So now I am at the stage of carving out of the huge lawn, the paths for my enchanted garden. I inherited a very angular garden in terms of railway sleepers marking out very narrow plant borders ( see photo), but I always wanted to create circles and spirals which to me represent the Goddess and the flow of nature. As I walk the curves of the path and especially the spiral, I want to facilitate a sense of ‘going within’, of entering a deeper reverie for nature so that I can more easily tune into the nature spirits and the fae. I love the path sweeping around the silver birch tree arriving at the decking by the pond and I hope to under plant the silver birch with snowdrops to reflect the white silvery bark. I also love the spiral path, along which I shall be planting a variety of herbs including some more unusual types like my chilean guava and sechuan pepper. In the center of the spiral I have planted a weeping crab apple tree. I hope that eventually as the garden matures, the taller plants and trees will screen off sections of the garden, so that secret areas will be stumbled upon as one ambles along the paths. All of the plants will be chosen with bees and other pollinators in mind ,co creating with the Genius Loci and the fae.
I created the paths by hiring a turf lifter and then I have turned over the slices of lawn so that the grass dies back into the soil, feeding it and helping to prevent moisture loss, until I can plant it up. Nature hates bare soil and quite rightly all sorts of plants will pop up at the hands of nature spirits!
My original vision was to invite people to my garden to sit in circle and go on shamanic journeys connecting to the spirit of plants, but I have quickly realised that I cannot guarantee the quietness, as my neighbours quite rightly, enjoy their gardens too with their children and grandchildren. So I am going to run a retreat on the 9th to the 11th of September at Hellens manor in Much Marcle UK, where I am going to introduce a deeper reality of nature through shamanic journeying. There is an ancient wood in the grounds and just across the road a Yew tree that is at least 1500 years old.
Another evolutionary spiral from my book is to create a YouTube channel where I will record the shamanic journeys written in the book. I am hoping to set them to a shamanic drum beat which is something I couldn’t do on my instagram ‘lives’ and they will be longer than on instagram too.
To all of you who have bought my book, thank you so much. The intention is to ignite curiosity to make your own connections with the spiritual dimension of nature and all her kingdoms, especially that of her plants and trees and that this deeper understanding ripples out to an ever wider audience so that collectively we can re- enchant our world. Please leave a review on Amazon as this will really help with this.
