Preparation plants presentation Play

Biodynamic Preparation Plants Play ------------
Act 1: Scene 1: Now and Then:
Music: Army march
Veggies and animals march in front of right stage. Stop off center. They are in rows, upright they are in a neutral state. The farmers come in behind with bottles and sprays of different kinds. They have masks, eye protection and gloves. We see the real disconnection with the farm stock even before they give the ‘medicine’. Farmer 1 administers fertilizer. Farmer 2 gives Pesticide and farmer 3 herbicide. From all angles the veggies are blasted. They freak a bit and look like they have had a strong coffee. They then put on there shoes and hats. Showing diconnection to the earth and the stars. The animals then eat from them and have same reaction. A farmer may inject some antibiotics into them.
Family comes in and takes a bit from each veggies and animals. They at first have expression of well done as the crop looks good. Then eating they make bad face and are in mad mood. Starts telling off the farmers.
Music: Slightly sad also has an army edge but more meloncolic.
The family, veggies and animals leave in this mood. The farmers stand looking at this and shake there heads. Look to each other for solutions.

Scene 2: Then!
Music: Change to more progressive , build slowly truth scence, climax at end .
Farmer 3 has an idea . He tells the others then they trek from right of stage across stage maybe even out of stage in search of Rudolf Steiner. They find him by a desk with loads of papers and books. They pretend to knock on a door. He does to listen and carrys on working. They take a rest outside to show passge of time. They knock again and he comes to them. They gesture a conversation about there problems and worries. Farmer1 has a bag of grain which is half full . He tells of how last year it was more. Farmer 2 does gesture of big to small for animals. Farmer 3 has pleading look and gestures for answers. Steiner concedes and gets them to sit. He pretends to talk for a while then he stops then pretends again. His hand actions show someone describing things in the stars and in the earth, inside the body and between each other. He finishes with a hand on the heart and one on the head. The farmers have been listening attentively during this time looking very confused and astranged . He then goes back to his table and gets three agriculture lecture books and produces them from his mouth for each . He gestures for them to know them and read them.

ACT 2: Scene 1: Feel:
Music: All instruments from up where it left off to low and slow in winter then back up at end of her movement in summer.
Steiner turns his arm and with open hand gestures the farmers to look at centre stage.
This is queue for Nature mother to enter. She moves in to centre stage . She is fabulous in summer radiating, arms up to the heavens in the v shape flicking out energy from her hands. She gesture the transition into Autumn by spinning, spiraling into autumn her arms are parallel with the earth and her hands are flicking into the earth now . Leaves falling is a good gesture to show this time instead of flicking they are flat thumbs move up and down. This is a transition into winter where her arms are down and a flicking is happening into the earth. Much slowler than in summer, much deeper and more rhythmical. The earth is alive in winter. A spiral would bring back spring and again the arms are parallel to the earth but the hands are now working up and opening flowers into the sun . Her hands are flowers which open up to the cosmos.
She moves back to summer and opens arms calling for Dandelion to come in.
Scene 2: Dandelion
Music: piano/xzylephone twinkling on entry with a drum base , something floaty, when she is low more drum base then as she lifts and absorbs the silica more piano.
Carried by the wind the Dandelion enters upon a seed umbrella. She floats down and lands centre stage. N.M. is behind gesturing the season of summer. S.+3F are to the left of stage watching. She drops the seed head as she lands germinating in the soil. Farmer 3 collects seed head and looks at in order to remove from stage. She is low to the earth and all we see are leaves. NM moves from summer to Autumn then Winter. In this time Dan. Leaves are just moving an d adjusting to the light. SPRing comes and she shoots into the sky hands and arms together she shoot up a stalk and opens her arms in embrace of the solar forces. She is receiving silicic acid from the cosmos and atmosphere. There is the hand gesture of receiving force from the air. This is brought down and lowered to the route. She can show this by lightly bending knees as drawing the force down happens. This is only for about five draws lets say then she is pauses in gesture opened to the universe arms wide open but not parallel to earth about 30 degrees. NM pauses also in the summer time in a similar gesture . S + 3 F come over to look at D. Farmer 1 takes a piece of leaf and tastes. S. takes a letter from behind the dandelion reads quickly while looking up at ‘heaven’ from time to time. He takes a quartz crystal from his bag and shows the farmers how this passes from the sky into the earth, he does this with D. as the back ground to his action.
He then takes his scissors and pretends to snip in the air. He removes her crown and puts it in her hands. This is queue for Cosmic Cow to enters right stage. She walks on steady and in peace. Nothing in this world or many others is going to rush her. She is at peace . Chewing her cud as she enters. All watch in appreciation as she moves in the space right of the D. Music is sighlent in this time to contrast the normal music. A time of silence in her entry gives the presence and peace which the cow brings. Music comes back. She takes off her long coat which is the mesentry and unhooks the intestines which are shown to be in a spiral . She hands the intestines to farmer 2 who is deeply thankful and bows slightly then puts it in her bag. She then hands the mesentry to F3 who is also thankful . She does a gesture with hand flat pointing inwards, to show the inwardness of the organs. She leaves again right of stage .
NM moves too Autumn and farmer 1 takes a shovel to dig by direction of S. F3 takes the mesentry and puts it around D. He leads her to the hole and they lay her in and cover. NM rays down forces now in winter the forces of the cosmos stream through her into the earth where the D. is in reception of the froces aided by the inner astral nature of the cows mesentery. S. contemplates in this time looking in to the universe. Farmers work on building a much heap. When a moment of two has passed and NM feels its time winter is over and spring is back. S+3F return to D to lift her from earth. She is transformed an d radiating. F3 takes her to back of stage to sit on a chair which is close to the much heap. She sits there with her crown flower head in hand and mesentry/coat still around.


Scene 2: Oak
Music: Either Sax or a base guitar is playing signifying the living calcium properties. The mood is nurturing. Deep.
Steiner gestures for farmers to look again. NM calls forth the Oak!
Back right of stage he enters. Solid strong tall in presence. Farmers gasp and marvel . He finds his place center stage and stands. He hold s the space for a moment in still ness, his space of time is a big part of relationship to us. When that moment of pause is at the end he raises his forearms with hands turned inwards we see the twigs of the winter time of the outer time he turns them towards each other. He moves the forearms in a vibrating shaking way away from each other, this is repeated a few times to show the movement of the calcium from the inner to the outer of the bark. He finishes with forearms parallel like a trunk in front of him.
NM is turning and turning in this time and after. She is in her own space of no space. Showing the long passage of time of this great being.
Farmer 3 goes to sit under the tree. Time comes in. Its summer. O turns his hands outwards which are green so we see the leaves. He looks over the farmer smiling and gives him an acorn which he eats. This takes us too Autumn. Steiner points to the stars towards Mars which is a red ball on the oaks chest (Totem). F3 comes out from under O.S. takes a tool and lifts a piece of bark off his belly.
At this time Autumn goes to winter and the cosmic cow returns with the skull. Again sh e comes with peace and silence gives inward gesture and takes her head off and gives it Farmer 1. He takes it and they put the bark inside. The Oak does not move and stays in winter formation. They take the skull and put it in the stream with rotting vegetation. NM comes over and streams the winter forces into the skull.
Spring comes and they lift the skull and take it back give it to Oak , steiner calls over one of the veggies from the beginning who has a cold and is sneezing she touches the skull and oak and feels better she exit’s the way she entred, he then is lead to sit next to Dandy.



Scene 3: Nettle
Music: electric guitar, triangle, metal banging, drums, piano. Full passion music. Start is silent, maybe a simple flute recorder there is a heart beat drum which increases in speed as they connect and the sun beams more on the male, then as the male flys across and collides with the female full electric guitar . As they rise from the earth together as a germinated seed more piano showing silica concentration in spring with the new leaves. Everything else follows there movements adlib for now.
NM stands back of centre stage in the summer . Left stage male Nettle stands moving in the wind like a pulsating packet of pollen his arms are turned inwards as a packet ball of pollen. To the right opposite the female Nettle is also waving in the wind her white shining star flowers are piercing the light. Her gesture is arms open and pointing towards the male. The tension builds for a bit as the music makes it then when NM comes a little closer with her sun the packet of pollen bursts open Mnettle flys across the stage spining and twirling and comes in to the arms of the female. They spin together then go to the earth. All is silent again ,, then we hear the heart beat and together they grow from the ground as one plant now in the Spring working their way to the surface . Their yellow legs are moving and they almost dance to the centre stage. There fingers are pointing outwards like little spikes moving showing the surface area they cover. When they are centre stage they pause, interlocked at the hips they make the hand gesture of a house above the head and to the side , like a pyramid.
This is the action time for the observers they come over to see. Both possibly have tool belts on showing there jack of all trades abilities. Steiner is very pleased to show this plant and is happy they see it. Farmer one trys to taste some of the leaf and gets his hand stung. This brings movement back into the nettles and they bend over across rooted by their feet with the hands make gestures around the hearts of the farmers. Then return to previous position. Spring moves to summer and this queues Steiner to gesture a cut of the nettles. They bend right over as if cut just above the root. Farmers pretend to collect nettle . As the famers are digging a hole the nettle rises back showing its re generation. They are then taken to the hole and buried for a whole year. Summer forces and Winter forces stream in. Farmers fix fences and build much heaps in this time. This happens till following summer then they lift them and take them to sit next to others .
Scene 4: Chamomille
Music: acoustic guitar , with up beat drumming. Something soothing and tranquil. Yet healing and therefore progressive. No stagnant but changing.
He enters with his white bandana on and white socks. With the mood of coming from a tennis game or Yoga session. Relaxed. The look of someone who enjoys there Job. He does a little dance like a cross between a ballaue dancer and a tai chi master. Every time he raises his arms a flower shoots from his hands in an open burst. He arrives centre stage and pauses in gesture of raised curved arms one higher than the other like a posture of a dancer but his hands are open to the sun. Farmer 3 comes over to look and Cam gracefully brings his flower hand down to the belly of the farmer and recieves the feeling of a Cam. Tea . He looks more relaxed and sleepy, he puts his head to rest on the shoulder of the Cham, For a moment. Cam returns to paused posture. Its summer and Steiner comes over and cuts some flowers from the plant . Farmer 2 wih her bag brings out the intestines which the cosmic cow gave earlier. She puts him into the long sleeping bag looking intestine and they lay him in a hole and cover him. This is all done in Autumn. The winter forces ray down in to the intestines. Intensify the cammomile processes. They raise him in Spring and take him to the now well asembley group . He is radiating.











