13
Re-Enchanting Agriculture
refers to an etheric dimension, a body of subtle forces, energy feld of light or ‘breath’ of life, that is
present throughout life forms including the plant kingdom (Marti, 2017).
THE STATE-OF-THE ART OF SUBTLE AGROECOLOGIES
The scant amount of literature on subtle farming practices may be attributed to several factors.
Within contemporary, indigenous cultures, intergenerational knowledge about such practices tends
to be passed through oral communication rather than written, and thus is often intangible or tacit
(Smith, 2008). Moreover in these contexts, such practices have multiple functions and may not necessarily be identifed as solely relating to agriculture, as exemplifed in Box 1.1 which provides two
examples of farming practices based on such ontologies. Moreover, food acquisition in indigenous
cultures is not solely dependent on settled agriculture and its associated practices (Barucha and
Pretty, 2010). Thus, whilst works by indigenous authors explore their cosmologies and epistemologies in relation to nature and the environment, (including Katerere et al. (2020), Kimmerer (2013),
Liljeblad and Verschuuren (2019), Tuhiwai Smith (2012) and Yunkaporta (2020)), there is less written work that specifcally describes subtle food production practices.
BOX 1.1 TWO EXAMPLES OF FARMING PRACTICE
BASED ON INDIGENOUS ONTOLOGIES
From the Indian subcontinent, Ramprasad (2012) analyses the use of manure in traditional
Indian agriculture and its relation to Vedic literature, explaining that spiritual and agricultural
approaches converge in farming practices, where the objective is to maintain the equilibrium
between the very existential elements of life which includes the use of physical products (of
the cow) synchronised with planetary positions and the interaction of the fve elements (earth,
water, air, fre and ether). Underlying this is the Hindu worldview of a spiritual force that connects everything. Ramprasad explains how the ancient practice of applying Panchakavya, a
concoction of fve products of the (sacred) cow, not only has proven benefts as a biofertiliser,
as a biopesticide and for restoring soil fertility, but also has medicinal applications and is used
in ceremonies and rituals, for example to provide a link between ‘the living and the dead,
the seen and the unseen, the physical and the paraphysical, and earthly and heavenly forces’
(2012: 179).
Based on a global study, Burke and Halberg (2005) theorised on the nature of the ancient
megaliths across South and North America, Europe and Egypt. They identifed that these
structures were built not when times were good, but during periods of famine, and that
archaeological remains consistently uncovered seed offerings at these sites. Interested in the
abnormal surges of electrical ground current and airborne electric charge that these precisely
engineered and precisely located structures seemed to magnify at specifc times of the day,
they undertook trials on seed germination and growth on these structures and also in ancient
rock chambers, as well as in the laboratory under similar conditions. They found that stronger electrical activity enabled greater seed germination and growth, and conclude that these
structures were designed to enhance crop fertility. They explain,
Traditionally the ancients would not separate the physical from the non-physical, the soul from
the land… … tremendous effort was repeatedly taken to create an edifce that seems to us today
to be imbued with an aura of ritual, and yet our experiments show that it is tapping natural energy
in a way that can increase food production.
Burke and Halberg (2005: 171).
Re-Enchanting Agriculture
refers to an etheric dimension, a body of subtle forces, energy feld of light or ‘breath’ of life, that is
present throughout life forms including the plant kingdom (Marti, 2017).
THE STATE-OF-THE ART OF SUBTLE AGROECOLOGIES
The scant amount of literature on subtle farming practices may be attributed to several factors.
Within contemporary, indigenous cultures, intergenerational knowledge about such practices tends
to be passed through oral communication rather than written, and thus is often intangible or tacit
(Smith, 2008). Moreover in these contexts, such practices have multiple functions and may not necessarily be identifed as solely relating to agriculture, as exemplifed in Box 1.1 which provides two
examples of farming practices based on such ontologies. Moreover, food acquisition in indigenous
cultures is not solely dependent on settled agriculture and its associated practices (Barucha and
Pretty, 2010). Thus, whilst works by indigenous authors explore their cosmologies and epistemologies in relation to nature and the environment, (including Katerere et al. (2020), Kimmerer (2013),
Liljeblad and Verschuuren (2019), Tuhiwai Smith (2012) and Yunkaporta (2020)), there is less written work that specifcally describes subtle food production practices.
BOX 1.1 TWO EXAMPLES OF FARMING PRACTICE
BASED ON INDIGENOUS ONTOLOGIES
From the Indian subcontinent, Ramprasad (2012) analyses the use of manure in traditional
Indian agriculture and its relation to Vedic literature, explaining that spiritual and agricultural
approaches converge in farming practices, where the objective is to maintain the equilibrium
between the very existential elements of life which includes the use of physical products (of
the cow) synchronised with planetary positions and the interaction of the fve elements (earth,
water, air, fre and ether). Underlying this is the Hindu worldview of a spiritual force that connects everything. Ramprasad explains how the ancient practice of applying Panchakavya, a
concoction of fve products of the (sacred) cow, not only has proven benefts as a biofertiliser,
as a biopesticide and for restoring soil fertility, but also has medicinal applications and is used
in ceremonies and rituals, for example to provide a link between ‘the living and the dead,
the seen and the unseen, the physical and the paraphysical, and earthly and heavenly forces’
(2012: 179).
Based on a global study, Burke and Halberg (2005) theorised on the nature of the ancient
megaliths across South and North America, Europe and Egypt. They identifed that these
structures were built not when times were good, but during periods of famine, and that
archaeological remains consistently uncovered seed offerings at these sites. Interested in the
abnormal surges of electrical ground current and airborne electric charge that these precisely
engineered and precisely located structures seemed to magnify at specifc times of the day,
they undertook trials on seed germination and growth on these structures and also in ancient
rock chambers, as well as in the laboratory under similar conditions. They found that stronger electrical activity enabled greater seed germination and growth, and conclude that these
structures were designed to enhance crop fertility. They explain,
Traditionally the ancients would not separate the physical from the non-physical, the soul from
the land… … tremendous effort was repeatedly taken to create an edifce that seems to us today
to be imbued with an aura of ritual, and yet our experiments show that it is tapping natural energy
in a way that can increase food production.
Burke and Halberg (2005: 171).