white butterfly peppering experience still unfinished.

[Peter Cotterill]

White butterfly White butterfly are a major pest in New Zealand and probably is worldwide. White butterflies (Artogeia rapae) as we well know attack brassicas of all kinds.  The caterpillars chew out large sections of the leaves, frequently leaving only ribs.  Excreta pellets are noticed in leaf crevices etc.  The adult is a butterfly with creamy white wings marked with black dots and a wingspan of about 5cm. Larvae become fully-grown caterpillars about 2.5cm in length, dull velvety green in colour with a thin orange strip down the back.  They over winter as pupae. Eggs take 8-10 days to hatch and the larvae mature in 3-6 weeks. In summer the pupal stage lasts 2-3 weeks.  There are normally 3 to 4 generations per year.   In a good summer in some parts of the country they reach massive population.  In the summer it’s impossible to grow undamaged cabbages (Brassica oleracea capitata) without some type of control. They have natural predators as parasites of the larval (Apanteles glomeratus) and pupal (Pteromalus puparum).  There is also a virus disease later in the season that assists in natural control. There a number of chemicals like Carberyl that can be used for control but for organic growing there is: - Organically Derris Dust that has been traditional used but now doubts exist because it may be linked to Parkinsons’ disease. The home gardener used to be able to buy (BT) Bacillus thuringiensis here in small sachets from the garden shops as a biological insecticide but now it's only available in large quantities costing over a $100.  This arrangement is totally unsuitable for small plots because it does not have a long shelf life. A new product called Neem oil is now available which I know very little about. The scent of the cabbage tells the butterfly that it is ideally suitable for it to lay its eggs.  One way to deter the butterfly is to make spray of boiled up lettuce leaves or any other suitable organic material.  Another alternative is to make a pepper to control the prolific white butterfly. WHITE BUTTERFLY PEPPERING Peppering to deal with pests as suggested by Rudolf Steiner 77 years ago is still somewhat of a mystery.  Not all attempts to use this method have been sucessful.  Probably this is because of lack of understanding. We are really asking the (deva) spirit of the white butterfly to co-operation with us and share this planet together.  Some people consider that it is not ethical to pepper because it is a powerful tool, and should only be used as a last resort. Its effect (if successful) is to reverse the fertility of the white butterfly. We must proceed with a right intent and valued reason to control such a species. In doing so we may learn its real purpose in nature.  Experiments on one or two small plots would hardly make any effect in the overall butterfly population.  Ideally a sacrifice plot should be planted so the butterfly can continue to do nature’s work taking the astral from flower to flower.  No matter what method we use control the white butterfly we must ask the question. Why is this species so prolific in the first place?  Is the species under threat or is it sending us a message that something is out of balance?  In the meantime we must look into why this biological unbalance exists and learn to live with it.    Making peppers is a hard act to follow from those vague suggestions.  It is obvious, that not enough is known about the conditions under which peppering is effective. Different celestial burn times where suggested for both the northern and southern hemispheres.  Imformation on ideal succussing times are not available and succussing times vary according to source.  Maybe they are commerically sensitive and rightly so because some need to make a living from their knowledge so that they can fully promote the BD way.  In the end, I just went a head and made the white butterfly homeopathic pepper when spare time and intuition occurred.  Much to my surprise I had some success on my first attempt.  NOTES TAKEN. Larvel stage was more suitable for trails because they were easier to catch. Although I consider that the adult butterfly might be a better medium to work with because it may stop egg deposits. Trials were carried out on a small garden plot that had BD preps applied for 10 years. Cabbage seeds were taken from the same plot of land and same variety of cabbage was used for all tests.  A few caterpillars were collected from cabbages in late summers and preserved in alcohol until needed. For 6 months I forgot about them and then rediscovered a little brown bottle of preserved white butterfly caterpillars on my shelf.  I thought it’s too late to burn these caterpillars because summer was over and it was now mid winter.  I had missed a window of opportunity so in the end I decide to forget about the timing and just do it.  The caterpillars were placed in little tin. Two small holes were punched through the lid to allow excess air to escape.  This is to prevent the lid exploding off in the heat of the fire.  Mid-winter in the southern hemisphere the caterpillars were burned.  On 31st July 2000        / c  . c Moon and Sun in sign of Cancer- New Moon solar eclipse invisible partial- Moon in junction with Mars and Neptune. 