Scene 5:YaRROW
Music : Sitar ideally possibly a flute or a violin? This is an instrument which is contrasting but works very well with a drum. This is the sulphur potassium relation ship playing itself out.
He moves in upright and steady, Zen ed out. He is focus. Almost floating though still very earthed. The rigidity it important and this strength of the stalk is characteristic . He is contained power. Concentrated light inwardly there is much light force. He reaches center stage and stands for a moment. Holding the audiences gaze attention, drawing it into that moment into him. At the time when it right for him he raises his arms in front of himself parallel to each other or in the shape of a bud then opens them to be parallel to the ground. Palms are faced upwards. This is his gesture and he holds it for a moment. Farmer 1 has a cut on his arm( tomatoe sauce) he goes over to the yarrow, He takes a leaf and wipes the blood clean or wraps it in the leaf then removes and it is clean after being healed.
Steiner gestures with his hand to feel the radiation of this plant. The y feel like feeling the heat of a fire while F2 takes out a pendulum and it spins wildly.
Summer changes to autumn and they cut some of the yarrow. During autumn winter time The STAG emerges. With no waist of time he makes his way across the stage . Alert and observant he is watching everything. In no time he has handed his bladder to F3 who honorably accepts it. He leaves swiftly. Winter is turning to Spring and they take the Yarrow and but him within the bladder full size, they string him up standing man to a rafter. This now gives NM a full surface in front of her to ray her Solar summer force into. Autumn come when she is ready for it and the farmers with Steiner go over and take him down. They lie him straight into a hole which they cover. The winter force makes its impact on the stag bladder Yarrow potion . They lift the prep that next spring. Take him from his bladder and lead him to the others.




Scene 6: Valerian.
Music: something similar to the sulphur of yarrow but different , Phosphoric acid needs to be described musically. /heat is the key with this plant.
She walks in during spring leapig over the river that fed the skull prep. With a massive warming smile she enters beaming light love and heat. She come straight over to the farmers and puts a blanket around them , rubbing them to warm them up she goes back to centre stage and stands in posture making a flame above her head with her arms.
The farmers come over to her. They put there hands on her head and press her to the floor. They then give her a hand to stand and take her to the others.
NM exsits.

ACT 3 : Putting in and Finale.
Music: Individual instruments for each prep. At the combination of all when they are all given the veg and animals then let the Jam begin.
The farmers go and do one prep at a time each. They go to the prep. Standing in front of the prep they give it a hand to stand. Then almost as a thanks the prep take off its totem and gives to farmer. Farmer put it in heap then leads prep to sit on cusion around heap. Prep sits crossed legs with palms facing heap.
When Valerian is taken to the heap she walks wi the farmer around the preps and they put blankets on them alland possibly the heap. She then goes to sit as well.

The farmers leave this scene for a bit to brew. The y thank Steiner veru greatfully. He walks off back to his desk. They work for a bit then the army march starts again dom dom dom dom dom. The veggies and animals march in . Hearded by the mother and children. They stand. Tyred and disconnected. The farmers take a fork full of the much and put it at the feet of the veggies. They start to move and sway they throw off there hats and take off there shoes this ripples as the animals eat of them the start doing the same. They take of f there shoes and smiling lift there arms towards the sky and touch the earth with love. They do not leave t here lines but are moving happily. The preps get up and make there way through the animals and vegg dancing between them like light. The farmers smile and shake each others hands for a good job!!

Introduction

INTRODUCTION



Welcome. This compilation of information, observation and photographs has been created as my apprentice project and as a guide to understanding and to remember the Biodynamic Preparation plants.
Most of the information is taken from books and internet sites. I have weeded through much and taken out what I feel to be important.
All the photographs (bar one) are my own.
For most of the plants there is very scientific descriptions (as well as much more) of the chemical constituents. This is not to be used directly by myself but will serve as a means of communication with people in the field of such definitive science.
Having this compilation together will serve as a guide.
My wish is to return to Africa and work with traditional healers to find suitable alternatives to the BD plants indicated by Steiner.
“If they should be difficult to obtain in one district or another they can if need be, be replaced by certain other things.”
“ Only in one case a substitute can not be found, for it is so characteristic that the effect is scarcely likely to be found in the same way in any other plant”. That’s the nettle!
( Rudolf Steiner Agricultural Course 1924 )

Dandelion

TARAXACUM OFFICINALIS
DANDELION
From the Agricultural Course:
‘ A clear and visible interaction between silicic acid and potassium not calcium’ In
‘The innocent little Dandelion’ Will
‘ Mediates between the silicic acid finely homeopathically distributed around the cosmos and that which is needed as silicic acid’ The
‘Messenger from Heaven’ Is
‘exposed to the influences of the earth, over winter’ One should,
‘Gather the little heads… let them fade a little… sew up in a bovine mesentery’ In
‘ Spring time you take the balls out… thoroughly saturated with cosmic influence’ This
‘Will give the soil the facility to attract just as much silicic acid from the atmosphere and from the cosmos as the plant needs, to make them really sentient to all that is at work in their environment.. For they themselves will then attract what they need’

‘THE PROCESS NOT THE SUBSTANCE IS IMPORTANT’

Welcome to a little exploration into the world of the Dandelion.
This delicious nutritious little plant soaks up the cosmic forces over winter while it lays amongst the soil. Surfacing in spring we can take a nibble of its fresh leaves. Its sun embodied flowers cascade over the meadows and we awe at their brilliance.
As if on reaching a saturation point of light they transform into globes of light.
The waves of wind carry the seeds through air to ground.

The Dandelion is not a demanding plant who’s latex root is dried and used as a coffee substitute.
The buds open facing the east when the dew has dried and the sun is beaming light and warmth.
They close in the afternoon facing Southwest.
The spherical miracle which occurs when the flower has past its expression is the globe of the dandelion. Fine siliceous cellular tissue is used to build agile parachutes which transport the seeds.
The seeds have tiny hooks on them which give them a farther range if they manage to catch onto a creature in transit

There is a long development for the plant before we recognize the flowers as earthly images of the sun. A germinating Dandelion needs a full summer to orientate itself with its surroundings before flowering. It will form buds in the winter close to the ground in the dense rosette of leaves. This is pulled into the ground and root over winter.
Like a coiled spring its physical form is ready to burst out when the light and warmth of spring returns.
The ever spreading leaves (5-25cm long) are very telling of the journey the plant takes in its development to flowering. In sequence we can see how the leaves grow in size then reduce to almost nothing over winter then return in full glory and size with their bundles of light entrapped in buds.
The tooth looking leaves tend to point inwards which gives me the feeling they are not an expression of defense. Rather that of silica.

The buds are formed at the end of hollow sappy stems( 4-30cm) who seem to have an ability to grown to great heights if surrounded by anything which may obstruct their potential light advantage.
Each flower head has between one hundred and two hundred florets (individual flowers) which open themselves, working from the OUTSIDE in.
One can observe mid flowering a spiral effect as the flower opens to greet the sun. The Florets that is were seen to open in a spiral in some flowers.
If it is a dreary, rainy day with not much light the flowers stay shut. This clearly shows a sensitivity to light.
Butterflies, beetles, flies and bees will see whole areas come into color as I am sure the instinct for rich sun filled pollen propels them towards their nearest flower where the individual florets are easy picking.

When finally the inner most florets have shown themselves and shared their gifts they wither and are pushed out of the closed receptacle like bud through the top.

Now for several days the fruit ripens inside. Then it begins to open, pushing the base up the doors( bracts) bend towards the floor revealing through time a spear of multi fruit who shape shows an orientation to its complete surroundings.

It relates to the wind like a flower does to light.
The favorable fruit germinate in one too two weeks in suitably light situations.
There are usually 54 to 172 seeds produced per head, but a single plant can produce more than 2000 seeds a year. It has been estimated that more than 97 000 000 seeds/hectare could be produced every year by a dense stand of dandelions.
A fruit can form where no cross fertilization has taken place.
In early may an array of different leaves can be seen as the plant sends out new rosettes. If the smallest piece of root has been cut off it can germinate.
The Dandelion is complete in all respects. There is no area not covered.

The human through taste finds more connections. Bitter are the roots and the leaves at full growth. The young leaves are very palatable and make a good addition to spring salads, hard boiled eggs can be added. The roots are dried and ground, with boiling water they make a great warming drink and liver cleanse. The root is a diuretic. The flowers taste sweet and are a good to nibble while walking through a field. They can be used to make wine and jam. The fruit tastes nutty. The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach. A decoction of them can be used to treat anemia and nervousness. The milky latex has been used as a mosquito repellent and wart remover.
Dandelion contains Luteolin, an antioxidant, and has demonstrated antioxidant properties without cytotoxicity.
Caffeic acid is a secondary plant metabolite which is produced in Dandelion and Yarrow.
Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera.
Away from their native regions, they have become established in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand as weeds. They are now common plants throughout all temperate regions.

Folk Lore and History :
Saint Bride or Brigid claimed dandelion exudes juice which is good for young lambs and calves.
‘Little notched plant of bride’
‘blow ball’, ‘priests crown’
‘clock’~ If all the seeds fly when blown by a child at play his mother did not want him but if a few remain then he should rush home.
In Germany it's known as a Pusteblume, translated as "blow flower." The number of blows required to completely rid the clock of its seeds is deemed to be the time of day. The name dandelion is derived from the Old French, dent-de-lion, which is literally "lion's tooth", referring to the sharply-lobed leaves of the plant. 1373 was the first written account of the word which we have.
In German, the dandelion is also called Löwenzahn, which is also translated as "lion's tooth." In modern French the plant is called pissenlit, which means "urinate in bed", apparently referring to its diuretic properties. Likewise, "pissabeds" is an English folk name for this plant, and "piscialletto" is one of its folk names in Italian (with "dente di leone", meaning "lion's tooth"). Similarly in Spanish, it is known as the "mea camas", but also commonly "diente de león".

Genetics: dandelions are genetically triploid. An odd number of chromosomes usually is associated with sterility, but dandelions with this karyotype can reproduce without fertilization, a process called apomixis. In these individuals flowers are useless vestigial structures, although they may still produce a small percentage of fertile pollen, keeping some genetic contact with sexual individuals. Diploid dandelions develop seeds after cross-pollination and are self-incompatible. In most zones of southern Europe and Asia, dandelion populations are sexual or mixed sexual-apomictic, while in northern countries only triploid and tetraploid apomicts are present, as is in the zones where it is not native. This seems to be linked to higher temperatures, survival of pre-glacial populations and human impact, but the subject is still being studied.

