The Maiastra

Constantin Brancusi

A beneficent, dazzlingly plumed golden bird flew around Brancusi’s mind since childhood. The Maiastra is a character in the Romanian folklore he heard growing up and his preoccupation with the bird as a formal object, plastic and changeable, started in his teenage years. Brancusi made more than 30 variations of this theme, the most minute adjustments radically changing the sculpture’s weight and feeling within space. The plumage is simplified into medium, polished bronze that catches the light and seems to take flight, and the bird is reduced to it’s constituents parts, delicate in its balance on a small base but imposing in its power. Brancusi’s genius was in the finding of an essence, removing the pomp and ornament of people, objects, and beings and distilling them into something approaching pure truth. His bird is a platonic ideal, universally recognisable and yet open to the possibility of immense and infinite variation.

Friday 23rd October

The Moon moves from Aquarius into Pisces, shifting our attention from air and light to water. In biodynamics, each constellation of the zodiac is associated with an element, and each element with an aspect of the plant. Pisces connects with water and leafy growth, making this a leaf period in the biodynamic calendar and an invitation to tend our leafy greens. Check on kale, spinach and chard, removing damaged leaves and giving plants enough space and airflow as autumn’s dampness settles in. Where your climate and the remaining warmth allow, consider further sowings of suitable leafy greens, perhaps under cover to extend the season. In cooler regions, established plants will carry us through the coming months more reliably than late sowings.