Agriculture E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Rudolf Steiner, the often undervalued, multifaceted genius of modern times, contributed much to the regeneration of culture. In addition to his philosophical teachings, he provided ideas for the development of many practical activities, including education - both general and special - agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and many other organizations that are founded directly on his principles.

Leseprobe

RUDOLF STEINER (1861–1925) called his spiritual philosophy ‘anthroposophy’, meaning ‘wisdom of the human being’. As a highly developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern and universal ‘science of spirit’, accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unprejudiced thinking.

From his spiritual investigations Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of many activities, including education (both general and special), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms and other organizations involved in practical work based on his principles. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of the human being, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods of personal development. Steiner wrote some 30 books and delivered over 6000 lectures across Europe. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

Also in this series:

(Practical Applications)

Architecture

Art

Education

Medicine

Religion

Science

Social and Political Science

(Festivals)

Christmas

Easter

Michaelmas

St John’s

Whitsun

(Esoteric)

Alchemy

Atlantis

Christian Rozenkreutz

The Druids

The Goddess

The Holy Grail

RUDOLF STEINER AGRICULTURE

An Introductory Reader

Compiled with an introduction, commentary and notes by Richard Thornton Smith

Sophia Books

All translations revised by Christian von Arnim

Sophia Books An imprint of Rudolf Steiner Press Hillside House, The Square Forest Row, RH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2012

For earlier English publications of individual selections please see Sources

The material by Rudolf Steiner was originally published in German in various volumes of the ‘GA’ (Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe or Collected Works) by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. This authorized volume is published by permission of the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach (for further information see Note Regarding Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures)

This selection and translation © Rudolf Steiner Press 2003

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 329 5

Cover by Andrew Morgan Design Typeset by DP Photosetting, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Contents

Introductionby Richard Thornton Smith

1. The Evolving Human Being

The contemporary human being

Former evolutionary stages

The emergence of modern consciousness

The significance of changes in nutrition

2. Cosmos as the Source of Life

Stars and the significance of the zodiac

The sun and its planetary relationships

Elementary conditions and spiritual beings

The nature of the four primal elements

3. Plants and the Living Earth

Plants, minerals and creation

The plant world between earth and sun

Earth’s seasonal and diurnal breathing processes

Trees and the astral environment of plants

4. Farms and the Realms of Nature

Animals and the farm individuality

The cow, her horns and manure

The mission of birds and insects

Fungi and plant diseases

5. Bringing the Chemical Elements to Life

The nature of the atom

Planetary influences on earthly life

Silica, lime and clay

The elements of organic substance

6. Soil and the World of Spirit

Nurturing the life of the soil

The resonance of chaos and cosmos

7. Supporting and Regulating Life Processes

Field sprays to invigorate soil and plant

Vitalizing solid or liquid organic fertilizers

Suppressing the growth of weeds

Regulating the abundance of pests

8. Spirits of the Elements

Elementals as the manifestations of cosmic forces

Elemental beings of the plant kingdom

Elementals as gatherers of substance

9. Nutrition and Vitality

New concepts in nutrition

The plant and the digestive process

The nutrition and health of animals

10. Responsibility for the Future

The inner challenge for human beings

Human influence on nature’s processes

Recognizing the needs of spiritual beings

The long-term goal of humanity

Notes

Sources

Further Reading

Note Regarding Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures

Introduction

by Richard Thornton Smith

The current context of agriculture

Most of us would probably agree that the mission of agriculture is to feed humanity. This book of extracts from Rudolf Steiner’s works explores the breadth and depth of meaning in this statement. But before offering an outline of the book it is necessary to make a few observations about people and agriculture so as to place the material in a truly modern context.

Agriculture was once a way of life connecting human beings with the earth and her rhythms, but this relationship has been progressively eroded by an urbanizing world driven by commercial imperatives. It is true that mechanization has emancipated us from the toils inflicted on Adam, while the starvation visualized by Malthus has up to now been localized and linked to conflict and poverty as much as environment. On the other hand, society—Western society in particular—has massive social and mental health problems. The latter may well be partly linked to the nutritional quality of our food, now heavily compromised by farming and food processing methods.1 Many problems can be seen as resulting from the dominance of economic forces over other aspects of human life. In agriculture we see the human consequences both of driving down food prices and of advancing technology and chemicals. The current health and safety risks in agriculture together with the terrible consequences of bankruptcy now make farming one of the highest-risk occupations in the world.

In this modern world all human activities are driven by and subordinated to economic processes, whether local or global. The environmental and social consequences of this are now outstandingly obvious in developed and developing countries alike.

