2. The Nature of Life: Looking to the Cosmos

Biodynamics aims to understand how earth and cosmos work together. This requires us to build a knowledge of what lies outside the earth, and how it sustains what we call ‘life’. So, first of all, what is life?

Life is nothing if it does not involve process and development. For plants this encompasses seed germination, formation of roots and leaves as part of vegetative growth, leading on to flowering and seed formation. For animals, besides growth, it includes movement and consciousness. For human beings, besides a sentient quality there is awareness of individuality, or ego. Whatever organism we would consider, the processes of development, of maturity and ageing, are all parts of living a physical existence.¹ Compared to non-living substance, living things are animated by a type of energy. As distinct from the body of physical substance which is clearly visible and embodied in the Greek bios, some call this energy principle a life body or etheric body—Indian culture calls it ‘prana’. The Greeks, too, recognized that life had a cosmic element which infused it. This they called zoë. It is this which ultimately underlies all the processes of life involved in anatomy and biochemistry.

Because biodynamics is informed by Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual insights,² our attitude towards science, the human being and evolution is considered to have direct consequences. Does one, as Sherry Wildfeuer starkly contrasts, see humanity ‘as an accidental product of physical processes occurring randomly in the universe’ or as a ‘wisely fashioned divine creation with a capacity for love’?³ This philosophical fault-line needs addressing before we proceed further.

Scientific method—illusions and limitations

Materialist philosophy depends on all assertions being scientifically verifiable or capable of logical or mathematical proof, and it does not accept things which are metaphysical and which cannot therefore be directly observed or measured. This is the crux of the scientific method and it defines a paradigm which has come increasingly to rule the world of the last two centuries. We may not be able to agree with this approach in its extreme form⁴ but we should be ready to accept that the use of intellect and logical thinking has helped focus minds and has encouraged a spirit of disciplined enquiry in very many fields. But although philosophers and psychologists such as C.G. Jung have plumbed the depths and ascended the heights of the human mind,⁵ a spiritual or religious view is mostly considered irrational—the antithesis of a scientific outlook. However, the reality of a metaphysical or spiritual counterpart to the manifest world cannot be as easily dismissed as adherents to a materialist dictum might wish.⁶

Countless people have experienced unusual states of consciousness and are convinced that a realm exists beyond the physical. ‘Near death experiences’ are of this kind and have a remarkable consistency of form. States of meditation are a further example of finding a way beyond solely physical perception. The inspiration of those involved with the visual arts and music offer insight here. Similarly, for very large numbers of people there is the reality of intuition which is not rational yet is capable of engendering an often trustworthy sense of certainty. Indeed, many of the greatest minds have had ‘hunches’—intuitions by another name—which enabled key questions to be formulated, prior to the observations or experimentation which led to, and which took credit for ‘discovery’. So if we dissect the process of scientific enquiry—if we look at it as a continuum—it is complex and cannot claim to be entirely rational. To persist in arguing that scientific and spiritual approaches are fundamentally opposed is either misguided or mischievous.

Rudolf Steiner’s ‘anthroposophy’ (literally, ‘knowledge of the human being’) may be characterized as a spiritual knowledge of the human being in the context of the wider universe.⁷ With roots in theosophy, it is based on his faculty of spiritual vision and its disciplined use to achieve specific research objectives. However, it is presented in such a way that the knowledge can be compiled in a manner suitable for the mind of today to grasp—hence his use of the term ‘spiritual science’. In the end, spiritual research and subsequent comprehension of its findings relies on clear, logical thinking. And surprisingly, this quest for objective spiritual knowledge in no way demeans religion—it enhances our view of its role in the evolution of humanity. Most important of all is Steiner’s assurance that through spiritual science we don’t just exercise the intellect—we nourish the soul.⁸

Evolutionary theory—problems left unsolved

Evolutionary theory was an achievement of both logic and courage at the time it was presented. On physical evidence it appears that life has evolved through time and that higher forms have evolved from lower, like links in a chain. Human ontogenesis appears to reinforce this notion.⁹ Thus ‘natural selection’ and ‘survival of the fittest’ were expressions found in the work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.¹⁰ But while the origin of species was addressed, the origin of life was not. It is this question which will remain a barrier unless certain basic ideas are understood.

Aside from the creationist view there is general belief that life arose spontaneously from inorganic substance. Yet to become an organism is to incorporate chemical substances within a cellular framework. The organism needs to enclose itself and become separated from an outer environment. It then needs to be capable of propagation, for which replicating signatures—DNA and chromosomes—are required. And just as photosynthesis and flowering are governed by solar radiation, there is emerging evidence that these very particular combinations of proteins are activated by cosmic signals.¹¹ Again, if we consider micro-organisms that contribute to an animal’s digestive process these only begin to decompose their host when that illusive thing called life withdraws. Living organisms demonstrate an organizing principle or energy without which the body cannot be sustained. This is not just a spiritual idea but an empirical fact.

If we consider the sentient attributes of higher animals one wonders how these have evolved from purely physical origins. It is true that substances released from endocrine glands underpin fight-and-flight responses, sexual activity and so on, but what activates these processes in the first place? One might say it is our conscious reaction to circumstances, which of course depends on our life of feelings or emotions. But this is a spiritual rather than physical attribute—long recognized as the sentient or astral body, mental body or ‘manokaya’ (Sanskrit, manas = mind). Thus the astral member pervades the neurological system. How then has it evolved? And again, in human beings, where does that self-determining attribute, or ego, come from?

