Blog – Page 2 – The Josephine Porter Institute

Jun 24, 2023

Cows Create Meadows

In Karl König's fascinating work Earth and Man he proposes that specific animals create landscapes like themselves. In particular, one that stands out for biodynamic practitioners is the cow, which, König suggests, creates meadows.

Jun 12, 2023

First Rule of Intitiation

If we don't first accept there's a problem we also can't fix it. So the first step is not hiding in denial but accepting the exact conditions as they are and looking within those for hidden possibilities. This is the very basis of fertility for the farm organism and even the emergence of the biodynamic preparations from latent potential in manure and humble weeds.

Jun 2, 2023

Buddhist Biodynamics

Steiner suggests that Jesus symbolically curses the fig tree because it was under the bodhi tree (ficus religiosa) that the Buddha attained his enlightenment. Incidentally, the bodhi tree is a a fig tree. What is suggested here is that the wellspring that had been the Buddha was now to give way to a newer and fuller expression in Christianity.

May 29, 2023

Grace & Gratituity

Biodynamics embodies a return-gift to the Earth, without which we cannot survive. The Earth will undoubtedly persist in its own way if we were not here, but what happens if we undermine our own conditions for survival here? The Earth asks so little -- merely a gesture of thanks such as the biodynamic preparations. The Earth needs so little.

May 22, 2023

Fertility is a Marriage

Even Steiner says in the Agriculture Course that it is virtually "inconceivable" to consider farming these days -- in 1924 -- without a tractor. He was not recommending a return to draft power or doing away with technology but rather making sure that technology must serve LIFE.

May 19, 2023

Light Ether

The value of humus comes from light. As such, it's easy to see why cultures would venerate the Sun. The Sun shines on the righteous and wicked alike, sharing with impartiality to all. If we wish to make plants more receptive to the light streaming in from the cosmos, we must add some carefully decomposed byproducts of light (humus and biodynamic preparations) so the plants "remember" who they are.

May 17, 2023

What is Biodynamic Wine?

Biodynamic wine is an all-natural approach to viticulture that emphasizes the unique character of each individual farm's soil and climate. In the wine world, the distinctness of each different soil is called terroir (related to the Latin word terra, "earth"). Often wines are Demeter Certified, guaranteeing that they not only meet an organic standard of avoiding synthetic fertilizers and avoiding synthetic pesticides but also including specific regenerative and biodynamic elements.

May 11, 2023

Does Biodynamics Improve Quality?

Never losing sight of common sense farming, biodynamics is an addition, not a subtraction, to what you're already doing right.

May 8, 2023

Alchemy & Crucifixion

In alchemy, this mirrors the process of distillation. Alchemical mercury and sulfur (oil and alcohol) both distill readily when heated. This is Christ and the Good Thief. But the bad thief is the "mark" -- the leftover plant materials after extracting the distillate. The leftovers must be burned at high temperatures called "calcination" (from the word chalk).

May 5, 2023

CHRISTUS VERUS LUCIFERUS

The saying "Christus verus luciferus" means Christ is the true light-bearer, which overcomes the one-sided prejudices both of Lucifer and of Ahriman. Whatever light Lucifer has is a dim reflected light, as Venus has but a dim reflection of the Sun's light.

May 3, 2023

Jacob Boehme

Steiner offers a fascinating suggestion about Boehme and the alchemist Paracelsus: “One needs only to know Paracelsus...

May 1, 2023

Freedom & Farming

Imagine every farm being free in itself (freedom within the boundaries of the farm), of itself (free from dependence on outside inputs), and for itself (free to pursue its own creative expression within the farm). Moreover, imagine countries doing the same. People ask, "Is biodynamics scalable?" If it means freedom, then, yes, it's one of the only things worth scaling.