Farming in Australia is usually portrayed in the media as a risky, expensive business prone to heartache and disaster. Coping with droughts, frosts, heatwaves and pestilence can make cropping quite a gamble. Farm soils, meanwhile, are declining in fertility and becoming wastelands. The farmer suicide rate is high in the financially stressed rural communities, and farmers’ fertility rates are also low.
In eco-agriculture such trends tend to be quite the opposite! In fact on some farms there is a touch of magic going on, thanks to esoteric growing techniques being employed. These farms enjoy a high energy environment where it is a joy to be working!
People in the past might have considered the energetic approach a bit too way out! However nowadays traditions such as feng shui, biodynamics and nature based spirituality are gaining popularity, and a more sensitive ecological ethos is growing. Green concerns, previously focussed on simply saving forests and wilderness from destruction, are now also looking to the sorry state of farm land.
Problems of modern agriculture
Modern conventional agriculture is addicted to using toxic products based on diminishing resources of oil. Genetically engineered crops have been touted as another great leap forward, but in reality they have dubious benefits. The crops that we were told would save humanity from starvation turn out to be a myth.
A comprehensive report by the U.K. Soil Association from September 2007 revealed that most genetically engineered crops in North America have not delivered the benefits that were promised to farmers. (Copies of the report can be downloaded at www.non-gm.farmers.com or from www.bfa.com.au)
While toxic pesticides and herbicides are a well known danger to both the environment and farmer health, nitrogen fertilisers also pose a serious threat. Not only do the water soluble fertilisers leach into waterways, creating toxic blue-green algae blooms, they also sink into groundwater, contaminating peoples’ bore water supplies with hazardous nitrates.
Another problem agricultural fertilisers have created is the destruction of soil health from over-acidity. Australia’s National Land and Water Resources Audit of 2002 states that the little-known problem of soil acidity, caused by excessive use of nitrogen fertilisers, is fast emerging as a major threat to food production and sustainability. Acidity is now threatening productivity on a quarter of Australia’s farmlands and has been costing $1.5 billion per year in lost production, the report said.
(Source: ‘Earth Garden’ magazine Dec. 02-Feb. 03)
Ecological agriculture
So is it possible to feed ourselves, and the world, without creating a toxic farm environment with dead soil? Yes, it certainly is! The principles of natural farming have been well established. Dr Maarten Stapper, a Dutch scientist who, until recently was working for the Australian government (CSIRO) and who specialises in the field, explains that:
‘Organic agriculture is a proven good producer of food, with yields comparable to those of conventional agriculture.
‘ …”Biological” or “ecological” agriculture uses principles from both Organic and Biodynamic farming, but is more adaptive to different climates, soils, and local needs, as it is not bound by their stringent rules (originating from central Europe), thereby improving production reliability,’ he says.
‘Biological agriculture promotes an active management system to identify and overcome factors limiting production, by spraying liquid cultures extracted from compost (i.e. compost tea) on soil and plants. These cultures can be modified with fungi and bacteria to actual plant needs, and are a source of vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, amino acids, carbohydrates and growth promoters.
‘The aim is to provide a food source for the soil biota and, by increasing their activity, to improve calcium and phosphorus uptake by plants, soil nitrogen fixation, decomposition of crop residues, and the health of plants and grazing animals without reliance on chemicals or drugs. If chemicals are needed, only fertilizers and herbicides with the least impact on soil biota are used, in conjunction with added molasses and/or humic acid to boost surviving bacteria and fungi, respectively.
‘…The biological agriculture concept is successfully being developed world-wide on horticultural and broadacre farms, even though ecologists have often claimed that monocultures were the cause of problems in agriculture,’ Stapper says.
