Friday 1 April 2011

Soul garden


On days like today I have such a deep need to ground myself. I need to be outside: dreaming, designing, pruning, digging the soil, planting. Even inside I want only to prepare my vegetable and herb seeds, to nurture them in growth. I know I can remove myself from the noise of the outside world when I am connecting with my garden, magic happens there.  
For me it has been  a week of extremes - of not being able to see the wood for the trees and then not being able to see the trees, only a vast, dense forest. However, as I sit here today and continue reading Women Who Run with Wolves, these words speaking of the connection with the ancient wild woman,  dance out at me vividly:

“I’m always taken by how deeply women like to dig in the earth. They plant bulbs for the spring. They poke blackened fingers into mucky soil, transplanting sharp smelling tomato plants. I think they are digging down into the two million year old woman. They are looking for her toes and paws. They want her for a present to themselves, for with her they feel of a piece and at peace.... You could even say there is a religion of garden...”

Clarissa Pinkola Estes


In connection with this theme my good friend Lis, of Dandelion Seeds and Dreams, recently wrote about developing her life as a rich English garden; each bed with its individual unique beauty, its own appeal, with its own cycles and rhythms, each with an element of  wildness within a subtle structured layout.  At the heart of her garden she writes, are her core values and priorities. What a beautiful analogy, don’t you think? Please take a look at the whole post here, it is delicious. I have thought about these words often over the last week,whilst stealing a few quiet minutes at the end of a hectic day, and have caught myself smiling. The power of beautiful words :)





3 comments:

Sally H said...

We planted our raised bed today and they were up to their elbows in it - it felt good! I'm not sure all the potatoes went deep enough though!

Barb said...

I'm caught up in the magic of your Forsythia. It will be a long, long time before I'm digging in the dirt, so I'll just have to enjoy the fruits of your labor, Melina

Lis said...

Such beautiful images through you words and photographs! I am itching to get planting, but it is too early here. I love having this peek into your world ... and honestly, I am NOT much of a gardener myself, but I aspire to become one! I have this image of crumbly, dark dirt; misty mornings and gentle spring sunshine ... I think I lived in England in a past life and still haven't reconciled myself to the reality of prairie conditions!

I love those bucket sets? I need to start something growing ... soon! And figure out how to deal with our rabbits which are already as fat and sassy as cats!

Are you in the WWRWTW reading circle over on the goddess group? I am re-reading it again - how fun to be sharing all these inspiring things at the same time! There is so much in that book, I love seeing what people pick out to share. And then there is Jen lee - cannot wait to see how you respond to her new workbook! Amazing, isn't it? All that has happened since Creative Goddess? :)

xo Lis