Applied Biodynamics — Issue 035 (Winter 2001–2002)
Issue 035 presents Hugo Erbe’s Three Kings Preparation as an Epiphany offering and spiritual boundary practice, with detailed making, stirring, and perimeter-application protocols.
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Applied Biodynamics Issue 035 preserves Hugh Courtney’s and German-Michael Hahn’s detailed accounts of Hugo Erbe’s Three Kings Preparation, its spiritual purpose, its making, and its outward perimeter application on Epiphany.
Hugo Erbe and the Three Kings Preparation
Hugh J. Courtney introduces Erbe as a biodynamic practitioner who developed additional preparations from spiritual insight and close work with nature. Three Kings is Hugo Erbe No. 8, made from homeopathically prepared gold, frankincense, myrrh, rainwater, and vegetable glycerine. Courtney presents the preparation as an offering to elemental beings and a spiritual boundary practice associated with January 6.
The three substances carry the gifts of the Magi into the preparation: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the accounts gathered here, their combined offering supports reconciliation with the elemental world, establishes a protective spiritual boundary, and encourages a conscious relationship between the farm, the practitioner, and the beings of nature.
Courtney’s recorded method
Courtney gives a core batch of 30 grams each of Aurum metallicum D2, frankincense, and myrrh. These are ground together into a fine powder, then combined with 50 grams of rainwater and 50 grams of vegetable glycerine to form a colloidal paste.
For application, he reports adding about one teaspoon of paste to approximately two gallons plus two cups of warm rainwater or sun-warmed pond water in a nonmetallic container. The preparation is stirred for one hour beginning about 1:30 p.m. on January 6, then carried around the complete boundary and sprayed outward about every 55 yards. Approximately half a gallon covers 3,280 feet of perimeter.
Hahn’s preparation-making and group application
German-Michael Hahn describes grinding the gold, frankincense, and myrrh for one hour across midnight on New Year’s Eve, adding rainwater and glycerine near the end, and storing the paste until Epiphany. On January 6 the preparation is stirred for one hour and carried outward around the property boundary.
For a large farm, Hahn plans the route carefully, divides the boundary into clearly described sections, and sends people in pairs with the prepared liquid. His guidance uses about one to two liters per kilometer of boundary and emphasizes that everyone keep sight of the wider circuit, carry route descriptions, and report back when the complete boundary has been enclosed.
The family protocol
The separate “Protocol for Hugo Erbe’s Three Kings Bio-Dynamic Preparation” retains the same 30/30/30/50/50-gram formula. It gives 5 cubic centimeters of paste for 8 liters of water and first dissolves the paste in water near 60 °C so it disperses smoothly. The preparation is stirred from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. on January 6 and applied around 4:00 p.m.
Together, the versions preserve a complete practical tradition: careful trituration, nonmetallic vessels, warm-water dissolution, a one-hour stir, an Epiphany application, outward spraying, and a fully enclosed perimeter. For current use, follow JPI’s maintained Three Kings preparation and application guide.
Preparation foundation
Traditional Hugo Erbe guidance recommends establishing the land with BD 500, BD 501, BD 502–507, and BD 508 before applying Three Kings. JPI regards this as the preferred sequence, especially for land new to biodynamics. The Three Kings practice therefore crowns a broader relationship with the nine basic biodynamic preparations.
A new biodynamic vineyard
Vikki Childs’s reader response describes beginning a Maryland vineyard, seeking biodynamic education, and recognizing biodynamics as the “missing link” in organic farming. She asks JPI to continue making the preparations while expanding public teaching so new growers can bring biodynamic care to vineyards, farms, gardens, yards, and flowerbeds.
Articles
- Reader Response on JPI’s Future and a New Biodynamic Vineyard (V. Childs)
- The Three Kings Preparation (H. J. Courtney)
- Preparation Beings: The Three Kings Preparation of Hugo Erbe (G.-M. Hahn; translated by B. Emmett)
- Protocol for Hugo Erbe’s Three Kings Bio-Dynamic Preparation (G.-M. Hahn and family; supplied and translated by J. Greene)
Key topics
Hugo Erbe, gold D2, frankincense, myrrh, rainwater, vegetable glycerine, trituration, storage, one-hour stirring, Epiphany application, outward perimeter spraying, elemental beings, farm protection, route planning, and the nine-preparation foundation.
Explore related resources
Three Kings preparation and application guide · Three Kings Preparation · Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course
Citation
Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 35, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Winter 2001–2002.
