"The garden is the living altar." Please elaborate on this ...
In its entirety, the garden is a living breathing being, an ecosystem, dynamic through its cycles, seasons and rhythms of the moon. When we relate with the garden through the tending of time, in the balance of observation and execution we begin to witness the manifestations of reciprocity. To sow a seed in the altar of living soil that has been amended with sweat, love and resources of intention, is to affirm a dream into reality. For it is the act of tending to our vision that we fortify the realization of a thriving garden. It is the ultimate opportunity to see deeply into ourselves, the way we tend to our sown seeds, reveals the way we tend to our own realities. The garden is an altar because more so than inanimate objects, the electromagnetic field of plants, living soil biota, and the elements all respond to our auras, in frequencies perceptible and dynamic to the naked eye. The garden is a portal to the unseen, to God, to deities and spirits of plants and kin, the garden is a place where the gates of the sacred willingly open to connect, a living breathing altar.
How would you describe your own garden?
My garden feels most appropriately like an extension of my home, a sanctuary of love, peace and nourishment. Carefully and intentionally tended, the soils are rich and fortified with an incredibly diverse reserve of nutrients to support plants in all they may need to grow to their fullest potential. In my garden are specimens I've collected from all over the world, flowers and fruits that spoke to my soul, persuaded me to carry them all the way home and plant them in my garden temple. A collection of relationships, with each tree, shrub and vine there is a story of how I gave it a chance to thrive and how they shared themselves with me. As intimate as my closest relationships, my garden is where I most generously share my love and attention, and tending is more than just an act of caring but an active cultivation of the frequency of love.
What does abundance mean to you?
Mother Earth teaches me all about abundance, forever overflowing with excess, abundance is the nature of the cycles of life. When I tune into the stages of life in the garden I am forever amazed at how one seed grows into a tree, bares thousands of fruit in its lifetime, and likely, millions of seeds, and when this tree dies, it too supplies an abundance of nutrition as it decomposes back into the land, all of which originates from just one seed. The garden shows me that when I harmonize my subtle senses to these cycles of life, when I tend and encourage them, I feel as if I'm plugged directly into the steady stream of nature's opulence. When receiving gifts of bountiful harvests, more than enough for myself, and plentiful to share with others, I remember that the key to abundance is reciprocity, that receiving is as natural as giving. In the cycles of the garden I am connected to a force greater than myself, a force bountiful, beautiful, and oh so abundant.
In the Garden Mentorship you teach people how to grow a bountiful garden and the garden of their hearts. Tell me more about this process and how people can work with you.
As if we were born to do this, tending the earth is a channel of braiding our beings back into the frequencies of mother nature. Sow, grow, reap, eat, compost and repeat is a cycle that weaves us into connection with the Earth feeding our bodies, minds and souls. The Garden Mentorship is a 4 month, full spectrum program designed to support one through the journey of building soil, panting seeds, installing irrigation and all the way through abundant harvests. It's a mentorship supporting one in creating their own "garden as a living temple", with meetings orchestrated in the essence of ritual and a scientific foundation in soil physics, botany and ecology. It is an opportunity to develop one's gardening skills, deepen an understanding in the science of growing abundant harvests, and guidance in fostering a spiritual connection to the land. I offer the Garden Mentorship as a momentum of service to all that nature has shared with me. 15 years ago she planted a seed of inspiration in me and since, I've grown, studied with mentors and practiced year after year. Little did I know that this program would be the fruit I would bear and share with others so that many many more seeds shall be planted in hearts to grow and reproduce in just the same way.
The Garden Mentorship is open for enrollment, and will begin the 4 month journey May 9th