LECTURE VI.
Delivered 14th June, 1924.
In
the lectures that are to follow, I shall base myself to a
great extent on what you have heard me say concerning
plant growth and also animal structures. We shall have to
attempt to put into aphoristic form some of the Spiritual
Scientific conceptions concerning the enemies of agriculture,
animal and vegetable, and which are called the diseases of
plants. Now these matters can only be studied in concrete
cases; they must be dealt with specifically; there is
little that can be said in a general way.
I
shall begin with examples, which, if they are taken as the
starting-point of experiments, may lead on to something
further. I shall begin with the subject of weeds or noxious
plants. What we have to do is not so much to find a definition
for what we mean by weeds, as to discover how to remove
from a field such plants as we do not wish to have there. Some
of us, perhaps, as a habit from our college days, may be
inclined to seek for definitions. I have given way —
although without much enthusiasm — to such an inclination
and have looked up in various books the definitions given of a
weed. I found that most authors say: “A weed is that
which grows where it is not wanted;” which does not go
very deeply into the essence of the matter. Nor can we very
successfully apply such a definition to the essential
nature of the weed, for the simple reason that before the
tribunal of Nature the weed has just as much right to grow as
plants that are useful to us. Clearly, we must approach the
matter from a somewhat different angle. We must ask
ourselves how in a particular stretch of ground we can get rid
of what was not meant by us to grow there, but which
nevertheless does so because of the general connections of
Nature ruling there.
The
answer to this question can only be found by taking account of
those things which we have been discussing during the
last few days. It was pointed out that we must learn to
distinguish those forces which arise in the cosmos but are
absorbed by the earth and work upon plant-growth from within
the earth. These forces come from Mercury, Venus and Moon and
act not directly, but through the mediation of the earth. They
must be taken into account if we wish to follow up how
the
mother-plant gives rise to a daughter-plant, and so on. On the
other hand, we have to consider the forces taken by the plant
from the outer-earthly, and brought to it by way of the
atmosphere from the outer planets. Broadly speaking, we may say
that the forces coming from the nearer planets (see Lectures 2
and 3) are very much influenced by the workings of lime in the
soil, while those coming from the distant planets fall under
the influence of silicon. And, in fact, workings of silicon,
even though they proceed from the earth, act as mediators of
the forces coming from Jupiter, Mars and Saturn, but not for
those of Moon, Mercury and Venus. People are quite unaccustomed
to take these things into account. Ignorance of the cosmic
influences, whether they come through the atmosphere around the
earth, or whether they come from below through the medium of
the earth, has caused great harm. Let-us take a special case to
illustrate this. The old instinctive knowledge had disappeared
from large areas of the civilised world; the soil was
exhausted, and such parts of the old traditions as the peasants
had preserved was also worn out. And so the vineyards far and
wide were decimated by Phylloxera (or grape-louse). Men were
powerless to cope with the Phylloxera that was destroying the
vineyards. I could tell you of an agricultural paper that used
to be published in Vienna in the eighties. Appeals from all
sides were made to the editor to supply some remedy for
Phylloxera, but to his despair he knew of none and that at a
time when the pestilence was most acute. For the science of
today is not able to deal effectively with such evils as these;
what is needed is an insight into the connections I have been
expounding to you here.
Diagrams
for Lecture VI
Now
I want you to imagine that
Diagram No. 9
represents the earth level, where the influences of Venus, Mercury
and Moon! I enter into the earth and stream again from below upwards.
These are the forces which cause the plant to grow during the season,
later produce the seed, and by means of this seed a new plant',
a second plant, then yet a third and so on. (I indicate this
schematically). All this goes into the power of
reproduction and streams on into the succeeding
generations. The forces, however, which take the other path,
remaining above the earth level, come from the distant planets.
I can draw this schematically in this way. These forces cause
the plant either to spread into its surroundings or to become
fat and juicy, to build matter into itself such as we can use
for food because it is produced again and again in a continuous
stream.