Personal experiences:
In the first year of the apprentiship being on the farm did not engage me as much with this little plant. When the blanket of yellow filled bee field ( Sturts Farm spring 2006) the sense of warmth did come over me. Soon though it does become come place and I found myself taking it for granted. Then like a reminder the balls of fun appeared. That I do clearly remember there being a stop and look experience. Just settling in this process of appreciation which the apprenticeship gives I was in Awe as I attempted to comprehend the processes at play in such a plant. These thought had the back drop of a plant block course with Margaret Colhoun.
Life moves swiftly on in a Camphill community and I do not remember noticing it again until saw some dried flowers being stuffed into the mesentery of a cow and sewn up. At this stage I did not really look twice as I was squishing fresh cow manure into a cow horn.
On one weekend or course a recall seeing an apprentice I think Boska picking a Dandelion flower and eating, I did as humans do and learn by example. Its sweetness was very appealing and I had another. I felt I had enough after that. From then I periodically have had a flower here or there and enjoyed the experience.
This year having decided on my project I have obviously focused quite attentively on the dandelion. Its ability to appear amongst Tar on a road did amuse me. I felt its power against that of mans ’development’.
Some very dense clusters I watched at Brookthorpe in the walled garden and saw how the fruiting stems rose up well above the still flowering ones.
At Hawkwood College I was introduced to the taste of the young leaves by Utah and did enjoy that a lot.
The removal of these little plants with big roots from the vegetable field was a good connection with what happens below the soil. An appreciation for their size as a whole was obtained.
Early in the summer I saw how some of the leaves would go a purple color.
As the flowers would open there was a clear spiral seen on a number of occasions.
We had a preparation day at Fern Verrow and after much searching the dandelion was found by Laurence. Later we opened the still intact mesentery to find the lovely Dandelion. Now with a squishy texture. On opening the mesentery the flowers were visible as flowers, as they were touched and molded they easily became a humus looking substance.
During spring I came down with a nasty cold whose only benefit was the time to sit and observe the seed head open into being, this was a stead yet extremely fast process for a plant in my understanding. It must have been about 20-30 min. The process which I observed was amazing yet it did not seem to have the same sense as does seeing one closed one day and opened the next. It was as if seeing it in frames broke down the process which I was not really observing anyway. All I saw was snap shot picture( and took snap shot pictures). Possibly I should have kept my eyes on it the whole time. Possibly I should have attempted to feel it.

The Dandelion governs the potassium in relation to silica.’ The Dandelion draws in the homeopathic silica a cosmic substance from the atmosphere and connects it with the earthly substance of potassium.
There is seen to be in any given area a similar amount of silica as to Potassium.
Potassium has 0.001% radioactivity in the earths crust.
Silica is not considered as being significant for plant growth yet it makes up a large part of the earths crust and through spiritual scientific research has been found to be integral in the formative processes of matter.

We are harnessing the germinating forces when we make the preparations.
The flowers are harvested early in the morning when there are still some unopened florets in the center.
This enables them to be dried without going to seed.
All of the forces are moving towards the ultimate expression of the Dandelion in the seed head. The flower is along that process and we take it then while the forces are rich and active and the potential is at its highest.

The mesentery of the cow or peritoneum is the vessel used for the dandelion flowers while they are over wintered in the soil. If a careful butcher opens the cow right where you can see the whole intestine flat. The mesentery is the canvas behind that it is attached to the intestine. What is seen is a beautiful spiral of intestines. The cows digestion is what allows it to be on such a high level in the world of Biodynamics. The deeply meditative processes of chewing and then re chewing have the end result of a

The Cow has a special attunement to the cosmic forces.
The purposes of a container are to contain and in this instance to reinforce and channel the earthly forces which have retreated into the earth of the winter time. The astral quality of the mesentery along with the almost astral quality of flowers can give some stability to the forces working into the preparations.
Many questions do arise with use of animal organs.
A vegetarian man was very shocked when understood the basics of BD and that the cow is at such a central place in the organism of a BD farm. He was astounded that such a deeply spiritual practice could be built on a cow. So if the cow is no more then the practice is no more.
The can not be the case in my reasoning, ‘ The process not the substance is important’. If there is a cows mesentery available for use then why not use it. It is a very deeply physical process which is needed to allow a spiritual action to take place. If there are not mesentery available at the time of making the preparations I believe one should be open to try different things working from the basis and deeper understanding of what is at work in the preparations and what is being attempted. So as to not create a different thing altogether but to follow the same ideas.
What matters is people coming together in community forming culture. All things connecting with this will radiate outwards.
Resources taken from: , From Wikipedia.com, The Biodynamic Preparations as Sense Organs Manfred Klett, Extraordinary Plant Qualities for Biodynamics Jochen Bockemuhl and Kari Jarvinen.

CULTIVATION: As only large, well-formed roots are worth collecting, some people prefer to grow Dandelions as a crop, as by this means large roots are insured and they are more easily dug, generally being ploughed up. About 4 lb. of seed to the acre should be allowed, sown in drills, 1 foot apart. The crops should be kept clean by hoeing, and all flower-heads should be picked off as soon as they appear, as otherwise the grower's own land and that of his neighbors will be smothered with the weed when the seeds ripen. The yield should be 4 or 5 tons of fresh roots to the acre in the second year. Dandelion roots shrink very much in drying, losing about 76 per cent of their weight, so that 100 parts of fresh roots yield only about 22 parts of dry material. Under favorable conditions, yields at the rate of 1,000 to 1,500 lb. of dry roots per acre have been obtained from second-year plants cultivated.
Dandelion root can only be economically collected when a meadow in which it is abundant is ploughed up. Under such circumstances the roots are necessarily of different ages and sizes, the seeds sowing themselves in successive years. The roots then collected after washing and drying, have to be sorted into different grades. The largest, from the size of a lead pencil upwards, are cut into straight pieces 2 to 3 inches long, the smaller side roots being removed, these are sold at a higher price as the finest roots. The smaller roots fetch a less price, and the trimmings are generally cut small, sold at a lower price and used for making Dandelion Coffee. Every part of the root is thus used. The root before being dried should have every trace of the leaf-bases removed as their presence lessens the value of the root.
---Chemical Constituents---The chief constituents of Dandelion root are Taraxacin, acrystalline, bitter substance, of which the yield varies in roots collected at different seasons, and Taraxacerin, an acrid resin, with Inulin (a sort of sugar which replaces starch in many of the Dandelion family, Compositae), gluten, gum and potash. The root contains no starch, but early in the year contains much uncrystallizable sugar and laevulin, which differs from Inulin in being soluble in cold water. This diminishes in quantity during the summer and becomes Inulin in the autumn. The root may contain as much as 24 per cent. In the fresh root, the Inulin is present in the cell-sap, but in the dry root it occurs as an amorphodus, transparent solid, which is only slightly soluble in cold water, but soluble in hot water.
There is a difference of opinion as to the best time for collecting the roots.

Nettle

URTica dioica
Nettle
From the agriculture Course:

Truly it is the greatest benefactor of plant growth in general, you will scarcely find another plant to replace it. If unobtainable you must get it dried from elsewhere.
It is a ‘Jack-of-all-Trades’
It carries within it the element which incorporates the spiritual and assimilates it everywhere, namely sulphur. The stinging nettle carries potassium and calcium in its currents and radiations, in addition it has a kind of iron radiation.
These iron radiations of the nettle are almost as beneficial to the whole course nature as our own iron radiations in blood. It should really grow around mans heart. It is wonderfully similar to what the heart is in the human organism with its marvelous inner working and inner organization. If ever a soil was to be liberated from too much iron planting nettles where they would do no harm . They are so fond of iron and draw it to themselves. Though this might not undermine the iron as such it would certainly undermine the influence iron has on plants growth in general.
To improve manure still more, take any stinging nettles you can get, let them fade, press together slightly and use in a case without bladder or intestines.

Simply bury the stuff in the earth.
Add a slight layer of peat-moss or the like so as to protect it from direct contact with the soil.
IT must be buried for a whole year.
The effect on the manure will be such that the manure becomes inwardly sensitive - truly sensitive and sentient, we might also say intelligent. IT will not suffer an un due decomposition in it or improper loss of nitrogen.
You will give the manure the faculty to make the earth into which it is worked intelligent. The soil will individualize itself, in nice relationships with the plants which are grown.
IT is like a permeation of the soil with reason and intelligence.
Stinging nettles help to improve the nitrogen content of the manure.
Take the whole plant at a time including the flowers and excluding the roots.
To counteract smut a ring of stinging nettles should be planted around the field.

From what I have see: The magnificent nettle. The complete servant. To the whole being of nature nettle does offer service. My time with the nettle has as most started with a stinging experience. It was introduced to me in combination with Dock as a cure to my burning skin.
In early spring if you have an interest, as you will need one to see them come. The nettles rise up from the earth with definition and confidence.
Not the confidence which shouting its self out for everyone to see with radiating color. Subtly they rise, gradually they come. So gradually that if you are not watching them you may not notice them until they are quite large. Apart from being aware of there places of growth to avoid stinging experiences, the young fresh growth is highly nutritious, tasty and easily prepared.
Especially after a winter, animals and humans alike can benefit greatly from a regular intake of fresh nettles. When they grow to a good height ( over a meter) and there flowers have started to form they can be harvested for the BD preparation and dried for later use.
The complex root system which is said to be one of the most dense has a compelling yellow color. They too have many uses.
Last year I cut some nettles for the chickens at Sturts farm. This was my first active engagement with the plant.
This year I have enjoyed many cups of nettle tea, eaten delicious nutritious meals. Smoking it was tried, it burned well and had a strong taste.
Mixed with comfrey 50/50 we stuffed a couple of containers full added water and watched and smelled as over time they rotted down. The smell did change from barely anything to quite pleasant rich earthy smell and later to more of a rotten smell (ammonia and hydrogen sulphide) which permeated my skin on contact and was very difficult to wash out. We removed the majority of the plant fiber to slow the process. A white cream looking skin has formed on top of the liquid . The flies are attracted to it. We diluted this 10/1 and added it to the tomatoes and the peppers as a tonic.
The most useful thing will hopefully prove to be the nettles which we cut, bunched and left to dry in the barn. They will be a supplement to the cows in the winter who loose condition while eating hay.
We put a load of nettles into the earth for the year. This was done in the walled garden, meters from where they were cut from. The sense of aw did pervade as we gave the plant to the earth.. Compared to the other preps. Who require a process and are encased in something before being buried this plant lies alone in the earth. I have heard that this is due to its high astral potential or closeness to actuality, possibly this is seen by the silica tipped hairs which come off it, in the same way animals have skin and hair.