To perpetuate standard evolutionary theory is not to understand life or its origins. Scientific method is limited to the observation and measurement of physical reality whereas spiritual science, together with religious writings and mythology (albeit veiled and allegorical), tell of what lies behind this reality. Rudolf Steiner gave credit to what orthodox science had achieved but was emphatic that its methods, appropriate for understanding the mineral world, would never reveal the truth about living organisms. Scientific method was able to tell us about the corpse (the geological record) rather than the living entity (the origin and nature of life). Natural and spiritual science would appear to be two sides of a coin—in our present world, one cannot exist independently of the other.

Learning from the past

At the opening of Genesis, we find: ‘In the beginning the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.’ Similarly, the Mayan account of creation, the Popol Vuh, says: ‘Before the world was created, calm and silence were the great kings that ruled ... there was nothing. It was night; silence stood in the dark.’¹² And John’s Gospel in the New Testament starts with the words: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ We might say that no creative process is possible without first the idea or thought, followed by its outer manifestation as word and action.¹³

Consider a meal that is about to be eaten. We may have observed the food being prepared, perhaps even purchased or harvested, but in reality the meal is a creative act originating in the mind of the person cooking. This simple example exposes the fallacy of regarding evolution as if it were inevitable. Something always lies behind what is manifest and that invariably embodies wisdom in the broadest sense. We will shortly encounter several examples of how astronomical relationships are overshadowed by mathematical principles—quite impossible to conceive if something has come about accidentally, randomly and without thought.

The ancient Indians and other aboriginal peoples felt God to be expressed in all the outer forms of nature. In Indonesia, the spiritual forces of the Hindu god Vishnu are brought to earth by Garuda, an eagle deity. An echo of the teachings of the Holy Rishis is experienced in later poem texts such as the Vedas and the Bhagavadgita. In the latter, Arjuna, a representative of humanity, engages in mystical dialogue with Krishna, a representative of the creator being.¹⁴ This gives insight into the purpose of existence and the nature of the ultimate creative force or Godhead, for which being the name Om (or Tao) was used in the East. Today we use the Greek word omega meaning ‘the great ultimate’. So Krishna tells us:

The light that lives in the sun,
Lighting all the world,
The light of the moon,
The light that is in fire:
Know that light to be mine.

My energy enters the earth,
Sustaining all that lives:
I become the moon,
Giver of water and sap,
To feed the plants and the trees¹⁵

It is evident from this original Sanskrit, as well as other sources, that great powers have been directed throughout past aeons to achieving the progress which humanity has made.¹⁶ It is little wonder that from the ancient East through to the Druidic traditions of western Europe, profound reverence was felt for the manifest world.¹⁷

Fig. 2.1 Meganthropus symbolizing the human being as microcosm (from Wimala Dewanarayana, 2008)

In ancient Asia there was a perception that life was infused by four principles: in Sanskrit, pathavi, apo, vayo, thejo, known later by the Greeks as those primal forces underlying different states of matter—solids (earth), liquids (water), gases (air/light) and an all-pervading and more rarefied principle, that of warmth (fire).¹⁸ These, referred to elsewhere as ethers, were recognized as emanating from combinations of the twelve divisions of the zodiac—that circle of constellations lying along the path of the sky traversed by sun and moon (Chapter 6). In the school of Pythagoras, these primal forces and their interaction with planetary movements were experienced as musical tones, so those initiated at that time were able to speak, as did Plato, of ‘the music (or harmony) of the spheres’.¹⁹ In this connection, Rudolf Steiner explains how spiritual beings at different levels pour out their essence to make possible the conditions on which physical life is based. These beings were mentioned by name in early versions of the Bible.²⁰ Different groups of spiritual beings thus serve the All-Creator being, a universal spirit pervading everything from the ordered nature of the manifested ‘cosmos’ to the vast intervening and invisible ‘chaos’ of space.²¹

People in ancient times experienced the zodiacal sphere of the fixed stars as Meganthropus, the astrological man (Fig. 2.1), the movements of the heavens governing daily activities. We will see later that the planets were recognized as mediating these primal forces. Isolated groups of people—the Bushmen of the Kalahari, Australian Aborigines and some native Americans—still feel a connection with the cosmos. The Bushmen were surprised when the writer Laurens van der Post had slept soundly while the rest of the group had been wakeful owing to ‘noise’ experienced from the sky.²² In the author’s view, inspirations from such sources, though now confined to the unconscious mind, form the basis for the greater part of artistic and scientific achievement.

Among ancient peoples, the earth itself was regarded as a ‘mother being’. The ancient Egyptians worshipped Isis while the Greeks experienced this female nature as Gaia. Other names were given in the course of history, including Rhea, Astarte, Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Pallas Athene, Natura and Demeter.²³ Druids and wicca were sensitive to this female aspect of the earth. Recent popular ecological writings such as those of James Lovelock²⁴ suggest we remain comfortable with this idea for, like a mother, the earth’s natural systems are still—just about—able to support our physical existence. This raises the question as to whether our earth mother’s ability to grow crops is merely dependant on human labour, soil and climate. Mother’s fecundity would normally depend on father! So if there is a ‘father principle’, how does it work?

