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Growing Entelechy: The Spirit Unfolds

















If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.
William Blake



Module SCH5401
Science with Qualities
Felipe Viveros
MSc Holistic Science
November 2012
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Overview

The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing
entelechy came through while studying Goethes
metamorphosis of plants specifically in relation to when
the seed is sprouting. The word entelechy comes from
Aristotle who combined entheles (complete, full-growth)
with echein=hexis (to be certain way by the continuing
effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same
time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting
telos (completion) (Sachs 1995,p.245) his process was
described as entelechy idea in action, spirit in action,
life force in plants and all life (personal communication,
Colquhoun, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting
(while studying at Pishwanton: A Center for Goethean
Science and Art) with this new concept of entelechy,
helped me understand that life is intelligent and full of
spirit which is constantly unfolding reminding me that
this process is life. The dynamics of life, is the key to
comprehend our purpose and yet have been
systematically ignored and the essence lost through the
mechanistic way we experience reality and relate to
phenomena.



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Introduction

"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows
the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and
himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen,
opens up a new organ of perception in us."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us
with Nature in order to regain connection with the simple,
is one of the major challenges we face nowadays our
current paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities
immanent to life. For example, species have naturally
arisen from, and afterwards adapted to the environment
to live in harmony with the Earth and other beings for
millions of years. In nature there is a sense of beauty and
collaboration, one of balance and coexistence. We as
humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but are all
to often driven by our intellect resulting in competition,
individuality and greed. Therefore we have majorly
disturbed the basic equilibrium of the planet, and so we
find ourselves, more than ever before, with an urgent
need to re-skill and de-construct civilization as we are
living it. This can happen by collectively realizing how
critical our planetary situation is and the destructive
patterns of our society, allowing us to develop new
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approaches that will respect and honour life and the
environment; thus paving the way towards a new era of
collaboration and harmony.

However conventional science has recently
experienced major breakthroughs, that have challenged
the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The
appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery
of DNA, which revealed the secret of life (Watson 1980,
p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For
Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the
development of cultures when a window suddenly opens
on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from
within the culture itself, often in times of apparent
darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps our current crisis
will help change the way we view the world, giving rise to
a new paradigm. Moreover Science has taken the role
religion once had because until the seventeenth century,
the Western world picture was not set by science but by
religion (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the
foundation of our worldviews and thats why developing a
Science of Qualities is fundamental.

Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have
been used as a language to describe the world that is
somehow integrated: First in ancient Greece, and again
in medieval Europe, mathematically based science
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emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with
divinity (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order
in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the
unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our
earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to
master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as
Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters
and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37). Going forth
trying to trace what are the problems of modern science,
we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for
knowledge and so prediction and control, have become
ends in themselves...When science loses sight of the
purposes of its calculations, and when calculations
become ends in themselves then science becomes
monstrous(Robinson, p.113).

The Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a
dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is
one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life;
human beings have emotions, dreams, and most
relevantly, a psyche aspects of being human that are as
useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994).

By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity
we have become disconnected from nature. This has
spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400
years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which
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believed that the world has a Soul. Alienating ourselves
from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: 14% of the
global population suffers Neuropsychiatric Conditions,
one million people die due to suicide every year which is
the third leading cause of death among young people
(WHC, March 2011). Our technology is so powerful that
we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer
space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life,
geoengineer weather; and bewilder at the birth of
supernovas and stars in distant universes. We have
become like Gods but have failed miserably at creating
heaven on Earth. Instead we have declared war on
ourselves, and consequently to our only home: nature. So
the question here might be: Can we engage with science
in a personal level using it as a tool in finding alternatives
that help humanity bring forth a different reality?

Brian Goodwin foresaw it also as a Healing Science,
where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational
analysis of natural phenomena. His aim was to lead
Science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical
sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
In order for that Healing to take place, we have to start
incorporating some of the missing parts, like Spirit.



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A Science of Qualities

Let us look at a definition of Spirit: The vital principle
or animating force traditionally believed to be within living
beings (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning the
vital principle is derived from the Latin spiritus for breath
and spirarae for to breathe. Where there is the vitality of
life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respirationof
spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Satish Kumar often shares the same insight: when
we realise that we share the same air, that we are
breathing together, we realise also that we are all
connected, we are all related (Satish Kumar, fireside chat,
Schumacher Library, October 2012). Like this human
beings become just a part of nature, a part of the whole,
and not the centre. In order to better understand the way
we are related to the whole, we have to start seeing reality
with new eyes. Like Goethe, we need to develop a more
naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we
ourselves become an instrument of observation
something I experienced while at Pishwanton.

