Devotion becomes the Force behind Sacrifice

I remember with great affection the sincere message of Don Miguel De Marchi, when he told us the etymological meaning of the word SACRIFICE, this term, usually is associated with pain and loss. The work that we do at Finca La Esperanza with joy and veneration is far from being a painful burden for us, on the contrary! Having the opportunity every day to encounter the work with the dairy cows, the tending of the animals, and the regeneration of the soil and of the river that borders the farm — all this brings us closer to that inner space in our souls that allows us to make bridge between that which is sacred in our bodies and in the farm organism.

Art by Sophia Montefiore, all rights reserved. Use with permission.

In my limited experience with biodynamic agriculture, my understanding and view of it have been evolving as I become absorbed in its practice. Our work is guided by this thought: the sacred in my craft, my neighbor, and my Self.

The proposal of our beloved Master is such that it is only through a clear and objective exploration of material reality as experienced in our own Being that we find ourselves expanding, thinking for ourselves, and awakening to new consciousness.

There is so much to appreciate and describe to you about what is happening in our Costa Rican environment. Finca La Esperanza is just one of the initiatives in the country seeking to vibrate with the principles that gave birth to biodynamic agriculture, Waldorf pedagogy, Anthroposophical Medicine, the intimate encounter with the Bee Being, Eurythmy, etc.

We hope to soon give you news related to the formalization of our collective in Costa Rica, as well as other initiatives and endeavors underway.

In our tropical conditions we have had the opportunity to work with the unfolding impulse of the biodynamic preparation without interruption for some years now.

As experts such as international consultants know, the furthering of biodynamics in this particular climate represents a distinct challenge. For us, it has been an adventure that paints pure life on the canvases of diverse ecosystems and the special microclimates of the neotropics.

We go searching for magical minerals in the ancient mountains, caves, and rivers. We collect and cure medicinal plants from the mountains with farming hands. Or, in some other crazy adventure (assuming the responsibility to bring them as “personal medicine” through customs at the international airport) along with some ripe cheeses, organs, and animal parts quite sweet in smell. It is a priceless experience to have live at the top of our lungs and without regrets or self-affacing martyrdom. But these were costly experiences nonetheless. They entailed tearing from our eyes scales preventing from seeing, separating us from the inner key that allows us to open ourselves to a new understanding by which we learn about the transformation and the forces that arise from uniting these realms in a special preparation. Each year that we repeat this process, another flake of a scale is torn away until a moment arrives when the barrier dissolves and we merge with the All, the Great Spirit....

To perceive ourselves performing this sacred work puts us face-to-face with Mother Nature. In this approach, we have the opportunity to invite her to have a maté, coffee, or tea with us, so that she can lovingly tell us about one of the mysteries involved in taking on our humanity: the awakening to consciousness, through feeling, thinking, and acting (willing).

In the scientific-spiritual art of making the biological-dynamic preparations, we find the possibility of connecting as "I's" with our Self, so that it can meet the Spirit that governs the forces that give humans and nature the power of resurrection. This implies that I am and become the preparation itself! We become able to co-evolve as Humans together with our Mother Earth. At this point the doors open to initiate a process wherein The Divine Mother is in me and I, by the grace of spirit, rejoice in her —  elevating both our consciousnesses. Here is revealed one of the reasons why, almost 100 years ago during that time of Pentecost in 1924, Steiner and later his pupils said: - There are still many more preparations to be made! Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus - I connect my being with the Spirit....

This life-generating force brings an inescapable individual and collective responsibility that cannot be overshadowed by markets, production, branding, or the green capitalist consumption of the elite. On the contrary, it is this great effort that drives us in Latin America, throughout the continent and as a single planet to find together the key that allows us to be part of a large family where social trimembration is a reality.

Let us seek to find ourselves, to be united with that which divides us, which distances us from the forgiveness in us: let us take our daily “Vitamin C.”¹ Let us undertake the necessary catharsis to take advantage of this impulse towards a conscious encounter with our soul so that we can truly give ourselves. In the meantime, let us continue with love to produce our daily bread in our farms, gardens, dairy farms, orchards, etc. And, if we can, let us remember to share it with those who need it most and have been excluded or marginalized by society. 

Today more than ever the food produced with these vital forces. I have commented a little on who governs them, and who needs to reach the greatest number of human beings. And so perhaps soon the new social order to which Dr. Rudolf Steiner referred will become a reality for the future of humanity.

Danilo Solano Rojas Finca La Esperanza La Fortuna, Costa Rica.

1. Vitamin Christos (Vitamina Crística): It is a term that we have been using lately when making our biological-dynamic preparations in order to cheer us up and balance us.