The biodynamic preparations in context: Individual approaches to preparation work - Case studies of worldwide practice
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The Section for Agriculture commissioned and directed the study and it is being published in the name of the Section and made available to all interested people and organisations. The study is particularly directed towards the International Biodynamic Association (IBDA), Demeter International (DI) and the Circle of Representatives of the Section for Agriculture and especially their member organisations and their individual members. We hope that this study will stimulate interest and encourage an extensive exchange about and reflection on the preparations throughout the movement.
This publication contains 14 case studies with comprehensive and easily compared descriptions showing how a selected group of people from across the world work with the preparations in their own geographical and social contexts. The methodological approach allows for an inner description to be made as well as an external one. The inner description reflects the character of the person involved and shows how the attitude, understanding, and way the preparations are made and used, is an inner process. The external view permits an assessment of the practical details of the preparations and how the original indications given by Rudolf Steiner have been individualised and adapted by the person concerned to the particular place.
The material presented may perhaps be disappointing to those hoping for sensational and unexpected discoveries. If however we are truly attentive in our reading and manage to enter what Goethe describes as the 'sacred open space' and perceive the deep connection between the person involved in the activity and the universality of the preparations, it can be a deeply moving experience.
The usual practice of presenting case studies anonymously is not being applied here. The people and their intimate relationships to the preparations are open for all to read along with the spacial, temporal and social contexts within which they are embedded. We trust that it will serve to awaken an attitude of mutual respect and trust. And because our colleagues have been able to share their values and struggles in this way, we hope that this attitude will catch on and that a free and open exchange about the questions and issues involved will become increasingly possible. This would represent a significant shift away from the prevailing 'question and answer' culture and create an opening for further research and reflection on the preparations. A conscious decision has therefore been made to offer neither a comparative evaluation nor draw any conclusions from this study.