Stella-Natura-2011Planting Calender

This Calendar has many aspects: a basic introduction to astronomy, a simple ephemeris, a planting guide, a star map, aid for following the movement of the planets in the night sky, and articles by ten different authors. All of these attempt to provide a true picture of the world outside us and ideas to assist in developing a healthy relation to that world. Our New Articles Will Inspire and Guide Writing in her introduction to this year's calendar, Sherry Wildfeuer notes: "The famous division between spirit and matter is really a false dichotomy....every time our eyes behold a plant in the garden or a planet in the sky we can feel it to be what Goethe called an "open secret." Something livingly present all around us is revealed as a gift to our senses, and yet the deeper essence of it is at the same time concealed by mere sense perception. This riddlesome experience stimulates us to activate the inner life of our thinking and seek the deeper reality of existence. Conversely, when we have grasped a spiritual idea – in the field of agriculture, social justice or any other field – then we strive to embody this idea in practical life. Through our very longing to know the true nature of the world that we belong to and through our will to imprint this world with the ideals we have discovered to be true, we feel ourselves to be a creative expression of spirit in matter." As its name suggests, the Calendar offers ways to bring our cultivated plants into a harmonious relation to the Moon, planets and stars through our understanding and timely activity. Its real value comes through the meaning it has for you, as readers and gardeners. Together we are working to enhance the meaning of life and bring the evolution of the Earth forward.