Until now scientific studies have been mainly
observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in
laboratories. But really only when we go inside, (in the
sense that Stephan Harding describes how going into
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the natural world is the real inside) (Stephan Harding,
personal communication, November, 2012) into the living
dynamism of nature, are we able to appreciate "the part in
the light of the whole, fostering a way of doing science
which dwells in nature (Seamon, p.278). Goethe is
concerned "with the wholeness and the qualities of nature,
instead of with analyzing nature in quantitative terms and
reducing her to the smallest units" (ibid). When, like
Goethe, we directly participate in the making of science, it
becomes potentially transformative for the scientist
him/herself: It is a therapeutic process because it is one
that may potentially restore to health and wholeness those
who practice it. It is also a cultural therapeutics because if,
it were taken as a cultural practice and cultural worldview,
it might be curative and restorative for our entire culture"
(Robbins, p.114). As a participatory approach to nature,
Goethes method stresses that the process of scientific
investigation should be a matter of becoming increasingly
at home with the phenomena (Seamon, 1998, p. 3).
Another distinctive quality that Goethe found in nature was
its sacredness: Natural objects should be sought and
investigated as they are and not to suit observers, but
respectfully as if they were divine beings (Goethe1971, p.
57). Like him, indigenous cultures around the planet have
shared similar beliefs, hence allowing them to live in
harmony with nature for thousands of years. Nevertheless
the Kogi Indians in Colombia even go a bit further:
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Aluna was and is the Mother. The whole Kogi life
returns again and again to this fundamental principle
of reality, the life-force which is intelligent thought,
which has personality, which shapes the world and
makes it flower. Through concentrated thought and
meditation, the Kogi enter the world of Aluna and act
there.
In the beginning there was only Aluna, the amniotic
sea, the cosmic principle: The Mother. The Mother
concentrated, the nothingness which was the original
sea of thought, spirit and fertility pondered and
conceived the idea of the world. It began with a
womb, a world-house, which was a cosmos. This was
the great egg of the universe (Ereira, 1990, p.116).

Like for the Kogi Indians concept of Aluna, the original
sea of thought, Goethes achievement is of an inverse use
of human imagination in order to penetrate the mystery of
phenomena.

Goethean Science

Goethe started using imagination first whilst studying
the colour theory and when studying plant morphology. He
called this process the exact sensorial imagination where
we had to use our imagination to fill the gaps between the
facts (Colquhoun, p. 169). Using our imagination, an
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exact image is brought forth avoiding imposed mental
constructs or preconceived theories. For example when
we were at Pishwanton, at the Goethean Science Building
studying the development of chickpea seeds, the eyes of
my mind were opened and I could see how entelechy
works, how the life force within it made it grow; but also
how that same principle applies to all other life forms. This
process cannot be seen through a microscope because it
has to be seen first with our imagination eyes closed. In
this way I tried to become the plant instead of just
observing its development; I imagined how it could
possibly feel like to experience seasonal changes,
development during the summer with abundance of
sunlight or the struggle of its roots in hard soil. The power
of imagination opens up the otherwise hidden entelechy.

Using this method Goethe was able to go further than
Newton in his theory of the colours. He had an intuition
that Newtons theory only represented a portion of the
phenomena of light. He felt that there was something
missing in Newtons theory: When Goethe saw that the
prismatic colors appeared only where there was a
boundary, he recognized that the theory of colors being
contained already in the light must be wrong (H. Bortoft,
p.40). He realised that there must be light and dark for the
color phenomenon to arise, not just light alone (ibid).
Here we witness how unconventional scientific methods,
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like the use of imagination, can work in order to penetrate
the nature of phenomena, but also that insight can lead to
right conclusions. He also believed that there must
always be some instance in nature of the coming into
being of colors out of light and dark alone (ibid), and
called that the primal phenomenon. The primal
phenomenon is therefore not just related to the colour
theory, but that all theories actually arise from nature, the
life-force which is intelligent thought (Ereira, p.116).

Changing Perspective

Here we have arrived at the realization that matter is
far from dead material void of spirit, and in fact within it
there is an intelligence entelechy. As we begin to
experience ourselves as nature and understand it from
within, rather than from without, we realise that we need to
expand our perspective in order to come into being
ourselves. However to do so we must learn how to
connect to our inner intelligence and deepen our
interactions with life, so that our purpose and potential as
a species is revealed. Human beings, first of all, are just
clever animals that have learned to domesticate nature
and other species. But ultimately we belong to nature, not
the other way around. With other species we share a
planet, a home nature; out of which emerges
perspective. We all come from nature and have evolved
so to have different perspectives that makes us fit in our
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environment. We believe that we are different from
animals, apart from nature. That is why we can destroy it,
and spread suffering among millions of cohabitants every
day. In Henri Bortofts words when we go up stream,
meaning when we dwell in the phenomena instead of
understanding it from the outside, we see that indigenous
people have been living this upstream worldview the
Brazilian Anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro
(2004) says: The original common condition of both
humans and animals is not animality but rather humanity;
many animal species, as well as other kinds of non
human beings, have a spiritual component which qualify
them as people; furthermore these people see
themselves as humans in appearance and in culture, while
seeing humans as animals or as spirits (np). This rather
inclusive and alive way of seeing other beings and nature,
is what is lacking in our culture preventing a new way of
being that has a more encompassing relationship with the
whole. In the indigenous thought, the essential unity of life
is the spirit (soul). This unity of life is what we cannot find
in the West because it cannot be grasped with the rational
mind, but only experienced through the intuition, the heart.

