This is one in a series of reflections on the re-emergence of the Biodynamic Association by long-time BDA staff members.
By Anthony Mecca
With the organizational transitions and shifts afoot, a question that has been more present recently is “What is the purpose of the Biodynamic Association?” Along with this question comes “What is my purpose with the Biodynamic Association?” Like most questions, it opens to more questions to live into — it opens a path to walk, in and with community.
Our time is one of great individualization. This can lead to a growing separateness — us vs them — war everywhere, all the time. But it does not need to. Individualization is a key aspect of development and evolution. It is active across the spectrum of life. A prime example is the child moving into adolescence and then to adulthood. Archetypically the new adult begins to part from a given family, and is then able to start something new, with others: a new initiative, a new family, a new community. For healthy development and evolution, wholes individuate into a diversity. From this diversity, individuals establish new relationships towards creating a higher unity. We each are striving to find ourselves and our purpose. We bring ourselves into community to do this.
Our common culture strains our intertwined relationships with self, other, nature, our community, and guiding spirits of places, individuals, groups, and our time. Our work with landscapes, with each other, and with the spirit of the earth, out of a mood of reverence and service is a source of healing. When we come together in service to something greater, our collective and individual purpose comes alive and can shine forth.
This is the power of biodynamics, and the purpose I work under and for. With these recent organizational shifts, there is significant opening to bring this work forward in a new way. Being connected to the spirit of a place, of a time that includes the past, present, and future, and to a community is a path to becoming human. Bridging these healthy relationships with others across the continent and even the world, for our own healing and for the healing of the earth, is also part of our common calling. How do we do this today? We will need to create that path together. Biodynamics is a key to these renewed relationships.
The Section for Agriculture’s international theme of the year speaks to this beautifully: You never farm alone. Living communities for the future. I am humbled and grateful to participate in this work. I hope to serve to my best abilities.
“The Earth carries within it a capacity to make human beings indigenous wherever they are, not just in their native land or place of birth. To be indigenous in this deeper sense is to reformulate one’s body in order to draw from the Earth the creative will power to be oneself and to fulfill one’s purpose and destiny in a particular place. The Earth can become a portal of initiation that gives us an exact coordinate for our path of life. It restores the sense of home.”
— Orland Bishop, “The Seventh Shrine: Meditations on the African Spiritual Journey”
Anthony is Co-Director of the Biodynamic Association. He is a farmer dedicated to healing the relationship between human beings and the earth through education, community building, research, and development. Over the past decade, he has developed and led training programs for the Biodynamic Association. As Co-Director, Anthony is responsible for programs and training, as well as working with the social arts towards building a more harmonious and vibrant biodynamic community. Anthony is also a director of EduCareDo where he offers a distance learning course on Biodynamic Agriculture and Nutrition and contributes to the Foundations in Anthroposophy course. Anthony works and lives on Sun Heart Farm, an educational and therapeutic community farm in the valley between the Berkshire and Taconic mountains in New York.