Take for example the flesh of fruit — an apple or a plum
— which we can break off and eat; all this is due to the
workings from the distant planets.
From this we are able to see how we must proceed if we are to
influence plant-growth in one way or another. We have to take
account of these two sets of forces. A large number of plants
(and more especially those which we call weeds and which often
have powerful healing properties) are particularly
subject to the influence of the Moon. All that we know of the
Moon in the ordinary way is that the rays of the sun fall upon
it and are reflected back to the earth. The moon-rays which we
see by taking them up with our eyes and which the Earth
receives too are thus reflected sun-rays. And these reflected
sun-rays come to the Earth charged with lunar forces; this is
so ever since the Moon separated from the Earth. In the
cosmos, these very lunar forces have a strengthening
effect upon all that is earthly. When the Moon was still united
to the Earth, the Earth was much more alive, much more fertile.
Its substances were not yet so mineralised within it. But
since the Moon has separated from the Earth, it strengthens
those forces of the Earth which by themselves are just
sufficient to produce growth on earth in such a way that growth
is enhanced to reproduction. (When a being grows, it increases
in size. Hence the same force is at work which leads to
reproduction. But growth does not go so far as to produce
another being of the same kind, it is merely that cell grows
upon cell, a weaker kind of reproduction: whereas reproduction
is an enhanced growth). The Earth can of its own strength be
the mediator of this growth only — this weak kind of
reproduction; without the Moon, it cannot control the enhanced
growth. To achieve reproduction proper, it needs the cosmic
forces of the Moon which shine into the Earth sphere and in the
case of some plants, also those which come from Mercury and
Venus.
As
I said before, people look upon the Moon as simply reflecting
the rays of the Sun, as transmitting solar light. But that is
not the only thing which reaches the Earth. Together with the
Moon's rays, the entire cosmos is reflected upon the Earth.
(Everything that affects the Moon is reflected. And though this
cannot be proved by the usual methods of physics, the whole of
the starry heavens is in a sense reflected on to the Earth from
the Moon). It is a powerful and strongly organising cosmic
force which is poured down from the Moon into the plant and
enables it to produce seed, thus enhancing its power to grow to
the power to reproduce. But all this can only come about at any
particular spot when the Moon is full. When the Moon is new,
the area will not enjoy the benefits of lunar influence.
During the new Moon, plants can do no more than retain what
they took in at the time when the Moon was full. We should
reach important enough results if we pursued the custom (known
in ancient India and still maintained up to the nineteenth
century) of observing the phases of the moon at seed-time and
of making use of its effects upon the very earliest stages of
germination. But Nature is not so cruel as to punish man for
his inattention and discourtesy to the Moon at times of sowing
and harvesting. We have a full Moon twelve times a year. This
ensures that the influences of the full Moon, i.e., those which
promote the formation of fruit, are there in sufficient
strength. If something to be grown is placed in the soil at new
Moon instead of at full Moon, it will wait until the Moon is
again at the full, and, regardless of human error, work in
accord with Nature. Thus, men make use of the moon without
having the least idea that they are doing so.
But
this alone does not help us any further. For, as things are,
weeds claim the same rights as useful plants, and we get them
all mixed up together because we do not understand the forces
that regulate growth. We must try and enter into these forces.
We shall then see that the fully developed strength of the Moon
promotes the reproductive forces of all living plants, that it
creates the force which pushes upwards through the plant from
the root right on into the seed as it is being formed in the
fruit. Now we shall get the best possible weeds if we allow the
Moon to shed its full beneficence upon them, and do
nothing to stop its influence. Furthermore, in wet years
when the lunar forces are more active than in dry weather, the
weeds will increase and multiply. If, however, we take these
cosmic forces into our calculations we shall reason as
follows:
If
we can cut off (apply a tourniquet, as it were) the full
influence of the Moon from the weeds, allowing only those
influences to reach them which work directly from outside
(i.e., non-lunar influences) we shall be able to set a limit to
their propagation. For they will then not be able to reproduce
themselves. Since, however, we cannot screen off the Moon, we
shall have to treat the soil in such a way that it will be
disinclined to absorb lunar influences. Moreover, the plants,
these weeds, will then develop a certain reluctance to grow in
soil that has been treated in this way. This will give us what
we want.
