Peder Byberg
Peder Byberg
In spite of being a misspelling fucking gramma- moron of a newcomer I dare myself to post the abstract from my BA-thesis in History of Religions, as it may be of interest to some member of the forum ( I scored the highest grad possible)
Fuck me!
Peder.
Religious phenomena are often produced and distributed in ways that make them appear secular. The aim of this paper is to describe the religious background for the biodynamic production and consumption of wine. The point of departure is an apparent paradox: Rudolf Steiner, the founder of biodynamics and anthroposophy, is critical of alcohol consumption; yet wine is increasingly being produced and marketed as biodynamic.
Steiner, inspired by theosophy and Goethe’s beliefs about the nature of plants, developed ideas about a link between cosmologic forces and nutrition. His beliefs involve that the development of a scientific mindset is accompanied by a decline of culture that involves loss of spiritual insights, clairvoyance and poor nutritional status. Through Steiner’s own spiritual insights, he believes that guidelines can be developed to bridge the gap between the new insights of science and lost spiritual knowledge.
Central to Steiner’s description of a biodynamic production is the ritual of “preparation 500”, in which cosmologic forces are transferred via manure in a cow’s horn to the piece of land, and distributed to plants in the area. Under the beliefs of anthroposophy, this ritual will help earth regain a balance with the cosmic forces. At the same time, biodynamic vegetables grown on such a piece of land will transfer spiritual nutrition to the consumers. When “preparation 500” is carried out, the land regains its physical and spiritual health.
The idea that the farm is an entity that has its own life is paralleled by the notion of terroir that is prominent in wine production. In the paper, it is argued that the idea of the terroir is central to understanding why wine producers, marketers and consumers have been open to the idea of biodynamics.
The ritual of “preparation 500” bears resemblance to the classical Roman agrarian cult as described by Cato (234 BC - 149 BC) in De Agricultura, and places biodynamics in the tradition of such cults. But wine has its own religious connotations, manifested in both classical antiquity, Judaism and Christianity. In all of these religious traditions, it is shown that wine is attributed religious significance.
Consequently, it is shown that the combined forces of religious traditions concerning wine, agrarian cult, and Steiner’s eschatology, are the background for the present wave of biodynamic wine production.
Fuck me!
Peder.
Religious phenomena are often produced and distributed in ways that make them appear secular. The aim of this paper is to describe the religious background for the biodynamic production and consumption of wine. The point of departure is an apparent paradox: Rudolf Steiner, the founder of biodynamics and anthroposophy, is critical of alcohol consumption; yet wine is increasingly being produced and marketed as biodynamic.
Steiner, inspired by theosophy and Goethe’s beliefs about the nature of plants, developed ideas about a link between cosmologic forces and nutrition. His beliefs involve that the development of a scientific mindset is accompanied by a decline of culture that involves loss of spiritual insights, clairvoyance and poor nutritional status. Through Steiner’s own spiritual insights, he believes that guidelines can be developed to bridge the gap between the new insights of science and lost spiritual knowledge.
Central to Steiner’s description of a biodynamic production is the ritual of “preparation 500”, in which cosmologic forces are transferred via manure in a cow’s horn to the piece of land, and distributed to plants in the area. Under the beliefs of anthroposophy, this ritual will help earth regain a balance with the cosmic forces. At the same time, biodynamic vegetables grown on such a piece of land will transfer spiritual nutrition to the consumers. When “preparation 500” is carried out, the land regains its physical and spiritual health.
The idea that the farm is an entity that has its own life is paralleled by the notion of terroir that is prominent in wine production. In the paper, it is argued that the idea of the terroir is central to understanding why wine producers, marketers and consumers have been open to the idea of biodynamics.
The ritual of “preparation 500” bears resemblance to the classical Roman agrarian cult as described by Cato (234 BC - 149 BC) in De Agricultura, and places biodynamics in the tradition of such cults. But wine has its own religious connotations, manifested in both classical antiquity, Judaism and Christianity. In all of these religious traditions, it is shown that wine is attributed religious significance.
Consequently, it is shown that the combined forces of religious traditions concerning wine, agrarian cult, and Steiner’s eschatology, are the background for the present wave of biodynamic wine production.