In the soil the rhizomes radiate horizontally in all directions, these are divided by nodes from which clumps of roots emerge and pairs of new plantlets grow upwards. The sulphur- yellow older roots bring about well structured and dried out soil. The bring order and fertility. The shoot and rhizomes look tinged with red and violet.
From the cotyledons, the spiky needles continue up the stem even on the flowers to the top of the plant. The leaves form cross wise and opposite. The flowers are possibly the most in conspicuous part of the plant. The nettle is dioeciously; the yellow- green pollen-bearing flowers are not on the same plant as the whitish-green fruit-forming flowers. The pollen flowers look like square packets tied up. The stamens on the corners bend away from the center during growth. On a sunny day they will explode and actively expel there pollen in clouds. This plant does not rely animals. Each tiny white flower is an egg shaped nut.
They grow in dense dark-green colonies, impermeable to other vegetation. The light does not reach the ground as their leaves spread and nit together forming a blanket of photosynthesis.
The stinging hairs are like minute needles, the siliceous tips break off when touched and under pressure release a fluid which causes intense stinging. The thin calcified shaft penetrates the skin and releases the stinging fluid sodium formate, choline and histidine.
The soil transformed by nettle has a pleasant smell which accompanied with the color of the roots gives the feeling of a flower under the soil.
Above the soil nettle has the ability to transform dead plant matter into life giving humus. Excess nitrogen and iron are withdrawn. A 24hr cold extract will remove all traces of aphids. A liquid left to mature diluted suitably will promote growth. For humans they purify the blood and help rheumatic conditions.
In the BD preparation the natural properties are developed further.
( Information in this paragraph being gathered from Jochen Bockemuhl and Karl Jarvinen’s book ‘Extraordinary plant Qualities for Biodynamics’ and ‘The Biodynamic Spray and compost preparations production methods’ booklet 1 form the Biodynamic agricultural association.)
From Wikipedia.com:
Recent research has revealed the cause of the sting to be from three chemicals – a histamine that irritates the skin, acetylcholine which causes a burning sensation and serotonin, that encourages the other two chemicals
Stinging nettle has many uses. It is used by many different cultures for a wide variety of purposes in herbal medicine and is known to have been used as far back as ancient Greece. Cooking, crushing or chopping disables the stinging hairs. Stinging nettle leaves are high in nutrients, and the leaves can be mixed with other ingredients to create a soup rich in calcium and iron. Nettle soup was a good source of nutrients for people who lacked meat or fruit in their diets, and still is. The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb. The leaves are also dried and may be then be used to make a tisane, as can also be done with the nettle's flowers. Because stinging nettle usually grows at nitrogen-rich places, it often contains high concentrations of nitrate which can be converted in the digestive tract to carcinogenic nitrosamines and should therefore not be used for baby food
Nettle stems contain a baste fiber which has been traditionally used for the same purposes as linen, and is produced by a similar retting process.
In Great Britain the stinging nettle is the only common stinging plant, and has found a place in several figures of speech in the English language. To "nettle" someone is to annoy them. Shakespeare's Hot spur urges that "out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety" (Henry IV, part 1, Act II Scene 3). The common figure of speech "to grasp the nettle" probably originated as a condensation of this quotation. It means to face up to or take on a problem that has been ignored or deferred. The metaphor refers to the fact that if a nettle leaf is grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the hairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily. However the sting of nettles has been recommended to relieve the pain of rheumatism as the effects of the sting can last up to twelve hours.






The Nettle tribe, Urticaceae, is widely spread over the world and contains about 500 species, mainly tropical, though several, like our common Stinging Nettle, occur widely in temperate climates. Many of the species have stinging hairs on their stems and leaves. Two genera are represented in the British Isles, Urtica, the Stinging Nettles, and Parietaria, the Pellitory. Formerly botanists included in the order Urticaceae the Elm family, Ulmaceae; the Mulberry, Fig and Bread Fruit family, Moraceae; and that of the Hemp and Hop, Cannabinacece; but these are now generally regarded as separate groups.
The British species of Stinging Nettle, belonging to the genus Urtica (the name derived from the Latin, uro, to burn), are well known for the burning properties of the fluid contained in the stinging hairs with which the leaves are so well armed. Painful as are the consequences of touching one of our common Nettles, they are far exceeded by the effects of handling some of the East Indian species: a burning heat follows the sensation of pricking, just as if hot irons had been applied, the pain extending and continuing for many hours or even days, attended by symptoms similar to those which accompany lockjaw. A Java species, U. urentissima, produces effects wh
ich last for a whole year, and are even said to cause death. U. crenulato and U. heterophylla, both of India, are also most virulent. Another Indian species, U. tuberosa, on the other hand, has edible tubers, which are eaten either raw, boiled or roasted, and considered nutritious.
The male flower consists of a perianth of four greenish segments enclosing an equal number of stamens. They explode as mentioned above. The flowers are thus adapted for wind-fertilization. The perianth of the female flower is similar, but only contains a single, one-seeded carpel, bearing one style with a brush-like stigma. The male flowers are in loose sprays or racemes, the female flowers more densely clustered together.
'Nettle in, dock out.
Dock rub nettle out!'
The common name of the Nettle, or rather its Anglo-Saxon and also Dutch equivalent, Netel, is said to have been derived from Noedl (a needle), possibly from the sharp sting, or, as Dr. Prior suggests, in reference to the fact that it was this plant that supplied the thread used in former times by the Germanic and Scandinavian nations before the general introduction of flax, Net being the passive participle of ne, a verb common to most of the Indo-European languages in the sense of 'spin' and 'sew' (Latin nere, German na-hen, Sanskrit nah, bind). Nettle would seem, he considers, to have meant primarily that with which one sews.
After the Nettles had been cut, dried and steeped, the fiber was separated with instruments similar to those used in dressing flax or hemp, and then spun into yarn, used in manufacturing every sort of cloth, cordage, etc., usually made from flax or hemp. Green (Universal Herbal, 1832) says this yarn was particularly useful for making twine for fishing nets, the fiber of the Nettle being stronger than those of flax and not so harsh as those of hemps.
The greatest objection to its extensive employment is the necessity of growing it in rich, deep soil, for otherwise the fiber produced is short and coarse, and on land fitted for it flax can be grown at less cost compared to the value of the seed and fiber yielded.
Forty kilograms were calculated to provide enough stuff for one shirt
Nettle is described as the only efficient cotton substitute.
The length of the Nettle fiber varies from 3/4 inch to 2 1/2 inches: all above 1 3/8 inch is equal to the best Egyptian cotton.
when examined under the microscope, magnification showed that it had a glass-like surface, devoid of the serrations which endow wool as a fiber for textile production
In 1917 some 70,000 hectares of Nettles were cultivated, and it is thought possible to plant a million hectares of lowlands, giving a yield of Nettle fibers that would cover about 18 per cent of Germany's cotton requirements.
the Nettle not only supplying a substitute for cotton, but for such indispensable articles as sugar, starch, protein and ethyl alcohol.
The analysis of the fresh Nettle shows the presence of formic acid, mucilage, mineral salts, ammonia, carbonic acid and water. It is the formic acid in the Nettle, with the phosphates and a trace of iron, which constitute it such a valuable food.
Medicinally: Nettle is anti-asthmatic: the juice of the roots or leaves, mixed with honey or sugar, will relieve bronchial and asthmatic troubles and the dried leaves, burnt and inhaled, will have the same effect
The seeds have also been used in consumption, the infusion of herb or seeds being taken in wineglassful doses. The seeds and flowers used to be given in wine as a remedy for ague. The powdered seeds have been considered a cure for goiter and efficacious in reducing excessive corpulence.
For stimulating hair growth, the old herbalists recommended combing the hair daily with expressed Nettle juice. The homoeopathic tincture of Nettle is made of 2 OZ. of the herb to 1 pint of proof spirit.
The powder of the dried herb is administered in doses of 5 to 10 grains.
A quaint old superstition existed that a fever could be dispelled by plucking a Nettle up by the roots, reciting thereby the names of the sick man and also the names of his parents.
When dried, the proportion of albuminoid matter in Nettles is as high as in linseed cake and the fat content is also considerable. cows will relish them and give more milk than when fed on hay alone.
The Nettle is also of great use to the keeper of poultry. Dried and powdered finely and put into the food, it increases egg-production and is healthy and fattening. The seeds are also said to fatten fowls. Turkeys, as well as ordinary poultry, thrive on Nettles chopped small and mixed with their food, and pigs do well on boiled Nettles
Although in Britain upwards of thirty insects feed solely on the Nettle plant, flies have a distaste for the plant, and a fresh bunch of Stinging Nettles will keep a larder free from them.
The juice of the Nettle, or a decoction formed by boiling the green herb in a strong solution of salt, will curdle milk, providing the cheese-maker with a good substitute for rennet. The same juice, if rubbed liberally into small seams in leaky wooden tubs coagulates and will render them once more watertight.
A decoction of Nettle yields a beautiful and permanent dye.



