Aubergines, Radishes...and Gnosis?

Let’s face it: the “Velvet Revival” of Gnosticism has put some of us in the position of entertaining quite a bit. So it comes as no surprise that Brother Jeremy Puma has inspired me to write a little about one of my favorite subjects: food. I confess that I am a hopeless gourmand and I am interested in Biodynamic gardening, so for what it’s worth, here’s my culinary schpeel. First I will lay out my view of the garden, and in later posts I’ll share some recipes and ideas on entertaining. Watch out Martha, here I come...

The idea of the seed containing everything necessary for life is profound and elementary to both physical and spiritual health. At least that is what Johann Wolfgang von Goethe thought – and he was a pretty bright guy.

In the 19th century Goethe’s ideas about nature were merged with the Theosophical and later, Anthroposophical teachings of the Austrian mystic Rudolf Steiner. Through meditation on the seed, similar to the “Seed Exercise” in Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage, Steiner began studying nature, agriculture, and its impact on human health and spirituality. The result of this meditation and study is what is now called Biodynamics.

By 1924, the Biodynamic movement was going strong in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. What has been found in recent scientific studies is a marked increase in nutrient levels in Biodynamic crops and other vegetation. Steiner’s methodology uses positive reinforcement of nature, by nature – using no chemicals. The difference between Biodynamics and conventional organic methods of farming is two-fold.

First, Steiner’s method predates organic agriculture by about 20 years and it is not merely negative in the sense that it is not defined by not using chemical fertilizers and other synthetic products. The processes in Biodynamic farming and gardening work with nature, using certain plants in compost heaps, astronomical events and timing, and a good deal of regular old science, to yield chemically balanced and highly nutritional produce.

Second, the purpose of Biodynamics is not only to grow amazingly tasty and nutritional crops. There is both an exoteric and esoteric purpose to growing healthy crops, plants and animals – and one of those purposes is geared at helping us, as human beings, maximize our physical and spiritual unity and fulfillment. From a Gnostic viewpoint, you might think of Biodynamic agriculture as a physical way of celebrating and sanctifying matter in very much the same way sacramental Gnostics celebrate the Eucharist. It lifts the veil, while chemical farming and genetically modified monstrosities make the veil bigger, if you will. Many critics say that Biodynamics is nothing more than Voodoo in the garden, and in some respects they are correct. Just ask my mother-in-law who’s been helping me stir the cow-horn manure 100 times in each direction while singing the Magnificat...hehehe. But the food and wine critics who follow quality as well as the money know better. Exciting news reports about Biodynamic wines, for example, are increasingly attractive to even the most skeptical critics.

I am not a vegetarian and I do not take everything that Steiner (or anyone else, for that matter) wrote to be absolutely true, but I am willing to give him his due when it comes to agriculture. No, I’m no Vegan…in fact I love eating raw oysters, beef Carpaccio, any meat - thank you very much, so you needn’t worry about that. Lord knows my Gnostic community is filled with carnivorous folks like Father Scott Rassbach, who recently indulged in the delights of a succulent yak-burger. (Yes, yak, as in big, yellow, hairy, Asian ox.) But vegetarian or not, I think that we do need to think about what we eat in terms of its quality and its relationship to us and to the earth around us. Biodynamics addresses these relationships and provides an esoteric meaning to the things that we eat and the plants that we grow. The old saying “you are what you eat” in this sense is spot-on. I highly recommend the very balanced and non-kooky approach to healthy cuisine espoused in recipe books such as Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig.

With this as a background, I will try to come up with some pleasing posts on my vision and practical tips on “Gnostic cuisine” in the days and months to come.