by Noel
When David Fairclough from the Anthroposophical society got in touch with us some weeks ago to let us know that James Dyson would be in Ireland in December and would be happy to give a talk as a fundraiser for our Ériu farm project, we immediately said yes and sprang into action to organise the event.
We made a plan to have a talk entitled “Nutrition”, exploring the link between soil health and human health through Biodynamic agriculture. We had two sessions in the morning, then lunch followed by a farm walk in the afternoon. We are very lucky to have Thomastown community centre available for such events and to have Seamus who looks after the centre, and everybody’s needs.
Tuesday December 3rd was the day set for the event and despite a cold and frosty morning we had an excellent turnout. James took a very broad view on the topic and took a deep dive into Astronomy and how it affects life here on our planet earth. Quoting Rudolf Steiner from his Agriculture course on how it’s not only about the food we consume but in the many other ways we are nourished; by our environment or by an encounter with another person for example. It can be as simple as a comment that we overheard which gives us “food for thought”. He mentioned how colour has qualities which can lift our mood and inspire us. It is now well accepted that spending time in nature has healing effects and even the colour green can have a calming and positive effect on our mood and sense of wellbeing.
The main theme running through the talk was about opposing forces, the push and pull which is active in all living organisms. Male and Female, light and dark, Earth and Cosmos. When we think of plants between the earth and the cosmos, they are pushed out of the earth and pulled up into the atmosphere. James described a beautiful image of a time on Earth before plants evolved of Equisetum when it first existed in Etheric form and absorbed light into itself which it later condensed into silica. Silica is the most abundant element on earth. Calcium or limestone is mostly the fossilised remains of dead sea animals and is the opposite of silica. Calcium pushes, Silica pulls. Calcium is the element that fills plants out and Silica is the element that keeps plants upright. The biodynamic preparations horn manure and horn silica are related to these two elements and when used in the right way bring balance to the farm, promoting humus formation which is the mediator between the two, ensuring the plant is nourished in the right way.
We humans are also central in this earth cosmos axis as we have agency and can make positive choices for the benefit of all. He told how Newton discovered the law of gravity when the apple fell from the tree but didn’t explain how it got up there in the first place. This life force or Etheric principle is what permeates all living things, supporting them as they grow up out of the soil and into the atmosphere against gravity. We know that when a plant or animal dies it no longer has this etheric principle, and its physical body falls back to earth and is consumed and recycled by soil life. And so, the cycle of life continues.
By lunchtime we were brought back down to earth and James touched on the now well-established connection between the soil microbiome and the gut microbiome and also the gut and the brain. We are in fact about 90% microbe and about 10% human DNA so our body is really an ecosystem and so this really highlights the importance of consuming living foods as it’s the lifeforce in food which gives us the will to bring our thought into actions.
A beautiful lunch was prepared by Ériu farm members, and it was interesting to hear the conversations that flowed about James’s talk over the lunch break. Whether people already had knowledge of the topic or were hearing it for the first time, everybody seemed to get something to take home.
After lunch we made our way to Ériu farm for a walk and to share some of our ideas and vision for what we want to create there. We would sincerely like to thank everyone that came for the day and for their support. We raised just over €2,000 which will go towards the fund for our processing kitchen.
We look forward to welcoming you to more Ériu farm events in the future.
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