We
must boldly take the matter in hand. We must not be afraid, and
this is how we must proceed. We collect a number of seeds of
the particular weed in question, i.e., those parts which
contain within themselves the final workings of the force of
which I have been speaking. We light a flame — that of a
simple wood fire is best — and burn the seeds, carefully
collecting the ash, of which we accumulate a relatively small
quantity in this way. But in the ashes of these seeds we have
literally in concentrated form, the force that is the
opposite of the force which was developed under the influence
of the Moon. We then sprinkle the pepper-like preparations on
our fields — we need not go very carefully to work for
the influence spreads over a large area — and we shall
see in the second year that there are far fewer of the weeds in
question. After four years of this treatment, the weed will
have completely disappeared from our field. In this way, the
“Effects of smallest Entities,” which has been
proved scientifically by the Biological Institute (at
Stuttgart), is literally put to fruitful use.
A
great many results are to be obtained in this way, as you will
find out if you really take account of these influences, which
are totally disregarded nowadays. For instance, in order to use
the dandelion in the manner I outlined to you yesterday, you
can plant a number of them anywhere. But you can at the same
time make use of the dandelion seed for the production of this
burnt pepper to be scattered on your fields. In this way, you
will be able to plant dandelions wherever you like, but you
will also ensure that the field that has been treated in this
way with dandelion ash will be free of dandelions. All these
things were contained in the old instinctive husbandry.
In those days, one could put what plants one chose to grow
together, because one went about it with a sort of instinctive
wisdom. From what I have said, you can see that these things
are the starting point of a really practical method. And since
to-day the view — I will not call it the prejudice
— obtains that everything must be verified, I urge you to
put these things to the test. If you carry through the
experiments properly, they will verify what I have said.
If, however, I myself were working on a farm, I should not wait
for proofs but go straight ahead, for I am sure that these
things are practicable. I look at it in this way: the truths of
Spiritual Science are true in themselves and require no
verification from outside or by external methods. (The
mistake of all our anthroposophical scientists has been that
they adopted external methods of verification. They have done
so even within the Anthroposophical Society, where they
certainly ought to have known that things can be true in and
through themselves. But if one wants to establish any results
in public nowadays, one needs external verification: there the
compromise is necessary. In actual fact, it is not necessary).
For we know things inwardly, i.e., that they are true through
their inner nature. For example: Suppose I put fifty
persons to work in manufacturing a certain material. Now,
if I want three times as much of the material made, I know
quite well that I should need a hundred and fifty persons
to get the job done. But a subtle person may come along and
say: “I do not agree. You will have to put it to the
test. You will have to try it out on a given piece of work,
putting first one, then two, then three persons on it and
establish how much they do.” Now if all three spend all
their time chattering, they will do less work than one person.
The assumption can turn out to be false, for scientific
experiment has shown results that are opposed to the
assumption. But the idea is not refuted, although the
experiment has “proved” the contrary. To be really
exact, the falsifying factors would have to be examined. Then
what is inwardly true will also become outwardly
established.
We,
are able to proceed in a fairly general way as regards
the noxious plants in our fields. But we cannot speak so
generally when it comes to methods of controlling the noxious
animals. I shall take an example which will be particularly
characteristic and will enable you to make experiments and see
how these things work out. Let us take an old friend of the
farmer — the field-mouse. What efforts have not been made
to combat this little creature? You can read in agricultural
works of the use of preparations made of phosphorus or
strychnine and saccharine'. Even the drastic remedy of
infecting the field-mouse with typhus has been suggested, to be
applied by mixing with mashed potatoes certain bacilli harmful
only to rodents, the mixture being distributed as required.
