The Invisible World of Nature
When in nature, I have a strong sense of the presence of Nature Spirits,
Elemental Beings, and other-worldly beings that weave their way into the
physical world around me. The imaginations that arise are living, vivid
images. For many people, being in nature can bring images that can only
be described in spiritual, rather than a materialistic language. With the
visible world, there belongs the invisible world and together, these form
a whole. Behind the external veil of the sense world is a world of ideas,
and wisdom.
I believe it is my purpose to work with the spiritual world in practical
applications to help heal nature. When I first knew this to be true, I
was unclear about how this was to come about. In my search to understand
the world of Nature Spirits, I turned to Rudolf Steiner’s work because it
made the most sense to me. His life work was dedicated to building a
bridge between the worlds of inner and outer experiences. He said that
through observation, meditation and concentration we develop the organs
to perceive into the spiritual world. I invite you to examine what I’m
about to share with you. Allow images to arise in your imagination, live
with them and see what rings true. Imagination is perception of the
archetype; without it, we could not imagine a god.
To begin, consider what forces must be present in order for the
plant-world to arise in the form it does. How do the cosmic and earthly
forces work on the plant? Steiner’s Biodynamic agriculture (BD) holds the
view that behind everything in the material world there is a spiritual
force or being. Through BD practices, which utilize folklore, intuition,
imagination and inspiration, as well as scientific research, we awaken
ourselves and the spiritual beings.
There is a host of beings which were known in older times but which have
been forgotten. They were referred to in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita
as well as in writings of the Western world. The cosmology of the Middle
Ages was suffused with the belief in numerous "supernatural" beings, and
there was more interaction with Nature Spirits at that time.
In Steiner’s imaginations of pre-earthly conditions, the Earth and all
it’s substance was fluid. As the human was beginning to develop, other
beings were forming as a result. Some beings came from other realms in
sacrifice so that humankind could be created—the Nature Spirits were
created during this process. Steiner said that the earth, as we see it
now, is the corpse of a once living, thinking cosmic body. It had to
become a corpse in order for the human to arise in our present form. It
is interesting to note that he explained how humankind was on Earth
originally and "afterward the animal evolved out of what could not become
human," which is the opposite perspective of Darwinism.
Toward understanding the elementals, or nature spirits, let us first look
at the elements. We must differentiate between element and substance. In
the work of Aristotle the substance of water is a perceivable object; the
element water is an interaction of qualities, comprehensible only on a
spiritual plane. When we study the elements, we enter into a living
process, with substances we are confronted with objects. "It is through
these ideal perceptions of the elements, we can penetrate the life
processes of the plants … Without foregoing the view point of modern
chemistry, we must add Aristotle’s view lest the laws of form-expression
manifest in life remain an unsolvable riddle." We can become familiar
with this realm only by transcending our sense perceptions, which are
dependent upon material manifestation. Aristotle, who understood the
underlying spiritual process of the elements, observed how life works
within these substances, as in water proceeding from the quality of
moistness, and he presented the thesis that we must first study the four
qualities: warm, cold, moist, and dry; and the four elements: earth, air,
fire, and water, which originate from the interaction of the four
qualities.
Dryness permeated by cold forms the Earth element—the root realm.
Cold permeated by moistness forms the Water element—the leaf realm.
Moistness permeated by warm forms the Air element—the flower realm.
Warmth permeated by dryness forms the Fire element—the seed/fruit realm.
Nature Spirits Steiner described nature spirits as a particular class of spiritual
beings in the etheric world of the plant kingdom, as they related to the
elements, explaining that the plant sends roots into the ground, where in
the earthly-moist warmth, they are surrounded by root spirits called
gnomes. The midwives of plant reproduction, gnomes bring the mineral
kingdom of the earth into flux in order to conduct the minerals and
life-ether to the roots. Like our eye or ear, they are entirely "sense
beings." Just as we turn our head toward the light, so do they turn
towards what seeps down spiritually from the plant; what the plant has
gathered, the secrets of the Universe, the sun’s warmth and light from
the plants blossoms, and what comes from the distant stars and planets
into the plant’s structure. The gnomes perceive what the world—the sun
and air—has brought to pass in the plant, and drive the plant up out of
the Earth.