Rain Tree Tropical plant Database:
Common names: Nettle, big string nettle, common nettle, stinging nettle, gerrais, isirgan, kazink, nabat al nar, ortiga, grande ortie, ortie, urtiga, chichicaste, brennessel, gross d’ortie, racine d’ortie
The species name dioica means 'two houses' because the plant usually contains either male or female flowers. In Brazilian herbal medicine the entire plant is used for excessive menstrual bleeding, diarrhea, diabetes, urinary disorders and respiratory problems including allergies. Externally, an infusion is used for skin problems. In Peru nettle is used against a variety of complaints such as muscular and arthritis pain, eczema, ulcers, asthma, diabetes, intestinal inflammation, nosebleeds and rheumatism
The stinging sensation of the leaf hairs is caused by several plant chemicals including formic acid, histamine, serotonin, and choline. In addition to these chemicals, nettle leaf is rich in minerals, chlorophyll, amino acids, lecithin, carotenoids, flavonoids, sterols, tannins and vitamins. The root of the plant has other chemicals such as scopoletin, sterols, fatty acids, polysaccharides and isolectins. Several of nettle's lectin chemicals have demonstrated marked antiviral actions (against HIV and several common upper respiratory viruses). Other chemicals (flavonoids in the leaves and a lectin in the root) have been documented with interesting immune stimulant actions in preliminary research which led researchers to suggest that the lectin might be useful in the treatment of systemic lupus.
Nettle's main plant chemicals include: acetophenone, acetylcholine, agglutinins, alkaloids, astragalin, butyric acid, caffeic acids, carbonic acid, chlorogenic acid, chlorophyll, choline, coumaric acid, folacin, formic acid, friedelins, histamine, kaempherols, koproporphyrin, lectins, lecithin, lignans, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, neoolivil, palmitic acid, pantothenic acid, quercetin, quinic acid, scopoletin, secoisolariciresinol, serotonin, sitosterols, stigmasterol, succinic acid, terpenes, violaxanthin, and xanthophylls.
Research:
While nettle's benefit for prostatitis is most probably related to its documented anti-inflammatory properties demonstrated in the arthritis and rhinitis research, it's effect on BPH is quite different - it works on a hormonal level.
In clinical research, nettle has demonstrated the ability to stop the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (by inhibiting an enzyme required for the conversion), as well as to directly bind to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) itself - thereby preventing SHBG from binding to other hormones. Other research also reveals that nettles can prevent SHBG that has already bound to a hormone from attaching to the receptor sites on the prostate, as well as to decrease the production of estrogens (estradiol and estrone) by inhibiting an enzyme required for their production. Most all of the complex intercellular processes required to trigger the prostate to grow new cells and enlarge seems to be inhibited by nettle.
While no clinical studies have been conducted yet on the use of nettle in treating dihydrotestosterone
DHT-related hair loss and male pattern balding, research does indicate that nettle root can prevent the conversion of testosterone to DHT.
Consumers just need to remember that the root is much better for BPH and hair loss, while the leaf is better for inflammation (including prostatitis), allergies, and as a natural diuretic for people with hypertension.


Traditional Preparation: Both the root and the leaves are traditionally prepared as infusions. Dosages depend on what one is taking it for. In herbal medicine systems, as a healthy prevention to prostate difficulties or to maintain prostate health, one-half cup of a root infusion 2-3 times weekly is recommended (2-3 ml of a remedy for BPH is one-half cup of a root infusion 2-3 times daily for 30-90 days. (2-3 ml of a root tincture or 2-3 g in capsules or tablets 2-3 times daily can be substituted if desired.) For allergies, inflammation, and hypertension: one cup of a leaf infusion is taken twice daily in traditional medicine systems. This also can be substituted by taking 3-4 g of leaf tablets/capsules twice daily.


Discovering the Folk Lore of Plants: Nettle oil precedes paraffin. They drive frogs from bee hives. Stone fruits and tomatoes rapped in nettle leaves travel better, retain their freshness and store better.
Nettle aids nose bleeding, dog bites, kidney stones.
Baked with sugar it said to make the vital spirits fresh and lively. A lineament of nettles, salt and oil protect against cold especially if rubbed on spine, soles of feet and wrists, this sis said by Guernsey fishermen.
If they’d eat nettles in March
And Mugwort in May,
So many fine maidens,
Wouldn’t go to the clay.
Tyroleans threw nettle on the fire to avert thunderstorms and gathering nettles before sunrise to protect cattle against evil spirits. Nettles well beaten with sticks on the day of the first new moon in May will wither and not grow again was the Herefordshire view.
The plant was protective against evil and witchcraft and the well dried stems made very good whistles. It was also know as the ‘ Naughty mans play thing’ , ‘Devils apron’ - because Satan used its powers to protect himself.

OAK

Oak Bark: Quercus Robur…………


Agricultural Lectures by Rudolf Steiner:
We must bring calcium into the soil by our manure. To have a healing effect the calcium must be in the living sphere. There is a plant containing plenty of calcium, 77% of the plant substance. The Oak is referred to here, notably the rind. The rind represents an intermediate product between plant -nature and the living earthly nature, in the way of kinship of the living earth with the bark.
Calcium as a state restores order where the etheric is working to strongly., that is when the astral cannot gain access to the organic entity. It kills or damps down the ether- body and there by makes free the influences of the astral body (that is with ‘dead‘ calcium). So it is with all limestone. If we take the living calcium from the Oak we have a beautiful regular shrinking back which draws off the rampant ethereal development. This does not give rise to shocks in the organic life.
We collect oak bark chop it up a little, till it has a crumble like consistency. Then we take the skull of any of our domestic animals. We put it in the skull and close it up with bony material and lower it into the earth, not to deep we cover it with peat moss and introduce some type of water flow, we should let as much rain water as possible flow into he place. Take a barrel where rain water is constantly flowing in and out and add some vegetable material so as to bring about the presence of vegetable slime. Let the skull lie in the slime in the water. It must pass over Autumn and winter in this way.
The result of this process is a substance which will lend the manure the forces prophylactic ally to combat or to arrest any harmful plant diseases.
The bark should come from a living tree.
An Oak planted in the proper Mars period will thrive differently to one that is planted in the earth thoughtlessly.




Personal connections:
The wise Oak, with its consistency and security. Upon the landscape like a watcher, some have a terrifying first look with there gnarled bent look. Others have a gently roundness which is immediately receiving. From further reading I have understood its most nurturing caring side which accommodates all beings animal insect bird man pig etc. this is a marvel of a tree. Like a wale of the land they are now dotted across the landscape in hedges along roads, in places where they watch over the movements of man and other beings. There is an amazing warmth even in the winter which the Oak does offer. That big trunk with its creased cracked skin. The oak has consistency.

The Biodynamic compost preparations, Manfred Klett:
The Oak bark is characteristic of the quantity of calcium distributed in it. It has passed through the life processes and been excreted in the bark. This signifies its special quality. It is a different to that which is below the earth.
The skull could be considered a sensory pole of the animal. Can we go further? The mesentery is a further step.
Why do we take the skull of a domesticated animal? Compared to a wild one. It is held back in a more embryonic state. It does not develop right into the wild. Their being is open to our guiding egos and there group soul. In former times people were able to keep an animal back in its evolutionary development. Thus to open its soul being to the group soul and to the guiding consciousness of man.
The interior of the skull is lined with a bony skin. A sensory membrane. IT encloses the brain and reflects and concentrates it all the forces of the inner and outer perception that constitutes the specific animal consciousness. We put this oak bark filled skull into the water. The abundance of disordered etheric forces which are released by this water decaying organic matter have an affinity to lime. They are absorbed by this well structured calcium skull , sensed by the bone skin and then reflected inwards to the unique plant born calcium structure of the Oak bark.
Moon forces are absorbed by atmospheric water and permeate the organic matter. This is transmitted to the Oak bark by the skin and skull bone.




Extraordinary Plant Qualities for Biodynamics, Jochen Bockemuhl & Karl Jarvinen:
Due to Oaks openness it allow other shrubs and trees like hornbeam to develop under it. Butterflies, gall forming insects, stag beetles, Jays, Wild boar deer all find nourishment and shelter with the Oak.
The Oak roots more firmly in the ground each year. The Acorns germinate underground. The thick Cotyledons provide all the food the young plant needs.
The Oak only flowers and fruits when it has reached its complete form.
Its round lobed leaves develop late in Spring.
It encloses a space which is permeable to light and water.
The branches are rigid and brittle, they do not have elasticity. The tree drives a tap root deep into the ground. /then starting at the top lateral main roots grow down wards at a slant. At a later stage the roots grow horizontally in all directions and send down sinker roots below the sub soil below any other tree looking for water.
The aging process is particularly interesting in the bark. It moves from a shinny olive brown to green to whitish-gray reflective bark. Grey-brown to blackish then the tears form and it is transformed into thick deep creviced bark. This is a cumulative mineral process.
In fruit formation it is in the reverse the minerals are deposited inwardly.
Death and rebirth is very characteristic of the Oak. Of the broad leaved trees it lives the longest.

The BD spray and compost Preps production methods: Tannic acid had insecticidal properties while calcium protects against. fungal growth. The preparation protects against excessive growth which may lead to fungal infections.

The Common, or British Oak, for many centuries the chief forest tree of England, is intimately bound up with the history of these islands from Druid time
There are two principal varieties of Q. robur, often regarded as separate species: Q. pedunculata, the Common Oak, which is distinguished by having acorns in ones and twos attached to the twigs by long stems, the leaves having scarcely any stalk at all; and Q. sessiliflora, the Durmast Oak, often included with the former, but distinct, the leaves being borne on long stalks, while the acorns 'sit' on the bough. This variety of oak is more generally found in the lower parts of Britain and in North Wales. It is not so long-lived as the Common Oak, and the wood, which has a straighter fiber and a finer grain, is generally thought less tough and less resisting.
After the Oak has passed its century, it increases by less than an inch a year, but the wood matured in this leisurely fashion is practically indestructible. Edward the Confessor's shrine in Westminster Abbey is of oak that has outlasted the changes of 800 years. Logs have been dug from peat bogs, in good preservation and fit for rough building purposes, that were submerged a thousand years ago. In the Severn, breakwaters are still used as casual landing-places, where piles of oak are said to have been driven by the Romans.
The bark is universally used to tan leather, and for this purpose strips easily in April and May. An infusion of it, with a small quantity of copperas, yields a dye which was formerly used in the country to dye woolen of a purplish color, which, though not very bright, was said to be durable. The Scotch Highlanders used it to dye their yarn. Oak sawdust used also to be the principal indigenous vegetable used in dyeing fustian, and may also be used for tanning, but is much inferior to the bark for that purpose.
In Brittany, tan compressed into cakes is used as fuel. Oak-bark is employed for dyeing black, in conjunction with salts of iron. With alum, oak-bark yields a brown dye; with a salt of tin, a yellow color; with a salt of zinc, Isabella yellow. Q. tinctoria, a North American species, yields Quercitron Bark, employed for dyeing yellow; the American Indians are said to dye their skins red with the bark of Q. prinus. After the oak bark has been used for leather-tanning, it is still serviceable to gardeners for the-warmth it generates and is largely used by them under the name of Tan; it sometimes, however, favors the growth of certain fungi, which are harmful to plants. Refuse tan is also employed in the adulteration of chicory and coffee.
The analysis of the Acorn given by the Lancet is: water, 6.3 per cent; protein, 5.2 per cent; fat, 43 per cent; carbohydrates, 45 per cent.
---Medicinal Action and Uses---The astringent effects of the Oak were well known to the Ancients, by whom different parts of the tree were used, but it is the bark which is now employed in medicine. Its action is slightly tonic, strongly astringent and antiseptic. It has a strong astringent bitter taste, and its qualities are extracted both by water and spirit. The odor is slightly aromatic.
Like other astringents, it has been recommended in agues and hemorrhages, and is a good substitute for Quinine in intermittent fever, especially when given with Chamomile flowers.
It is useful in chronic diarrhea and dysentery, either alone or in conjunction with aromatics. A decoction is made from 1 OZ. of bark in a quart of water, boiled down to a pint and taken in wineglassful doses. Externally, this decoction has been advantageously employed as a gargle in chronic sore throat with relaxed uvula, and also as a fomentation. It is also serviceable as an injection for leucorrhoea, and applied locally to bleeding gums and piles.

