Well, I felt a bit stupid at Alex Podolinsky’s funeral yesterday. It was a well-composed and thoughtful funeral. I knew of Alex because he created & built the Ghilgai Steiner school (http://ghilgai.com.au/) which was and is very important to us. And yet, I never spoke a word with Alex and chances are, that I never met him in person. My knowledge of what Alex did and who he actually was, can only be called “fragmented”. The thing is: I don’t really know why in 28+ years I never met Alex in person. And there I was yesterday – at his funeral gathering, where his life was celebrated so beautifully. Alex had helped and influenced local farmers in somewhat miraculous ways – or should I better say “natural ways” – using bio-dynamic principles and methods. Alex was acquainted early in his life with the work of Rudolf Steiner – an Austrian-German philosopher, engineer, scientist – in short: a polymath. Alex must have had a much more thorough introduction to Steiner’s work and hence was able to use the gained wisdom in many different ways – especially in the field of agriculture by using Steiner’s bio-dynamic approach in Australia where he farmed in Powelltown, taught and inspired others.

Video recorded a Alex’s funeral celebration in Powelltown on 9th July, 2019

http://www.demeter.org.au

A Short Glimpse on Rudolf Steiner

As an engineering student, Rudolf Steiner one day saw a book in a bookshop which attracted his attention so much, that he finally bought it. It was Emanuel Kant’s famous book “Critique of pure reason”. As the young Steiner had absolutely no time left owing to his studies, he ended up taking the pages of the book out and pasted them into one of his study books so as to be able to read it during a class that did not require his attention. No wonder, Steiner later did not pursue and engineering career…. Well, Alex did apparently exactly the same during his graphology university studies according to his daughter Katrina. He also did not pursue a career in graphology after obtaining his degree.

My encounter with Steiner’s work

I was about 28 years old when my German landlady took me to open lectures in the local Waldorf Schule (Steiner School) in South-West Germany. I absorbed the talks like a sponge and I still have the notes I made then. It was the time when I began to learn how to “really live”, if you know what I mean.