Sustaining farm soils and human health
So where do we start in developing a sustainable agriculture, if we want to produce healthy food in a healthy landscape? To maintain a sustainable degree of fertility the soil really needs a wide variety of minerals and microbes. Stapper warns that-
‘Mineral density of foods has more than halved last century (Berger 1997, McCance and Widdowson 2000) and we need to increase it again through production and keep it available with proper processing of food. Good nutrition comes back to agriculture and the way our foods are grown, processed and prepared. Real medicine must start with the patient’s diet and ultimately the nutrition on the farm (Anderson 2000, 2004). Worthington (2001) found genuine differences in the nutrient content of organic and conventional crops, whose improvement could be greater if all organic crops are actively managed with microbes and minerals,’ he says.
In terms of environmental impacts, organic-biological farming methods stimulate biodiversity, minimize use of synthetic chemicals, help stabilise the soil and balance hydrology, thereby reducing off-farm impacts, such as soil erosion.
Stapper suggests that we also ‘mix and match such systems with landscape changing factors such as permaculture (PRI 2006), Keyline Design (Yeomans 2006) and Natural Sequence Farming (Newell 2006)’.
(Source – Maarten Stapper – Extracts from a talk – ‘Soil Fertility Management in Australian Agriculture’ – presented at the 3rd OFA National Organic Conference, July 2006, Sydney.)
Good Reasons to use Rock Dust
Chemically saturated farm soils are dead. Good, fertile soil needs to be alive! As Stapper suggests, the remineralisation of soils is a crucial issue for today’s farmers. Farming in the past has been more a case of mining the soil. The use of crushed rock is a key tactic to achieving a high mineral status for soils, which then go on to produce higher quality crops.
A team of researchers at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, have been studying the benefits of using Min-Plus, a locally sourced crushed basalt rock. Most of the research was done in the highly weathered soils characterised by intense leaching of minerals, that are common in the humid tropics. Such soils are typically low in fertility and have high acidity (which doesn’t respond well to liming), plus low levels of available nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium – all growth limiting factors.
The Min-Plus rock dust, crushed to 0.25mm particle size or less, “provides abundant amounts of a number of macro and micro-nutrients essential for plant growth – notably calcium, magnesium, sulphur; and trace elements iron, manganese, zinc and copper; but no nitrogen and relatively low amounts of phosphorus and potassium,” reported the government-funded project.
The Min-Plus was found to “rejuvenate soils’ minerals and chemical properties, improving the cation exchange capacity and enhancing retention of nutrient cations in the soil and their supply to plants. It can also reduce soil acidity through a mechanism similar to that of lime, but the effect is less impacted by leaching in high rainfall.”
An enhanced cation exchange capacity was sustained in the soils studied, despite the leaching potential of a simulated wet season, and 94% of exchangeable magnesium and 53% of exchangeable potassium was found to be retained in the soils.
The substitution of basaltic rock dust for lime also has global benefits, in relation to the greenhouse effect. The report noted that – “lime releases 400kg of carbon dioxide for every tonne applied to the soil”.
(Source: ‘Acres Australia’ magazine, Aug/Sept 2002.)
Such commercial rock dust products are an excellent source of minerals for hungry soils, however it is not necessary to buy commercial mixes. For wherever rocks are crushed in volcanic areas to make gravel and road base, the potential exists to obtain high mineral value, low cost rock dust that is a waste product of that quarrying. (Basalt is, typically, 90% of the output of volcanic activity.)
Crushed basalt (known as bluestone, blue metal, crusher dust etc) can be spread over the surface of the soil for enhanced growth and nutritional quality of crops. It is ideally incorporated first into compost for best application to soils. In the composting process soil microbes will multiply at much greater and faster rates when rock dust is added.
Not only does crushed basalt rock add a great diversity of minerals and micro-nutrients to soil, it also adds its inherent paramagnetic energy. This means that it attracts natural magnetism and imparts increased magnetic susceptibility to soil.
Magnetism is a biological stimulant. Increased magnetism leads to increased life-force in the soil, from healthier microbes. Scientific studies have described the simulating effects of magnetism on biological processes.
Many farmers and gardeners enhance plant growth with the application of magnets. Seeds that have been momentarily magnetised grow on with extra vigour. And farmers feel good also, under the influence of the more energetic farm environment.