Dr. Peter Gasson - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Specific gravity -- a good indicator of the density and strength of wood -- ranges from 0.67 to 0.72.The acidic nature of the wood will corrode metal nails, so non-ferrous or galvanized nails must be used.
The three-dimensional reconstruction shown below is in the transverse plane (i.e., a cross-section). It shows the outer nine annual rings of wood (secondary xylem), with the bark (periderm - corky layers on the left, phloem on the right adjacent to the wood) on the outside (i.e., left). Little detail can be seen in the bark, but the growth rings are clearly visible in the wood and range from 6 to 11 mm in width. This variation is related to differences in climate from one growing season to the next, and ring patterns are used as the basis of dendrochronology. At the beginning of each growth ring are very wide vessels up to about 400 microns in diameter, which appear as black holes. These early wood vessels are clearly visible and are much more efficient conductors of water up the tree than the narrower latewood vessels.



Cell divisions take place in the cambium to produce secondary xylem (wood) towards the inside of the stem (i.e., right), and secondary phloem (the tissue that transports sugars from the leaves to all other parts of the plant) towards the outside (i.e., left).



Folk Lore Of Plants, Margaret Baker:
The tree of Jupiter (and Mars), Zeus, Thunor and Thor. All Gods high in the Pantheon venerated by Greeks, Romans, Druids, Celts, Anglo Saxons, Germans and Norsemen, One of the seven Noble trees of Irish Tradition, is ‘Jove ‘s tree’. Often struck and his by lightning it is also warn to protect people from thunderstorms.
Many sacred have existed in ancient societies. All Oak is lightning revering but that with mistletoe is doubly useful.
Even ship builders linked Oak with protection from lightning strikes at sea.
Many sacred fires used Oak wood. German mountain folk would put a block of Oak in the fire at mid summer so that it burned for the whole year, at the end the ash is mixed with seed corn. At a time in(29th May) England people needed to wear oak leaves or have them above there door ways, if they did not they were threatened with nettle.
Children would sing:
It’s the 29th May,
Oak Apple Day!
If you don’t give us a holiday,
We’ll run away!

If the oaks before the ash,
We shall only get a splash,
If the ash precedes the oak,
We shall surely get a soak!

Many Oaks in England are linked to death and haunting. Due to them being used to hang people. An Oak stood in Windsor Herne’s Oak was where an Elizabethan Forester who dabbled in witchcraft hung himself in remorse. He is believed to haunt the tree.

Tampering with these great trees was not deemed a good idea. A Lord in 1824 had the famous mile Oak felled . A Local balladeer expressed the publics consternation:
To break a branch was deemed a sin,
A bad luck Job for neighbors,
For fire, sickness or the like,
Would mar their honest labors!
When the Oak of Kenmore blew down none dare use the wood save a tanner who made shoes from the leather. He was stricken with Leprosy.
An Acorn in the bridegrooms pocket gave him long life and the necessary energy to take up his new responsibilities.
Couples would get married under the Oak and when they were not allowed they would come out the church and run for the Oak tree and dance around it, place an x on it, drink acorn beverage .
People used to gather during cross day and go around beating the boundaries, they would gather under Oaks and read Gospels to each other and blessings to the crops.



Interesting stuff:
Work by Laurence Edwards showed leaf buds expanding slightly at each moon mars alignment ( conjunctions and oppositions alike).
This shows a connection to Mars which the Oak has.
The leaves feed the tree and are therefore a part of the process by which the bark is built.
The cherry tree contracts its buds at new and full moon.
Geranium is opposite in Oak in that its buds contract.
The oaks contractive principal is manifest in its Tannic acid.

Plants have been seen to Pre-empt Astronomical aspects or Interstellar Rhythms. A reaction in the first year to an alignment will happen a day earlier in the second year and two days earlier in second year, this continues to the seventh then it reverts to being on the same day and so on.

Yarrow

YARROW:

Achillea millefolium stands out in Nature as though some creator of the plant world had it before him as a model , to show him how to bring the sulphur into the right relation to the remaining substances of the plant . It contains that within which the spirit always moistens its fingers there within. Yarrow is indeed a miraculous creation .
“In no other plant do the nature-spirits attain such perfection in the use of sulphur as they do in yarrow.” In the animal and human organism it can make good all that is due to weakness of the astral body( provided it is rightly carried into the biological sphere)- then you will trace it further in its yarrow-nature, through the entire processes of plant growth. It should on no account be weeded out when on the edge of field crops.
In a district where it is plentiful works beneficially by its presence.
The umbrella-shaped inflorescence (flower) is taken and dried only for a short time.
If fresh is unobtainable then take the dried and press or decoct a liquid from the leaves to put on the inflorescence.
We always remain in the living sphere . Take the yarrow-stuff and press into balls, sew tight in the stags bladder. Have a fairly compact mass of yarrow in the stags bladder. Hang it up over the summer and expose it to as far possible to sunshine.
When Autumn comes take it down and bury not to deep over winter. IT makes no difference if the flower is already tending towards fruit. It is exposed to those influences which it is susceptible . You will find it assumes a peculiar consistency during winter.
Add the substance you take out of the bladder to a pile of manure. You need not do much to distribute it : the radiation itself will do the work. I will influence the whole mass of manure, liquid manure or compost.
Yarrow has an effect so quickening and so refreshing that we now use the manure thus treated in the normal way, we should make good again that much that would otherwise become a ruthless exploitation of the earth. We re-endow the manure with the power , so to quicken the earth that the more distant cosmic substances- silicic acid, lead, etc., which come to the earth in finest homeopathic quantities are caught up and received.
Its sulphur content combined in a truly model way with Potash , not only works with the plant itself but enables the yarrow to ray out its influences to a greater distance through large masses. The bladder of the stag is connected with the forces of the cosmos. It almost an image of the cosmos. We give the yarrow the power to enhance the powers it already possesses, to combine the sulphur with the other substances.
We never go out of the living realm. In yarrow we are mainly dealing with potassium influences. Yarrow mainly develops its sulphur-force in the potash formative process. Hence it has sulphur in the precise proportions to assimilate potash.
Yarrow, chamomile and nettle transmute potash for example into nitrogen. They can transform limestone in to nitrogen.
If you use wild yarrow a very small quantity will suffice.



The long awaited yarrow arrives in full splendour. Scattering road sides and filling lawns I see it every where now. It is subtle in size next to many of its contemporys like cows parsley. Yet the feeling I get is of a richness a concentrated energy in this plant. Its flowers have a slightly peppery flavour and the leaves too. Not very deeply rooted I question its connection with valerian as it too seems mildly rooted. Potentially due to the fact that they only come up for such a short time in a year. The beautiful white and pink flowers can pack them selves very tightly together yet are not conforming in there formation like valerian. The inner part of the flower seems to expand as the plant gets older.
Extraordinary plant qualities for biodynamic:
The yarrow has thousands of leaves( mille folium). The individual finely structured leaflets of the first order bend so that their upper sides face the tip of the leaves. Light and Air can pass through the plant unhindered. Thus there is no enclosed space below a yarrow rosette.
Yarrow stays on the ground as a rosette in the first yr after germination. Towards winter smaller and smaller leaves appear. Spring growth begins very slowly. End of May the flower shoot grows up.
Flowering starts in July and continues into late autumn. From the centre of the rosette the angular flower stem carries aloft a scaly bud covered with fine silver hairs. The stem divides into flower heads at the top and forms an inflorescence with intricate, branching flower stalks. The growth of the secondary stalks does not overtake that of the main stem. All stalks with floret heads extend to uniform level. They seem almost suspended from above. It does not form rays as a super ordinate composite flower. It branches freely. It only coheres in a plane with the heads of the florets. The Centaurea compound flowers without pointed tips form a so called umbel, dense inflorescence - a totality of a higher order. Each flower comprises a tubiform, disc florets and ligulae, ray florets grouped so as to appear as a whole like a five rayed flower.
The florets stretch up wards out of the bud and extend sideways, night and day they stay there. If the flower is injured then a sharp scent emerges. Yarrow tastes aromatic, permeated with a slight bitterness.
Seed formation happens in the upper bracts. They open a little and a small single seeded fruit (achene) emerges it does not easily fall out. It does not totally spend itself on fruit formation. The tough flower stem does die but tough runners do form rosettes close to the ground. If yarrow is repeatedly mowed it can grow into a whole lawn without flowering.
There is a finely branched rhizo sphere which exists below the surface, they branch and explore the immediate soil, fine filaments penetrate the deeper subsoil.






Plants for the future: Extended use of this plant medicinally or in diet can cause allergic skin rashes or lead to photosensitivity.
Flowers are hermaphrodite. It is noted for attracting wildlife. The leaves can be added to a salad. They are used as a hop substitute for flavouring and as a preservative for beer etc. An aromatic tea is made from leaves and flowers. Essential oils come from the flowers. Yarrow is particularly good for treating wounds. Stopping the flow of blood, colds ,fevers, kidney diseases, menstrual pain. The whole plant is used. The herb is antiseptic, antispasmodic, mildly aromatic, astringent, carminative, cholagogue, diaphoretic, digestive, emmenagogue, odontalgic, stimulant, bitter tonic, vasodilator and vulnerary. It also contains the anti-inflammatory agent azulene, though the content of this varies even between plants in the same habitat. A fresh leaf can relive tooth ache. You can make liquid manure with it. Essential part of ‘quick return’ herbal compost activator. Dyes are obtained from the flowers. Good ground cover.
Leaves of the pink variety are especially aromatic.
Quite invasive because of spreading root system. A very hardy plant which tolerates -25 degrees. IT is a good companion plant and boosts oils in other plants. IT is a good nectar source. The herb of Achilles.

