STOCK & FLOCK

Harnessing the “Much is yet to be

learned about bion

Power of Clay action in soil biological

processes. Although
the biochemical

PHOTOS BY ARIANE BOLI

composition of
earthworm castings
has been well studied,
the material invites
re-inspection for its
bion content.”

and around the pastern to secure the

clay-skin contact.
About three hours later, I returned
to the stables to check on the mare’s
general status. I had no expectation of
seeing any healing progress so soon
after a first treatment. I was astonished
to find the desired near-term healing
fully accomplished, and leg swelling
had greatly decreased. The cheese-
cloth wrapping was loose and most
The author trimming hooves in 2008 with farrier-poet C.P. Tweedie. of the clay was absent. The wound
area skin had become a healthy pale
pink with seemingly new tissue at the
by JAMES C. SILVERTHORNE Periodically, I support-wrapped the cut’s indentation. No further treatment
leg from fetlock (joint just above pas- was required. The recovery continued,
One of my horses, an 8-year-old tern) up to the knee with elastic band- and by the next spring, the mare ap-
mare, came in from the pasture walk- ing cloth. The cut began to heal with peared to have regained her previous
ing with a distinct limp. I found that applications of a comfrey gel, but competency at all gaits of travel at
she had a horizontal cut (three-eighths after a week the new tissue cracked liberty.
of an inch deep by 1¾ inches long) on open because of November’s change Since then (1980) I have not had
the fleshy back of her left foreleg’s pas- to colder, drier air. Healing stopped. another occasion to use a boiled clay
tern, just above the bulbs of the heel. Later, I realized that applications of a treatment for livestock therapy, but I
An equine veterinarian inspected the moisturizing salve had been needed. have kept an adequate supply of dry
wound and advised me that healing For several days the wound site clay ready to work with.
would be slow due to the wound site’s showed slightly increasing inflamma-
new tissue being flexed with each step. tion. Then, a week and a half after the HISTORY OF SUCCOR
He also assured me that after healing, trauma incident, a medical doctor told Healing or medicinal clays have a
the previously able animal would al- me of possible treatment with an ex- long history as treatment for human
ways be lame from scar tissue forming perimental clay salve. The next day I aches, bruises and wounds. In most
too close to a tendon. prepared and boiled a clay slurry and parts of the world people have expe-
Swelling soon occurred on the leg applied it warm to the wound area. rienced healthy results with such clay.
from the wound up to the knee joint. I wrapped cheesecloth over the clay Recent investigation of healing clays

Reprinted from February 2016 • Vol. 46, No. 2

 BIONS & SOIL HEALTH
Bions are an entirely common
Preparing Healing Clay early result of decomposition (lab-
I used commercially available standard red clay (iron-bearing alumina produced or natural) of materials,
silicate for throwing pots for stoneware firing). I added 2 cups of water to biological or mineral. About 1 micron
a 2-quart stainless steel copper bottom pot to work the clay into a watery in size, they display characteristics
slurry and boiled it at an active simmer for 25 minutes (I kept the lid on of liveliness (life energy or orgone
the pot to prevent clay vapor from coating the kitchen area), and then I energy, as later termed by Reich).
took the pot with warm clay to the stables. I let it cool just enough to be They are physical units composed of
able to handle it with bare hands. I liberally pasted slightly stiff slurry a membrane containing a fluid. Bion
into the wound and on the surrounding tissue on the back of the pastern. vesicles are seen to move in the liquid
I then wrapped it in cheesecloth. carrier on a microscope’s well slide
and also move internally within their
membranes.
finds new methods of use, for example showed increased bion material vol- Most investigations of bions have
embedded in sterile bandaging. How- ume and activity rate. looked at their formation during a
ever, boiling a clay slurry just before In his laboratory in 1939, a ra- decay process and, when allowed
its application as a poultice is seen as a diation distinct from visible light was enough time, their stages of further
novel protocol made possible by little- noted from a solution prepared with development as gradual re-organiza-
known research. That work was first sand which had been heated to incan- tion toward simple life forms such as
conducted by Wilhelm Reich about descence. Investigating the radiation protozoa. Bions are seen as an essen-
45 years earlier, during the mid- to led him to discover evidence of a tial part of that sequence, transitioning
late 1930s. previously unknown natural energy from non-living to living states, not as
Reich’s original investigations found field. His further research showed it to a necessarily static or final form.
previously undescribed items being be everywhere and permeating every- Bions form by decomposition of
naturally produced in his prepared thing, being more or less mobile and materials at the soil surface and within
solutions of water with decompos- of varying concentration. Reich found soil’s plant root zone. Soil surface
ing dried grass leaves and separately that bions and bion effects occur in bions may enter soil by rain or snow
with garden soil. He microscopically the context of this field being pres- melt water travel, earthworm feed-
observed the formation over time of ent throughout the planet’s air, wa- ing, physical disturbance by animal
often blue-glowing vesicles which he ter, minerals, soil and bio-inhabitants. hooves and human tillage. Within soil,
termed “bions.” Later, he hastened He found that while its concentration decay of plants’ dead roots produces
decomposition of materials with heat and small or large movement might bions. Wind and rain widely distrib-
treatments — boiling and/or autoclav- change, it could not be excluded. ute bion-productive volcanic ash and
ing for liquids and open flame to Reich and other investigators later soil surface bionous dusts. Ecological
1500°C for dry minerals which were saw that some lab-produced bionous farming’s deliberately intensive col-
then plunged into a solution. Some of compositions acted therapeutically. In- laborations with nature — composting
these bionous solutions were frozen. directly, those findings prompted my and green crop plowdowns — are
On examination after thawing, they single testing of the healing efficacy expected to produce massive concen-
rate of a boiled clay as applied to my trations of bionous matter which may
horse’s wound. contribute to humus formation.
Perhaps bions or similar items in
the boiled clay assisted the therapy
— particularly its rapid rate of effect.
Likely, some of the clay’s absorbable “Healing or medicinal
minerals and perhaps its presumed
but unmeasured paramagnetic suscep-
clays have a long history
tibility rate contributed to the healing. as treatment for human
Lastly, spontaneous remission or pla-
cebo functions are not thought to have aches, bruises and
been particularly active for the mare’s
recovery. wounds. In most parts
Selected minerals for possible in-
creased healing capacity might be of the world people have
added to a clay prior to its boiling. A
clay already known for its healing ef- experienced healthy
Walking 32-year-old Schnotzle — Three
ficacy without heating might produce
enhanced healing after its boiling.
results with such clay.”
Hills Farm’s first foal and last horse. More study is needed.

