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Citizen Science for Temple Technologies
Jan. 30th, 2024 02:28 pm
I started attending Traditional Latin Mass early last year. I would not be considered devout, but I'm showing up a fair amount. As I was sitting in a pew one day listening to the schola and their singing, I started thinking about temple technology. I have read 'The Secret of the Temple', 'Paramagnetism' and have been reading 'Seed of Knowledge, Stones of Plenty' slowly over the last year and I should have been more focused on Mass and you know, my salvation, but for now, showing up is the goal.
Sitting there, I decided that it would be interesting to test the power of Traditional Latin Mass on my seeds. I grow micro greens pretty consistently throughout the winter for salad so I had all the materials needed at my fingertips. So the following week I split a package of peas in half and took some to Mass. When I got home from that Mass, I promptly moved on with life and a few weeks later remembered I had a sacred envelope of peas on the shelf in the kitchen. So I put the peas back in my purse and took them to their second Mass. When I got home, I popped them into a container, put the original peas next to them and did an A/B test to see what would happen.
And a few days later, I burst into tears when I saw what had happened. The pea shoots that had been to Mass germinated faster and had a better germination rate than the control right beside them. There were pea shoots in one container and not the other. How was that possible? It was a profound moment of faith. I stood there absolutely shocked. Based on my hypothesis that it would work, I shouldn't have been shocked but seeing an idea, a very big idea, come to life in front of me was life changing.
Here's a photo a few days after the initial seed emergence. The Mass side going strong.
And...and it was terrible science. I realized if there was a ever a biased researcher, it was me. I wanted the seeds that went to Mass to do well so it would have been so easy to unintentionally give better conditions to one side over the other. I wasn't looking for IF this would work, I was looking for HOW to do it. The two samples of peas were on the same shelf in the same window and I did make an attempt to water them the same amount but I was still left wanting to know that it was temple technology and that it wasn't me accidentally creating results.
So I decided to get more scientific about it. I did a second experiment with basil seeds but I'll have to call that inconclusive because I forgot to water the sample and the control and everything did poorly. Life is busy.
I tried again with pea shoots and realized that I really needed to measure things like soil and water. So I did that but I forgot to count the seeds to determine germination rate. If one is being scientific you can't really say "Ooh, it looks better over there but I forgot to do math". I'll call that experiment inconclusive also but interesting enough (wink wink) to keep going.
So my latest experiment - sunflower seeds. I took a small envelope of sunflowers seeds to Mass. Actually, 3 times because again, life was busy and I didn't plant them immediately after as was my intention. This latest time though, it was after the holidays so I was also able to get some Epiphany water (the priest admitted he blessed too much and was eager for people to take it home...)
I planted 8 sunflower seeds each in two identical containers and gave each the same amount of soil, water, light and heat. I did introduce the extra variable in that the Mass seeds were also watered with Epiphany Water. After the first two days, I misted both the same amount with distilled water but the Mass seeds got ~90% of their moisture from Holy water.
And the results are astonishing.
The Mass seeds have germinated both faster, in greater quantity, and more robustly. Yes, that looks to be a broccoli sprout coming out of the control. I was starting a lot of micro greens when I got this going so I must have accidentally dropped one in there. Again, not good science. But it does prove there is nothing wrong with the control side. Yes, the seeds were all from the same original packet.
This picture doesn't quite do it justice due to the photo quality. At this moment, 9 days after planting, the Mass side has 5 shoots up with one ready to almost open and the control has just one sunflower starting to come up...and the misplaced broccoli seed.
If anyone is very good at science, I'd happily take feedback on how I can improve my little citizen science experimenting on temple technology. I'm going to keep experimenting with various seeds and variables (number of times at mass, holy water, maybe blessings, exposure to incense etc) to make sure it's replicable and figure out how to reliably get results. I'd be curious if other people are able to replicate in their conditions too, whatever faith.
In the coming years, we are likely to need all the help we can get improving agricultural yields and getting an old idea into practice again makes sense. If the seeds do well just by sitting in a pew and touching holy water, then it stands to reason the people would too. I guess all the people who are at Mass every week already have that figured out - I'm slow to catch on sometimes but my faith is definitely bigger than a mustard seed...and a sunflower seed.
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A few random notes on my scientific process to date:
- Taking the seeds to multiple Masses was an accident and not intentional. I keep trying to do it with one Mass attendance but...life is busy. My thought was that the charge would 'wear off' if I planted it too long after mass but this needs to be tested.
- The seeds were in an envelope that was open in a pocket in my purse next to me in the pew. They are heavy-handed with the incense at Mass so the seeds were exposed to the atmosphere, for what it's worth. Usually my eyes water about 45 minutes into Mass from all the incense so I really mean heavy-handed.
- I always sit in the back of the church and none of the seeds went to the altar. They were just there, like me.
- From the photos, you may notice that I grow my micro greens in glass dishes without drainage. I do this purely for aesthetic reasons. Winter is long and I prefer to look at pretty, shiny glass containers of plants than old plastic yogurt containers with holes punched in the bottom. Because the life of micro greens is so short, I don't worry about long term plant health. Every once in a while, I will over-water but usually it's the opposite, the lack of drainage saves me when I under water. I should switch up the containers though for future experiments.
- I used Epiphany Water instead of regular holy water on the sunflower seeds. I used distilled water only on the prior experiments.
- I am a baptized Catholic, raised Novus Ordo, non-practicing for a few decades.
Image Sources:
Cathedral
Plants: me