Wikipedia : Yarrow can be planted in areas of drought to combat erosion. It contains isovaleric acid, salicylic acid, asparagin, sterols, flavonoids, bitters, tannins, and coumarins.The genus name Achillea is derived from mythical Greek character, Achilles, who reportedly carried it with his army to treat battle wounds.
The stalks are dried and used in the I ching divination. In the middle ages yarrow was part of the mixture gruit used to flavour beer before hops.
Old folk names for Yarrow include arrowroot, bad man's plaything, carpenter's weed, death flower, devil's nettle, eerie, field hops, gearwe, hundred leaved grass, knight's milefoil, knyghten, milefolium, milfoil, millefoil, noble yarrow, nosebleed, old man's mustard, old man's pepper, sanguinary, seven year's love, snake's grass, soldier, soldier's woundwort, stanch weed, thousand seal, woundwort, yarroway, yerw.
Yarrow is sweet with slight bitter taste. The flowers, rich in chemicals are converted by steam into anti-allergenic compounds. The flowers are used for various allergic mucus problems, including hay fever. Harvest during summer and autumn. Drink the infused flower for upper respiratory phlegm or use externally as a wash for eczema. Inhale for hay fever and mild asthma, use fresh in boiling water. The dark blue essential oil, extracted by steam distillation of the flowers, is generally used as an anti-inflammatory or in chest rubs for colds and influenza. Yarrow intensifies the medicinal action of other herbs taken with it, and helps eliminate toxins from the body.

It is reported to be associated with the treatment of the following ailments:
Amenorrhea, anti-inflammatory, bowels, bleeding, blood clots, blood pressure (lowers), blood purifier, blood vessels (tones), Catarrh (acute, repertory), colds, chicken pox, circulation, contraceptive (unproven), cystitis, diabetes treatment, digestion (stimulates), dyspepsia, eczema, fevers, flu's, gastritis, glandular system, gum ailments, Heartbeat (slow), influenza, insect repellant, internal bleeding, liver (stimulates and regulates), lungs (hemorrhage), measles, menses (suppressed), menorrhagia, Menstruation (regulates, relieves pain), Nipples (soreness), nosebleeds, piles (bleeding), smallpox, stomach sickness, toothache, thrombosis, ulcers, urinary antiseptic, Uterus (tighten and contract), varicose veins, vision.
Yarrow tea is also said to be able to clear up a cold within 24 hours.
Folk lore worldwide:
The most authentic way to cast the I Ching uses dried yarrow stalks. The stems are said to be good for divining the future. ~In China, it is said that it grows around the grave of Confucius. ~Chinese proverbs claim that yarrow brightens the eyes and promotes intelligence. ~In the 1500s, the British herbalist John Gerard recommended it for relieving "swelling of those secret parts."~ Some people believed that you could determine the devotion of a lover by poking a yarrow leaf up your nostril and twitching the leaf while saying, "Yarroway, Yarroway, bear a white blow: if my love loves me, my nose will bleed now." (Yarrow is a nasal irritant, and generally causes the nose to bleed if inserted). ~Homer tells us that the centaur Chiron, who conveyed herbal secrets to his human pupils, taught Achilles to use yarrow on the battle grounds of Troy.[2] Achilles is said to have used it to stop the bleeding wounds of his soldiers. For centuries it has been carried in battle because of its magical as well as medicinal properties. ~Yarrow grows native in the orient. Oriental tradition assured mountain wanderers that where the yarrow grew neither tigers nor wolves nor poisonous plants would be found.~ Nursery rhymes say if you put a yarrow sachet under your pillow, you will dream of your own true love. If you dream of cabbages (the leaves do have a similar scent), then death or other serious misfortune will strike.~ Yarrow was one of the herbs put in Saxon amulets. These amulets were for protection from everything from blindness, to barking dogs. ~In the Middle Ages, witches were said to use yarrow to make incantations. This may be the source for the common names devil's nettle, devils plaything, and bad man's plaything. ~Western European tradition connects yarrow with a goddess and a demon. ~Yarrow was a witching herb, used to summon the devil or drive him away. But it was also a loving herb in the domain of Aphrodite. Hang a bunch of dried yarrow or yarrow that had been used in wedding decorations over the bed, to ensure a lasting love for at least seven years.~ Shakers used yarrow for complaints from haemorrhages to flatulence ~Navajo Indians consider it to be a "life medicine", and chewed it for toothaches, and poured an infusion into ears for earaches.~ Several tribes of the Plains region of the United States used common yarrow. ~The Pawnee used the stalk for pain relief. ~The Chippewa used the leaves for headaches by inhaling it in a steam. They also chewed the roots and applied the saliva to their appendages as a stimulant. ~The Cherokee drank a tea of common yarrow to reduce fever and aid in restful sleep.~ During the excavation of a 40,000-60,000 year old neanderthal tomb, pollen from yarrow (among other herbs) was found. ~It has been used as a Quinine substitute





: Milfoil tea is held in much repute in the Orkneys for dispelling melancholy.---Constituents---A dark green, volatile oil, a peculiar principle, achillein, and achilleic acid, which is said to be identical with aconitic acid, also resin, tannin, gum and earthy ash, consisting of nitrates, phosphates and chlorides of potash and lime.
'Thou pretty herb of Venus' tree,
Thy true name it is Yarrow;
Now who my bosom friend must be,
Pray tell thou me to-morrow.'
---(Halliwell's Popular Rhymes, etc.)

The Folk Lore of plants :
In the Western isles it was believed that leaves held over the eyes would give the gift of second sight.



The Biodynamic Compost Preparations as Sense Organs: Dr Manfred Klett:
The yarrow is able to work with potassium together with sulphur in a very unique way. It is able to potentize the potassium, by its living process.
It handles the sulphur and potassium process with regard to the formation of the archetypal creation of protein. Sulphur is the mediator of the spiritual with the spiritual.
It appears in open plains where sun and earth meet directly. We find it in more dry than wet areas. More in loamy than sandy soil and more in sunny than shady places. It germinates in spring and forms a rosette. Normally it flowers when the earth-cosmos relationship is at its utmost June-Aug.
The after image is of a sturdy plant as its dry stems are left after autumn.
The manifold pinnation ending up in points and spears very much relates to the sulphur activity. They have almost a succulent shape, this points to a potassium activity.
The yarrow leaves are very sharp and bitter at the base and become more aromatic the higher you go towards the blossom.
The blossom is white, sometimes pink and not very shiny, as if it were holding back some of its powerful force. It nature reveals a great differentiation ( sulphur ) and a great concentration ( potassium).
Yarrow roots are magnificent there long threads go down very deeply in to the earth.
What we perceive is not reality, it is an image. The forces that build this image are real, but imperceptible.
Steiner speaks about the wonderful quantitative relationship between potassium and sulphur with regard to protein formation. Potassium is found all over the world in mica, feldspar and therefore in granite, it is also widely distributed as salt.
The more potassium in a given area the more silica. It is an earthly element. It is 0.001% radioactive, it underlies a decay. This signifies that it is a physical substance at the border of the sub-natural world, the sub-sensory world. A deficiency can be seen on a hot day where the leaves tend to hang down. Evaporation is increased because the stomata do not close properly. The turgor pressure, the pressure of the juice in the cells is a function of potassium in the living context.
As potassium moves up the stem it becomes under guidance of sulphur. It is step by step potentized towards the blossom. The further up the plant we look we see the potassium becomes a carrier of living cosmic forces.
It has been lifted to the border of the super sensory world by sulphur. This is the mystery that takes place in all plants.
Surplus germinal forces vanish from the flower in to the etheric world and become the substance for a future macrocosm. How to give permanence to these forces. We can not find the answer in the plant kingdom so must go higher to the animal kingdom where the plant passes a threshold and enters the astral effectiveness which is present in the animal kingdom.

The healing forces that take place via the yarrow in the human body are all related to the renal system.
We take the dried yarrow flowers and stuff them in to a Stags bladder. This is step one of inversion for the yarrow. It was in contact with distant cosmos, now it is within the sphere of the stags bladder. The bladder is an organ of concentration.
It endows the yarrow with astral forces, preserves and gives it permanence.
The bladder is hung up over summer. Air warmth and light reach the yarrow in this time. In the autumn it comes down and is buried. This is in the water and earth elements. The yarrow has been raised beyond its natural limitation and ability to become the carrier of the will forces.
Space works vertically with the elements.
Time works horizontally with the seasons.
An aim of the preparations is to enliven physical substances they are endowed with inwardness.

Yarrow camomile and nettle are grouped together as preps who are to generate a new quality of nitrogen in the soil
Together they are able to transform the representation of real earthly substances, calcium, potassium and related elements step by step into something similar to nitrogen and then finally into real nitrogen.
The new type of nitrogen produced carries an inwardness of an astrality that works from the future in to the present.
The three preps mentioned are involved in organizing the soil process as if it were governed by a higher organism. They vitalize the earthly realm itself.

Supernatural world……………………………….......................................................
Valerian light, warmth and air
Dandelion silica and potassium
Oak Bark calcium in living
N A T U R E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nettle calcium potassium iron
Camomile calcium and potassium
Yarrow potassium
Sub-natural world……………………………….........................................................

Valerian

Valeriana Officinalis


The agricultural course by Rudolf Steiner:
Now you have one more river to cross. Before making use of the manure thus prepared, press out the flowers of the valerian. Dilute the extract very highly. (you can do it at any time and keep it, especially if you use warm water in dilution.) Add this diluted juice of valerian flower to the manure in a very fine proportions. Then you will stimulate it to behave in the right way in relation to what we call the ‘phosphoric’ substance.
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Phosphorus like sulphur has to do with light working into matter.

Personal experience:
The valerian seemed to come and go before I could get a good hold on it. The delicate radiant little flowers seem cute on close inspection.. There looks to be an order in the structure of the clumps of flowers which come from the steam, like a bunch of flowers they are ordered yet have a natural quality.
The pink colour of the flowers is very attractive and alluring. The process of color movement is interesting as the flower is a pink bud type thing then blooms as this white expression.. Personally this makes me aware that it is moving to a higher expression. From a darker colour to a lighter one. Through this line of thought I feel that the colour red can not be too far away.
The smell of the juiced valerian is one which I have always liked.
We had a preparation weekend where we tasted the different plants. Valerian root was lifted. What a potent smell and taste it has. We cooked it for a while then drunk the tea that was very calming and relaxing, like a warm blanket was just put around you. The dried root was there too and had a concentrated taste, I nibbled just a bit too much and had a little sore head for a while.
I find it mysterious as so little is spoken of it in the Agriculture course. It is clearly this warm sheath which contains the other preparation plants and allows the alchemy between them to happen in a sealed space.

