Isn’t it a funny thing how time goes so rapidly? Events from years ago can seem as though they occurred only yesterday. All these different milestones in life all wrapped together like a ball of string. Time, such an illusory and emotive dynamic in our lives and yet we are shaped so boldly by it.
All the refurbishment in my home has percolated to the surface. Memories and thoughts that have lain dormant for a while are now demanding attention. Memories, like rows of soldiers waiting for inspection and presenting arms, ready to take action in the field of the imaginal realms of nostalgia.
I have found that when one moves home, starts a new job, or (as in my case) revamps their personal environment, it heralds the beginning of a new cycle.
A brand new chapter is about to unfold, bursting forth from the depths of the unconscious into the bright light of the conscious world.
I have dreamed of Ottoman style gardens of grandeur with rose bowers and tulips, tortoises with candles on their shell wandering through a nighttime foliage.
I don’t possess green fingers, but how I wish I did!
Over the years I have done my best to keep the garden lovely and each spring I have attempted to pay homage and gratitude to my personal place of natural beauty by planting pretty flowers and placing ornaments in strategically eye catching areas. This has not been easy as I have ham bones for fingers when it comes to re-potting!
There have been times when I have been at a total loss as to what to do to remedy a problem in the garden and not all that I have put in the ground has survived. Vegetables and flowers alike have all gone and done their own thing (a bit like the rest of the family)…only to turn to back to the Earth and never to return.
To sort this out I asked the Elementals to help.
In my garden I have two very ancient elderberry trees. Elderberry in Celtic tradition is often associated with the Sorceress and Seer, a fact which delights me as I am their Guardian. I also have an upright willow called Leonora who, in the summer months when she is in her full glory, will attempt to come in the house.
My garden so full of magic…yet I don’t always remember.
Occasionally I am aware that the Elementals inhabit my garden. I can feel that Faerie consciousness. When I have neglected the garden I can hear them whispering in my ear, touching my spirit, asking for compassion. These moments require total honesty. I have had to reply to these magnificent beings that I am unable to do much. So, feeling inspired, I handed back to the Elementals a patch of ground, suggesting that they plant something appropriate. Guess what? They did!
At first it might be one plant like a gladioli or an iris. Then over time came marigolds, margaritas and several herbs. The real magic was where they were placed….nearly always in a part of the garden that was a bit dreary or unkempt. I learnt that the garden is a living entity; it hears you, it resonates with your thoughts and must be treated with respect and love.
In January 2001 my Mother passed to the World of Light. I am forever grateful that I was able to say goodbye to her and also to witness the glory of the violet flame released through the Crown centre, a slow emptying of the vital life force, the Spirit. Her passing was the end of an era and also her suffering. My Mother was a keen gardener, a trait that seemingly did not rub off on me like so many of the other skills mum possessed (such as sewing and knitting…she would say that I had a hot needle, burnt thread!)
Each season would find an array of gorgeous colour and scent. I so enjoyed her garden. It was peaceful and calm and kind.
The winter months were no exception. Her favourite winter flower was the snowdrop. This humble little plant made stunning even the most difficult of rockeries or corners. My Mother adored this plant. I think it was because it represented humility. She saw the snowdrop as a metaphor, that even the most simple and understated can be a thing of great beauty and accomplishment.
My kitchen window looks out of my garden. I derive great pleasure from watching the birds dance in Leonora’s hair.
February, 2002. I was gazing out of my window, surveying a bleak and empty terrain. It was cold. Something caught my eye. There in a random spot grew a single clump of snowdrops. I had not planted them and they were not there the previous year. I knew it was my Mother’s hand that had placed them there for me to see. I was spell bound…a miracle had occurred. I was euphoric.
Each year they reappeared, at the same time and in the same place and it was always a single cluster of snowdrops.
I was and still am so happy to receive this fabulous indication from Spirit. It re-enforced my belief, a belief that I have shared many times in my work, that love never dies, relationships continue after a passing and that everything we see can be a gesture from those that we love who have gone before.
The arrival of the fishpond may have changed all that. It might cover the patch where the flowers appear. Maybe it is the season for change. By our hands we create our own fortune, facilitate our own cycles.
I have a feeling that they will re-appear. My Mother will like what we are doing to our space. I also have a sense that something else will be added, something else equally as awesome and inspiring to add to the beauty. I wait patiently. I trust in the magic of all that is. I know that everything is exactly as it should be.
Do you also trust?
Do you also know that everything is just perfect?