In mythology and creation accounts the principal creator beings are male; in Christianity, reference is made to ‘God the Father’. The Egyptians regarded their sun god Re as masculine—the Druids, too, saw the sun in this way. Notable progenitors of culture were also representatives of the sun, such as Manu and Zarathustra in the Middle East, Quetzalcoatl in Mexico and Viracocha in Peru. The Hopi, indigenous Americans, still retain a cultural heritage. Their craft work includes archetypically round figurines of ‘Mother Earth’, while taller, sticklike characters are ‘Father Sky’. Mauri tradition thinks of rain as ‘tears’ falling from Father Sky (Rangi) yearning for Mama, his spouse, the Earth Mother. Returning to Gaia, we find she was wife of Uranus, the god of the heavens! Evidently, there was once a more balanced picture of how earth and heavens worked together so it would be churlish to regard the Hopi crafts as mere tourist gimmicks. Further Sanskrit lines are notable in referring to the earth goddess and the expanses of the universe:

O goddess Earth, O all-enduring wide expanses
Salutation to thee.
Now I am going to begin cultivation.
Be pleased, O virtuous one.

So people in the past appear to have had a consciousness of supernatural beings and forces, and we know from myths and sagas that ‘gods once lived amongst the human race’. Materialistic thought either considers all this to be dreamlike nonsense or requires that physically manifest beings are involved. In fact, however, we have gradually lost consciousness of spiritual worlds and been left to look after ourselves. This is the significance of The Twilight of the Gods in Wagner’s Ring cycle. This separation has been necessary, for otherwise we could not have developed our present sense of individuality nor indeed our faculty of logical thinking. Loss of consciousness of the divine meant that it fell to religions to inform humanity of its origins and to provide a framework of laws for the organization of cultural life. This is the significance of the Ten Commandments of Moses which were transformed, for a later epoch, by Jesus Christ.

How can we picture cosmic forces?

Fig. 2.2 Simple bi-pyramidal prismatic crystal of quartz. Perspective drawing using typical axial values

Our manifest world would therefore seem to owe its existence to creative forces beyond the earth—minerals, plants, animals and even human beings connecting to archetypal influences in the universe.²⁵ We can attempt to illustrate these things by studying the mineral world. All physical substance represents the drawing together of forces from the periphery to a point—ultimately the atom.²⁶ The chemical elements, which Steiner described as ‘dead images of the cosmos’, are to be understood in this way (Chapter 4). Unlike the curved forms of the living world, where movement is a governing principle and where planetary influence expresses itself (see below), the defining characteristic of the mineral world is straightness and angularity of form. Crystals express in a macroscopic way the inner organization of their molecular structures. We find classes of symmetry to which different minerals belong. There is always a single axis of rotation about which two or three other axes are inclined. In the cubic system, which includes common salt and iron pyrites, all three axes are at right angles. The hexagonal or trigonal system, which includes quartz (Fig. 2.2), has three axes 60 degrees apart on the same plane, with a fourth rotational axis at right angles. So what might it be that underlies such an intersection of lines and planes?

Fig. 2.3 Projective geometrical diagram for visualizing cosmic formative influences (from John Wilkes)

Looking out into space we sense emptiness but ‘such a thing as mathematics calls “space” simply does not exist... everywhere are lines of force, directions of force ... these are not equal, they vary and are differentiated’.²⁷ With projective geometry we can visualize mineral structures and systems of symmetry as earthly embodiments of combinations of these cosmic forces (Fig. 2.3).²⁸ That seemingly lifeless minerals have their spiritual sources in the far cosmos is an awesome thought, yet crystals of different kinds are traditionally associated with constellations, even planets, and to this day are associated with various healing practices.²⁹

How are cosmic forces transmitted?

Many readers will not see the necessity of associating cosmic forces based on the four ethers with measurable forms of energy reaching the earth. However, it could be argued that if such spiritual forces are to work creatively on the physical plane, they should at least be conducted by means that are detectable using existing instruments.

Detectable forms of energy travelling towards the earth cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum (Fig. 2.4). At one end there are radio waves (long waves of low frequency and low energy) which proceed through to infrared and the visible spectrum, then to ultraviolet, gamma and cosmic rays. The latter have frequencies falling within the range from cells to atoms and therefore have mutational potential. All these various waves or quanta of energy can barely be called physical at all but are candidates for carrying information. Sound waves, as Steiner enigmatically pronounced, ‘do not themselves constitute tone, but are carriers of the tone which has its own separate existence’.³⁰ In modern telecommunications, the voice signal is superimposed on carrier waves. Just as electromagnetic waves are the basis of music, and as music carries meaning for the listener, it is by no means implausible to visualize such energies acting as carriers for forces which support life processes. As the most important form of energy received on earth is sunlight, there is a presumption that contained within the light from countless cosmic bodies are all the creative ethers (see below and Chapter 4).

Fig. 2.4 The electromagnetic spectrum

Forms of human communication

Life for humans exists on the spiritual as well as the physical level, so how might spiritual communication occur? By definition it should not require physical means, and certainly in the realm of thought we can transport ourselves anywhere we wish in an instant! Seers or initiates, such as Pythagoras, the Holy Rishis or indeed Rudolf Steiner, together with other spiritual investigators to more limited degrees, could and can draw information from what are known as the akashic (cosmic spiritual) records. Among the abilities of Hopi seers and the shamans of other cultures is an awareness of the qualities of children before they are born. Lesser mortals can receive thoughts from those far away, from the deceased, and sometimes from angelic sources.³¹ People, and particularly animals—including insects, amphibians and reptiles—have a sense of coming events. Consider the premonition of animals in the 2004 tsunami where comparatively few perished. Likewise the native inhabitants of Indian Ocean islands sensed unease and went to high ground. Pets are well known for sensing the return of their owners.³² Certain healing practices, including radionics, demonstrate the use of mental or psychic energies and it is difficult to imagine that such activities require the services of the electromagnetic spectrum! Distant dowsing is in somewhat the same category.

