Applied Biodynamics — Issue 055 (Winter 2006–2007)

Applied Biodynamics Issue 055 (Winter 2006–2007) presents Hugh J. Courtney's positive account of the cow in biodynamic agriculture, JPI's reverent preparation-sheath practice, and a multi-generation seed comparison attributed to Maria Thun.

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Honoring the cow

JPI's annual sheath harvest begins with a solemn gathering on the preceding evening. Participants read passages from Rudolf Steiner on the animal kingdom and Christian Morgenstern's poem The Washing of the Feet, visit the chosen animal, and offer a silent blessing and thanks. The following morning may begin with a smudging ceremony.

The practice brings gratitude, attention, and responsibility into preparation making. Courtney presents the organs used for several biodynamic preparations as gifts from the animal kingdom, and the ceremony honors those gifts before the technical work begins.

The cow as a great transformer

Courtney draws from Steiner's 1923 lecture cycle published as Man as Symphony of the Creative Word and Harmony of the Creative Word. Steiner presents eagle, lion, and cow as three archetypal expressions of the animal kingdom and as images of three human systems:

• The eagle expresses the head and formative activity associated with the sun.
• The lion expresses the rhythmic balance of breathing and circulation.
• The cow expresses metabolism, digestion, gravity, and the transformation of substance.

Within this spiritual-scientific picture, the cow is the great animal of digestion. Her organism transforms plant substance and brings cosmic activity into earthly processes. Courtney connects this capacity with the central place of cow manure in compost, humus formation, soil renewal, and BD 500 horn manure.

The cow and the living earth

Steiner describes a grazing herd as enlivening the earth beneath it. Ruminant digestion and the manure that follows grazing mediate among animal, plant, soil, and cosmos. The issue also presents Steiner's image of elemental beings gathering joyfully beneath feeding cattle.

In biodynamic practice, this relationship becomes tangible through grazing, compost, horn manure, and the animal sheaths that guide selected plant substances through their seasonal transformation.

Preparation making as sacramental work

Courtney cites Alex Podolinsky's description of preparation making as the true sacrament of the present age. The preparation maker receives animal and plant materials, brings them into exact relationships, places them in the earth through the proper season, and returns a transformed substance to farm and garden.

Quality begins with the life of the animal, the integrity of the sheath, the condition of the plant material, the seasonal timing, the attention of the people doing the work, and the gratitude carried through every stage.

Animal life within a complete fertility system

In On the Harvesting of the Preparation Sheaths, Courtney presents animal influence as essential to enduring agricultural vitality. A complete biodynamic system brings manure, compost, grazing, preparations, and seed renewal together as one living farm organism.

The BD 502–507 compost preparations embody this interdependence. Several plant preparations develop within animal sheaths, while BD 504 stinging nettle and BD 507 valerian do not require them. BD 508 horsetail supports the wider spray program. Together with BD 500 and BD 501, all nine preparations form a balanced whole.

Maria Thun multi-generation seed comparison

Courtney recounts a side-by-side experiment attributed to Maria Thun. One area received plant-based compost without manure and only BD 504, BD 507, and BD 508. An adjacent area growing comparable crops received the full biodynamic program. Seed from each plot was saved separately and returned to the same treatment in successive years.

By the end of the third to fourth year, seed from the animal-free plot had begun losing viability. By the fifth year, most of that seed could no longer produce a crop. The comparison supports the issue's central picture of animal and plant contributions working together to carry agricultural vitality into future generations of seed.

JPI continuity

Courtney's opening notes record organizational renewal alongside the issue's agricultural theme. Jeremiah Courtney and Mark Proctor prepared many gallons of Barrel Compound and buried several thousand BD 500 horns. Cindi Courter supported fundraising, while Joey Brinkley and Natalie Coles brought preparation-making experience developed at Grgich Hills Cellar. Their work helped JPI carry its preparation practice and teaching into the next season.

Key topics covered

• JPI's ritual of readings, blessing, gratitude, and careful work before harvesting bovine preparation sheaths.
• Eagle, lion, and cow as spiritual-scientific images of the human head, rhythmic system, and metabolism.
• The cow's digestion, grazing, manure, elemental relationships, and contribution to soil renewal.
• Preparation making as ethical, agricultural, and sacramental work.
• Animal and plant processes within a complete biodynamic fertility system.
• Maria Thun's multi-generation seed comparison and the fifth-year viability result.

Explore related resources

• BD 500 Horn Manure, guide, and instructions
• Complete Set of Biodynamic Compost Preparations and instructions
• BD 504 Stinging Nettle and guide
• BD 507 Valerian and guide
• BD 508 Horsetail, guide, and instructions
• Barrel Compound, guide, and instructions
• Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course

Articles

• Honoring the Cow by Hugh J. Courtney
• On the Harvesting of the Preparation Sheaths by Hugh J. Courtney
• JPI notes on preparation making, staff renewal, and organizational continuity

Citation

Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 55, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Winter 2006–2007.