The regenerative potency of biodynamic land stewardship provides a tremendous opportunity for healing and restoration - Lord knows, this is especially important in these momentous times! Join author, leadership advisor, and multicultural ceremonialist, Aaron William Perry, for a special three-day experience in which the humble healing power of biodynamic soil activation, and its applications to climate stabilization, ecological detoxification, community healing, and personal transformation will be explored in a sacred manner.
One of the most significant movements you can make towards helping regenerate our Earth is becoming biodynamic. Biodynamics doesn't replace good farming practices, but harmonizes and replaces what might have been depleted. Whether you're looking for practical ways to transition into biodynamics on an established farm or garden or whether you're looking for ways to supplement the health of your plants and animals, these foundational sessions will give you practical tools and clear indications to put biodynamics to use in your operation without hurting productivity.
The attendees of Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Lectures in 1924 were farmers and students of anthroposophy. These farmers had studied the basic books of anthroposophy, including Theosophy and Occult Science, and so Steiner spoke to this audience without having to go into the underlying spiritual-scientific conceptions of the human being and Earth evolution, which are the basis for the language and narrative of the Agriculture Lectures.
We will engage participants in imaginative individual and group storytelling activities that explore these questions:
Who will renew US agriculture in the future?
Who controls, decides and benefits in agriculture today?
Who is excluded, exploited and oppressed in agriculture today?
What role does Biodynamics play in the renewal of our culture, economy, governance and ecology?
What social narratives, systems, and policies have we inherited that block and/or nurture renewal?
Biodynamic farming is one of the most effective systems known for healing our relationship with the land. Yet as biodynamic practitioners, we each have other relationships in our lives that remain unhealed - the deep wounds of slavery and indigenous genocide, alienation from our neighbors, extractive business relations, and many more. What if we could honor and mirror natural systems just as deeply in our social lives as we do in the field?
The ethical costs and injustices of industrialized agriculture are intolerable, and to correct this we are called to make sacred again our concepts of nature and our connection to Earth. As farmers and gardeners, we have our hands literally in the hair of The Mother as part of our work in this world. We are daily aware of and responding to the rhythms of the earth. As Earthworkers our pain and grief is pronounced right now. Of course, we are going to be among the first who experience and are troubled by the environmental dysfunctions of our age.
The Anthropocene was crystallized during European colonization through the emergence of the capitalist world economy, leaving scars on whole peoples, the land, and our spirits. This extractive economy based on industrial activity has depleted soil, soul, and seed, temporarily overshadowing the regenerative and mutualistic ways of Being, Doing, and Knowing that once thrived in symbiotic relationship. How do we harness our collective grief, anger, desire, longing, and remarkable resilience towards “right stewardship”?
In this light-hearted and interactive workshop, we will explore the foundational practices and ideas in anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner's spiritual philosophy that is the wellspring of biodynamic agriculture. Through group and experiential activities, we will investigate the commonalities between anthroposophy and other spiritual philosophies, and dive into some of the practical applications anthroposophy can have for personal development and creating meaning in our busy modern world. We will provide some jumping-off points to begin your own study and exploration alongside your farm work.