Healing plants and bees
The Natural Science Section at the Goetheanum continues with its research projects, for instance on medicinal plants and on bees.
With all the worries and difficulties that Coronavirus and its consequences for society have imposed on us due to the restriction of basic rights, we also experience the blessings that the lockdown has brought for nature and human beings every day. It starts early in the morning before sunrise, when the sky in the east lights up in golden hues – and not a single contrail in sight. Will these experiences lead to lasting change – not out of fear but out of insight?
In tune with the season, the Natural Science Section’s plant and bee projects are in full flow. Experiments planned in the winter now have to go out into the soil or onto the trees earlier than expected. As part of our search for a disease-tolerant St Johnswort, to be used in the production of medicines, we sow and test many varieties from the Swiss gene bank. Using alchemical methods, a preparation is made from gold that will then serve as a fertilizer for scarlet beebalm – a method applied by biologists, physicians and pharmacists to enhance the plant’s healing power.
As early as April, and in cooperation with the local Dorneckberg Forestry, the first bee swarms could be caught and installed in special containers at a dizzying height. Trees with hollows that are suitable for being colonized with bees are rare.
The season is also alive in our weekly meetings, invoked by our conversations on the weekly verses. Most of us in the Section are physically present, others join us via Zoom.