The Hibernian (Irish) Mysteries
As The Foundation of Biodynamics (Part VI)
by L.A. Rotheraine, Evergreen Elm's Master Gardener
"Now I will turn again to the fact that
in this 5th post Atlantean epoch humanity will have to find ways of
dealing with great life problems which in a certain sense were veiled
by the wisdom of the past. I have already called your attention to them.
One of these great problems will be concerned with finding out how to
place the spiritual etheric forces at the service of practical life
..."
- Rudolf Steiner,
November 25,1917, Dornach, Switzerland The Wrong and Right Use of Esoteric
Knowledge
In
1924, Rudolf Steiner gave us the science that utilizes the spiritual etheric
forces. The biodynamic preparations bring the spiritual etheric forces
into the service of practical life. Biodynamic science is a new form of
the primeval wisdom given to humanity by spiritual beings that contemporary
humanity calls angels and ancient civilizations called gods. In ancient
times, the angels told humans how to use spiritual forces in Oracle Sanctuaries.
Oracle Sanctuaries were the names of the places where ancient wise women
and men were instructed in the mysteries of creation by our angelic teachers.
The highest Oracle Sanctuary was that of the Sun (Christ) Oracle. Steiner
called the Sun Oracle the highest, most sublime of all the ancient Oracles
since it not only encompassed the Christ Mystery, but also all the other
oracle wisdom within it. The wisdom, mysteries of the Saturn, Jupiter,
Mars, Mercury, Venus and Vulcan oracles were held in the Christ (Sun/Son)
Oracle just as the material realities of plant and animal creation are
outlined in Steiner's Agriculture. Agriculture, by Dr. Rudolf Steiner,
is the Sun science now and for the future of earth evolution.
The biodynamic science is man's path back to the ancient creative wisdom.
In many ways, it is the new form of the ancient Sun Oracle. How and when
did the decline of the angelic science begin? Dr. Steiner states in his
book, An Outline of Esoteric Science:
"Toward the middle of the Atlantean period
of evolution a great evil gradually began to manifest itself within
mankind. The mysteries of the initiates ought to have been carefully
guarded from individuals who had not purified their astral bodies of
error through preparation. When such human beings acquire a certain
insight into mystery knowledge, into the laws by which the higher beings
guide the forces of nature, they then place these laws at the service
of their perverted needs and passions. The danger was all the greater,
since human beings, as already described, came into the realm of lower
spiritual beings who, unable to carry out the regular Earth evolution,
acted contrary to it. These spiritual beings influenced human beings
constantly by arousing in them interests that were, in truth, directed
against the welfare of mankind. But human beings had still the ability
to use the forces of growth and reproduction of animal and human nature
for their own purposes. Not only ordinary human beings, but also a number
of the initiates succumbed to the temptations of lower spiritual beings.
They went so far as to use the described supersensible forces in a way
that ran counter to the development of mankind, and for this activity
they sought associates who were not initiated and who - for lower ends
- seized upon the mysteries of the supersensible working of nature.
The consequence was a great corruption of mankind. The evil spread further
and further, and since the forces of growth and reproduction, when diverted
from their natural functions and used independently, stand in a mysterious
connection with certain forces that work in air and water, mighty, destructive
nature forces were unfettered by human deeds. This led to the gradual
destruction of the Atlantean region through terrestrial catastrophes
of air and water. The Atlantean humanity insofar as it did not perish
in the storms - was compelled to emigrate. At that time the earth received
through these storms a new face. (On the one side, Europe, Asia and
Africa received gradually the shapes they bear today. On the other side,
America. To these lands went great migrations."
The area of land now called Ireland survived these
catastrophes.
B.C.J. Lievegoed in MYSTERY STREAMS IN EUROPE AND THE NEW MYSTERIES, states,
"Secluded in a forgotten area in Ireland, the 'great Hibernian Mysteries'
lived on as deep, secret, direct Sun Mysteries, a continuation of the
central Sun Oracle of Atlantis."
"One feels that what Rudolf Steiner said about the Hibernian Mysteries
before the Christmas Foundation meeting could become the foundation for
Biodynamic agriculture after the meeting.
The Hibernian Mysteries did not follow the route from Middle Atlantis
to Central Asia. They continued directly from the great Atlantean Sun
Oracle and were connected with Atlantean clairvoyance.
These (the Hibernian-Atlantean esoteric knowledge) were the great mysteries
- great because of the vast span between Saturn and Vulcan, and the direct
encounter with the Christ."
For the specifics of how the Irish-Hibernian Mysteries radiated Rudolf
Steiner's soul, see Biodynamics 181,185,192,197 and 203.
Students of the Irish Mysteries, like the Atlantean students of the Sun
Oracle became masters of the spiritual etheric forces that create mineral,
plant and animal life on earth. They were taught by spiritual beings that
build the nature kingdoms on earth. Contemporary humanity calls these
beings angels as ancient civilizations called these same beings gods.
