Report on the talk given by Joachim Bouwmeester: “Birds - mediating between heaven and earth” on Sunday, 5th January

by John-Peter Gernaat

Joachim provided insight into the origin of his interest in birds and the depth to which this interest has developed over the years. He shared the countries he has visited and the birding projects he has been involved with. He posed the question as to why birders pursue their interest: was it merely to collect experiences – part of the hunter/gatherer human instinct?
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He opened up some of the knowledge Spiritual Science has provided. In the time of Old Sun birds were developing their heads. They developed more rapidly that other beings, but this development ceased with the development of the head. That is why in this time of Earth development they have such spindly legs and such small stature. But look at their heads and the first thing we notice is that have the ability to see through 360 degrees. The entire bird serves the idea of the head. The legs merely run to the purpose set by the head; the wings carry the bird to the goal set by the head. Some falcons can eat on the wing with no need to land. A bird cannot flex its body, it uses its feather to direct the movement of the body.

When we look at an owl with its forward pointing eyes, we note that the feathers on the head (of nocturnal owls) are shaped to direct sound into its ears. Its ears are an integral part of its seeing. Furthermore, its head swivels 180 degrees.

In the Book of Revelation we are introduced to the Four Living Creatures in the midst of the Throne. These have the face of a lion, a bull, an eagle and a man. The four Gospels have been associated with these four living beings. The Gospel writers were each inspired by the essence of one of these four living beings.

Mark is connected with the lion. He is short and sharp. When a lion eats he feels it in his blood and this brings him balance.

Luke is connected with the bull. The Gospel begins like a fairy story and is ruminating in its style. It is very much connected with the earth.

John is connected with the eagle. The prologue to this Gospel can live only in our thinking, it is not an earthly story. Thinking is a self-contained entity within us. Sun powers make this possible. The human body creates a space for this entity of thinking. An eagle flies over the earth using thermals to rise up towards the sun. It has the ability to zoom with its eyes to see great detail on the ground below. In birds the ability we have from the sun’s powers is translated into their feathers. The feathers are the thinking of birds. With its feathers a bird thinks its surroundings.

Joachim then spent considerable time looking at various birds and describing how the feathers of the bird think its surroundings. For example, he showed us a snow grouse (Willow Ptarmigan). The most common explanation for its colouration is that it is used for camouflage, but this is not so. Its colouration changes as the seasons change as it “thinks” its surroundings.

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Forest birds in temperate climes all look very similar – pale green and non-descript – as they all think their common surroundings.
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Ducks will remain on the water for months without suffering the consequences of the constant moisture through the thinking of their feathers. When a flock sleeps on the water the ducks along the outer edge sleep with half their brain and one eye awake, the side facing outwards from the flock, and they will swap positions with birds in the inner part of the flock all while asleep. The white feather on the underside of water birds makes them invisible from below while black or dark feathers above make it impossible to see them in the ocean’s waves, e.g. the puffin.

The beak of a bird is constructed of keratin (horn) also related to thinking. The bills of sea birds that spend time at sea have a bulge that contains a salt filter allowing the birds to drink seawater, e.g. the shearwater. These birds live in a very harsh environment with constant winds, salt and the sun from above and reflected from below. These birds have developed specialised feather on their wings that allow them to remain airborne in the strongest winds. (Joachim had a little derisive undertone towards seagulls in comparison to shearwaters because they like to sit on the land and their need to clean their wings with fresh water.)

During Old Moon all animals migrated around the moon in order to experience the sun. This migratory instinct has remained in those birds who migrate in the Earth Epoch. What animals do, resides in their organs, this is instinct. Animals are unable to indulge in the way we humans do, by over-eating, partying, etc. Animals indulge in their relationship to their environment, such as an eagle flying on thermals.

​Joachim spoke of special adaptations birds have for their migratory habits. Red Knot waders will fly from Mauritania and arrive in Europe with all muscle fat used up, almost unable to stand. The must first eat to regenerate their liver and stomach to be able to digest food. Once they have regained their muscle fat they will fly on to Greenland where the females eat a diet rich in calcium to add as much as 10% calcium to their skeleton in order to lay their eggs in Canada where the breeding areas are calcium poor.

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Starlings flying in flocks have a single eye within the flock that allows the flock to move as one. After this Earth Epoch on Jupiter we will be able to see the spiritual world with our eyes and have the ability to move using our thoughts.

Raptors use thermals whey they migrate, rising and gliding and also have a flock eye to guide them.

Swifts live on the wing and don’t have the ability to take to flight from being stationary. They build their nests so they can fall from the nest to give them the velocity to fly. These birds eat on the wing, sleep on the wing and mate on the wing without the need to land.

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​Where there are a lot of form forces in the environment of the birds their feathers become more showy, as in the tropics. Honey birds consume nectar which is the greatest form force of the plant and from this form force they emerge with spectacular colours.

​Some birds do not develop colour as a result of form forces but instead develop song, e.g. the nightingale. Songbirds send their songs into the highest atmosphere where it is fructified with etheric force which then descends to fructify the earth. The earth would not be fertile without the song of birds. In this way birds mediate between heaven and earth.