These things have been done, or at any rate they have been
recommended. In any case, all sorts of rather inhuman methods
have been tried in order to get rid of these quite
pretty-looking little animals. Even the government has taken a
hand in the struggle, because it is not of much use to fight
the field-mouse on your own land if your neighbour is not going
to follow suit. Otherwise the mice simply come across from the
adjacent fields. The government had therefore to be called in,
in order to compel everyone to get rid of their field mice by
the same method. Governments do not like exceptions. When a
government selects a method which it thinks the right one
(regardless of whether it is or not) it issues its
instructions, and these have to be followed by every
farmer. All this is simply proceeding by trial and error and
laying down the law from outside. And one always experiences
that those who proceed in such a manner are never quite happy
about the results, for the mice invariably reappear. It is
quite true that no method can be entirely effective on one
estate only; it can however be shown to be partially
effective on a single estate and then one must rely on human
intelligence in inducing one's neighbours to follow the same
method. For in the future, men will need to rely to a far
greater extent upon reason and common sense than on police or
government regulations. That will be a first real step
forward in our social life.
Not
let us imagine the following. We catch a fairly young
field-mouse and skin it. The main thing is to get this skin
when Venus is in the sign Scorpio. Those old fellows of the
Middle Ages with their instinctive wisdom were not fools after
all. They pretended that in passing from the plant to the
animal kingdom, we come upon what they called the zodiac, which
means “animal circle.” Indeed, if one wants to
exercise an influence in the plant kingdom, one can content
oneself with the use of planetary forces. But with
animals this is not enough. Here the fixed stars have to be
taken into account, especially those fixed stars which belong
to the signs of the Zodiac. In the plant kingdom, the influence
of the Moon is practically sufficient to call forth the
powers of reproduction. In the animal kingdom, the Moon's
influence must be strengthened by that of Venus. Indeed,
in this case the influence of the Moon need not be specially
taken into account because the animal kingdom has
retained within itself Moon forces (from past epochs, Ed.) and
has thus emancipated itself from the actual Moon. In the animal
kingdom, lunar forces are at work even when the Moon is not at
the full. The animal bears the full Moon within itself and is
therefore emancipated from time conditions. There is,
however, a dependence as regards the other planetary
influences. We have to undertake something quite definite with
the skins of the mice in connection with these. The skin must
be secured at the time when Venus stands in the sign of
Scorpio, then burned and the ash and any residue carefully
collected (several skins must be burnt to procure a
sufficient quantity of ash). Now because the skins have
been burnt when Venus stood in Scorpio, that which is contained
in these ashes is the negative power to the power of
reproduction in the field-mouse. If, in certain
districts, difficulties present themselves, a more homoeopathic
method can be adopted to procure this pepper-like substance.
If, however, it has been obtained during the high
conjunction of Venus and Scorpio it will, when sprinkled
on your fields, prove to be a means of keeping field-mice away.
No doubt they are cheeky little creatures and are apt to come
back again if “pepperless” areas still remain in
the neighbourhood. In such areas, the mice will again settle
down. But if the method is applied throughout the
neighbourhood, it certainly brings about a radical result.
I
believe a certain pleasure could be derived from putting such
methods into practice. I believe that agriculture would
acquire a sort of savour as of a well-seasoned dish. Moreover,
we take into account here the workings of the stars
without the least concession to superstition.
Superstition arises only when an earlier knowledge is no
longer understood. We do not revive superstitious
beliefs. We must start from insight, but an insight which
has been won in a spiritual way and not by physical
methods.