Farming is part of the culture of every land and it has been fundamental to civilization in providing the foundation from which a variety of economic activities have developed. As the world becomes ever more dependent upon non-agricultural work, it becomes increasingly important to realize this. Such an urban orientation has already shaped the public and political attitude to agriculture. Instead of being able to follow its own rules dictated by natural processes and local markets, agriculture has become a slave to a distant majority who have little knowledge of its inner workings and who find it natural to regard a farm as being like any other production system.2 It is sobering to reflect that as world population increases, total food production is in the hands of a dwindling number of farm workers whose daily tasks and financial rewards would be considered unacceptable by the majority. It is even claimed that young people today are no longer capable of the physical work required.

In recent years the public have been faced with a variety of scares ranging from the pesticide content of vegetables to the consequences of feeding cattle with animal waste products. These events are welcome in the sense that they have provided a wake-up call. The recent period of chemical agriculture and food processing has seen unprecedented increases in the incidence of certain diseases and it may yet have such an influence upon human fertility that no other population control measure will have been as successful. Increased awareness has been a turning-point in food budgeting for many people, yet the current low food price culture and the seductive influence of junk foods is a huge obstacle to a healthier society. The food industry together with the majority of consumers consider that the way we produce our food doesn’t matter, that carbohydrate or protein is the same however it is produced or reconstituted. At a time when health service provision is constantly in the spotlight it might seem difficult to comprehend why there are no hard-hitting national initiatives to build positive health through diet and nutrition. Were the truth to be known, understood and adequately researched, the situation could be so different. As it is, even those inclining towards organic produce do so for reasons which are mostly peripheral to an understanding of its real health benefits.

Background to the present volume

This clearly identifies an objective towards which a deeper knowledge of agriculture and human needs should be directed. It is no use blaming a system that is profoundly ignorant of the human being and our connection with the wide realms of nature. The rebuilding of a knowledge that people once had, but transformed through the modern intellect and expressed through our independent lifestyles, will in the future enable us to change the marketplace and to refashion the world. Rudolf Steiner devoted his life’s energies to further our spiritual understanding of the human being, and his work is alive with relevance to the situation we face at the present time. He addressed himself to the many subjects with a bearing on natural science or agriculture, however remote some of these topics might appear. Indeed, in his agriculture lectures we read that ‘there is scarcely a realm of human life which lies outside our subject’. Throughout the preparation of this book I have had in mind Steiner’s reply to a question put to him by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer concerning people’s lack of will and progress with spiritual activities despite his stimulus and guidance. Steiner answered, ‘This is a problem of nutrition. Nutrition as it is today does not supply the strength necessary for manifesting the spirit in physical life. A bridge can no longer be built from thinking to will and action. Food plants no longer contain the forces people need for this.’3

Steiner grew up in a landscape where traditional knowledge was still alive, so he understood much about the nature of farming. Yet it was only in the last year of his life, and then after intensive persuasion, that he finally gave the course of lectures which set new horizons for how we should view and practise agriculture. The problems which were arising at that time and on which Steiner was urged to speak would seem familiar today, namely, a decline of soil fertility, seed vitality and animal health.4 But Steiner also stated ominously that there might come a time when we would be unable to grow our crops because the earth’s natural vitality was in decline. The means to averting this problem lies with humankind, providing we are willing to adopt appropriate attitudes and measures.

It should be pointed out that in Steiner’s day most of the larger farms were already employing chemical fertilizers while organic-ecological farming in the modern sense was not recognized, still less established. It was to the owners of large commercial farms as well as to those familiar with Steiner’s spiritual science that the agriculture lectures were addressed. Thus, even in purely organic farming terms Rudolf Steiner ranks as a pioneer and visionary.5 Those meeting this material for the first time should realize that Steiner did not invent any special name with which to identify his agricultural message. That fell to those who began to research his suggestions in a practical way.6 Thus the appellation biodynamic agriculture arose—implying a connection with living energies.

Although agriculture is pre-eminently a practical activity to which Steiner offered his own practical ideas, his contribution is best characterized as providing a background to understanding agriculture so that it might develop creatively in the future. Nowhere does he proclaim that the modern scientific outlook and the facts which it discovers are incorrect, rather that they are one-sided and represent the corpse of the physical realm rather than its living reality. He is, above all, concerned to inform us about what lies behind the visible part of natural science. Thus we learn that all life is dependent on form and life-giving energies received from the cosmos, from sun and starry constellations, from moon and planets. We learn, too, of how our soil can be made more sensitive to receive these energies and to transmit them to the growth of plants. Such deep wisdom is clearly not ‘lesson one’ in agriculture but is aimed at raising the awareness of those already familiar with farming practices. Steiner thus guides us in a new way of working with the forces of nature which, once understood, can profoundly affect the attitude of the farmer or gardener to their work.

