Plants Know Best
In 1924 the spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner delivered
lectures in response to a request by farmers who had
noticed degraded soil conditions and deterioration in the
health and quality (or life force) of crops and livestock,
resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers. These eight
lectures became known as the Agriculture Course, and are a
must-read for anyone who strives to understand plants and
their relation to the natural world.
Steiner opens the lectures by speaking on how rhythms
indicate the degree to which natural beings have become
emancipated from their relation to nature. This emancipation from nature is almost complete for human life, and is
expressed as free will. Plant life, on the other hand, is still to
a high degree immersed in the general life of nature, which
is why the moon and other celestial bodies so strongly influence plant growth—as demonstrated in farmer’s almanacs
with concepts such as ‘sow by the moon’ and in planting
calendars such as the Stella Natura.
The scope of this article is not sufficient to fully express
these concepts, but suffice it to say that the organization
of what Steiner called the ‘higher energy bodies’ corre-
Humans are unique in
possessing an ego, or
the ability to recognize
ourselves in the mirror.
sponds directly with how we experience nature. Humans
are unique in possessing an ego, or the ability to recognize
ourselves in the mirror. Animals possess no ego, but they
do, along with humans, possess an astral—or soul—body.
This is the bearer of pleasure and pain, cravings, desires and
passions. It is the astral body that regulates instinct, and it is
also at work in the human dream state.
Plants are not subject to the influence of emotion. According to Steiner, however, they do possess an ‘etheric’
body. This energy body can be explained as being responsible for fighting off decay. This is why seeds can sprout in a
compost pile—even though decay is being encouraged, life
can emerge.
When a plant dies and the physical body is removed
from its energetic association with the etheric body, only
then does it begin to decompose. The same is true for all
living organisms. This occurs through the phenomenon of
resonance. When the higher energy bodies are no longer
retained in the physical body, the frequency is changed and
the physical organism begins to break down.
So how does this apply to the grow room? The short answer is—in every way possible. The point of a grow room
is to grow living organisms: plants. We are bringing living
systems into our grow rooms and only considering the
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Maximum Yield USA | March 2012