Reprinted from February 2016 • Vol. 46, No. 2

STOCK & FLOCK

Much is yet to be learned about bi- Act and EPA’s enforcement of it, that These cautionary practices avoided
on action in soil biological processes. loss was prohibited. Secured and then the possible horse illnesses of colic
Although the biochemical composi- accumulating in ever-increasing piles and/or founder.
tion of earthworm castings has been at cement manufacturing sites, CKD’s With another CKD application the
well studied, the material invites re- applications to farm soil removed next fall, the excellent level of pas-
inspection for its bion content. some of that volume, usually at a low ture grass production lasted about
Ecological farming’s favored soil cost to farms. six years, with zero additional off-
amendments are likely to be highly bi- One autumn, I had a tiny part of a farm fertilizer or mineral. During the
on-productive when mixed into moist nearby CKD inventory applied to the next few years, grass plant density in-
earth. Might bions from specific mate- farm’s 10 acres of sev- creased and then sta-
rials promote crop growth over weed eral small pastures at bilized while legume
growth, or assist with crop-beneficial an average rate of 1.5 plant density slowly
conditioning of soil structure? A bion tons per acre. Previ- “Following CKD decreased. Presence
assay service for submitted materials
would be helpful for farmers and ma-
ously, pasture amend-
ments of manure,
application to a of pasture “weeds,”
plants not eaten by
terial suppliers. soft rock phosphate, soil area, observed horses, decreased.
standard ground lime- I have guessed that
PASTURE HEALING EVENT stone and aragonite extraordinary crop the CKD led to great-
Several years after the mare’s re- had only slightly in- ly increased soil bio-
covery, I scheduled liming of the farm creased grass growth growth attributes logical activity, much
pastures to increase their grass growth. from these soils ini- beyond what would
I selected cement kiln dust (CKD), tially of low to very may evidence have occurred from a
newly available in my area, for its cal- low fertility levels. standard ground lime-
cium content (55 percent by weight) Winter’s normally
a biologically stone. If so, that in-
and its low, yet crop-beneficial con-
centrations of silica, potash, sulfur and
low temperatures
froze the ground; the
active soil.” creased activity might
have helped to release
iron. A by-product of cement manu- later snowmelt plus the previously applied
facturing’s processing of rock chunks rain levels were also soil amendments as
to powder, some amount of dust rou- normal, settling the CKD material into well as native mineral components.
tinely escaped into the atmosphere. the frost-heaved, loosened soil. The CKD broker ( Jerry Brunetti of
With passage of the federal Clean Air Early in the spring, my inspection Agri-Dynamics) told me of similarly
of new growth of pasture grasses noted surprising benefits to crop produc-
nothing remarkable. About five weeks tion occurring at other farms hav-
later in mid-May I saw that the CKD ing CKD applications — but only at
had unexpectedly produced vastly dif- farms having established favorable
ferent results from those of my pre- conditions for soil biological activity.
vious amendments to the pastures. No exceptional crop growth improve-
Walking through the southerly facing ments were reported to him from
Acres U.S.A. is the national journal of pasture, the soonest to warm up, I farms with conventional chemically
sustainable agriculture, standing virtu-
ally alone with a real track record — over
saw large increases of both popula- managed soils. Such soils, likely less
35 years of continuous publication. Each tion density and growth rate (height) conducive to biological activity than
issue is packed full of information eco- of volunteer grasses and clovers. I soils deliberately managed ecological-
consultants regularly charge top dollar remembered the pastures’ inadequate ly, produced crops showing only the
for. You’ll be kept up-to-date on all of the grass production levels of the past 11 standard growth rates which would be
news that affects agriculture — regulations,
discoveries, research updates, organic
years. I hesitated to accept so great an expected from an adequate applica-
certification issues, and more. improvement as genuine. Did it occur tion of ground limestone.
throughout this pasture and also on Conventionally managed crop pro-
To subscribe, call
the four other pastures amended with duction soils being the most well-
1-800-355-5313 CKD? Yes, I soon saw that it did.
The new grass and legume growth
known to university ag departments,
farmers, brokers of ag lime and CKD,
(toll-free in the U.S. & Canada)
512-892-4400 / fax 512-892-4448 was so dense and seemingly rich that only standard plant growth elements
P.O. Box 301209 / Austin, TX 78703 for several weeks I carefully limited would have been expected from CKD
[email protected] the horses’ grazing the pastures to only applications. Even my broker for the
a few hours a day until mid-summer. I CKD, though having experience,
Or subscribe online at: fed them hay before turning them into wide knowledge and keen assessment
www.acresusa.com a new growth pasture, and generally of materials favoring crop growth in
about 75 percent less grain per day. ecological production, had not fore-

