the Soul Garden

I have said before that gardens and gardening give us deep connection with the Earth, with Nature; but they equally connect us to the higher realms, to Spirit, to the Universal Being; God, if you like. This is somewhat a taboo subject in our contemporary and cynical age, but I would strongly contend that when we handle the earth, care for our plants, tend to the minutiae that is gardening, we are also connected to the air, the sky, the sun, moon and stars, and to the either; to the macrocosmic elements. I would also say that there are more elements, or components of this Universe that those we merely see.

This connection of which I speak used to be a daily reality for Mankind, but not any more. In industrial societies we now spend 90% of our time indoors and are disconnected from the rhythms of Nature. We do not know when the moon is next full, when it will rain, where our food comes from or who baked the bread we eat. That we do not care is an indication of how far removed we are from Nature's realities; our own daily minutiae seems far more important.

We assume that we are the superior product, the ultimate point of Nature's creation (and from an esoteric viewpoint, we may be), yet the physical reality is that we occupy but a small part of Nature's realm. Just as the human eye can only perceive a part of the light spectrum and cannot see infra-red or ultraviolet, so our everyday senses can only perceive a part of the full reality of the Universe within which we live. Science now tells us that material matter only makes up 5% of this Universe, the rest is dark matter or energy, which we are (currently) oblivious to. Yet I believe that if we are open-minded, perceptive, connected, then we can experience more than we can see with the eye or hear, feel, touch or smell. Our sixth sense, as it is called, is simply a direct perception of the deeper, or higher things. Deeper things we call Earth Magic, higher things, the realm of religion; in reality, they are two sides of the same coin. Because we stand with our feet on the soil and our heads in the air, we can experience both in simultaneous harmony, and perhaps this is our ultimate purpose.

That we, as modern man, do not naturally experience such things in our daily lives leads us to disbelieve, for does not science answer everything? I think that the more that is learnt, the less that we know, for knowledge is not wisdom and we have much of the former and scarcely any of the latter. What then blocks our perception of greater reality? Surely nothing more than the clutter of our minds and the frenetic pace of our daily lives. We fill our time up with purpose and duty, which precludes all other possibilities, yet as all the sages, wise men and enlightened beings have been telling us for all of time, we simply have to stop, be still and find within the space in which to perceive. Quantum physics tells us that the act of observation alters the end result, so it is no longer true (or rather, it never was true) that we can be logical, dispassionate in our analysis of the world; nor that the world is simply made up of observable phenomena, and nothing more.

Some people will make this connection through religion, some will meditate, some will find peace walking in the park or on the beach, but you can simply feel this right in your own garden, if you find the silence within as you weed, or prune, or just sit in the Sun. The more that you concentrate on the spirit and the soul of a place, the more you enrich it, raising its vibrational level. Sounds crazy? Remember that the world is energy, not matter - science says so.

It stands to reason that some places have high energy levels, some low; it also makes sense that this energy can change, depending on things that effect it - events, time, the actions of people. It also makes sense that the same place also can effect those that come into contact with it; in other words, energy can flow from person to place, or place to person. Think of the effect that standing alone at night in a derelict industrial site has on you; compare that to a beautiful wooded valley, by a stream in Spring or Summer.. obvious, but the effect of all the accumulated activity on the industrial site, years of hard work, pollution, decay, strife, abandonment, crime, each one an incremental step that builds upon the other, draining out the positive energy of the land, replaced by all the worst of human psyche. It takes a lot to turn that around. The woodland, especially ancient woodland (never felled or cleared by man), on the other hand, has the highest of natural vibrations, especially when combined with flowing and unpolluted water.

So it is clear to me that we are both affected and can affect the land about us, and this must inform our attitudes and approach not just to nature, but to all our environments. None are likely to be affected more than the land about our homes - our gardens; it is here that we must concentrate our energies and efforts the most. Not everyone can find a place that is already beautiful, with high vibrations; indeed, most homes and gardens are humble, of low frequency and uninspiring. This is because there has never been an expectation for the place to be more, to shine brighter. Repair of the land becomes important, in fact crucial, to a deeper connection with Nature, for we have, as a species caused so much damage. Christopher Alexander, in his book, “A Pattern Language”, has a pattern called Site Repair in which he states: “Buildings must always be built on those parts of the land which are in the worst condition, not the best”. This is because when we build on the worst spots, we improve them, raising the energy with our care, but when we build on the best, we destroy the beauty which is already there. This is true of our gardens too.

The worst place on earth, then, could be transformed by this process, but it takes a lot of energy to do so, physical and spiritual. If you've ever tried to work in a wild neglected garden and felt overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to restore the land, that is just a simple energy calculation, your realisation that it will take more than you've got. I've experienced that in my own garden; usually when I was at a low ebb in my own energies. In such a case, the balance has to be changed; enlist some help, tackle only a section or increase your energy levels - some or all of these are possible. If you just tackle it without enough energy, you will be defeated and your efforts wasted. Better to have a smaller space and have enough energy to cope with it, then all the effort you put in will be returned to you many times over.

I have already mentioned that mature trees and water are the natural landscapes that give the highest vibrancy. I have written about these elements elsewhere in my design notes: waters of life, trees and man and forest gardens, plus other articles water's secrets and children and water. The other thing that connects us deeply to the earth is growing food organic vegetable growing. If all matter and life forms are vibrating at differing energy levels, and we can effect those levels, then this must make growing your own veg so much more important. We have noticed that our own organically grown vegetables taste so much better than supermarket-bought organic veg. There are many physical reasons why this may be so: freshness, storage, transport, mass-production techniques (even if organic), seed source and varieties; however, a big part of this must be that you are reaping the energy returns from the energy that you have expended. This interaction with nature says that the more positive energy - love - that you put out, the more you get back.

Build up this energy in your space, through many layers and understanding of intangible elements; your garden space will grow to be rich in energy and meaning, full of connection and spirit, and through it, you will be too. Make yours a garden of the Soul.