Whole farm design with permaculture
To ensure that your biologically managed organic farm or garden is really going to rock! – you need to make an intelligent farm/garden design at the very beginning. To gain energetic enhancement of a site you can discover and make the most of the natural energies found there. The best approach is to use the principles of modern permaculture design combined with the ancient art of geomancy.
Modelled on the abundance of nature, the concept of permaculture (- permanent culture / agriculture) advocates low-tech, creative solutions to global environmental problems, starting in our own backyard. Working in harmony with nature is the permaculture way.
Permaculture design was developed in Australia in the 1970’s, but it was inspired by the highly productive polycultural gardens of traditional societies that are rich in bio-diversity.
It is about making initial thoughtful observations of landscape, so that our land-use decisions can be tailored to a site’s characteristics and capabilities. Incorporating geomancy into the equation gives us tools for listening to the land, rather than simply forcing our will upon it.
Permaculture is about designing sustainable food production systems using the inherent qualities of environmental energies, such as the powers of sun, wind and water. A knowledge of the subtle energies helps us determine the ideal placement of design elements, in order to maintain or enhance existing good feng shui.
The principles of geomancy, feng shui and animism enrich permaculture design beautifully. With them we can create landscapes of energetic harmony and productivity, while reducing our negative impacts on the planet. It starts with the kindness of our thoughts and it nourishes not only our bodies and minds, but our hearts and spirits too.
Cultivating ch’i /energy
Patterns of natural energy flow are used extensively in permaculture design and on-site energy storage is a primary aim. Circular, spiralling, curving forms are used in preference over linear patterns, and environmental ch’i movement is slowed down and retained this way.
Thus permaculture methods of harnessing natural energies parallel the enhancement of ch’i in feng shui traditions. Where ch’i collects in the landscape there will be enhanced fertility and prosperity, predicts feng shui.
In permaculture and Keyline planning (also developed in Australia) earthworks, such as roads and plough paths, are best made to follow natural, curving contour lines in order to prevent soil erosion and maximise rain penetration. Fence lines are also best sited along the contours of the land, otherwise livestock can cause erosion. And along curving, contoured earthworks – greater growth and fertility naturally follows.
Geopathic zones
Not all environmental energies are uplifting. Some may be stagnant or cause irritation. A site study of geo-biology addresses the problem of geopathic – harmful Earth energy – zones. For example – above underground streams of water are found unhealthy vertical emission fields of detrimental energies, such as microwaves. When coinciding with bed locations, we might find what the Germans call a ‘cancer bed’. In the home these zones need to be avoided, or residents’ health and wellbeing may be undermined. However, in the farm or garden, geopathic energies can be usefully harnessed, for some plants and animals enjoy these energies.
Nature provides a gentle stimulus akin to magnetism in the form of geopathic and paramagnetic energies. For instance, certain insects and microbes enjoy greater vitality when exposed to these energies. You can place bee hives or compost heaps over high energy zones and enjoy increased honey production and speeded-up composting processes.
In New Zealand dowser James Edmondson found another good reason to place bee hives on ‘hot spots’ of energy. The recently introduced Varroa Mite, which has been devastating hives around the world, had not been a problem with his hives, which were located according to dowsing. But one day he found one corner of a hive infested with mites. On checking the location of the hive James discovered that one corner of it was slightly off the energy line. And it was the one where the mites were found! He now makes sure that hives are always placed correctly according to dowsing, on the high energy zones.
Divining
Energy Dowsing is an easily learnt means of discovering the geomancy of place, such as the geopathic zones or sacred sites in the landscape. Dowsing harnesses our innate electro-magnetic awareness and it can be practised either on-site, or remotely from a map.
Dowsing has been employed the world over to locate underground water supplies, as well as by gas, mineral and oil prospecting companies. It is an art with ancient origins. Some modern scientists call it the ‘bio-resonance method’.
