By Briony Young
January 2025
This wonderful adjunct to Rudolf Steiner’s core Biodynamic (BD) Preparations was developed by the BD agriculturalist and researcher Hugo Erbe (1885-1965) with a view to protecting the earthly sphere from the harmful nuclear forces unleashed on Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945.
The Preparation
In alignment with the gifts bestowed upon the Jesus child in Bethlehem by the three Magi from the East, I prepared:
Gold: Symbol of the sun (source of life!) and the highest form of love
Frankincense: Its fragrant smoke symbolic of connecting human prayer to the spiritual realm
Myrrh: Its embalming qualities symbolising life’s conquest over death, and faith in a positive future
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh should be stirred in warm water and sprinkled around the boundary of the farm at Epiphany. In so doing, we acknowledge the existence of a higher spiritual power - just as the Three Kings honoured the ‘kingly’ spirit of the baby Jesus - and request help from the spiritual sphere in protecting all that lies within the ‘magic circle’ we create.
Having spent very few winters in the UK – let alone on Tablehurst Farm – I had never engaged with the Three Kings Preparation before. The only certitude I had, was that this preparation should be used in a spirit of freedom, joy and peace. So, when the public event I was organising for 6th January seemed beset with challenges, I took the decision to completely ‘let go’ and see what – if anything – arose from my meditations.
Half an hour before midnight on New Year’s Eve, I lit a host of candles and began ‘potentizing’ the gold, frankincense and myrrh by grinding them in a ceramic pestle & mortar for 60 minutes. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the deep serenity that came from inhaling the sweet aroma-filled air, I was equally happy to have this interrupted by the flash and crackle of fireworks heralding the start of 2025 in the village!
Day 1
On 3 January, a cold but beautiful day, I stirred the preparation for the prescribed hour whilst reflecting on the words I had chosen for each Holy Night. Then I headed out to spray the preparations on the farm’s driveway, and its north and east perimeters. The sun was long set when I finished but I was rewarded with the beauty of Venus and the first slither of New Moon sparkling in the clear evening sky for my efforts!
Day 2
The next day I was joined by a small impromptu group of volunteers to spray the rest of the Tablehurst Farm perimeter. Again, the beauty of Venus and the moon seemed a ‘thumbs-up’ from the heavens for a job well-done!
Day 3 (Epiphany or ‘Three Kings Day’)
On Epiphany (6 January), I joined forces with the “Three Kings” event at Emerson, where we sang and danced around a small fire to help ‘the prescribed hour’ of stirring whizz by. Soon small groups were fanning out into the landscape with their liquid mix of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and a spectacular rainbow appeared like a celestial prize as we sprayed the land!
Although it took three evenings to apply the Three Kings Preparation, the task was done thoroughly and remained true to the spirit of freedom, joy and peace - each evening being blessed with an exquisite ‘Grand Finale’ in the sky. It doesn’t get much better than that!
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