The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Rembrandt van Rijn

In tumultuous waters, Christ’s disciples wrestle with their fishing boat to gain central back from the heavy storm that confronts them. They pull at the sails, adjust the rigging in anxious actions while others cower and hold on for dear life. One figure vomits overboard while another, a hidden self-portrait of the artist, looks directly at the viewer with a fearful gaze. Only Christ, bathed in unnatural light despite an otherwise accurately observed scene, remains calm, and his disciples gather around and look to him for salvation and hope. The scene is true to the Bible in most ways, depicting the titular story when the scared disciples woke Jesus in a panic as their fishing boat faced imminent danger, only for him to calm the storm with his commands and reprimand the disciples for their lack of faith. It is the earliest painting by Rembrandt, and his only seascape, despite a vogue for the motif in his contemporary Netherlands. That Rembrandt chose this story for such a significant painting is telling – he is a disciple regaining faith, aware of the battle ahead but sure that his artwork can calm any storm he faces.

Saturday 4th July

The Moon moves into Aquarius, bringing air and light forces into the garden. In biodynamic practice, Aquarius is connected with the flower realm, where the plant reaches outward into colour, scent, openness, and form. However, with a lunar node occurring in the morning, biodynamic calendars often advise caution. Lunar nodes are moments when the Moon crosses the path of the Sun, and they are sometimes understood as periods of disturbance or interruption in the usual lunar influence. So today carries a mixture: the airy, flowering quality of Aquarius and Gemini, but also the sensitivity of the lunar node. A day for light, observation, gentle tending, and perhaps a little restraint before the garden’s rhythms settle again.