Geomantic landscape assessment looks at the subtle forces in the environment, its mythological elements, plus the historical dimensions of place. All up, it refers to the overall feng shui or Earth harmony of place. Chinese feng shui and Indian Vaastu traditions use a systematic approach, while modern geomancers may rely more on their intuitive or dowsing abilities to map the energies of place and determine whether detrimental or beneficial affects are present.
In animist cultures intensely energetic sites are often afforded highly sacred or taboo status and are never interfered with, except briefly, on ritual business. Modern geomancers concur, that it is not wise to irritate the spirit of place!
Dowsing for correct locations for trees
Another useful application of dowsing is to check each location where trees or plants are to be planted, looking for any hostile or beneficial energies present.
This method was used on city trees in Moscow, where they have a hard time surviving air pollution and the salt and chemicals used in snow clean ups. By the early 1990′s an estimated 70% were sick and dying.
Fortunately a dowser came to their rescue! Well known Moscow dowser Alex Dubrov discovered that the trees that succumbed first to stresses were additionally under various types of geopathic stress. After much lobbying the city officials eventually used his information in a five year trial starting in 1997-98, and they are now doing follow up.
As a result of the affected trees being repositioned away from geopathic and other energetic stress zones, some 80% of them are now healthy and thriving, Sergey Bondarchuk told the International Dowsing Congress held in the UK in September 2003.
‘Stone age’ farming
Rocks in the garden are recognised as being useful for their ability to store heat and keep plants warm in cool times; while a rock mulch can keep down weed growth. They are also used in esoteric agricultural practices that have been inspired by ancient megalithic monuments.
The geomancers of old knew that certain areas in the landscape had stagnant ch’i and that the proper placement of certain stones acting as giant acupuncture needles could correct this problem. Standing stones were also thought to stimulate agricultural production across large areas.
In parts of the U.K., crop failure has been connected, in the peoples’ minds, to the removal or destruction of local standing stones that had been carefully placed millennia ago for various purposes.
Modern geomancy confirms that placing stones according to dowsing in the garden can result in improved Earth harmony and plant growth. And, thanks to the research of Professor Phil Callahan in Ireland and the U.S.A, we now know that some volcanic rocks can bring a magnetic stimulus to plants if they have a highly paramagnetic rating. (Paramagnetism means a weak attraction to a magnet.)
Towers of Power
Callahan suggested that paramagnetic antennas could be installed in farms and gardens to attract extra magnetism. He suggested that people experiment with small ‘Power Towers’, inspired by the 1,000 year old Round Towers of Ireland, to provide a stimulus for growth. These function as a wave-guide that collects magnetism from the atmosphere and focuses it down into the soil.
The practise of this experimental technology has borne out his ideas. With the modern ‘Tower of Power’, plus mineral-rich paramagnetic rock dust incorporated into the soil – crop yields are increased, as well as flavour and nutritional content. Topsoils can re-grow more rapidly, with toxic chemical residues breaking down quickly.
A jujube farmer from the arid north of South Australia who has been experimenting with Power Towers wrote to me recently with the following observations.
‘Thank you for checking up on me, Alanna. I did manage to work out how to find the correct location for the Towers. So far I have built one 3 metres tall, from the information in your ‘Stone Age Farming’ book.
‘The Tower seems to be working. There are some interesting things happening around it. I have noticed, from a scientific point of view, that it seems to create a low pressure cell of air around the Tower, and noticed when it rains it dumps more water around that area than other paddocks. Also it takes a lot longer to mow the grass now !
‘The trees do show signs of extra growth, which is really good for us: and grafting that we do to some of the trees now shows an increased success rate to 98%, despite drought conditions.
‘I have found the Tower to be very powerful, if you work near it, or walk close by, you can feel the energy emitting from it, and others have also felt it as they get close by the Tower. Have also found too much exposure can really charge the body, and find it hard to sleep (less need to sleep??).’
What’s in a Wilderness?
