Differentiating the Effects of Coloured Light on Plants

|   Heilpflanzen, Präparateforschung

Torsten Arncken

In 2021 I started a research project in which I illuminate plants with four different spectra, namely with increased proportions of ultraviolet, blue, red and infrared respectively. These roughly correspond to Rudolf Steiner's indications from the warmth course on the four types of ether.

The experiments have shown clear differences for each of the four colour spectra. Here is an example of the effects on Tagetes (Fig. 1).

In the following I will describe details of the effect on thyme of illumination with blue and red light (Fig. 2). Plants illuminated with blue light are compact and firm, and the stem is reddish. All shapes are clearly visible and all leaves are equally aligned. With red light, the plants are more elongated and brighter. The leaves are oriented more irregularly and seem softer.

Symbolising the Taste of ThymePlants grown under blue lighting taste bitingly sharp, intense, contained and rather cool. When I taste the plants illuminated by blue, I am drawn deeply into chemical processes. The blue light changes the plant in such a way that the vegetative forces of the earth are expressed. I do not perceive this in a juxtaposition as I do when I see, but I am drawn into this process of plant development as a co-experiencer.

The taste of plants illuminated with red light is very mild and smooth. It has a light, subtle warmth and delicate spiciness. No darkness, no resinousness. The plants that have been illuminated with red put the observer into a spreading movement, away from the inner ground, and carrying them upwards into the lightness and periphery. This is an expression of forces that pull people away from the earth and towards the cosmic.

In the first year I had the impression that the blue light was compressing the shape, that is, exerting a kind of counter-pressure against the growth coming from below. This can be experienced if you switch your attention back and forth several times from the shape of the red-lit to the blue-lit plant and notice what happens inwardly.

Now, in the second year, I experience the effect of growing with it inwardly differently: the blue light also makes the plant grow out of the earth – it pulls it out of the earth but in a different way than the red light. It is as if the plant reaches deeper into the earth through the blue light and draws qualities from a greater depth. I don't mean a spatial depth, but an inner, qualitative depth.

In my opinion, the chemical ether rising from below can be perceived in the shape, scent and taste of blue-lit plants. With the red-lit plants, on the other hand, quality from above, or to be more precise, the light ether effect, is incorporated from the periphery.

Other projects

In cooperation with Weleda, I support the "Actives" and "Galenics" research departments, which develop new cosmetic products. My job is to observe the qualities of plant substances and to work out their effect on people. For example, the prickly pear product line – for the care of dry skin – was developed in cooperation with anthroposophically working dermatologists.

Tagetes. From left to right: ultraviolet, blue, red, infrared.
Thyme. From left to right: blue, red.
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