Liturgical Farming

In an often forgotten view of the world, the human being is a microcosm of the cosmos. Everything that might exist in the world also exists in the human being. If the body is like a temple, the entire cosmos is also like another kind of temple on a grander scale.

Within the liturgical rhythms of Judaism and Christianity we find an intimate appreciation for the different quality of different times of the year. Notably, in both traditions, a particular day begins in darkness, at sundown the previous day. In biodynamic farming, we are not obligated to take on such religious frameworks, but it is nonetheless important to show that biodynamics is about recognizing that we human beings are not strangers to the cosmos but rather integral to its entire structure.

Unlike animals, we can reflect conceptually on the universe and think of quite literally anything we choose to imagine. This universal quality to the soul experience has been called the Imago Dei (the "image of God") which every human being carries -- and without which the body could never be a temple.

The uniqueness of the human being regardless of one's disabilities is at the heart of the Karl König's Steiner-inspired Camphill Communities such as Kimberton Camphill Village in Kimberton, PA, where the Fellowship of the Preparation Makers FOPM 2023 conference was hosted.

Everyone is a unique soul with a divine purpose and journey. It is this magnanimous impulse that biodynamics seeks to foster by supplying people with improved nutrition. We can better express our true human freedom if we eat healthy food. It is hard to act freely if we feel too tired to do anything!

Biodynamics is about revivifying the human soul and the soil. We do this by paying careful attention to the seasons, particularly in the Biodynamic Calendar which helps govern more timely practices in the garden, but also the Calendar of the Soul (see also Owen Barfield's The Year Participated) which describes the changing moods from week to week during the year. Seasons are predicable in nature. Why wouldn't they be predictable in the soul?