This, then, is the way to deal with field-mice and any other
pests from among the higher animals. Mice, being rodents,
belong to the higher animals. But this method will be of no use
in attacking insects, for these come under completely different
cosmic influences, as do all the lower animals as compared with
the higher. Now I am going .to tread on very thin ice and take
an example very near home. I am going to talk about the
nematode of the beetroot. The outer signs of this disease are a
swelling of root fibres and limpness of the leaves in the
morning. Now we must clearly realise the following facts: The
leaves, the middle part of the plant which undergo these
changes, absorb cosmic influences that come from the
surrounding air, whereas the roots absorb the forces
which have entered into the earth and are reflected upwards
into the plant. What, then, takes place when the nematode
occurs? It is this: The process of absorption which
should actually reside in the region of the leaves has been
pressed downwards and embraces the roots.
Thus, if this
(Diagram No. 10)
represents the earth level, and
this the plant, then in the plant infested with the nematode
the forces which should be active above the horizontal line are
actually at work below it. What happens is that certain
cosmic forces slide down to a deeper level; hence the change in
the external appearance of the plant. But this also makes it
possible for the parasite to obtain under the soil (which is
its proper habitat) those cosmic forces which it must have to
sustain it (the nematode is a wire-like worm). Otherwise
it would be forced to seek for these forces in the region of
the leaves; this, however, it cannot do as the soil is its
proper environment. Some, indeed all, living beings can only
live within certain limits of existence. Just try to live
in an atmosphere 70 degrees above or 70 degrees below zero and
you will see what will happen. You are constituted to live in a
certain temperature, neither above nor below it. The nematode
is in the same position. It cannot live without earth and
without the presence of certain cosmic forces brought down into
it. Without these two conditions, it would die Out.
Every living being is subject to quite definite
conditions. And for the particular beings with which we
are dealing, it is important that cosmic forces should enter
the earth, forces which would ordinarily display themselves
only in the atmosphere around the earth. Actually, the workings
of these forces have a four-year rhythm. Now in the case of the
nematode, we have something very abnormal. If one enquires into
these forces, one finds that they are the same as those at work
on the cockchafer grubs; and as those, too, which bestow on the
earth the faculty of bringing the seed potato to
development. Cockchafer grubs as well as seed potatoes are bred
by the same forces, and these forces recur every four years.
This four-yearly cycle is what must be taken into account not
with regard to the nematode but with regard to the steps we
take to combat it.
In
this case, the procedure is not to take any particular part of
the animal as we did with the field-mouse, but the whole animal
must be taken. This insect which attacks the roots of the plant
is as a whole a product of cosmic influences, needing the soil
only as a medium. Thus, the whole insect must be burnt. That is
the best and quickest method. A more thorough way might be to
allow it to decay, but then it would be difficult to collect
the remains, and practically the same result can be
obtained by burning the whole insect. The insect can be
collected and kept alive and then burnt at the proper time. The
incineration must take place when the Sun is in the
constellation of the Bull (i.e., the constellation exactly
opposite to that which was mentioned in connection with Venus
and the burning of the mice skins). For this insect world is
closely related to the forces that are developed as the
Sun, on its path through the Zodiac, passes from the sign of
the Water-carrier through the Fishes to the Ram and the Twins
and on to the Crab. In the sign of the Crab the influence
becomes quite weak; it is weak, too, in the sign of the
Water-carrier. As the Sun goes through these signs [The signs
referred to are: Water-carrier, Goat, Fishes, Scorpion, Scales,
Virgin, Leo and Crab, the first and last being the weakest.] it
radiates those forces which are connected with the insect
world.
We
do not realise what a very highly specialised being the Sun is.
It is by no means the same when, in the course of the, year or
the day, it shines on to the earth from, say, the Bull as it is
when it shines from e.g. the Crab. In each case, it is
different: so that it is nonsense strictly speaking (though
pardonable nonsense) to speak of the Sun in general. One should
really speak of the Ram-sun, the Bull-sun, the Crab-sun, the
Lion-sun, etc. The Sun is always a different being
according to the combined effect of its daily and yearly
course, as determined by its position in relation to the vernal
point.
If,
then, you prepare insect-pepper in the way I have described and
scatter it over a field of turnips, the nematodes will
gradually, become “faint.” After the fourth year,
they will have completely faded away. They cannot live —
they shun life if they are to inhabit a soil that has been
“peppered” in this way.
