The following is an excerpt from John Bach’s translation of Rudolf Steiner’s lecture six of the Agriculture Course.

“In deed and in truth, with the forces that come from the Moon on days of the Full Moon, something colossal is taking place on the Earth. These forces spring up and shoot into all the growth of plants, but they are unable to do so unless rainy days have gone before. We shall therefore have to consider the question: Is it not of some significance, whether we sow the seed in a certain relation to the rainfall and the subsequent light of the Full Moon, or whether we sow it thoughtlessly at any time.”

“The Moon must also be considered in its role as reflector of the all planetary forces that it receives. Steiner states: “With the Moon’s rays the whole reflected Cosmos comes on to the Earth. All influences that pour on to the Moon are rayed back again. Thus the whole starry Heavens – though we may not be able to prove it by the customary physical methods of today – are in a sense rayed back to the Earth by the Moon.” 

It is to this reflective nature of the Moon that we must pay close attention if we are to promote the best conditions for growing strong, healthy and nutritious plants. What is it, in a cosmic sense, that we see when the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, or the forces of the planets onto the earth? We see a geocentric opposition between the Moon and one of these planetary bodies. A Full Moon is, after all, an opposition between the Sun and the Moon, with the Earth in the middle. Conversely, a New Moon is, geocentrically speaking, a conjunction with the Moon and the Sun, where the forces of the Sun, united with the Moon, are cast off into space. We have seen that the forces of the Full Moon are greatly beneficial for the growth of plants, and conversely, the forces of the New Moon, which are reflected away from the Earth, are not of benefit for the growth of plants. 

Steiner states that the beneficial growth forces are “only there for a given district of the Earth when it is Full Moon. When it is a New Moon, the country does not enjoy the benefit of the Moon-influences.” Rudolf Steiner also indicated that research into the forces of the New and Full Moon should be carried out. He entrusted this task to Lily Kolisko, whose large body of research in this regard showed conclusively this relationship to the forces of growth inherent in the Full Moon. Trial after trial demonstrated much better growth and plant development in phases of the waxing Moon than in those of the waning Moon.

As written by Rosemary Tayler, Celestial Planting Calendar 2016