Some have favoured the existence of a fine and unmeasurable web or ‘field’ of connections on which spiritual thought-forms and psychic phenomena are able to pass. By implication, a fine all-pervading ‘ether’ must be involved.³³ Such ideas approach reality but require spiritual insight to carry them further. For this writer, the existence of nitrogen in the earth’s atmosphere is crucial, for Steiner has described this element as ‘a cosmic substance here on earth, having will, knowledge, purpose and direct connection with groups of spiritual beings’. As it is our consciousness (astral body) which participates in the reception of tone and other information, the key chemical element carrying this spiritual principle is nitrogen. Nitrogen forms the bulk of the air we breathe, and nitrogen as protein and DNA is in every cell of our bodies. It is nitrogen which enables the mediation and decoding of cosmic spiritual forces. And nitrogen is also what facilitates access to a range of more worldly knowledge. We shall explore further the ‘cosmic sensitivity’ of nitrogen in Chapter 4.

The nature of our sun

The foregoing picture of our dependence on outer forces brings us inevitably to the sun, its character and crucial role at the heart of our solar system. To begin with, if we acknowledge that higher beings ‘sacrifice’ part of themselves for our benefit it is little use persisting with a view of the sun which lacks moral or spiritual credibility. Steiner advised in relation to stars that what we see as light is in reality ‘the working of will and intelligence’.³⁴

Meanwhile physicists understand the sun’s heat and light as resulting from nuclear energy released from the so-called ‘proton-proton chain’ and also, to a lesser extent, from the ‘C-N-O cycle’. They are increasingly sure about the processes that occur in stars, that different ‘generations’ of stars have formed since the so-called Big Bang (the supposed origin of the universe) that heavier elements can only form in stars of a certain mass, and that stars have different lifetimes according to their size.³⁵ However, the most important fact for our present purpose is their acknowledgement that matter has originated from pure energy, as is predicted by the Einstein equation E = mc².

Fig. 2.5 The physiognomy of the sun (from Robert McCracken, 2001)

If we consider the temperature pattern of the sun, at the surface of the photosphere it is around 5800° K.³⁶ While the core is hotter (Fig. 2.5), temperatures in the sun’s plasma atmosphere, or corona—seen from earth at times of total solar eclipse—are around two million degrees. There is no satisfactory consensus for why this should be, and it defies the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Meanwhile, as the sun rotates, its outer layers do so faster at the equator than at the poles so frictional energy is released. As a result, sound waves are recorded on earth which have bounced and reflected within the sun. This gives the impression of the sun being hollow,³⁷ an observation enhanced because the vast interior of the sun is almost entirely hydrogen (70%) and helium. Moreover, less than 1% of the sun’s mass consists of elements heavier than helium yet these are concentrated not in the core, as would be the case on earth, but in the corona. We know from spectroscopy and the Fraunhofer dark banding (produced through elements absorbing light of different wavelengths) that the sun contains at least 68 of the chemical elements (Fig. 2.6).

Fig. 2.6 Fraunhofer dark banding of the solar spectrum. Top curve shows light intensity. In this diagram from the original German publication, red is at the left and violet on the right

The sun as gatherer and distributor of energy

Having established a few observable facts it is now possible to consider the views of Steiner, and those of others who have worked with his ideas. Amazingly for his time, Steiner rejected the ‘ball of fire’ notion and asserted that the sun’s interior consisted of ‘less than empty space’.³⁸ A helpful picture is given by Robert McCracken who develops further our opening thought. He says: ‘According to spiritual-scientific law, the creation of warmth is a sacrifice of higher spiritual beings. When spiritual inner warmth becomes physically perceptible as outer warmth, a densification to air or gas occurs. Simultaneously a finer element is liberated—light. This is what is happening on the sun. Spiritual inner warmth streaming in from the cosmos condenses to outer warmth in the corona and liberates light at the sun’s outer boundary.’³⁹

But is this picture viable from an astrophysical standpoint? We can say that immense concentrations of energy (inner warmth) are drawn in towards the sun, manifesting as (outer) light and heat.⁴⁰ This process calls into existence subatomic particles, notably quarks, of which protons and neutrons are composed. In this way the smallest atoms, hydrogen and helium, can be formed, for it is these which most characterize the physics of the solar process. These substances are thus formed from a ‘compression’ of the surrounding stream of approaching energies. In this way, matter is formed from pure energy. But, according to McCracken, as spirit (or ether) acts in one direction, matter should move in the other. So the negative space or vacuum of the sun draws in cosmic ether forces while gross matter and manifested forms of energy migrate to the periphery—the corona.

Solar influences on the earth

The energy output of the sun is not constant in time, but undergoes shorter- and longer-term changes, notably the 11-year sunspot cycle. The sun thus emits a stream of high-energy material across the solar system which is directed to earth across the ecliptic plane. This is known as the solar wind (Fig. 2.7). The greater part of this stream is inimical to life and does not reach the earth’s surface, but some enters via polar cusps in the magnetosphere, giving rise to the aurora borealis and aurora australis. The solar wind contains a number of life-related elements such as sulphur, calcium, silicon, iron, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium and manganese, which can therefore be considered to exist in very dilute form around the earth. Aside from direct radiation, global temperatures are affected by the strength of the solar wind (expressed as cosmic ray flux) for this appears to influence geomagnetic field strength and cloud development.

