Wheat

With upright stems and typical compact spikes, wheat is often considered as the essential grain. Also described as the ‘cereal of the centre’, it stands poised between cosmos and earth, exemplifying the balanced interaction between all the elemental forces – earth, water, air and fire. This results in a particularly rich formation of substance and silicic acid.

Wheat is one of the oldest cultivated plants in human history, behind only corn for widespread cultivation. Getreide, the German word for cereal, was written as gitregidi in Old High German, meaning ‘possession’, ‘yield’ or ‘that which is carried’. The yield is most strongly epitomised in wheat, not only internally – in nutritional quality – but also with externally demonstrated quantity. The stalk can carry several times its own weight in ears without leaning away from the centre.

In the wheat plant it seems that all the powers that could have contributed towards excess, growth habit and form have been suppressed and redirected into balanced mediating functions. The self-restraint of wheat, in favour of a balanced interaction of all elementary forces, facilitates great richness in the ripe grain. It’s particularly rich in wheatgerm oil, linoleic and linolenic acid and vitamin E, which acts as an antioxidant.