The Agriculture Course inevitably provides much material for the present volume. Like most of Steiner’s works it requires repeated study in order to gain a good foothold and it is essential to be open to Steiner’s other major works in order to progress with it.7 Be assured, however, of eventual rewards. Steiner himself said that ‘the best books are those we have to take up again and again, books we cannot understand immediately but have to study sentence by sentence’.8

Overview of contents

The book has been divided into ten chapters, which allow the exploration of a broad range of material from the esoteric to the more obviously practical. In view of the unique nature of the book’s subject matter it was decided to allow the first and last chapters to provide a framework from a spiritual perspective. These chapters, though they touch on agriculture and nutrition, thus mainly provide the intervening chapters with a foundation and a logical conclusion. The overall sequence forms a kind of journey.

We start by looking back at history and consider the cosmic sources upon which our existence depends. We proceed to examine aspects of our farm work and end up looking at the importance of a balanced working of these influences for our health and the future tasks of humanity. The reader will realize that any anthology reflects both the personal choice and limits of knowledge of the editor and what might appear as a balanced picture to some will surely not satisfy others. The task of creating a tree out of prunings is certainly not an easy one. I am conscious that short extracts may violate the integrity of the original and risk creating a fragmented text. However, the aim has been to draw widely from available material and thereby open windows onto more of Steiner’s works.

In Chapter 1 we begin with the constitution of the human being and then look back at former conditions of Earth, which the human being experienced while not yet in a solid material condition. Human consciousness has evolved with the physical and it would certainly be salutary for historians and archaeologists to be aware that the faculty of logical thinking is a recent acquisition for the great mass of humanity. The history of nutrition not surprisingly parallels this course. We did not need food in the contemporary sense until our physical bodies had densified from the surrounding ether; this occurred during Atlantean times (the late Tertiary period), before our present epoch. Knowledge of our spiritual origins certainly helps us understand the remarks Steiner makes concerning the cosmic aspect of nutrition at the present time. We also learn about the role or mission of certain foods and drink in the course of our evolution. It is clear that in some cases these materials have little further use unless our spiritual path is to be impeded.

Chapter 2 looks outward to sun and stars—to the source of etheric energy on which life here depends. The living nature of what astronomy simply regards as point sources of light has to be grasped, as also does the concept of the sun as a suctional hollow sphere gathering the forces coming from the wider periphery of stars and raying these out across the solar system. The four essential elements of life—earth, water, air and warmth—were recognized by ancient people across the world. Spiritual essences of these elements—ethers—were known to arise from the different constellations of what came to be known as the zodiac. When sun or moon lie in front of particular constellations their character changes as the influence of each constellation is blocked. This causes the plant being to strive harder to compensate for the temporary imbalance in cosmic forces. Biodynamics makes use of this principle to select the most appropriate times for agricultural tasks.

Chapter 3 takes a closer look at the plant world. Looking at earth history it is noted that all matter—even our solid rock formations—has passed through a plantlike and therefore living condition. We are made aware of the plant as a vital link between the living earth and the spiritual beings of the sun. Moreover, each part of the earth experiences a diurnal and annual breathing process with plant life playing an essential part in this rhythmic activity. This seasonal rhythm is employed in the preparation of particular substances for biodynamic agriculture. The astrality or consciousness of the cosmos which envelops plants, especially strong in the case of trees, is of the greatest benefit to the earth’s fertility. In this connection the existence of birds and insects—the honey bee in particular—is of vital importance. We therefore understand from a new vantage point how increasingly disastrous it will become for the earth’s agricultural capabilities as further biodiversity is lost and as forest cover diminishes.

In Chapter 4 we see that the ideal farm should also be a reflection of the whole spiritual organism of the earth. The ideal of an organic-ecological farm functioning like an organism with products from one activity contributing raw materials to another is now widely acknowledged. The farm animal, notably the cow, consumes the plant and through concentrating forces within its digestive system returns vitality to the earth through its dung. This has a special significance for the place where the animals grazed, so it is possible to understand why importation of fertility onto a farm is far from ideal. Meanwhile birds and insects not only spread beneficent influences to the plant world but return an image of material existence to beings in the spiritual world. This and the importance of preserving habitats for all forms of wildlife, fungi included, underlines the fact that if we allow nature her place our best interests will be served.

