Cosmic Journal #42
Behold the golden glow that glints
I FEEL within a cosmic power
feel him raise his voice and in me speak:
“thy heart is tending in its deepest bower
a light wherefore the sleeping world doth seek
behold now at the seasons’ darkest hour,
the golden glow that glints on yonder hills and peaks.”1
Jeez, it has been a long, cold winter for those of us in the north. I’ve done my best to stay busy. I started seeds with Barrel Compost; I sprayed BD 500 on Equinox. Yet the ground remains hard and the mornings glitter with frost.
Looking down at the frozen ground may feel depressing, but looking up at the sky this month will be awe-inspiring.
The show begins with an Aries Super New Moon and a partial Solar Eclipse early in the morning on Saturday March 29th. The horns of Aries come to life before our eyes in a stunning sunrise display, that will only be visible briefly for north easterly dwellers like those in Quebec, New Brunswick and Maine.2
This March 29th new moon is the first “super” new moon of 2025.
It’s dubbed “super” because the moon will be almost at its perigee, the point in the moon’s orbit when it’s closest to the Earth. The March new moon occurs about 1.5 days before the lunar perigee.3 The perigee moon invokes a winter mood because the moon’s water elements are strong; they inhibit the sun’s relationship to the Earth.
Seeds sown into beds prepared at perigee may germinate poorly, or the crop itself may be affected because the watery elements are too strongly manifested in the upper part of the plant. The days leading up to lunar perigee are a good time to balance the greater moisture by spraying Equisetem arvense Horsetail BD 508 on the soil. Spraying BD 508 slows down weeds and stops the spread of fungal spores.4
All this perigee / eclipse action means windows of inactivity for the biodynamic gardener.
Stella Natura and the Celestial Planting Calendar both have the whole day of March 29th and 30th blocked out, but Maria Thun is more hopeful. Maria Thun’s calendar suggests a brief Leaf time from 10am-12pm EST on Saturday, March 29th. For spinach and lettuce, leafy crops that need to be watery, the perigee moon can be a positive time to sow.
Garden tasks resume fully Monday, March 31st on a Fruit Day. The Moon is now Ascending in Aries. We can sow Zucchini, Peas, Lentils, Wheat, Coriander, Nuts, Almonds. However, be cognizant of the lingering winter mood. Expect late snowfalls and wet conditions.
April 1st to 3rd, we enjoy an Ascending Moon in Taurus. Sow turnip, carrot, radish, garlic, celeriac, onion, potato, shallot, ginger, sweet potato…get them started! Prepare more compost.
Flower times are very exciting in early April. We enjoy an Ascending Moon in Gemini starting April 4th. At this time, we are sowing and tending broccoli and cauliflower; we are also trimming roses and planting annuals and flowering shrubs. Mist crops at dawn with Horn Silica 501.
Starting April 7th, depending on how the weather behaves, we can start transplanting our seed potatoes under the influence of a Leo moon. April showers look to be extremely abundant this year, especially around April 15th to 18th, when the Moon joins six planets in front of Water constellations, so we need to be thinking ahead and preparing for extreme weather by sequence spraying to deter moisture. Day one, evening spray BC (Barrel Compost); Day two , morning spray BD508, evening spray BD500; Day three, morning spray BD501.5
April 11th to 14th, the Moon enters Virgo and we celebrate the “golden glow that glints on yonder hills and peaks,” as Mercury, Venus, and Saturn emerge from under the Sun’s beams, visible as a shining cluster low in the morning sky.6 This incredible celestial show culminates with a Full Moon finale on the evening of April 12th.
Regarding sowing potatoes, here’s a helpful note. The Moon reaches Apogee on Palm Sunday April 13th; Maria Thun suggests potatoes sown at this time can return a good yield that stores well, so perhaps factor potatoes into your Palm Sunday in more ways than one.
It’s a busy time of the month, but embracing the meditative experience of a three-day sequence spray from April 15th to 18th can help embody the true spirit of the season.
In his lecture on the message of Easter, Steiner said that to “strive after super-sensible knowledge is itself an Easter deed, it is something which gives man the right once more to keep Easter.”7 Steiner asks us to “Look up to the full moon and feel how the full moon is connected with man in its phenomena, and how the reflection of the sun is connected with the moon, and then meditate on the need today to go in search of a true self-knowledge which can show forth man as a reflection of the super-sensible.”8
Sequence spraying is a “super-sensible deed”, enlivening the connection between you and your environment. Breathe in the celestial show and breath out devotion in action. The Virtue of the month rings true: “Devotion becomes the force of sacrifice”.9
We celebrate the Festival of Resurrection on Sunday, April 20th, a Fruit Day. The Easter baskets you started at Equinox should now be in full glory. My daughter and I always enjoy decorating the table with an Easter display.
Here’s some inspiration for your Easter table from years past:
Flower times return on April 23rd. BD 501 Silica can be sprayed at dawn. Remember, Silica can only be sprayed if there is Sun. No spraying if it’s cloudy or raining. For those picking dandelions for biodynamic preparations, this may be your day. Harvest while the flower is still closed at the centre. Dry in the shade on a piece of paper and store until ready for encasing.
Friday, April 25th, the Moon is in Pisces. Pot on cabbage. Tend your salad, asparagus, parsley, chives. Give those interior plants a big drink and seed your lawn.
Sunday, April 27th the Moon returns to perigee and we welcome the second Super New Moon of 2025. All activity rests while the moon is at perigee.
This month’s celestial journey brings the realization that by choosing biodynamics, we are truly “thinking like the universe”.10
Blessings and Happy Easter,
Kate
For observers in the Atlantic Canada region, the partial solar eclipse will be in progress as the sun rises above the eastern horizon on the morning of March 29. Sunrise will occur around 7 a.m., depending on your location. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/canada
Gaurav Shukla, “The First “Super” New Moon Has Arrived – And Here’s How to Catch It”, https://www.howtogeek.com/first-super-new-moon-of-has-arrived-how-to-catch-it/
Monty Waldin, “Biodynamic Gardening”, First American Edition 2015, page 50-51
“The Biodynamic Sequential Spray Technique”, Josephine Porter Institute, PDF URL: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0017/4473/2221/files/Sequential-Spray-of-Biodynamic-Preparations-For-Weather-Extremes.pdf?11510486555095028812
Celestial Planting Calendar 2025, Celestial Events in April 2025, page 18
The meaning of Easter: St. Paula and the Christ Impulse” Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 2nd, 1920 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/MEastr_index.html
The meaning of Easter: St. Paula and the Christ Impulse” Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 2nd, 1920 https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/MEastr_index.html
Stella Natura 2025, April 2025, Virtue of the Month, Calendar of the Soul: Versus 50-2
Celestial Planting Calendar 2025, “What is Biodynamics?”, Stewart Lundy, page 2
I have a new question. I have made the fermented 508 . When I went to check on it it had some mold growing on the top of the fermentation batch. Is this ok or should I make another batch?
I am trying to understand the planting indications as far as flower, root leaf and fruit. If I want to transplant a flowering plant do I do that on a flower day or should it be done on a root day as I would want to encourage the root growth of the plant . I am talking about larger flowering plants in my garden that I may be dividing or just moving to a new spot, not seedlings .