Reprinted from February 2016 • Vol. 46, No. 2

seen CKD’s extraordinary results
found on ecological farms. RESOURCES
I have appreciated my consider-
able good fortune of knowing Jerry
Brunetti. Of all the brokers of ag-use A new presentation of W. Reich’s bion discoveries, Wilhelm Reich,
CKD throughout the United States Biologist, by biologist and science historian James E. Strick, Ph.D., was
at that time, he may have been one released April 2015 by Harvard University Press.
of the very few, if not the only one, The Orgone Accumulator Handbook, 2010 revised edition, p. 119
competent to deliberately distinguish James DeMeo, Ph.D. (Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory) videos, report
among the material’s results on crop with color images of his lab work of bion formation, 2002: orgonelab.org/
soils having different management — DeMeoBionsColor.pdf; youtube.com/user/naturalenergyworks/videos.
ecological or less so. Following CKD “Emotions, Protocells, Ether-Drift and Cosmic Life Energy, 
application to a soil area, observed with New Research Supporting Wilhelm Reich:” orgonelab.org/cart/
extraordinary crop growth attributes xpulse.htm
may evidence a biologically active “Investigations of Bions from Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Ash and Other
soil. Materials,” Journal of Orgonomy, Vol. 45, No. 1: 38-51. aco@
He later told me that Ag Extension orgonomy.org.
Service field personnel, on learning Beneficial Uses of Cement Kiln Dust: concretethinker.com/content/
of the astonishing improvements to upload/437.pdf
crop production from CKD applica-
tions at some farms he sold to, were
apparently perplexed as to the cause.
Understandably so, for two reasons: particle size yielding a high solubility is tumbled and heated in large rotary
At that time, in the early 1980s, their percentage during the first growing kilns to 1500 C. Bions, anyone?
education and greatest work expe- season after application, a solubility
rience would have derived almost percentage greater than that of stan- The author wishes to thank J. DeMeo, Ph.D. and
J.E. Strick, Ph.D. for their valuable guidance on
entirely from conventionally man- dard (unheated) similarly powdered the historical and current science of bions. James
aged farms. Secondly, CKD’s only rock liming agents. C. Silverthorne raised, trained and pastured horses
well-known property important for Now, what else about CKD’s ac- at his ecologically managed farm in northeast
crop production was its high concen- tion in soil might be important to Pennsylvania for 35 years. Email him at
tration of calcium compounds of fine crop production? Cement kiln dust [email protected].

Reprinted from February 2016 • Vol. 46, No. 2