12 November 2026 at 2 pm CET.
This seminar will focus on the copper chloride crystallisation method, a tool to make the formative forces in the living nature perceptible. Dr. Paul Doesburg and Dr. Marjolein Doesburg – van Kleffens will present the methods origin, potential and present day status. To what extent can such a qualitative perspective enrich our contemporary culture, how can the results be presented in contemporary science without falling into the materialistic trap?
The picture-forming copper chloride crystallisation method is an extraordinarily sensitive instrument for making the organising properties of biological samples visible. When a solution of copper chloride and an organic extract crystallises under defined climatic conditions in a Petri dish, the resulting dendritic, tree-like patterns are specific to the product being investigated and vary characteristically with its vital state. Qualitative differences in agricultural produce literally become visible.
Working attentively with crystallisation images — learning to perceive the differences that farming system, processing, and time leave in biological matter — cultivates something that extends beyond technical skill. The images make visible the consequences of choices: in agriculture, in food production, in what we bring to the table. In this sense the method has a dimension that goes beyond measurement. It invites a quality of awareness in which the moral weight of those choices — including the everyday choice of what we eat — becomes perceptible rather than abstract.
Paul and Marjolein are currently working on setting up a crystallisation network academy, featuring user-friendly, validated tabletop crystallisation units, the so called Chamber-to-Go, and an online training programme covering the various facets of this intriguing method. The aim is to bring together the many global initiatives in this field and strengthen them with insights gained from over 25 years of research, whilst seeking to instil a bottom-up awareness of the formative forces within our culture.
This online seminar is open only to members of the International Biodynamic Research Network. Please send us an e-mail to become a member: biodydnamic.research@goetheanum.ch