In the Chinese language the word xin stands for
both mind and heart. Mind and heart are interchangeable,
in other words we can think with the heart and feel with the
mind. Personally, I was able to experience this subtle and
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transformative shift when I travelled to Pishwanton. In this
experience I was able to encounter the soul of nature that
is the regeneration of life. Pishwantons ethos uses human
intervention as a means to voice natures soul, pursuing to
restore the balance and bring back the wilderness, the
diversity. Hedges, buildings and plants were distributed in
a fashion that respected what was there originally, the
different energies of the places. Goethe said that:"...the
type of intelligence needed in order to "know" organic
Nature would be an "intuitive intellect" ("intellectus
archetypus"). In order to heal ourselves and the land, we
have to tune in with her first, become a player, as well as
an observer. Margaret Colquhoun, along with a group of
friends and volunteers, have been tuning in with the
landscape for years listening to her moods. Only after
reaching consensus about what feels harmonious have
they been able to make decisions about gardens, fences
and building design that best suits these moods designs
that are in harmony with the land. Integral to these designs
is sensing where it feels more suitable to build a herb
garden, or the main reception building. Everything has
been done by hand and the use of machines is limited.
The place breathes wilderness, diversity and peace.




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A Participatory Enquiry

Along with the theoretical study we also did practical
work like digging, chopping wood and gathering medicinal
herbs, thus interacting with the land directly with our
bodies and not just intellectually. In our study of Goethean
Science we learned by participating in the enquiry,
followed by putting these ideas into practice. Goethean
Science is not just about gathering data, but rather about
penetrating a phenomena through looking at life itself from
within, becoming one with it. As Rudolf Steiner says: Just
as, when you look into the eyes of another human being
you get a glimpse of their soul...so also when you look
deeply into the heart of a flower you get a glimpse into the
soul of the earth (p. 64). There is a young chestnut tree
at Pishwanton planted by Brian Goodwin and Margaret
Colquhoun that for me carries their vision for a healing
science, a science that can see the soul in nature.

At Pishwanton we started our field work doing gentle
empirical observations of the forest. Our group gathered
around an old pine tree, and started making remarks and
observations about it: the number of branches, the texture
of the bark, its height etc. Afterwards we were asked to
draw from memory our impression of the forest. Then to
draw another picture of what we felt the "mood" of the
forest was. Suddenly I realized the relevance of practicing
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Goethean Science, a science of entelechy as if for the
first time mental impressions and emotions complemented
the hard facts, bringing a fuller understanding of the forest.

Another exercise was finding a plant we felt drawn to.
I found myself choosing between a tiny little wild blue
flower and a thistle, both in the herb garden. Whilst
collecting hipericum (Hypericum perforatum, or St. Johns
Worth) to make medicinal oil, a couple of colourful
butterflies were enjoying the fragrant pollen of the thistle.
Later, that moment became a meaningful sign that made
me chose the thistle over the tiny blue flower.

The weather was great for Scotland in September.
The sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in
the ever flowing dance of life. As if the time had suddenly
stopped, and all became one (the weather, myself, the
bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to
"hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. Yet
also aware of a constant hum of machinery in the
neighbouring fields, exalting the preciousness of it.
Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable communicating impulse
that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe
the message I was receiving into words:



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Blew the wind,
The butterfly tightening her grip
of the flower,
closed her wings.
The clouds got carried away
letting the Sun
lighten the garden of life:
Where the invisible mighty Thistle,
dies and lives forever.
Uniting the heart/minds of
Bumblebees, man
and Sun,
with her purple fragrance.


Only for an instant was I able to see a glimpse of
something that the ordinary eyes cannot, or as Steiner
points out: It could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to
be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the
spirit (p.232). Keeping these internal eyes open helps us
to develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a
sense of wholeness. If we were more able to understand
from the constant changes of nature, which manifests the
spirit unfolding, we would learn to walk more gently, letting
our entelechy arise, freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember what we are inner
intelligence is telling us and let it be our guide. Like the
Japanese poet Ryokan said:
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The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away,
and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure,
then all things in your world are pureThen the moon
and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens,
2006)

And thus the inspiration gained from encountering
entelechy through Goethean Science, a Science of
qualities, has further connected me to and increased my
appreciation for the subtle qualities of my intuition and
heart, allowing me to listen better to their wisdom: the
wisdom of life.














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Reference List

Bortoft,H.(1996). The Wholeness of Nature: Goethes Way
Towards Participation in Nature. Hudson, NY:
Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996). New Eyes for Plants: A
workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh,
UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990). The Heart of the World. London, UK:
Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Natures Due: Healing our
Fragmented Culture. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books!
Orr, D. (1994). Earth in Mind: On education, environment,
and the human prospect. Washington, DC: Island
Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception:
Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus
Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst,
NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006). One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry
of Ryokan. Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988). Goethean Science. Great Barrington,
MA : Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal
animal.
http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/articl
e/view/107/135
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Wertheim, M. (1997). Pythagoras Trousers: God,
Physics, and the Gender Wars. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company.

Front cover illustration
Selknam Indigenous in ceremonial costume -
http://www.artflakes.com/en/products/selknam