Thus, there re-emerges in a remarkable way what used to be
called the “Wisdom of the Stars.” Modern astronomy
only serves as a means of mathematical orientation, and cannot
really be put to any other use. But astronomy was not
always like this; the stars once served as a guide for
the labours and activities of life on earth. This, science has
now been completely lost. But to the extent to which we can
develop a new science, we have the possibility of controlling
those animals and insects which become a nuisance. It all
depends on our capacity to be, as it were, on such intimate
terms with the earth that we come to know her capacity for
bringing forth plants, especially through the power or lunar
and water influences. But the forces in every plant and in
every other being carry in themselves the germ of their own
destruction. Thus, just as on the one hand water is a promoter
of fruitfulness, so on the other hand fire is the destroyer of
fruitfulness. It consumes it. And if instead of treating plants
with water, which is the usual way of making' them fruitful,
you treat them with fire applied in an appropriate manner, then
you are performing within the economy of Nature an act of
annihilation. This is the point to be borne in mind: a seed
develops fruitfulness and spreads it abroad through the
Moon-saturated water. It also develops destructive forces
through the Moon saturated fire, or, strictly speaking, as we
saw in our last example, through cosmically-saturated fire.
There is nothing very strange about this: we are
reckoning here with enormous forces of expansion and have given
exact indications of how time co-operates; for the
seminal power is notably active in expanding, and so if it is
destroyed, it also works very far afield. The force of
expansion is peculiar to the seed. And the burnt substance
which because of its appearance we called pepper, also
possesses the tendency to spread its power abroad.
There remains for us one more subject to consider: the
so-called plant diseases. Actually, this is not the right word
to use. The abnormal processes in plants to which it refers are
not “diseases” in the same sense as are those
illnesses which afflict animals. When we come later on to
discuss the animal kingdom, we shall see this difference more
clearly. Above all, they are not processes such as take place
in a sick human being. For actual disease is not possible
without the presence of an astral body. In man and animals, the
astral body is connected with the physical body through the
etheric body and a certain connection is the normal
state. Sometimes, however, the connection between the
astral body and the physical body (or one of the physical
organs) is closer than would normally be the case; so if the
etheric body does not form a proper “cushion”
between them, the astral intrudes itself too strongly into the
physical body. It is from this that most diseases arise.
Now
the plant does not actually possess an astral body of its own.
It does not therefore suffer from the specific forms of disease
that occur in men and animals. This is the first point. The
next point is to ascertain what actually causes the plant to be
diseased. Now, from everything I have said on this subject, you
will have gathered that the soil immediately surrounding a
plant has a definite life of its own. These life forces are
there and with them all kinds of forces of growth and tender
forces of propagation not strong enough to produce the plant
form itself, but still waiting with a certain intensity; and in
addition, all the forces working in the soil under the
influence of the Moon and mediated through water. Thus, certain
important connections emerge.
In
the first place, you have the earth, the earth saturated with
water. Then you have the moon. The moonbeams, as they
stream into the earth, awaken it to a certain degree of life,
they arouse “waves” and weavings in the earth's
etheric element. The moon can do this more easily when the
earth is permeated with water, less easily when the earth is
dry. Thus, the water acts only as a mediator. What has to be
quickened is the earth itself, the solid mineral element.
Water, too, is something mineral. There is no sharp boundary,
of course. In any case, we must have lunar influences at work
in the earth. Now these lunar influences can become too strong.
Indeed, this may happen in a very simple manner. Consider what
happens when a very wet spring follows upon a very wet winter.
The lunar force enters too strongly into the earth, which thus
becomes too much alive.” I will indicate this by red dots.
(See Diagram No. 11).
