About Formative Forces in the Plant World.

Dick van Romunde’s book is the fruit of a life’s work spanning more than four decades and is based on his practice of plant observation as a meditative discipline. It is filled with precise botanical observations of many plants and illustrated with excellent color drawings by Elly van Hardeveld. Yet, this is more than just another plant guide, for its emphasis is on how plant forms (morphology) reveal the working of formative forces in Nature. What are formative forces? The author does not attempt an abstract definition. Indeed, there is only a brief introduction to the material, stressing the process of observation rather than conclusions. We are invited to use the author’s observations as examples for our discovery activity. The core teaching is that plant study involves a deep penetration by the senses, mind, and heart into the very activity of the formative forces. We cannot remain passive, detached onlookers with no relationship to what we observe. At the same time, our observation must be objective, in that it must be true to what we are observing, and not merely a projection of our inner moods or wishes (one of the problems with many so-called psychic “attunements”). In his preface to the book, Dr. Ernst Katz outlines three stages of Nature study as a spiritual practice. Goethe’s views about the plant world play an important role and penetrate this whole work. More information and other titles can be found on the author page.