These beings are the primary life forces in the universe. Through biodynamic
agriculture, the 20th century is about to learn that genetics are merely
the result of the forces of these angelic
hierarchies. It is to harness and utilize the
spiritual etheric forces of the angels that Dr. Steiner gave us the biodynamic
science. Biodynamic agriculture is the tool, the medium for the conscious
working of human and angel on earth.
Let us turn to the summer of 1994 to examine the possibility that the
Irish-Sun wisdom is back on earth.
In 1994, I placed bags of horn
silica next to the four or five Selke Biodynamic
Cherry tomatoes and the one Ratatouille tomato I would use to create our
master seeds for 1995. I also used, and continue to use, extra-ordinary
amounts of unusual combinations of the
biodynamic preparations. For details, see Biodynamics
203, the 501 Ratatouille Tomato Seeds.
A spiritual mutation took place in both the Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato
seeds and Ratatouille Tomato seeds from those particular seed tomatoes.
I said,
" About 1/3 of our plants from the seeds of the Ratatouille tomato
that had the bag of 501 over it developed hundreds of quick ripening pear
and plum shaped tomatoes, while the other 2/3 produced the normal large
fruited, multifarious shaped Ratatouilles. Since a cross between the Ratatouille
and the one cherry tomato plant that was 25 feet away from our 501 Ratatouille
has been deemed "impossible or at least very highly unlikely"
(because of the anther-stigma style geometry of both self pollinating
species) by everyone from Seed Savers to Penn State something strange
has happened.
There were hundreds of ripening pear and plum shaped tomatoes on 9 of
our 24 Ratatouille plants - 2 had been uprooted by the rain saturated
soil and wind. I believe we had 26 all together.
These Ratatouilles were in bunched clusters identical to our cherry tomato.
The first pear shaped and plum shaped tomatoes were ripe in about 70-75
days. They were seedy like the cherry but much sweeter. Their color was
like that of the cherry. The plums were about 2-3" wide and 2"
long and the pear about 2" long by 1-1/2" wide.*
I assumed it was the 504
or 505
that produced the strange phenomena. I inoculated each tomato hill with
either the stinging nettle or oak bark preparations. My assumption was
based on a similarity in form that appeared in several of our hybrid Early
Girls. They were not our seeds yet they exhibited the same bunching characteristics
as our cherry. A few of the Early Girl tomatoes took on the plum form
with 2 longitudinal lines creating seams in them, that sort of squared
them off, quartering them in the early stages. These lines ran from the
stem to blossom end but disappeared in the ripening stage. These lines
eventually disappeared as the growing season progressed. I picked the
best pear and plum shaped tomatoes to enter in the McKean County Fair
and purchased entry forms for them indicating plum or pear. This would
be the first year we had ripe tomatoes other than the cherry to enter
in the other four, tomato categories.
On Sunday, August 6th, I decided to pick a few more tomatoes from each
of the five species we were entering, as back ups, in case anything happened
to my original selections. There were still plenty of plum shaped tomatoes,
but to my amazement, the pear shaped tomatoes (dozens were still on the
vines several days before) ripened into plum shaped forms. Ironically,
in the five tomato classes, we took four first place ribbons - cherry,
plum shaped, pear shaped and pink. Our Ratatouille took a 5th (one cracked
open because someone squeezed it before it was judged - one of our own
people). Our pink tomato blue ribbon was five partially ripened Ratatouilles
of the heart shaped variety. Those of you that have grown the Ratatouille
know that they keep their pink color for several weeks before turning
bright red. Another interesting aspect of the 501 Ratatouille seeds -
the seeds from one 501 Ratatouille Tomato accounted for four ribbons in
four different tomato categories and three of the four received first
place money! (See also McKean County Fair
Statistics and Highlands
Star Seed Ad.)
What about the 501 Cherry Tomatoes? Like the Ratatouille, they were directly
under a bag with 2 units of 501 in it. About 30 were grown up here from
their 501 seeds. Dave Vecellio of Big Shanty, PA got a 12 footer with
over 2000 tomatoes. I should say over 1998 cherries and 2 small, beefsteak-formed
Ratatouilles. Evergreen Elm had a total of about 10 cherry tomato plants.
Our biggest and best Selke BD Cherry tomato was the only one that had
one small beefsteak formed Ratatouille! And one of our hybrid Early Girls
(not our seeds) also had one beefsteak formed Ratatouille!"
In 1996, something equally interesting happened. Dave Vecellio's 1995
Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato plant had two Ratatouilles appear on separate,
independent branches from the clusters of cherry tomatoes on the plant.