Wilderness zones are an important aspect of permaculture designed landscapes and they can bring multiple benefits to them. In Asia feng shui groves are often sacred forest remnants, usually found in critical locations where they help prevent erosion in the water catchment area. In ancient Europe sacred groves, once revered as open-air temples of the Druids, were also kept protected until Christian times.
Windbreak and wilderness zone trees can provide an important refuge for wildlife and remnant vegetation, so that nature’s ecology and biodiversity may be maintained. Where birds, lizards and beneficial insects can live and multiply, there is much less chance of insects eating crops.
From an environmental perspective permanent tree groves enhance microclimate, slowing down the movement of wind and water, and thus increasing the comfort and protection of people, livestock and crops. In feng shui, the art of working with wind and water, it is imperative to stop wind from blowing away accumulated ch’i /energy.
In helping reduce the effects of prevailing winds, the reduced area of crop land does not have to mean lost productivity. In fact, quite the opposite can occur as a result. Maarten Stapper notes that:
‘Trees are important as shelterbelts in a dry, wind-swept continent. There are examples in many districts where farms have converted around 10 percent (often up from 0.5) of their property to trees and wetlands and this has resulted in improved productivity, by rendering them less sensitive to droughts. This will especially be the case when appropriately combined with Natural Sequence Farming (NSF 2006).’
(‘Natural Sequence Farming’ focuses on restoring the water balance in landscapes where drainage works have dried out soils. See www.naturalsequencefarming.com and associated websites.)
Spirits of nature
The wilderness zone in a permaculture designed property can also function as a habitat for the spiritual beings of nature, the nature spirits. These can be described as fields of consciousness in the environmental energy matrix. Also known as devas, they are often closely associated with plants and animals and help to direct their growth, form and behaviour; as well as inhabiting various landscape features. Clairvoyants are able to see them, with observations that may vary in colour or form, depending on the ability of the seer and the cultural context influencing their vision.
Slovenian artist/author Marko Pogacnik describes his observation of the devas in a fascinating book – ‘Nature Spirits and Elemental Beings’ (Findhorn Press). Devas, he says, tend to congregate around natural high energy centres in the landscape and such places Pogacnik calls ‘nature spirit temples’. (Other people might call them – ‘deva stations’.) The combined energies of such places can have wide reaching influences on nature. By preserving these areas we may help to maintain the energetic integrity of the greater bioregion and help to keep the devas happy in the process.
It is also possible to harness the devas’ assistance to benefit ones’ gardening, and this has been well documented in the work of the Findhorn community in Scotland since the 1960′s and more recently with Machaelle Small-Wright in the Perelandra Garden (USA). Lushly and easily maintained gardens with abundant productivity have resulted from such co-creative partnerships with nature and nature spirits. Findhorn itself was originally a desolate location where the resulting giant cabbages were testament to a rare co-operation between humankind and the world of spirit.
Cultivating good geomancy.
How to gain a sense of the geomancy of place? Discover your locality. Go slowly. Walk the land. Meditate there. Open up your senses to the subtle realms. Find out local history and discover if there are any special sacred sites in the area. Develop a relationship with these places.
If you visit local sacred sites regularly with your heart wide open, one can learn amazing things, absorbing the Earth wisdom first hand there. Good energy may radiate out from such places to benefit you and the whole district.
Walking a piece of land in an open and sensitive manner is also recommended at the very beginning of the permaculture design process. Where does the place feel special, or particularly energetic? These sites must be treated with care! Ideally never to be built upon or disturbed.
The spirits of place can become terrified by earthworks or building works. Before any major changes in the landscape are begun, the respectful approach is to give plenty of warning about what is about to happen, well ahead of, and up to, the event. To avoid upset it’s a good idea to connect, in meditation, with the genius loci of a site, with a little ceremony of asking permission. Apologise for any disruption about to be caused and ask for patience or blessings for new projects.
The landscape spirits are craving for a positive relationship with humankind. They love when we make outdoor rituals, using song, music and dance. With respectful interaction we can make a better world for all beings.
