Dr. Pfeiffer’s Field Spray. As a young man, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961)
was guided in his studies by Steiner. He came to America and, with the help of Peter Escher, set up
laboratories in Spring Valley, New York. Pfeiffer looked at the task ahead: Steiner had said that the
most important thing was to apply the benefits of the agricultural preparations from his Agriculture
Course to the widest possible areas of the entire earth for its healing and the improvement of its
produce in every respect. This led Pfeiffer to produce his Field Spray, which contained all of the biodynamic preparations except the horn silica. So I used this spray around the house, up the driveway
to the highway, along the creek, fences, tracks and boundaries – and over the fields too. The thistles
disappeared except for a scattered few. Clover started to grow abundantly. The grass burst forth
earlier in spring and stayed green longer in autumn. The interplay became increasingly dynamic
between what went on above ground by day and what went on below ground by night.
Having studied biochemistry, what the biodynamic literature said about lime and silica and what
Peter showed me made good sense; I had known almost nothing about Steiner, but at least he was
precise enough about chemical nomenclature to mean calcium oxide when he said lime and silicon
dioxide when he said silica.
Strangely, biodynamics was the only form of agriculture I knew of that thought silica was important, even though silica comprises more than half of the earth’s crust. I also knew silica is structural
like carbon. It forms strong cell walls, connective tissues and transport vessels. Insect exoskeletons
are rich in silica. It creates the chalice that contains and circulates the mineral/ protein protoplasm
in living organisms.
It became my daily meditation to ask myself: what could I do to establish, grow and enhance
this biological reservoir and well of life so that it permeated every corner of my farm? When I listened with an ear to the soil, I imagined I could faintly hear the soil food web humming, breathing,
spinning, weaving, chirping, moaning, sighing, sleeping and, especially in winter, waking up and
renewing itself. I was growing an ecosystem, a teeming, diverse metropolis of soil organisms whose
complexity made a city like Tokyo look like a country village.