As you can see in the picture, Dave's 1996 Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato
plant has a Ratatouille at the end of a cluster of cherry tomatoes. Dave
was given his plant by me. It was a continuation of the line of cherry
tomatoes that had the bag of 501 by the seed tomatoes. I used a bag of
501 on the 1995 seed tomatoes also - and will continue to do this in 1997.
Our cherry tomatoes at the Elm St. Garden produced a few Ratatouilles
also. Those that harvested them do not remember where they were located
on the plant.
If you look at the picture of Janet Giordano's cluster of "cherry
tomatoes" you'll be amazed to know that her beautiful cherries came
off of a Ratatouille plant I gave her. It too was a continuation of the
501 Ratatouille strain from 1994. Janet had

Janet Giordano (l) with strand of cherry tomatoes
from her Ratatouille plant and Dave Vecellio with a Ratatouille on a strand
from his Cherry Tomato Plant
about half a dozen clusters of cherry tomatoes
on her otherwise perfect Ratatouille plant. There were no other tomato
plants in Dave Vecellio's garden or Janet's. Not that it would matter
anyway, because a physical cross is just about impossible.
The year 1996 held one more interesting surprise for us. For about six
or seven years now, I've been trying to grow the perfect or archetypal
Ratatouille tomato - without success. This would be a semicircular form,
neither convoluted nor convex at the blossom end and without shoulders
at the stem end. Those tending toward this form store better and are easier
to transport because they are more difficult to bruise. A Ratatouille
plant, again, a descendant of the 1994 501 Ratatouille,
was given to Bradford gardener, Bob Cummins. As you can see by the picture,
Bob Cummins raised the plant that produced the quintessential Ratatouille
Tomato. Fortunately, I sprayed that plant many
times with both Thun Barrel Compost and horn silica (501) mixed with juice
of valerian flowers (507). The juice of valerian flowers is added to the
horn silica after the horn silica has been stirred for forty minutes and
the two are stirred together for the last twenty minutes. Bob also used
our fermentation process of fermenting the seeds in juice of valerian
flowers for the tomato pictured and another Ratatouille that was smaller
but equally as perfect in form. We will use the seeds from Bob Cummins
Ratatouilles in 1997. All future generations of biodynamic Ratatouille
Tomatoes will stem from the one pictured here or its slightly smaller
twin.
I believe I know what happened to our biodynamic tomatoes. The combinations
of biodynamic preparations I used and the way I used them, changed the
laws of physical nature as they are taught in the 20th century. Their
spiritual etheric forces created a strange intermingling between two tomato
plants 25 feet apart. These spiritual etheric forces manifested, impregnated
and sculpted physical substance in a way thought not to be possible.
I believe Rudolf Steiner knew the preparations had this potential when
he gave them to us. The problem has been we have not been creative enough
in experimenting with them.
On June 10, 1924, lecture 2, Dr. Steiner states:
'. . . In former epochs - notably in primeval epochs - it was different.
At that time it was still possible quite easily to transform one plant
into another; hence it was very important to know these things. Today
too, it is important if we wish to find what conditions are favorable
to one plant or another . . .
Dr. Steiner is speaking here about the wisdom of the ancients that has
become biodynamic gardening and farming - biodynamic science. From Atlantis,
to Ireland, to Germany, to America came the science to reunite the human
race with the angels. The angels and their creations are the spiritual
etheric forces.
Thousands of years before the Sun King of the angels (Christ) sundered
death's mask with His resurrection, knowledge of the Sun King, Light King
of the Cosmic Word, was taught in the Atlantean Sun Oracle. At that time,
humans and angels worked together, in special circumstances.
The Atlantean Sun (Christ) Oracle survived the Biblical Great Flood in
the region we call Ireland today. The mysteries of the Sun Oracle metamorphosed
into the Hibernian (Irish) Mysteries after the final destruction of Atlantis.
In primeval Ireland, humans and angels worked together in the creation
of the nature kingdoms on earth.
At the time of the Hibernian Mysteries, the spiritual etheric forces that
permeated the earth were of a much purer and living state. At the time
of the last "Great Mysteries" (Hibernian Mysteries) these forces
were on the wane. As the Mysteries declined, so did the life forces of
our planet. It would take a spiritually conscious humanity to resurrect
the aging earth. The angelic hierarchies foresaw this consequence and
prepared a group of souls to work with them in this joint human/angelic
project - Biodynamics. Rudolf Steiner became the ambassador between man
and the angels for this task. He gave us the Hibernian Mysteries, the
Biodynamic Preparations and the Agriculture Course. The Biodynamic Preparations,
Biodynamic Science, should be called the resurrection preparations, the
Resurrection Science. Our task now is to inoculate the soil of the entire
earth with the biodynamic preparations. This will place "the spiritual,
etheric forces at the service of practical life", and radiate the
light of the Sun King into human souls.
Copyright © 2004 L.A. Rotheraine
First printed in Biodynamic Journal
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