Gardening as Sacred Prayer, Sacred Dance

[imported from my old blog]

I came across this lovely article about the priest and priestess path that speaks perfectly to the work I do as a gardener and writer. It’s found on the site Institute for Circlework . Jalaja Bonheim, Ph.D. includes an excerpt from her conversation with guides:

“For thousands upon thousands of years, we have all joined in the one practice of performing ordinary worldly acts as worship. When we pull a baby into the light of the world, it is worship. When we cradle a dying man in our arms, guiding his spirit into the embrace of spirit, it is worship. When we sweep the floor, it is worship. It is worship when we dance, when we sing, when we light the candles. Weeding the herb garden, resolving disputes, cooking rice—all these things and a million more we have practiced, always searching for the light of the Beloved within each moment, always questioning—is it here? Yes, it is. And here? Yes, here too… And here… And here… So that now, we can say to you with complete assurance that there is nowhere where Spirit is not to be found.”

This is why I believe gardening can heal the world. When we slow down enough to sow seeds, water a plant, watch it grow, and harvest our own co-creation, we participate in the Great Love. We begin to see that Force in ourselves. We understand that we depend on the sacred earth for all we do. Gardening becomes a prayer and a rite, both mundane and sacred.

As you plan your garden during these cold winter days, consider the sacred work you do now as a planner and will do this spring as a priestess of the earth.

For more on the process of planning your garden as a sacred process, check out Sacred Land: Intuitive Gardening for Personal, Political, & Environmental Change (Llewellyn, 2007) by Clea Danaan.