Fig. 2.7 The solar wind and earth’s protective magnetic field

As the earth rotates, the day-side is subject to the strongest incoming energy. However, in etheric terms it is subject to the strongest attraction to a sun whose unusual character we have already drawn attention to. This forms the basis of the earth-breathing process introduced in Chapter 3 and its practical use in Chapter 5. When the moon or one of the inner planets cuts the earth’s ecliptic plane, the stream of energies approaching the earth is disturbed and there are aberrations in the earth’s electromagnetic field. At these times plant growth is adversely affected.⁴¹ This is important evidence of cosmic influence on life processes.

For life on earth the visible sunlight carries life-supporting energies or ethers. We have mentioned these as originating from the zodiac, with the sun gathering, transforming and transmitting their energies. But from a geocentric perspective the sun’s quality is modified by whichever zodiacal influence lies behind it.⁴² This suggests that whenever alignments occur there is a channelling of life-formative or etheric forces. We shall revisit this idea in Chapter 6 when discussing the biodynamic calendar.

Many will see the sun as merely providing us with a lighting and heating system but in reality it is a vital intermediary between outer cosmic forces and life on earth. Moreover, the sun inspires a family of planets, which in turn influence life in particular ways.

The solar system

From Claudius Ptolemaeus of Alexandria in the second century AD until Tycho Brahe in the seventeenth, the earth was considered the centre of our universe. This is the actual experience of people on earth, for self-evidently everything moves around us! The fact that it was the sun which lay at the centre of a planetary system was first established by Nicolaus Copernicus. Rational observer he certainly was, but he nevertheless recognized each planet as ruling over a ‘sphere’ represented by its orbit around the sun, and that planets represented the activity of spiritual beings, of which the planetary body was their physical outer manifestation (Fig. 2.8). This is further illustration of a more universal mindset at the dawn of our present era.

Fig. 2.8 Solar system showing orbital periods and inclination to the earth’s ecliptic

Two particular ‘motions’ should be noted. While the planets form a family around the sun, in reality they are all following the sun, for the latter is moving at immense speed towards the constellation of Hercules, the stars of which appear further apart as time has progressed. It is not surprising then, that planetary orbits, as Johannes Kepler discovered, are slightly elliptical.⁴³ Similarly, the moon’s orbit is an ellipse, for the earth is in constant motion around the sun. However, it should be stated that ellipse theory is defective in so far as the forces required to maintain such motion cannot be explained.⁴⁴

So in time this conception may be modified, for Willi Sucher, following Steiner’s Astronomy Course, proposed that the earth and sun are involved in a figure-of-eight dance, known as a lemniscate.⁴⁵ This is one variant of a family of mathematical curves known as Cassini curves (Fig. 2.9). Lemniscate motion in some respects allows the conceptions of Copernicus and Ptolemy to be harmonized. Where a mutual attraction exists between bodies, both must move in relation to a neutral point,⁴⁶ an analogy being the somewhat circular motion of a man swinging a heavy weight. Speaking of knowledge within former mystery schools, Steiner said it was originally accepted that the earth ‘forever moves to where the sun has been, reaching that point always a quarter of a year later’.⁴⁷ While this makes imagining the whole complex of planetary movements almost impossible, it is food for thought concerning the traditional seasonal festivals.

Because the planets have different orbital periods and different inclination to our ecliptic plane, no cosmic event can ever recur in exactly the same way. And despite the repeated cycle of our seasons, no two years can ever experience similar combinations of astronomical arrangements. Providing we can accept that supersensible forces influence us, this is most significant as a framework for evolution, for the future will always hold new possibilities.

Fig. 2.9 Circle, together with examples of ellipse and lemniscate

Stars were referred to earlier as outer expressions of spiritual activity. In a similar way, all life on earth—the human body for example—is also the outer garment for the working of spirit. Likewise, we need to think—with Kepler—of the planets as outer manifestations of groups of spiritual beings with different tasks, part of whose current evolutionary mission is to work with the sun to support life on earth. Some readers will object that life as we know it is not possible on other celestial bodies! The idea to work with is that other beings may not require physical bodies and that it remains our task to experience the special challenges of a physical existence. In reality then, the sun sends forth its influences throughout the solar system. These are worked upon by different groups of beings before finally being received by the earth as formative impulses.

As if to underline their ordered tasks, the planets as far as Saturn are not just scattered at random distances from the sun but conform to a mathematical approximation known as Bode’s law, where the average radii of their orbits increase in a constant manner.⁴⁸ Thus if we refer to the average distance of earth from the sun as 1 (the standard astronomical unit), then list all planets from Mercury to Saturn, including the asteroid belt, we obtain the distances 0.39, 0.72, 1, 1.52, 2.9, 5.2 and 9.55—the ratio between successive pairs yielding the series 0.54, 0.72, 0.66, 0.52, 0.55 and 0.54.

Could there be further significance in these figures? Earlier we referred to the music of the spheres. Music, of course, consists of tone and rhythm. The fact that there were seven original planets might imply the above ratios are analogous to tonal intervals.⁴⁹ We might also observe at this point that the periodic table of the elements shows repetition of properties according to a harmonic law and that in Steiner’s classification of the ethers the ‘chemical ether’ is connected with ‘tone’! When a violin bow is drawn across the edge of a metal plate on which a fine dust is placed, Chladni figures are produced which illustrate that sound has an ordering influence on matter. A final analogue with planetary motion is the orbital character of electrons based on energy levels.