Thus, if the red dots were not
here, i.e. if the earth were not too. strongly vitalised by the
moon, the plants growing upon it would follow the normal
development from seed to fruit; there would be just the right
amount of lunar force distributed in the earth to work upwards
and produce the requisite fruit-seed. But let us suppose that
the lunar influence, is too strong — that the earth is
too powerfully vitalised — then the forces working
upwards become too strong, and what should happen in the seed
formation occurs earlier. Through their very intensity, the
forces do not proceed far enough to reach the higher parts of
the plant, but become active earlier and at a lower level. The
lunar influence has the result that there is not sufficient
strength for seed formation. The seed receives a certain
portion of the decaying life, and this decaying life forms
another level above the soil level. This new level is not soil,
but the same influences are at work there. The result is that
the seed of the plant, the upper part of the plant becomes a
kind of soil for other organisms; parasites and fungoid
formations appear in it. It is in this way that blights and
similar ills make their appearance in the plant. It is through
a too strong working of the moon that forces working upward
from the earth are prevented from reaching their proper height.
The powers of fertilisation and fructification depend entirely
upon a normal amount of lunar influence. It is a curious fact
that abnormal developments should be caused not by a weakening
but by an increase of lunar forces. Speculation might well lead
to the opposite conclusion. Looking at it in the right way
shows that the matter is as I have presented it. What, then,
have we to do? We have to relieve the earth of the excess of
lunar forces in it. It is possible to relieve the earth
in this way. We shall have to discover something which will rob
the water of its power as a mediator and restore to the
earth more of its earthiness, so that it does not take up an
excess of lunar forces from the water. This is done by making
fairly concentrated brew (or tea) of equisetum arvense
(horse-tail), diluting it and using it as a liquid manure on
the fields for the purpose of fighting blight and similar plant
diseases. Here again only small quantities are required; a
homeopathic dose is generally sufficient. As you will have
realised, this is precisely where one sees how one department
of life affects another. If, without indulging in undue
speculation, we realise the noteworthy effects produced by
equisetum arvense upon the human organism by affecting the
function of the kidneys we shall have, as it were, a standard
by which to estimate what this plant can achieve when it has
been transformed into liquid manure, and we shall realise how
extensive its effects may be when even quite a small quantity
is sprinkled about without the help of any special instrument.
We shall realise that equisetum is a first-rate remedy. Not
literally a remedy, since plants cannot really be ill. It is
not so much a healing process as a process exactly opposite to
that described above.
Thus, if one gains an inside knowledge of the workings of
Nature in her different fields, we can actually gain control
over the processes of growth; and we shall see later that this
also applies to the forces of growth in animals both in normal
and abnormal conditions. Thus, we arrive at an actual science.
For to experiment and to proceed by trial and error as people
do nowadays is not true science; it is merely collecting data
and isolated facts. True science does not begin until one has
gained control of the forces at work. Now plants and animals
and even the parasites in plants cannot be understood by them-,
selves. Remember what I said in the first lecture about the
magnetic needle and the folly of regarding the fact of its
always pointing to the North as being caused by something
in the needle itself. No one believes this. We take the earth
as a whole and assign to it a magnetic North pole and a
magnetic South pole. In the same way, when we want to explain
the plant we must bring into question not only plant, animal
and human life, but the whole universe. For life comes from the
whole of the universe, not only from the earth. Nature is a
unity and her forces are at work from all sides. He who can
keep his mind open to the manifest working of these
forces will understand her. But what does the scientist do
today? He takes a little plate, lays a preparation upon it,
isolates it very carefully and then watches. Everything that
could work upon the substance is shut off. This is called
“Microscopic Investigation.” It is really the
opposite procedure to that which should be adopted in order to
gain understanding of the expanses of the world. Not content
with shutting himself up in a room, the scientist actually
shuts himself up inside these brass tubes and leaves the whole
of Nature outside. Nothing, he maintains, must be kept under
observation except the one object in question. In this way, we
have yielded more and more ground to the microscope. When,
however, we find a way back to the macrocosm, then we shall
begin to understand Nature and many other things as
well.
| Diagram 6 Click image for large view | |
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