Cosmic Journal #038
Happy New Year! Epiphany & the Start of 2025
THE soul’s poetic power abounds
pulsing up and outward from its ground
resounding from the heart’s foundation
where the forces of Creation
enthuse our life in throbs
and come to sculpt the life
through deeds of love
Liturgy of the Seasons, Week 41, translation by Max Leyf
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you all have had a great couple weeks filled with lots of Love, Light & laughter. Beyond family gatherings and the social commitments of the Holidays, this point of the year draws us inwards into the depths of darkness presenting us with an opportunity to find our own inner source of inspiration, that which will carry us forward into the year ahead.
As discussed during the 1909 Festival of the Seasons lectures, Rudolf Steiner describes,
“Thus [in the winter season] we live, together with the power of the plant seed, as it were, quite literally inside the earth, we penetrate the earth. And if the winter has reached its midpoint when the deepest darkness rules, then we feel precisely thereby that the external world does not restrain us from feeling ourselves united with the spirit, from feeling how, in the depths [of the earth], into which we have withdrawn, spiritual light springs forth; that spiritual light, for which mankind has received from Christ Jesus the mightiest impulse.”
Like a seed buried beneath the ground absorbing the Cosmic forces this Winter, we as Humans are invited to reflect on our own lives through the December process of Advent, the rebirth of the Solar Sun marked by Winter Solstice, the celebration of the birth of Jesus on Christmas, and the deepening of this past, present and future embodiment of Love and Light within ourselves over the 13 Holy Nights.
Since the eve of December 24th, the Anthroposophical Society in America has been guiding us through this process of inner reflection, encouraging each of us as individuals to take a moment each day to review the past year, month by month in relation to the Zodiac signs that influence each part of the year. This gift, beautifully organized by Mary Stewart Adams and fellow anthroposophists contains so much wisdom and is absolutely worth checking out - even if you missed tuning in over the past few weeks.
Now, in January, we can begin to feel internal Warmth and Light increase as we dive into our Journal notes on Monday, January 6th, taking tangible steps each day to live in greater alignment with the Spiritual Hierarchies, the celestial world and Love. Today, we reach one point of completion in this introspective 13 Night process bringing us to the important moment of Epiphany, the historical descent of Christ into the human body of Jesus two Millennia ago in the River of Jordan.
As we look up and outwards to the Stars, the Moon is backed by the constellation of Pisces which guides us in our unique, complementary relationship between the material and the Spiritual worlds. Feel your feet press against the ground today, recalling the initial period of time when densification began to occur, the process that brought form to our Human bodies. In balance to this, we can sense the Warmth and Love that exists now within each of our Hearts, a connection point to the greater Universe. Like a fish in the current of a river, we surrender today to the flow of life that carries us through each day giving thanks to being alive now in 2025.
Under the guidance of this Union, we might also offer Hugo Erbe’s #8 Three Kings Preparation out to our farms and gardens as both a gift to the elemental Kingdoms and a protective prayer against that which inhibits life forces. This afternoon as the Earth begins its inbreath, we gather together to stir the Three Kings Prep, a gift of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, bringing our consciousness to the interconnected relationships that create a living dynamic in our lives.
Like the Three Magi who visited the Solomon Jesus many years ago, we now bring our own Human Wisdom, Sophia, to our farms and gardens making a commitment today to continue to foster relationships with all Beings, both seen and unseen. As directly expressed by JPI’s Founder Hugh Courtney:
“Humanity has so frequently ignored and betrayed the elemental beings by our desecration of nature. The mere fact that these beings are invisible to the majority of human beings does not mean they do not exist, and the sooner we take some sort of positive action that provides a message to them that we wish to work with them, the sooner we can counter much of the chaos so apparent in the world. No other action on our part can send this message to the elemental kingdom quite as well as our use of the Three Kings Preparation.”
Whether you are able to join us on Monday in this offering or not, our work continues to evolve this year as we now enter into the next Cosmic cycle, preparing now for Candlemas on Sunday, February 2nd. As described a year ago in Journal #013, “Candlemas, marks the end of the descending, archetypal yearly cycle for plants and minerals… [it is the] true centre of the circulation of life on Earth.” While we will explore this in more depth in a few weeks, we bring this awareness into our work over the next month, nurturing the birth of Light and Love within ourselves as we continue towards February and the greater awakening of the Mineral and Plant Kingdoms.
On Tuesday, January 7th we continue to work with the element of Water and the ether of Tone while the Moon remains in the constellation of the Fishes, surrendering to the flow of the day. At 5pm EST, the Moon then transitions into the Fire sign of Aries where it will also be tomorrow, Wednesday, January 8th.
On Wednesday, the Moon will reach its closest point in relation to the Earth, a point called Perigee, and you may choose to refrain from work in order to allow for these strong forces to subside.