Chapter 5 must surely alter our view of chemical substances. A view of the atom as a bubble associated with matter and force was surely controversial in its time but is largely supportive of the vision of earlier occultists. We then hear how contrasting planetary influences connect in the earth with silica and lime substances to create a balanced foundation for life processes. There are the forces which support the outward display of growth and reproductive activity while others infuse substance with energy and act more qualitatively to create colour and other sensory characteristics. Chemical farming supports pre-eminently the former type of growth, and hence certain essential aspects of food quality are deficient. In the final section Steiner explains the spiritual tasks of each of the main elements of organic matter. Taken collectively this is a story that points to the primacy of the spiritual world and the impermanence of materiality.

Those aware of organic farming principles will realize the importance of organic matter in supporting soil life and humus content. The question for Chapter 6 is: can we begin to understand how it is from a supersensible point of view? We are told that forces coming from the outer planets must penetrate earthly substance otherwise growth will be unbalanced. To accomplish this, a living soil is needed to generate humus. This then forms close associations with clay, linking the organic and purely mineral worlds. Steiner shows, too, that there is more to a compost pile than decomposition and that minor elements are rayed into the soil from the cosmos in a healthy organic soil. Later in the chapter we are confronted by the most profound of life’s processes—the relationship between cosmic life forces and the inspiration of the ‘universal all’ of cosmic space or chaos. Here too, we see how crucial are conditions within the soil for the proper interplay of these activities.

Chapter 7 concentrates on special measures which Steiner indicated could be employed to support the working of cosmic forces within soil and plant. It is because the earth’s vitality is steadily declining—no doubt worsened in recent times—that instructions for making particular materials were left to us. The implication behind these vitalizing biodynamic preparations, each of which has particular planetary relationships, is that organic methods alone may in a future time be insufficient to promote productive growth. The methods recommended for weed and pest problems, designed to bring about a natural balance rather than eradicate the organism, negatively affect reproduction and utilize specific cosmic timings.

In Chapter 8 we encounter the elemental beings, about which Steiner spoke on many occasions, though only one brief reference is made to them in the Agriculture Course. One group of these have a special connection to the growth of plants. They are the animating forces behind otherwise inanimate processes such as plant nutrient uptake or photosynthesis. Although we cannot see them they can perceive our thoughts and feelings. At present this realm of beings needs our conscious support.9

Chapter 9 examines human and animal nutrition. We have ultimately to understand that nutrition involves two streams, one earthly—about which we think we know a great deal—and one cosmic. The earthly stream rises to meet the cosmic in the body. Fine cosmic influences enter us through our breathing and through our different sense organs. The forces from our food enter the different parts of our body to facilitate this process. The cosmic thus takes hold of life energies to create our bodily substance. These energies are especially promoted through organic and biodynamic husbandry. Steiner indicates that the effects of a healthy nutrition are even more evident in subsequent generations, a fact borne out by recent research.

Chapter 10 considers a few aspects of our work in shaping the future. Steiner made it clear on many occasions that it is humanity’s task in the future to raise itself and to spiritualize the earth. We are urged to develop our inner spiritual qualities, to direct our energies towards helping others and becoming aware of the needs of other spiritual beings for our help and for our moral actions—such actions affecting our environment in ways previously unsuspected. We must also develop a special personal relationship with what we do. For most of us the first step in this is to be sufficiently conscious of the present moment and not always be thinking of what we have to do next! As human beings develop higher faculties this personal factor is destined to bring results in the field of nature more effectively than in any other way. But to accomplish a great deal of this we need the right nutrition to support our spiritual striving and to generate appropriate forces of will. Nutrition is emphasized in these pages precisely because it has to play such a crucial role in our further evolution. Forces that stand in the way of a better nutrition must be clearly identified as opposing the true path of humankind.

To end, I should like to acknowledge all those who, through discussion and practical experience have helped me over recent years to draw nearer to involvement in and understanding of biodynamic work. These include especially Jimmy and Pauline Anderson, Alan Brockman, Matthias Guépin, Bernard Jarman, Hans-Günther Kern, Walter Rudert, Freya Schikorr and Patricia Thompson. I also thank Rainer Bauer, Joan Brinch, Timothy Brink, David Clement and Tyll van de Voort for comments and information while working on this volume. Thanks are also due to Margaret Jonas, Librarian at Rudolf Steiner House, and to Sevak Gulbekian of Rudolf Steiner Press.

