[The biodynamic approach] [Two approaches to biodynamics] This approach recognises the earth, thought of in its widest sense, (the parent rock, workable land, air environment) as a separate organism. Just as a doctor might observe a human body, with its different polarities (neuro-sensorial, rhythmic and metabolic poles), a doctor, using specific treatments, would be incapable of treating a patient by means of the death forces which suppress the system, but is concerned to heal, through the life forces which restore the body to a healthy balance. The Earth, together with the planetary and stellar universe which makes up its social environment, are living beings which are dependent upon one another and whose lives develop according to a cosmic rhythm. We are familiar with the Soilar rhythms of day and night, or the four seasons, and with the lunar rhythm. In Physics, Newton's Law of planetary attraction is scientific fact. A plant is a thermodynamic system, with its inlets and outlets that require balancing. A plant exists firstly as a suprasensitive model, an archetype, a concept. When this archetype is plunged into conditions on Earth, that is to say, when the seed is sown in the soil, the forms which then develop are filled with matter derived from the activity of life forces (hence we speak of the spirit, life and matter). In order to act on the plant, we need to act beyond the mere substance, we need to liberate the spirit of matter. After many years of trial and error, hope and experimentation, Maria Thun and her team developed a method of biodynamic agriculture which has been applied for the last forty years or so by market gardeners and animal breeders in the Netherlands and Germany. This method provides a frame of reference but it is not a set recipe. It forms the basis of the work carried out on an individual basis and is designed to lead each of us to develop a personal relationship with our environment. This relationship will enable us to cultivate the environment more carefully, to improve it and make it grow. The growing methods and the products used channel and make use of cosmic forces, to re-balance the plant and the soil, to make them vibrate in harmony with the Universe. Top of page