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Creating A Sacred Garden - Part 1
By Kerrie Griffin-Moore
Is there such a thing as a spiritual garden?
It has been said we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
We owe it to ourselves to nurture our spiritual self: to create a sacred space, a special state where we can be attuned with nature, as one with our spiritual self: we need to create a sacred garden!
A sacred garden can be what ever you want or need it to be! It can offer you many benefits, be called many names and can take many different forms.
For some their garden is a setting for their home, simply a functional and aesthetically pleasing place in which to live.
For others their garden is a collection of plants which evoke images and memories of times past: the perfume of jasmine, honeysuckle or wisteria bursting into bloom and bringing back memories of your grandparent's garden, places you have lived in or visited in years gone by.
For me there are childhood memories of playing in a garden full of camellias that seemed like a forest, because they were so big and I was so small. All the elements we associate with the word garden: flowers and foliage texture, colour, form and scent in a garden can foster memories and positive times when you were in touch with your joy and you felt peaceful, free, safe and secure.
As a passionate gardener I have learnt nature is our teacher: it cares for and nurtures us; it teaches us of the cycles of life and how to work with the seasons. We humans like to believe we are the ones that have all the knowledge, that we can control nature.
The real wisdom comes from sitting with, embracing and enhancing those natural elements that bring us peace, and bringing them into our home environment.
Our lives have become busier and for many more stressful, so that quite often time available to tend our gardens is lost in the quest of earning a living. Economics also dictate that blocks of land have become smaller so it is more important than ever that the garden we live in becomes our sanctuary, a place for recreation and reflection, and that outdoor-rooms are functional, aesthetic, pleasing, inviting. . . our sacred spaces.
A sacred garden would include all the elements of earth, wind, water, fire, wood and metal. For some a spiritual garden has a flow of individual rooms that fulfil different aspects of our being.
This may include an outdoor all weather sacred room, providing a space to meditate in, with an altar that has on it a collection of your own special symbols. Another outdoor room may be a secret fairy room for children, filled with flowers and scents for their imaginative and creative play.
Your water room may be for you having a pool/spa or a water feature surrounded by lush evergreen foliage that connects with your bedroom or bathroom.
Fire can be incorporated by having a chimney or wood oven built into your entertaining space, or it may very well be a fire pit with seats all around it - a place to gather for your circle of friends and family.
A productive area of the garden is another aspect of a spiritual garden. Your home and garden can be an expressing of your truth, joy and love that you put into creating it, share and get from being in it! Your garden is an opportunity to express who you are and your values.
Part 2 coming soon.
Kerrie has experience in creating eye-catching urban gardens, exquisite courtyards, a sense of address commercial gardens, as well as expansive gardens in the country. She provides consultation for clients, offering advice, guidance and solutions to their personal gardening requirements. She can create well-designed sanctuary gardens that offer a personal setting for the home that complements and enhances the architecture. A sacred space that is an extension of living areas and requires planning, structure, flow and balancing the practical needs with the desired aesthetics of the individual or family it is intended for, that adds value to your lifestyle and home. Visit her website for more information www.kgmgardendesign.com.au
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