Posts by Dennis Klocek
Praise for Peaches – How to Make Swizzle
A tonic drink called swizzle is a fruit vinegar and a bit of honey in water that is thirst quenching and good for the digestion
Read MoreElements, Temperaments and Humors – Part 4
In alchemy the levity/ gravity polarity is known as the sun and moon. The levity side of an alchemical mandala is linked to the force of the sun. The solar force is Avicenna’s principle of innate heat. It is also the principle behind Rudolf Steiner connecting the solar action of the “I” or True Self…
Read MoreElements, Temperaments and Humors – Part 3
Moist chemically complex phlegm transforms to blood through temperamental heat. This heart action changes phlegm into living interactive tissue. “Cold” blood is available for limited applications. “Warm” heart blood is accepted by all parts of the body, at all levels. Science recognizes oxygenated arterial blood from the lungs but it is heart hormones that give…
Read MoreElements, Temperaments and Humors – Part 2
In the diagram E (earth), W (water), A (air) and F (fire) represent the four elements. The earth element in the form of dry, cold salts moves towards a moist tempering creating the humor, phlegm. The sequence is element (earth) to temperament (cold) to humor (phlegm) that is then further tempered into moisture. The temperaments…
Read MoreElements, Temperaments and Humors – Part 1
Traditional medicine makes use of the principle of tempering. Tempering is the incremental application of small changes that gradually establish order through proportional balance. This is achieved by repeated actions applied in small incremental steps. Among plant medicines, potent herbs known as adaptogens (spikenard, ginseng, eleuthero, rhodiola) are valued for their tempering forces. In music,…
Read MoreThoughts on the BioDynamic Preparations
For even the most ardent supporters of Biodynamic agriculture understanding the BD preps is challenging. For instance, it is difficult for a business owner to explain to a client why cow manure put in a cow horn is a soil amendment. That is one side. On the other side, practitioners themselves express difficulty seeing the…
Read MoreFarm or Garden?
Artisanal agriculture is based on small scale methods. The illusory power over nature that drives large scale agriculture can be seen in a five hundred horsepower John Deere tractor. To duplicate that power with five hundred actual horses would require setting up teams and harnesses for a double column a quarter of a mile long.…
Read MoreRecursive Thinking
Computers use formulas known as algorithms that dictate mathematically how changes are being created in a set of inputs. A researcher converts data from an experiment into mathematical equations or algorithms that are repeated or iterated many, many times by a computer. The logic language in constructing such a formula is, “if this, then :…
Read MoreA Pandemic of Blame
A pandemic can be characterized technically as a cascade. One event triggers two events and they in turn trigger four and so on to create a cascade. In biology the cascade effect is a fundamental life strategy for many opportunistic organisms like viruses. However, social scientists point out that the lingering effects of a cascading…
Read MoreBiodynamics, Art and Ritual
Artists who have worked for a long time can confirm that overcoming the trials of the two tyrannies is difficult. The first trial is the tyranny of the white. This is the sinking feeling that the first stroke on a drawing or the first strike of a chisel has set in motion a destruction process.…
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