If you have ever walked in the mountains and stopped to scoop fresh stream water into your mouth, you will know it is a noticeably different experience from drinking tap or bottled water. If you are a gardener, a grower or a farmer, you will know that there is a tangible difference between rain falling on your land and irrigating it. What is the difference? People will describe it in their own way, but most can agree that it is about energy. Natural mountain streams carry water that is sharply clear, invigorating and refreshing, in contrast to the dull, flat, nothing-ness of modern drinking waters. We easily observe that soil, plants and animals accept irrigation, but relish rain. Why is this?
One of the essential qualities of natural water is that it flows; and it flows in a myriad of enlivening forms – unique swirls, spirals and whirlpools, eddies and vortices. Water moves constantly through chaos and balance, in harmony with the duality of the world. What we do to water to make it convenient for our use is to stop it, stagnate it and channel it along straight lines. We fundamentally change one of the crucial live-giving characteristics of water. We remove its vitality. No wonder it is not the same. Flowforms have been developed to help us redress this. These are structures that mimic the forms of riverbeds and allow water to run its natural course, being aerated and invigorated by every twist and turn. Flowforms can be used to create a vivacious fountain, to enliven household drinking water, to drive a waste water system or to dynamically stir the preparations for Biodynamic farming. Water is life; and life needs to be present in our water.
The Lively Energy of Nature’s Water
