Biodynamic Ritual on a Misty Mountain Morning

I had my first experience a few

weeks ago with a technique used in biodynamic farming.  Miki and I have been staying at Meadow Cove Farm while we search for a permanent home around this area.   The owners of this incredibly beautiful forty acre farm in Weaverville are Paul and Claudine Cremer.  Paul has been mentoring me in the biodynamic way of farming. 

Being a novice, he invited me to participate in a ritual which involved using composted cow manure.  This manure is stored in cow horns underground to gather energy for several months.  The finished organic material, which is an extraordinary manure that has absorbed the physical and subtle surrounding energy, is used to inoculate all the areas on the farm where food is grown.  Gathering energy in this context is a deeply yin process.

Now here is where it gets interesting and mystical.  It was a cool, foggy morning.  The kind of meditative environment that engulfs you into the landscape.  It pulled me out of myself into the immediacy of the experience.  Sitting down, I began mixing the material into the warm spring water and I created a swirling/spiraling/mixing motion. My training as a qigong practitioner naturally led me to spiral my personal energy through my body and arms, and as I continued, the energy above the water bucket was integrated and kept expanding upward; while also penetrating into the ground deeper and deeper.  When the direction was reversed, everything fell into chaos, then reorganized itself into a whirlpool again in the opposite direction.  Initially, the direction changes felt uncomfortable, but soon they became an ethereal dance.  

After an hour or so of mixing, Paul and I cut small branches from a nearby pine tree.  The branches were soaked with the magic brew and we then began flicking the branches to heal the space over the entire 3 acres of garden.  This, for me, was a truly grounding and nurturing experience.  I felt my mind move away from the edge; where mind and body separate to become whole.

Surrounding and immersing oneself in nature can be an incredible learning experience.  We need to return to our original landscape periodically so that we can positively influence the manifested realms for ourselves and the planet.  The mountains in their aliveness are constantly awakening me from my slumber.  Are you in a deep slumber?

Oh yes, on the way back to the farm house, I picked some wild flowers! 

Good Journey, Frank