1. The Evolving Human Being

Rudolf Steiner indicates that the history of our part of the universe—our solar system—is inextricably linked to the creation and progress of humanity. This humanity has ‘condensed’ from spiritual realms and now fully manifests on the physical plane in a way never previously experienced by humankind nor even by those spiritual powers which have guided the evolutionary process. In this first chapter we learn of the different elements of our human being before considering our former states of existence. In this respect we should realize that former incarnations (or planetary conditions) of the earth—frequently spoken of in Steiner’s works—have been vehicles for the progressive construction of the human being, initially undifferentiated but now experienced in a female or male aspect. At each stage of this long evolution, human beings have cast off coarser elements of their nature and substance in order to advance spiritually. These laid-aside elements are the other kingdoms of nature: the mineral, plant and animal. This, of course, is quite the reverse picture of evolution to what has become accepted in the last two centuries.

The current earth stage of evolution is the fourth major episode in human development, of which there will be seven. Each major period is divided into seven stages and each of these into seven smaller ones, making a total of’343. Time itself is not to be thought of as linear. Instead, what we experience as time today, bound by our physical bodies, is much more prolonged than it has been or will be in the future. It is not until well into the earth stage of our evolution that we can properly trace an emergence of the consciousness we experience today. The acquisition of a modern sense of identity and intellectual capability has only occurred more generally within the last 500 years. As new faculties have emerged, earlier ones have been lost. In parallel with such development and perhaps accelerating it, changes in nutrition have occurred. Such changes not only make us think about the significance of the different diets people experience across the world but highlight the importance of an awareness of diet and nutrition in assisting our advancement as human beings.

The contemporary human being

Let us first consider the nature and essence of the human being. When someone comes into our presence, we first of all see the physical body through our sense organs. The human being has this body in common with the whole world around him; and although the physical body is only a small part of what the human being really is, it is the only part of which ordinary science takes account. But we must go deeper. Human beings can move, feel and think; they grow, take nourishment and reproduce their kind. Human beings have in common with plants their capacity to nourish themselves, to grow and reproduce; if they were like stones, with only a physical body, none of this would be possible. They must therefore possess something which enables them to use substances and their forces in such a way that they become for them the means of growth. This is the etheric body.10

The human being, of course, has other faculties as well. He can feel pleasure and pain, which the plant cannot do. Animals can feel pleasure and pain, and thus have a further principle in common with the human being: the astral body.11 The astral body is the seat of everything we know as desire, passion, and so forth.

But the human being is distinguished from the animal. This brings us to the fourth element of the human being which comes to expression in a name different from all other names. I can say ‘I’ only of myself.12 The higher the moral and intellectual development of a human being, the more will his ‘I’ have worked upon the astral body.

Whatever part of the astral body has been thus transformed by the ‘I’ is called Manas. Manas is the fifth member of the human being’s nature. A human being has just so much of Manas as he has created by his own efforts; part of his astral body is therefore always Manas. But the human being is not able to exercise an immediate influence upon the etheric body, although in the same way that he can raise himself to a higher moral level he can also learn to work upon the etheric body. What he has transformed in this body by his own efforts is called Buddhi. This is the sixth element of the human being’s nature.

The highest achievement open to the human being is to work right down into his physical body. That is the most difficult task of all. In order to have an effect upon the physical body, the human being must learn to control the breath and the circulation, to follow consciously the activity of the nerves, and to regulate the processes of thought.13 He will then have developed in himself what we call Atma. In every human being four elements are fully formed, the fifth only partly, the sixth and seventh only in rudimentary form. Physical body, etheric body, astral body, ‘I’ or ego, Manas, Buddhi, Atma—these are the seven constituent elements of the human being.

Former evolutionary stages

As an individual, the human being has to pass through different stages after birth. Just as he must ascend from infancy through childhood and so on to the age of the mature adult, so too must humankind as a whole go through a similar process. Humanity has developed to its present condition by passing through other stages. With the methods of the clairvoyant one can discern three principal stages of such development of humankind, which were passed through before the formation of the earth took place. At present we are concerned with the fourth stage in the great universal life of the human being.

The human being existed before there was an earth. But one must not imagine that he had previously lived on other planets and then at a certain time migrated to earth. Rather, Earth has developed together with the human being. Earth has passed through three main stages of development before becoming what we now call the ‘earth’. We must completely liberate ourselves from the meaning that contemporary science associates with the names ‘Saturn’, ‘Sun’ and ‘Moon’ if we want to understand the explanations of the scientist of the spirit.

Before the heavenly body on which the life of the human being takes place became ‘earth’, it was Moon, before that Sun, and yet earlier Saturn. One can assume three further principal stages which Earth still has to pass through—these have been named Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan. Thus the heavenly body with which human destiny is connected has passed through three stages in the past, is now in its fourth, and will in the future have to pass through three more until all the talents which the human being has within himself are developed, until he arrives at the peak of his perfection.