Mystery connections between moon and earth

Exploring further the relationships between earth (microcosm) and the wider universe (macrocosm), a question periodically asked is whether it is possible in mathematics, geometry or architecture to perceive the working of the divine. The Great Pyramid has been considered an embodiment of the earthly microcosm. Its sides ‘face the four points of the compass and mark the spot formerly regarded as the centre of the earth’. If we consider Fig. 2.10A, from the work of John Michell, the elevation of one of the pyramid’s sides, with the apex angle as viewed at ground level, is first superimposed on its square base. A circle is then constructed with radius equal to the pyramid’s height. Having done this, we find that the perimeters of square and circle are equal! The pyramid is thus ‘a monument to the art of squaring the circle’ and of ‘promoting the union of cosmic and terrestrial forces by which the earth is made fertile’.⁵⁰

The proportional measurements of moon and earth reveal a similar and remarkable correspondence. Let us consider Fig. 2.10B. If circles are drawn tangentially, with dimensions representing earth and moon, and squares are then drawn to encompass them, a 3-4-5 triangle is found to unite both squares.⁵¹ Furthermore, as with the pyramid, the larger circle combining the two radii has a circumference equal to the perimeter of the larger square.

Fig. 2.10 Geometrical and numerological relationships between moon and earth (from John Michell, 1972)

Let us now consider Fig. 2.10C from a numerological point of view. According to Michell, the number 3168 which relates to both circle and square is a Gnostic number. Such numbers arose through sounds having had creative power as well as meaning in primordial times. We have already referred to the significance of sound and will have more to say about it later. Sounds uttered were once able to be reduced to number. Thus in ancient languages, Greek and Hebrew for example, letters were assigned values (Gematria), these having cumulative meaning. Following this scheme, the value 3168 accords with the Greek equivalent of ‘Lord Jesus Christ’. From Steiner’s work we understand the Christ to be a cosmic being whose life, earthly death and resurrection was a defining point in his long and continuing involvement with the whole of humankind. In this respect it is of interest to note that the same numerals are found at Stonehenge, where the circumference of the massive Sarcen circle is 316.8 feet!

The combined radii of earth and moon (in miles) amount to 5040 (Plato’s mystical number) while the diameter of the moon, at 2160 miles, is of the precessional period or Platonic Year, usually quoted as 25,920 years. When we then look at the average distance between earth and moon, it is found to be 60 earth radii (or 5, the number representing the human being, × 12).

Correspondences such as these inevitably arouse suspicion on grounds of selectiveness yet it has long been realized that British duodecimal units have their origin in an ancient cosmology. The reasons for drawing attention to these essentially mathematical relationships are that, while resulting from research into sacred geometry and numerology, they reinforce the notion that our current earth existence is overshadowed by cosmic wisdom.

Planetary rhythm and its effects on organisms

Another way of thinking about the solar system is that it imposes rhythm upon cosmic tone by the motions of each planet moving within its sphere. We should not think simply of movements around the sun, but subtle movements in relation to the earth. The latter all involve sequences of loops (see below). In this respect the earlier geocentric view of the solar system has closer connection with life processes.

People in ancient times had instinctive or intuitive awareness of nature, while their elites had wisdom imparted through mystery schools. From combinations of these sources a knowledge of the healing qualities of plants originated. Ayurvedic practice in ancient India recognized the influence of planets and their inherent rhythms on different organs of the body. It was the same in other native medical traditions. Such awareness enabled plants to be identified which had strong connections with a particular planet and which might provide cures if prepared in the correct way. Such knowledge only helps confirm the picture that the human being (microcosm) is created out of the cosmos (macrocosm). A straightforward example of planetary connection would be the yarrow, Achillea millefolium, formerly known as Venus’s eyebrow. While the last vestiges of arcane knowledge are to be found in the Herbal of Nicholas Culpeper (1826), indigenous knowledge of the therapeutic qualities of plants is widely encapsulated in their Latin names, for example Pulmonaria, the lungwort.

While there is greater acceptance of lunar effects on plant growth,⁵² ignorance or scepticism is widespread on the matter of planetary influences. Nevertheless, for the planets as far as Saturn, Kranich offered a framework for their influence on plant life.⁵³ He saw the upward-rising stem as responding to solar influence, and the downward root as reflecting the moon. The pattern of leaves as they diverge from the stem as well as patterns of flower petals were images of the movement of Venus and Mercury. Anther and pollen formation were considered a Mars influence while fruit formation was thought to be controlled by Jupiter, and seed formation by Saturn (see inner and outer planets below).

The patterns of petals, seeds and leaves have long intrigued botanists. Let us consider the symmetrical manner in which leaves or leafstalks arise from the main stem—an example of phyllotaxis. Grohmann’s example of the rose will be taken because its leaf symmetry is mirrored in the formation of petals, which rarely occurs in other families:⁵⁴

The leaves are arranged in a spiral around the stem (contracting towards the top) [Fig. 2.11]. The sixth leaf stands vertically above the first and to reach it one has to circle the stem twice. Seen from above, the shoot has five rows of leaves which correspond exactly to the angles of a pentagram.

In this arrangement we should note that the angle between successive leaves is of the stem circumference and careful examination will reveal that between each successive leaf one angle of the pentagram is always bypassed. Other plant families exhibit different numerical relationships: . Such numbers are recognized as part of a sequence known as the Fibonacci series: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 ... a summation series where each successive integer is the sum of the preceding two. The ratio of successive numbers e.g. 21/13 tend eventually towards 1.618—the Golden Ratio⁵⁵ (see below). If we form two diagonals of the regular pentagram, this same value is achieved by intersection.