Talk to your plants!
Working with the nature spirit kingdoms starts by recognising these environmental intelligences and conversing with them respectfully. That means talking to your plants also.
‘Tuning into the hidden life in the garden, I tell them they are loved and lovely. I inform them that I intend to harvest some or all of them’, says David Baird of Dunedin, New Zealand.
According to experiments with plants that are described in books such as ‘The Secret Life of Plants’ and ‘Supernature’ (by Christopher Bird and Peter Tomkins), it turns out that plants can pick up on our thoughts and respond to them.
‘I did my own experiment,’ says Baird. ‘Two plants which were exactly the same in the same pots of soil and conditions were put aside. One was to receive Love and the other Hate. Writing the words on the pots would be enough to damage them, due to the power of words and thought. But I went further, hating the Hate plant and loving the Love plant. After a week you could see the difference, the Loved plant looking much better.’
The same applies to tree cutting and branch lopping. People report that trees have the ability to withdraw their life force from the designated limb in advance of branch trimming.
‘When pruning trees I now request the tree to remove its life force from a limb which is to be removed,’ says Baird. ‘Then when it is cut off there is less damage or shock to the tree. It is ready for the cutting. First I lay my hands on the branch to be cut and think about what I am going to do. Saying these things aloud can be more powerful. The removal of a whole tree presents us with a similar situation. This time we may choose to thank the tree for a good life and may go on to mention that it is loved and it is now time for it to go. I often mention that the wood will be used to warm us. In all cases where plants are damaged we may also like to leave a small offering- coins, leaves, or, my favourite, a bit of nice compost’.
In the Maori culture of New Zealand it was considered absolutely inappropriate to enter one’s garden if in a bad mood of any kind. The bad vibrations of the person would be thought to upset the plants! Maori people were careful to always be happy when in their food gardens and to sing to their plants. They would first invite the gods of agriculture into the garden at the beginning of the planting season. A ‘god stick’ would be planted there, or a special carved stone, to represent the god. The devas are happy to become attached to such things. (Ancestors of the Maori came from Taiwan around 4000 years ago.)
It is still a good idea to invoke the nature beings in a farm or garden and this might be done by creating a sacred site there. A circular oak tree grove might be planted. Or an artistic outdoor altar, or a standing stone installed. At this special spot one can regularly ask the spirits that govern the area to come and feel welcome there. Ask for their co-operation in order to work co-creatively together. Thank them for their presence and help, giving simple offerings, such as a pebble, a small branch or a flower.
Cosmic influences
Timing can be another ‘energy’ that is harnessed in esoteric farming and gardening. Plants and animals respond to the phases of the moon. Using a biodynamic moon calendar one can discover the best times for planting, weeding or harvesting, depending on what part of the plant you want to use – the flowers leaves or roots. With herbal medicinal preparations, a much stronger product can be made, by following this approach.
Harvest rituals may also be used to increase the potency of plants. Create your own simple, intuitive ritual for enacting at your special sacred site at regular intervals, such as at new and full moon times, at the start of the different seasons, or for commemorating the cycles of plant growth of specific crops.
Spiritual Earth care
Many people today are living on the land forging co-creative relationships with nature and finding that it brings them great wealth, in terms of joy, creativity and productivity. While humankind generally has wrought terrible impacts on nature’s ecosystems, we also have the ability to make good that damage. In fact we all have the power to create a heaven on Earth. We have the tools, the know-how. The universe isn’t just ‘nuts and bolts’ and it is our spirits that propel us forward, while we are thinking with our hearts.
By listening to the quiet voices in the rocks and plants, with a spirit of generosity, we can help to restore Earth harmony lost, and honour and enjoy it, where it is still tangibly present.
With an energetic environment that nourishes all our needs appropriately, as well as those of other life forms, we can find a home for our own spirits. Such an environment brings inspiration and enthusiasm, energies that we can positively channel in order to achieve great things.