The world is an embodiment of universal ideas, of universal spirit, not
abstract ideas of mechanical laws of nature. This is the world of the
gnomes, who look down at our incomplete understanding. We have to think
things over and use our logical mind. They just have understanding. Their
manners are ill toward us. They are in the earth with ideas of the
universe, but they hate what is earthly because they are afraid of taking
earthly form (like a frog or toad). This fear and antipathy toward the
earth gives them an upward striving direction and the power to drive the
plants up out of the earth.
The plant moves up from the moist-earth sphere into the moist-airy
sphere. Now there are other beings at work, water-spirits, or the
undines. They are not a sense organ for the cosmos except for what weaves
and works in the airy-moist element, therefore they don’t have the
clarity of the gnomes. They are dreamers. Their dream is their own form.
As they dream their own existence, they bind and release, bind and
disperse substances of the air. They are world-chemists with the
mysterious combining and separation of substances, which emanate from the
leaf, and carry chemical-ether to the plant.
The plant grows into another domain of spirits, which live in the
airy-warmth element, the sylphs, or spirits of air. They press themselves
to, relate to and gather the light. They dwell in the moving current of
air. What the bird sets in motion as it flies through the air creates
music the sylphs can hear. It is here they experience their "I" or ego
and feel most at home. Because this ego comes from the outside, the sylph
becomes the bearer of cosmic love. And the bird would say that the sylph
inspires its beautiful song. The sylph’s task is to lovingly convey light
to the plant. They weave the archetypal plant within the plant from light
and the chemical working of the undines.
Now the plant passes through the sphere of the elemental fire-spirits,
the salamanders dwelling in the warmth-light element. When earth is
warmest, they gather the warmth together and carry it to the blossoms.
Pollen provides little air-ships to enable fire-spirits to carry warmth
into the seed. Warmth is collected with help of stamens, carried by
pollen from anthers to seeds and seed vessels. Contrary to materialistic
thinking, what is formed in seed-bud is the male element, which comes
from the cosmos. For plants the Earth is the mother, the Heavens the
father. This reproductive process is the result of the combined working
of the gnome (earth) and salamander activity. The salamanders draw forth
the male-principle from the universe. They experience their ego in the
insect world, especially butterflies. The insects help distribute warmth
for the seed-buds. As the bee buzzes from flower to flower, it has a
luminous, wonderfully radiant, shimmering aura. This aura is actually a
fire-spirit. This light shimmers forth into the cosmos. This light and
warmth attracts humans to descend again into physical incarnation.
We are uplifted and inspired by the plant world. Where the inter-working
of the downwards streaming forces of love and sacrifice, and the upwards
streaming forces of density, gravity and magnetism meet, plant-life
develops on the earths surface. Plant-life is the outer expression of
world-love and world-sacrifice, with world-gravity and world-magnetism.
This understanding of the plant world, which is necessary to the art of
healing, has been lost to most of present day humanity.
Elementals are on the other side of the threshold. According to Steiner,
we can perceive gnomes when we first fall asleep, sylphs when we are in
deep sleep, undines just before awakening, and fire-spirits when we are
in waking consciousness but can stand outside ourselves. It is then we
see that our thoughts are not enclosed inside the skull, but revealed as
world-thoughts.
Nature spirits are repulsed by materialistic thinking. They need wild
places, biodiversity, our consciousness, our moral deeds, rituals of love
and gratitude, artistic or creative ceremony. I recommend walking your and or in nature every day. Ask, "What does the land need to heal?"
Biodynamics is alchemy, harmonizing the inner with the outer. Alchemy is
the synergy of the interaction between humans and nature. Steiner said
that through our consciousness and deeds, we can disenchant these beings
so we can both evolve to the next stage.
They need us, as we need them.