“HEAL THE ATMOSPHERE AND IT WILL HEAL YOU.”
More than 20 years ago and while traveling India for the first time, I wondered what could be the reason for the unique atmospheric magic that occurred during the many ceremonial sunrise and sunset fires I happened to witness then.
For my first Substack live video a few days back I was therefore particularly happy and fortunate to welcome Prof. Dr. Ulrich Berk1, Founder and President at the German Association of Homa Therapy2 to celebrate this occasion with me by doing Agni Hotra live online.
To me Ulrich is one of those rare individuals who has done it all successfully: family & friends as well as firms & foundations, living a life full of service — not only to himself, but to the world at large. Graduating from Munich University with a Doctor of Philosophy in Science, Maths and Psychology, Ulrich became an Assistant Professor at Konstanz University, teaching Logic and Methodology of Sciences to students of different faculties before starting his research on Homa Therapy and more specifically: Agni Hotra.
Given his 46 years of daily and diligent practice, Ulrich knows first hand about the effects and the important potential Agni Hotra holds for all of us — at an individual level as well as from a collective perspective where it’s becoming most relevant given the current state of world affairs.
If you just want to capture the essence, you can clearly observe the differences in the atmosphere before and after Ulrich is doing the Agni Hotra (around 30:30 in the video above), however, as several people have asked for more details, I’ve put together this post to go deeper into some of the aspects mentioned by Ulrich.
If you’re new to the topic of Homa Therapy in general, you can also watch the following video first and then come back to our live session later:
The Curious Case of the “Kushwaha” Family
While doing research on the effectiveness of different methods for the de-calcification and transmutation of the pineal gland in relation to meditation, I stumbled across the two families that survived the Bhopal gas tragedy in India on the night of December 3rd, 1984 — and who claimed to be doing regular Agni Hotra since 19713.
The terrible event which was re-narrated recently through a dramatic movie on Netflix4 has the writings of family miracles written all over it, and yet, there are several scientific principles which clearly explain the power of Agni Hotra and its positive effects on humans, environment and the atmosphere at large.
Research revealed that Agni Hotra can clear biological, chemical, and physical pollutants from the air, which (especially during the last pandemic) piqued the interest of many scientists around the world. Laboratory studies even suggest Agni Hotra smoke and ash can dramatically reduce airborne bacterial counts5 — cutting them by 90% within 12 hours, while leaving beneficial microbes in-tact6.
Agni Hotra provides a readily available model for decentralised environmental health interventions where and when needed, using ancient wisdom that inspires new pathways in managing airborne pathogens whilst “healing the atmosphere” overall.
Procedure of Agni Hotra
If you’d like to directly jump to the procedure, want to know what you need and how to perform it, scroll to 23:00 in the live video with Ulrich above, he explains it so calmly, well and to the point, that any more text here wouldn’t do it justice.
It is critical to understand the importance of timing the Agni Hotra performance exactly in line with when the sun’s first rays hit your place of residence and/or leave it, which is why there are all sorts of helpful tools available, e.g. this Google Maps based time calendar and the Agnihotra Buddy app, available on iOS as well as on Android:
Scientific Foundation
The Energy Field of Agni Hotra is beyond the electromagnetic range7 and there are many aspects in our current electromagnetic spectrum and its workings which are not yet fully understood by modern science.
Perhaps Dr. Berk’s comment on Agni Hotra ash’s ability to deal with the negative effects of radiation (even strong radioactivity) deserves deeper research with strong scientific rigour, rather than dismissing such claims simply as wishful thinking:
The scientific foundation of Agni Hotra rests on well researched principles such as:
As for the ingredients used during Agni Hotra, there is still much research to be done:
Ghee is a well accepted remedy in Ayurveda, exhibiting many healing properties (e.g. cooling effects for burns, etc.);
Rice, according to macrobiotics, is the only grain that is balanced and considered neither Yin nor Yang;
Cow dung’s many positive properties are known in Europe, too — in Scandinavia for instance, people with alcohol poisoning were once wrapped up to their necks in fresh cow dung, which drew the toxin out of their bodies.
Given the benefits of Agni Hotra start to fade when exact steps aren’t followed, respective utensils (e.g. the specific geometry, material and measurements of the copper pyramid) or ingredients (e.g. buffalo ghee or dung instead of pure cow ghee/dung) are changed, we can expect many findings about the scientific background of Agni Hotra and its effects even for most unexpected scenarios in future.
Or did you know that in this study for HIV positive children from 20218, their general health measurably improved as viral loads went down and CD4 values increased whilst side effects of commonly used antiretroviral drugs were minimised?
This data shows just some of the good potential of Agnihotra for HIV/AIDS patients, but imagine what other diseases and disorders it could have beneficial effects for, so randomised, controlled trials really should be next.
Vedic Background
How come that Agni Hotra holds so much power, yet you may have never heard of it? Its secrets go way back to another holy ritual of ancient Indian culture where Priests offer their oblations to a sacred fire called “yagnagni” along with the chanting of certain mantras.
Depending on the main sphere of action, the benefits of Yagna can be divided into Physical, Mental and Spiritual levels.
Focusing on the mere physical view for now, we could define Yagna as
“the process using sound energies of mantras and heat energies of fire to leverage latent and subtle energies in physical matter for a higher purpose”.
So what are the effects of Yagna on the physical plane?
In short: many.
Simply by burning Sugar and Ghee alone, a specific type of fume is produced which can destroy disease causing bacteria9.
Let’s not forget the important combination with the element of sound. According to “Adharvanaveda”10, during the correct chanting of mantras in Yagna (and with the properly selected ragas11), some peculiar sound waves are being produced in a harmonious condition. These unique sound waves have definite effects on neurophysiological nerves and due to this mantra chanting, subtle particles of fire enter into the ionosphere via a particular way which can clear harmful elements such as radioactive pollutants, aerosols and certain negative energies.
The Vedic scriptures go into great detail about these specific processes, for instance:
Samaveda tells about the ragas and how to chant mantras in a proper way;
Yajurveda reveals the principles of Yagna for the welfare of humanity; and;
Yagnapathy explains about the healing of the environment with fumigation to then get healing from that said healed environment.
The copper pyramid in Agni Hotra is also referred to as “Havan kund” (Havan = Yagna | Havan kund = a square shaped structure in which the Yagna takes place).
In Havan kund, the temperatures may reach up to 250 - 600° celsius which cause volatile substances to become small droplets of vapour and then scatter in the environment. During the burning of cellulose and carbohydrates, Hydrogen comes out of the organic sources and combines with the Oxygen of the air.
This results in water vapour being released into the atmosphere:
2H+O2 = H2O
There is also a very important photochemical process to understand. After the evaporation of the volatile substances in Havan, they undergo some chemical changes due to the photo chemical process with light in the UV range. During this chemical process, volatile substances undergo oxidation and reduction processes.
The following formula explains how CO2 undergoes reduction and transforms into Formaldehyde:
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