Fig. 2.11 Phyllotaxis of the rose (after Gerbert Grohmann, 1989)

Planets express this same numerical behaviour in the frequency of their close encounters with the earth. If we consider Venus geocentrically, we find that over a period of 8 years it accomplishes 5 loops towards the earth (Fig. 2.12).⁵⁶ Moreover, Venus rotates clockwise on its axis, always presenting the same face to the earth at the point of closest approach. This behaviour is indicative that the rose family (a representative of dicotyledons) is strongly influenced by Venus—a wonderful example of the effect of cosmic rhythm on life forms. Mercury accomplishes 3 loops every year (1/3 relationship) and its influence would appear to relate to monocotyledons such as grasses, alliums and the iris family. Further relationships have been proposed for other planets.

Fig. 2.12 The loops of Venus (from Brian Keats, 1999)

Phyllotaxis is also displayed by buds, cones, petals and seed heads and can sometimes be related to Fibonacci fractions. The meticulous research of Lawrence Edwards has shown that cones and buds respond to planetary movements. Buds of tree species expand and contract on a roughly fortnightly cycle as the moon aligns with particular planets. They are at their most expanded when earth, moon and planet are in alignment, and most contracted when the moon is at right angles to the line between earth and planet. But his greatest achievement, following George Adams, was in furthering the connection between projective geometry and living nature. Thus are organic shapes invariably bounded by characteristic linear forms called path curves.⁵⁷ For example, the shells of invertebrates exhibit a form of ‘growth measure’, a logarithmic spiral expanding from the centre and related through geometry to the Golden Ratio.

The Golden Ratio

Reference to this ratio should not be made without considering its derivation (Fig. 2.13A). We need to construct a ‘root five’ rectangle ABCD. To do this, the side of a square of unit value 1 is first bisected at E, and with radius EF (root 5/2) a semicircle is drawn. Two smaller rectangles, Golden Section rectangles, are produced, each with base 0.618 units. Each of these has a reciprocal relationship to the remaining rectangle of base 1 + 0.618. In other words, though smaller, they are similar in proportions.

Discovery of this ratio was a major achievement of Greek art and architecture, yet the same rules form the basis of organic ‘growth measure’ shown by the spiral phyllotaxis of sunflower seeds and by invertebrates such as Nautilus (Fig. 2.13B and C). Just how these living forms relate to the Golden Ratio and a rational system of numbers may be illustrated in Fig. 2.13D and E. In diagram D, starting with a 1.618 rectangle ABCD, we first create the perpendicular AF to the diagonal CB, intersecting at what we will call the pole. In doing this we have created three proportional triangles whose apices are the pole, and whose long sides are respectively AB, AC and CF. If we now make FE parallel to AC we have created the reciprocal of the larger rectangle and this whole process of reduction in geometrical proportion can continue to infinity, as indicated by the bolder line. In diagram E we have fitted a continuous curve to these same dimensions in order to create a spiral, characteristic of living forms.

Fig. 2.13 The Golden Ratio: its derivation and application to organisms

Insights derived from the effects of sound

In the organic world, characterized as it is by curved surfaces, it seems reasonable to say that energies or forces of different origin may induce their own ‘fields’ just as iron filings reveal the field of a magnet. In this way, the formative effects of sound have been known ever since the effects of Chladni’s violin bow in the late eighteenth century but I recently discovered an example of such effects by an author who had produced ‘organic’, mathematically related forms by vocal sounds. Different patterns were achieved according to certain variables, including the medium being used and the pitch of the sound. As Margaret Watts herself stated, ‘we have only to examine these figures ... [Fig. 2.14] to find ourselves face to face with Nature in her almost limitless variety’.⁵⁸ To produce such effects in powders or liquid media clearly shows a relationship between vibrational energy and ‘organic’ form. It is a further step to see it as an analogue for the working of cosmic ether forces in the shaping of living forms.

Fig. 2.14 Patterns produced by vocal sound (from Margaret Watts, 1891). A. Figures in sand according to pitch. B. Fern and tree forms using moist watercolours. C. Coral-like form. D. Linear form similar to bivalve. E. Floral forms (drawn because highly ephemeral). F. ‘Cross-vibration’ pattern (compare with Fig. 2.13B). G. Patterns in Lycopodium spores

Combining this evidence with that of the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci, we gain a glimpse of how cosmic ethers work according to mathematical laws in life processes just as they do in the formation of crystals in the mineral world.

The planetary days of the week

The recognition of planetary rhythm and its importance in human life probably found earliest expression around 4000 years ago in the designation of days of the week. It is almost certainly to the Babylonians and later the Assyrians, whose elite priesthood built observatories for studying the movements of the stars and planets, that we owe this seven-day system. Seven is a mystical number defining periods of time and it happens that the sun, moon and the then-known planets came to this number. Each day of the week bore either the name of the planet or the deity then recognized as ruling it. Aside from the Jews, all pre-Christian cultures were polytheistic and recognized planetary deities. Thus from northern European folklore, Tuesday to Friday are named after its eponymous deities: Tiwaz, Wotan, Thor and Freia.