Entering into the Morning of Thursday, January 9th we continue to bring our attention to the element of Fire and the ether of Warmth until the Moon moves into the Earth sign of Taurus at 10am.
Today, tomorrow, Friday, January 10th and Saturday, January 11th the Moon moves through the great Bull offering us an opportunity to deepen our relationship with the soil life of our farms and the Mineral Kingdom that serves as the foundation of our lives.
Over the next three days, we can take time to offer BD 500 Horn Manure, the Pfeiffer Field Spray or Barrel Compound out to our gardens and farms, as we start to prepare more and more each day for the growing season ahead. Depending on your climate, these Earth days might be good for soil cultivation, direct seeding and the harvesting of root crops.
Beyond the field work needed to get things ready for 2025 that will be ongoing for the next few months, we might focus energy on crop planning and backend organization which is also important to the sustainability of our farms.
Under the guidance of Taurus this week, we will also be celebrating Biodynamic Agriculture with our friends at Red Acre Farm during the Utah Farm and Food Conference. Alongside Stewart Lundy and Lloyd Nelson, we will be exploring the art and spiritual science of Biodynamics, the foundational teachings of Rudolf Steiner, and the importance of our work to regenerate our gardens, farms and ranches. In our pre conference workshop we will practice fostering relationships with all of Life, get hands on with the Biodynamic Preparations and much more.
In our breakout sessions, I will be presenting on the use of a Biodynamic Calendar, Lloyd will be covering the expanded use of Biosprays in agriculture and Stewart will be exploring how to incorporate Chromatography into our work as farmers and gardeners. It will certainly be a busy conference and we feel beyond blessed to be sharing our Love for Biodynamics with the folks in Utah.
On Sunday, January 12th the Moon moves into the Air sign of Gemini at 12am while it also reaches its highest point in the Sky, beginning to descend for the next two weeks. As noted in your calendar, Gemini marks the start of the Biodynamic Transplanting Time, a period where water, sap and life forces are brought down into lower plant plants (roots) and the soil. This morning or tomorrow, Monday, January 13th we can offer Horn Silica BD 501 to our gardens as an impulse of Spiritual Light, a true Cosmic gift that begins to replenish the world with what we continually extract from her as farmers.
While the Moon remains in Gemini on Monday, January 13th it will also reach its Full Moon position, bringing even more Cosmic Light into our lives. In our meditation today, we can bring our consciousness onto the cycle of the last month and all of the inner work we’ve done to cultivate changes in our daily actions. We would love to hear how this past month has been for you in the comments below here on Substack!
On Tuesday, January 14th the Moon transitions into the Water sign of Cancer bringing our attention back to the leafy plants that are growing in our greenhouses and under row cover. With the Moon now descending, this period would be a great time to harvest and plant seeds, preparing for the cycles that lie ahead of us.
The Moon moves through Cancer until 3pm on Wednesday, January 15th, moving into the Fire sign of Leo which has a direct influence on fruiting plants.
Throughout the day on Thursday, January 16th and Friday, January 17th we celebrate the Love that exists in our life, brought forth by the etheric influence of Warmth. Under the Great Lion, which is connected to our own physical hearts, we celebrate our stewardship role as Humans here on Earth, giving thanks to everything that surrounds us, both that which can be easily seen and that which might remain hidden to us.
On Saturday, January 18th we continue to focus our attention on the element of Fire and the ether or Warmth through the morning, feeling into the transition into Virgo that begins to occur at 11am, grounding us again back down to the Earth.
In the afternoon today or throughout the next four days until Wednesday, we can offer BD 500 Horn Manure, the Pfeiffer Field Spray or Barrel Compound to our farms and gardens as a gift, returning back the Spiritual forces which have been depleted over time through our modern farming practices.
On Sunday, January 19th we celebrate the powers of the Virgin, the seed of Wisdom that exists within us all that continually supports us in our own conscious evolution. Again today, we can reflect back on the last month, tuning into the feelings that we had last month leading up to Christmas. We remember that every day ‘Christ is Born’ and that our recognition of this is a living influence that guides us in our work. Outside of any walled structure, the Virgin invites us to find freedom today within ourselves amongst the Kingdoms of Nature that we stand amongst in our gardens.
Going forward in our next Journal, we will continue to prepare our farms for the season ahead of us, looking both deeply inwards and outwards as we then celebrate Candlemas on Sunday, February 2nd.
If you haven’t ordered one already, the Stella Natura Biodynamic Calendar, the Celestial Planting Calendar and the Maria Thun Biodynamic Almanac are all currently in stock at JPIBiodynamics.org and serve as the foundation for discussion here.
May each day be filled with Love, Light & Laughter - Russell
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