Planning to care and steward a garden is a big commitment to the Earth, the Great Cosmic Universe(s) and to ONE's natural habitat..It's saying Yes to life. Yes I care. I am here. It is much like tending a new friendship. One of deep listening, reflection and responding to the pulse of life. Choosing to be more alive, really is the invitation!!!
And...Taking these first few baby steps forward into the world of Sacred Gardening, I am met with my first practical garden challenge….a true opportunity to rise above being too impulsive…to refrain from taking a short cut and jumping ahead..BUT to slow down…WAY DOWN..to touch the pulse of the land…to listen for the heartbeat. To ask what she wants. The feel the aliveness of the land and to be open to the mystery... So, here before my eyes, in my first attempt of garden magic (well maybe not my very first) - awaits one GIGANTIC, DEEP, LARGE plant bed with a vortexing rabbit hole perplexing me as to HOW ON EARTH will I ever fill it up...
This plant bed that awaits has magnificent potential, yet, in this moment, its soil is devoid of any microbes and soil for that matter…I listen..I stare..I ponder..I respond…I breathe…I recoil for a moment. I receive many wonderful reflections from the nature spirits fluttering by among the plants…
I am propelled forward…I REMEMBER... Stepping in, I enter the center of the vortex between order and chaos...... STEP BY STEP…..go step by step...whats the hurry anyway?
Step by step, day by day.. And NOW, after two moon cycles of love, sweet devotion and tending, while growing and deepening…releasing and letting go of what no longer serves…the most amazing beautiful VIBRANT bed is ALIVE and ready for planting... And right in direct alignment with what I hear is to be the biggest BRIGHTEST moon of the year...
All this takes me full circle to that one evening standing in the moonlight, peering into the planter box, sharing enthusiastically with Tyler, my love, my thoughts…by the garden... "I bet in this great challenge, I will grow even more appreciative and gain a deeper connection with the spirit of the plants. More so, than if the bed was waiting for me ready to go."
*Two days following the ceremonial planting of the new seeds in the reflection of the FULL MOON, a fire swept through Ojai. The planter survived and thrived with the sprouting of Sweet Peas...and thats 10 days without water! Amazing!
As for me, and us, the Thomas fire fiercely devoured our home and belongings and set us on our way in a new direction.