What is remarkable, however, is not so much the list of sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, but their order. Starting with the sun at the centre we progress to the moon which, in its association with the earth, is considered an inner planet, for part of its orbit does indeed pass inside that of the earth’s around the sun. Furthermore, as we shall see below, it exerts typically ‘inner planetary’ influences. After this we have Mars, an outer planet (orbiting outside, or superior to, the earth’s orbit around the sun); then Mercury, an inner planet; Jupiter, an outer planet; Venus, an inner planet; and finally Saturn, an outer planet (Fig. 2.8). The alternating sequence therefore embodies balance.

It may be objected that no mention is here made of the three furthest planets of our solar system. These are generally understood to have arrived later in its cosmology. The Tamil rishi Kakabhujandara more than two thousand years ago is reputed to have said that in the future the earth would experience the influence of three planets in addition to those then recognized. These were named in Sanskrit, Arakkan (Uranus), Samarassana (Neptune) and Kandakan (Pluto). Later astrologers were to observe that knowledge of electricity, magnetism and atomic energy were revealed to human beings by spiritual influences from these sources.⁵⁹

Inner and outer planetary influences

In his agriculture lectures, Steiner emphasized the different roles of the inner (inferior or near) planets, moon, Venus and Mercury, and outer (superior, far or distant) planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. We have already noted that the planets have a relation to life processes, this applying to animals as well as plants. The inner planets have a particular relation to digestion and metabolism, to growth and reproductive processes. In the case of plants, they support the role of the sun in photosynthesis, connecting predominantly with the vegetative processes of roots and leaves. They are therefore much connected with the process of incarnation—the accumulation of substance in the physical world, and therefore with production from an agricultural point of view. We should note the classical connection of Venus with fertility, Venus being linked to nutrition and its biological consequence, excretion.⁶⁰ Mercury was the messenger of the gods, and is linked to movement and healing. The moon is connected with fertility and all water processes. The inner planets therefore connect strongly with the elements of water and earth.

Inner planetary influences are drawn downwards into the earth’s sphere by calcium and kindred substances.⁶¹ Calcium is a major constituent of bony skeletons and is, of course, vitally present in mother’s milk. Calcium is also present in nerve tissue, especially at synapses and the terminal points of cells. In plants, calcium ions mediate many different processes connected with cell division and cell signalling. These act structurally as a cement between adjacent cell walls and are involved in cell elongation, and so are particularly concentrated at meristems and root tips. Calcium is therefore of utmost importance in the process of growth, cell communication being a vital part of this. It is a veritable gatherer of the life or growth force. If we consider how widespread calcium carbonate is among living organisms we will note that in this substance calcium is combined with carbon, the form-bearer, and oxygen, the carrier of the life principle (see Chapter 4). Calcium is therefore implicated in linking life forces with physical substance. Calcium is also a representative of a group of substances we call salts, which the alchemists termed ‘sal’, and which draw life-giving water to themselves.⁶²

What then of the outer planets? These could be said to manifest in a more subtle and perhaps qualitative rather than quantitative manner. We can again see them as supplementing the role of the sun, for example accounting for the colour and scents of flowers. Hence the spectral colours red, yellow and blue are connected respectively with influences from Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, a fact recognized by Hindus and Buddhists. There can be little doubt that such colour radiations work creatively elsewhere in the living world and colours are, of course, recognized as having therapeutic value.⁶³ Flower and seed formation represent the more cosmic aspect of plant growth so we should associate outer planetary forces predominantly with the elements of light and warmth. Outer planetary influences connect also with attributes which are not immediately manifest, such as general vitality. Whereas substance is emphasized in the contribution of the inner planets, here we deal to a greater extent with the formative forces underlying growth. These are the forces originating in the far cosmos and referred to elsewhere as archetypal plant forces. For the animal and human realms, outer planetary influences support sensory, instinctual and higher spiritual capacities.

Outer planetary influences find an affinity with the earth primarily through silica. They are first drawn into the earth before working upwards into the plant (see Chapter 4). Silica is a mysterious substance which Steiner describes as ‘generalized outer perception’ and as ‘the universal sense within the earthly realm’.⁶⁴ Silica’s relation to the physical world can often be described as ‘on the periphery’. Silica is concentrated in the earth’s crustal layers. In plants, while dissolved silica is present within cells, it occurs in grasses as peripheral opaline structures which add strength to the cellulose wall. A silica-rich membrane occurs outside the soft parts of a hen’s egg and, similarly, outside the developing child in the mother’s womb, and in skin, saliva, hair and on the surface of the eye. It can rightly be said that we ‘look through silica to see the light’. In this way we build the picture of silica and calcium as polar opposites.

So how can we best summarize the roles of silicon and calcium? If we want to build a house we need an architect and a bricklayer. For growth and development of plants and animals we need formative forces and nutritional substance. We need these processes to occur in partnership. At the start of this chapter we made reference to the Greek concept of zoë—essentially an architectural force embodying the work that the sun carries out with the help of the outer planets and in connection with forces relating to silica. On the other hand the bricklayer involved with earthly life is the chemist and nutritionist connected with the sun’s activity in relation to the inner planets and lime-related substances. This we have referred to as the physically manifested life or bios.

Achieving a balance in the working of inner and outer planetary forces is a major objective of biodynamics. It underlies the balanced healthy growth of plants mentioned in Chapter 1 and to be discussed further in Chapter 4. It is also the basis for production of food of the highest value for human beings (Chapter 10). The Lord’s Prayer, which states ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ truly requires us to know what that will is, before we can set out to accomplish it in agriculture.⁶⁵ Recognizing the importance of these different cosmic forces is a crucial first step in achieving this.