1 part of the result ash was mixed with 9 parts of lactose/milk sugar in a mortar and pestle for 1 hour. And labeled D1 On 21st January 2001    / s  . C One part of D1 is mixed with 9 parts of rainwater. This was shaken for 15 minutes to make D2. This was repeat to made D3 Moon in sign of Archers- Sun in sign of Capricorn- Sun trine with Jupiter. On 24th January 2001   / C  . C D4 was made-            Moon and Sun in sign of Capricorn On 30th January 2001   / p   . C D5 and D6 made- Moon in sign of Pisces- Sun in sign of Capricorn On 3rd February 2001   / T   . C D7- Moon in sign of Taurus- Sun in sign of Capricorn  On 19th February 2001  / s  . A D8- Moon in sign of Archer- Sun in sign of Aquarius  On 21st February 2001   / C  . A D9- Moon in sign of Capricorn- Sun in sign of Aquarius- Moon Apogee On 26th February 2001   / p  . A D10- Moon in sign of Pisces- Sun in sign of Aquarius On 3rd March 2001         / T  . A D11- Moon in sign of Taurus- Sun in sign of Aquarius  On 6th March 2001         / c  . A D12- Moon in sign of Cancer- Sun in sign of Aquarius On 14th March 2001       / L  . p D13- Moon in sign of Libra- Sun in sign of Pisces On 16th March 2001       / S  . p D14- Moon in sign of Scorpio- Sun in sign of Pisces Moon and Sun signs noted here because they may have some significant. Spraying trials started in autumn from D8.  Nothing apparently changed until it reached D14. Then this multi potentised spray seemed to dissolve the caterpillars.  It was as if the etheric forming forces were collapsing. The small caterpillars turned into a lighter green, turned yellow and died. The larger caterpillars turned into a liquid blob.  This season the caterpillars appeared on the cabbages and the spray trails began again. On 2nd November 2001. A single potency of D14 only was sprayed over the next few days with no results. On 6th November 2001  / g  . L  D15 was added to the spray tank.  After a few days the number of caterpillars found was reduced until only one or two remained.  This time I was unable to observed how they disappeared.        When an astrologer creates a birth chart for you it shows exactly what is seen in the heavens at the exact time of birth.  Plotting your astrological chart, calculations are taken according to time, and place, of birth. (Longitude and latitude) When it comes to insects or animals the rules change.  Insects don’t have individual souls they have a group soul.  One soul governs all insects of the same species. Therefore there would be only one astrological chart for all insects of the same species. The white butterfly is native to Europe and has spread through out the world. Reaching here in New Zealand in 1930. I consider that the northern summer constellations would still rule these northern originated insects because they are indigenous to Europe.  I suggest that we make our peppers during the winter months here in the southern hemispere for pests that originated from the northern hemisphere.  Insects of the same species should be ruled from the same constellations no matter where in the world they exist or at what time they are born.  Have we put to much emphasis on the seasons instead of using a celestial longitude guide in this aspect? Peppering has been unsuccessful in New Zealand to control the unwanted northern hemisphere plant Gorse or Furze (Ulex Europaeus). Perhaps if we make the peppers in the winter here we might be more successful in controlling Gorse. From my limited experiences in peppering it seems to me that peppering can be miraculous at times.  Don’t expect results to be like a deadly chemical sprays that kills everything over night in one application.  I need more experience before I can say that they will definitely work under certain conditions. They are not reliable and may take time to work in some cases.  We don’t know all the astrological conditions that are working here, multi potency and several applications maybe needed to establish an effect.  I consider potentised peppers are more effective though.  Peter Cotterill.   RECIPE AND INITIAL NOTES Thanks to BDNOW group for your contributions that help me in the making of the potentising pepper.  Burn times suggestions found listed below. Martha Thuns recommends that burning the insects with sun in our southern summer is constellations Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn.  In particular, use Virgo for beetles and ground insects, Libra for airy insects and Scorpio for watery insects. (From Peter Proctor letter 2nd Nov 1990. Peppering for pests.) According to other sources burning with Moon in cancer and Sun in Scorpio both watery constellations. Another one was burn the whole insect larval with Moon and Sun in Gemini or Cancer. In book ’Agriculture’ questions and answers chapter 6 Steiner suggests Aquarius to Cancer as you pass from the winged insect to the larva. As did a northern hemisphere source recommended burning with Sun traversing through Aquarius to Cancer. Potentised up to 15X. (Note. That 15X is the same as 15D.)And spray on affective area.  . Caterpillars are collect and stored in alcohol until needed. Burn the caterpillars enclosed in a tin in a wood fire. Insects are governed by what Constellations the Moon and Sun are in. Mix 1 part of ash with 9 parts of lactose/milk sugar in a mortar and pestle and grind together for 1 hour. This is D1. One part of D1 is mixed with 9 parts of rainwater. This is shaken for 15 minutes. (Note. Succussing time may vary in other recipes) This is D2. This is repeated up to D15. From D8 spray the area you want to protect. A few drops of the homeopathic liquid placed into rainwater in the spray tank. Sprayer must have only been for organic use. No chemicals previously used in sprayer. Keep increasing the potency until you see some results. Important to use clean glass bottles and spraying equipment must have never been used with chemicals.