Extraordinary plant qualities for Biodynamics:
The plants ability to give off this refined sweet musty scent depends on the year before. After germination the plant has very rounded irregular blades these become longer and pointed. It forms a rosette then dies back in that first year. The small tap root it has formed dies away. The shoot which was in the rosette forms a rhizome. Out of that grow round adventitious roots of equal thickness from the top down, they penetrate the ground in an arch formation.
Towards winter the roots show how they enclose a spherical space. The concentrated musty, aromatic smelling sap with camphor like invigorating taste is similar to that of the flowers, albeit not so sweet more musty.
IT is a smell which is related to the ripening of many fruits.
The rhizomes sometimes send out runners above the ground. In the second year the rosette comes out again but the juicy green leaves have a different shape.
There is a greater number of leaflets per leaf, they are longer and narrower with less dentate. Before midsummer the long, forked, hollow stem shoots upwards. The leaves are well separated and decrease in size and become more pointed and compact as they move up the stem.. The flower come in an undefined bud initially which then shows itself as a umber-like panicle. The individual flowers before opened are pink to reddish tightly packed by three small leaflets. The opened flower reveals five white to bright pink colored sepals joined at the base.
The vegetative organs lack the characteristic scent we see it emerge here again refined at the opposite pole to the root. All the flowers do not open at the same time . The plants forked from the stem sending out further bunches of flowers. This can gradually give rise to thousands of individual flowers.
As the flowers fade the fruit is revealed. The sepals have formed airy light pinnate hairs which will carry the fruit around the area on the wind. The structure of the whole head of flowers becomes a site of drying seeds and emerging parachutes. As the plant rots and wilts the smell returns.
The plant has a strong tendency to rampant growth. When the rosette is preparing for autumn there is a stronger concentration of scent in the roots.
The smell rouses the instinct of cats they become intoxicated..
The transition between rampant growth and dying reveals the scent most strongly. The smell that is given off by the fading valerian is similar to ripening fruit. This is interesting as most of the familiar aromas of fruit strawberries bananas are esters of valeric or isovaleric acid. Valerian stimulates ripening processes in the soil.

The biodynamic compost preparations as sense organs: Manfred Klett:
The function of valerian is to be a mediator of mainly warmth suspended in the air and the etheric forces beyond. It is active between the borderline between nature and supernature. Valerian is not like nettle which envelops itself but is enveloped by the cosmic circumference. It forms a sheath of warmth whenever it is sprayed, compost heap, crown of a tree. It may be regarded as the continuation beyond the working of dandelion..

It was afterwards found to be useful in certain kinds of epilepsy. The plant was in such esteem in mediaeval times as a remedy, that it received the name of All Heal, which is still given it in some parts of the country.
Valerian is cultivated for the sake of the drug in England (in Derbyshire), but to a much greater extent in Prussia, Saxony (in the neighbourhood of Colleda, north of Weimar), in Holland and in the United States (Vermont, New Hampshire and New York). English roots have always commanded about four times the price of the imported. In Derbyshire, the cultivation of Valerian takes place in many villages near Chesterfield, the wild plants occurring in the neighbourhood not being sufficient to supply the demand. Derbyshire Valerian plants are of two varieties: V. Milkanii (Syme), on limestone, and V. sambucifolia (Mikan) on the coal measures. The former yields most of the cultivated Derbyshire rhizome.
Professor Henslow quotes a curious recipe of that period, a translation of which runs as follows: 'Men who begin to fight and when you wish to stop them, give to them the juice of Amantilla id est Valeriana and peace will be made immediately.'
---Cultivation---Valerian does well in all ordinary soils, but prefers rich, heavy loam, well supplied with moisture.
In Derbyshire, cultivation is from wild plants collected in local woods and transplanted to the prepared land. Preference is given in collecting to root offsets - daughter plants and young flowering plants, which develop towards the close of summer, at the end of slender runners given off by the perennial rhizomes of old plants. These should be set 1 foot apart in rows, 2 or 3 feet apart. The soil should first be treated with farmyard manure, and after planting it is well to give liquid manure from time to time, as well as plenty of water. The soil must be well manured to secure a good crop. Weeding requires considerable attention.
Propagation may also be by seed, either sown when ripe in cold frames, or in March in gentle heat, or in the open in April. In the first two cases, transplant in May to permanent quarters. But to ensure the best alkaloidal percentage, it is best to transplant and cultivate the daughter plants of the wild Valerian.
---Chemical Constituents---The chief constituent of Valerian is a yellowish-green to brownish-yellow oil, which is present in the dried root to the extent of 0.5 to 2 per cent though an average yield rarely exceeds 0.8 per cent. This variation in quantity is partly explained by the influence of locality, a dry, stony soil, yielding a root richer in oil than one that is moist and fertile.
Lindley's Treasury of Botany states: 'What is known to chemists as volatile oil of Valerian seems not to exist naturally in the plant, but to be developed by the agency of water.'
The oil is contained in the sub-epidermal layer of cells in the root, not in isolated cells or glands. It is of complex composition, containing valerianic, formic and acetic acids, the alcohol known as borneol, and pinene. The valerianic acid present in the oil is not the normal acid, but isovalerianic acid, an oily liquid to which the characteristically unpleasant odour of Valerian is due. It is gradually liberated during the process of drying, being yielded by the decomposition of the chief constituent, bornyl-isovalerianate, by the ferment present. It is strongly acid, burning to the palate and with the odour of the plant. The oil is soluble in 30 parts of water and readily in alcohol and ether. It is found in nature in the oil of several plants, also in small proportion in train oil and the oil of Cetacea (whales, porpoises, etc.), which owe their smell to it. It is also one of the products of oxidation of animal matters and of fat oils, and is secreted in certain portions of animal bodies. Its salts are soluble and have a sweetish taste and fatty aspect.
The root also contains two alkaloids - Chatarine and Valerianine - which are still under investigation and concerning which little is known, except that they form crystalline salts. There are also a glucoside, alkaloid and resin all physiologically active, discovered in the fresh rhizome by Chevalier as recently as 1907. He claims that the fresh root is of greater medicinal value than the dry on this account.
On incineration, the drug, if free from adherent earthy matter, yields about 8 or 9 per cent of ash.
The chief preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia is the Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, containing Valerian, oil of Nutmeg, oil of Lemon and Ammonia: it is an extremely nauseous and offensive preparation. An etherial tincture and the volatile oil are official in some of the Continental Pharmacopceias, and a distilled water and syrup in the French Codex.
Valerianate of oxide of ethyl, or valerianic ether is a fragrant compound occurring in some vegetable products. The valerianic acid in use is not prepared from the root, but synthetically from amyl alcohol. Valerianic acid combines with various bases (the oxides of metals) to form salts called Valeriana. Valerianate of zinc, prepared by double decomposition, is used as an antispasmodic and is official in the British Pharmacopoeia.
Oil of Valerian is employed to a considerable extent on the Continent as a popular remedy for cholera, in the form of cholera drops, and also to a certain extent in soap perfumery.
Ettmuller writes of its virtues in strengthening the eyesight, especially when this is weakened by want of energy in the optic nerve.
The juice of the fresh root, under the name of Energetene of Valerian, has of late been recommended as more certain in its effects, and of value as a narcotic in insomnia, and as an anti-convulsant in epilepsy. Having also some slight influence upon the circulation, slowing the heart and increasing its force, it has been used in the treatment of cardiac palpitations.
Valerian was first brought to notice as a specific for epilepsy by Fabius Calumna in 1592, he having cured himself of the disease with it.
Culpepper (1649) joins with many old writers to recommend the use both of herb and root, and praises the herb for its longevity and many comforting virtues, reminding us that it is 'under the influence of Mercury, and therefore hath a warming faculty.'

Constituents: 1% volatile oil (including valerianic acid, isovalerianic acid, valerenone, valerenal, hydroxyvaleric acid, citronellyl isovalerate, borneol, pinene, camphene, methyl-2-pyrrole ketone and assorted sesquiterpenes), epoxy iridoid esters (valepotriates, including valtrate and didovaltrate, which are rapidly lost during storage), glycoside (valerosidatum), volatile pyridine alkaloids (valerine, valerianine, actinidine, chatinine), choline, flavonoids, sterols, phenolic acids, sugars, fixed oil, resin, gum

Research:
Valeriana officinalis extrtactAn extract isolated from the root of the plant Valeriana officinalis. Valeriana officinalis extract inhibits the metabolic enzyme gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase and stimulates the synaptic release of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, resulting in sedation.

Our understanding of how valerian might function remains similarly incomplete. Several studies suggest that valerian affects GABA, a naturally occurring amino acid that appears to be related to the experience of anxiety. Conventional tranquilizers in the Valium family are known to bind to GABA receptors in the brain, and valerian may work similarly. However, there are some significant flaws in these hypotheses, and the reality is that we don't really know how valerian works (or if, indeed, it really does).
The best positive study of valerian for insomnia followed 121 people for 28 days. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, half of the participants took 600 mg of an alcohol-based valerian extract 1 hour before bedtime, while the other half took placebo. Valerian didn't work right away. For the first couple of weeks, valerian and placebo were running neck and neck. However, by day 28, valerian pulled far ahead. Effectiveness was rated as good or very good by participant evaluation in 66% of the valerian group and in 61% by doctor evaluation, whereas in the placebo group, only 29% were so rated by participants and doctors.
Although positive, these results are a bit confusing. In another large study, valerian was immediately more effective than placebo, which is what most practitioners believe to be typical. This trial followed 128 subjects who had no sleeping problems. On nine nonconsecutive nights, each participant took one of three treatments: valerian, a combination of valerian and the herb hops, or placebo. The results showed that on the nights they took valerian alone, participants fell asleep faster than when they were taking placebo, or the combination. In contradiction to this, other studies have failed to find any immediate mental depressant effects with valerian; most substances that rapidly induce sleep also sedate the mind.A 6-week, double-blind study of 202 people with insomnia compared valerian extract (600 mg at bedtime) with the standard drug oxazepam (10 mg at bedtime) and found equal efficacy.

The foke Lore of plants: Margaret Baker:
It botanical name comes from Latin valere “to be strong”.
It is said to be a witch deterrent, to provoke Love and a telling aphrodisiac. In the West of England a girl who wore a sprig would never lack lovers.. Rats like it so was used by rat catchers. Cats will dig up the root, hence the alternative name “ cats valerian”. Some have allocated Pied Pipers charms to valerian in his pockets than music.