In Lecture 6 we turn to the subject of weeds, pests and plant diseases, and dealing with them in nontoxic, homeopathic ways.
What is a weed? “A weed is that which grows where it is not wanted.” But 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.
As a reminder, the influences of Venus, Mercury and Moon are the forces which cause the plant to grow, produce seed, and by this seed a new plant, and another plant, etc. The forces that come from Mars, Jupiter and Saturn cause the plant to build matter into itself for food, because it is produced again, and again, in a continuous stream.
When the Moon was still united to the Earth, the Earth was much more alive, more fertile. Now the Moon strengthens those forces of the Earth which produce growth and enhance it to reproduction. The Earth can of its own strength be the mediator of this growth only; without the Moon, it cannot make reproductive growth.
People look upon the Moon as simply reflecting the rays of the Sun, 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. It is a powerful and strongly organizing cosmic force which is poured down from the Moon into the plant, and enables it to produce seed, thus enhancing its power to grow and to reproduce. But all this can only come about when the Moon is full.
During the new Moon, plants only retain what they took in at the time when the Moon was full. We must try and enter into these forces. We shall then see that the fully developed strength of the Moon 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.
We shall have to treat the soil in such a way that it will be disinclined to absorb lunar influences. To do this we collect several seeds of the particular weed in question. 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 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 these pepper-like preparations on our fields, and we shall see in the second year that there are far fewer weeds in question. After four years of this treatment, the weed will have completely disappeared from our field.
We can proceed in a 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. In this case, we catch an animal pest and skin it. The main thing is to get this skin when Venus is in the sign Scorpio (OCT 18- NOV 11, 2024). In the plant kingdom, the influence of the Moon is sufficient to call forth the powers of reproduction. In the animal kingdom, the Moon's influence must be strengthened by that of Venus.
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. Now that which is contained in these ashes is the negative power of reproduction in the animal. When sprinkled on your fields, it will prove to be a means of keeping the animal pest away.
This, then, is the way to deal with animal pests. But this method will be of no use in attacking insects, for these come under completely different cosmic influences.
In this case the whole insect must be burnt. The incineration must take place when the Sun is in the constellation of Taurus, (JUNE 4-7, 2024) 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 Aquarius through Pisces to Aries and Gemini and on to Cancer.
It all depends on our capacity to be on such intimate terms with the Earth that we come to know her capacity for bringing forth plants, especially through the power of 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 you treat them with fire applied in an appropriate manner, then you are performing within the economy of Nature an act of annihilation.
There remains for us one more subject to consider: the so-called plant diseases. What actually causes the plant to be diseased? The soil immediately surrounding a plant has a definite life of its own. These life forces are there; forces of growth and tender forces of propagation, waiting with a certain intensity; forces working in the soil under the influence of the Moon, mediated through water. 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 fungal formations appear in it. It is in this way that blights and similar ills make their appearance in the plant.
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 a fairly concentrated tea of equisetum arvense, field horsetail, and diluting it and using it as a liquid manure on the fields, for the purpose of fighting blight and similar plant diseases. (PREP 508)
Here again only small quantities are required; a homeopathic dose is generally sufficient. As you will have realized, this is precisely where one sees how one department of life affects another. It is not so much a healing process as a process exactly opposite to that described above.
