The steps down into our garden descend steeply- no hand rails! Each terrace is divided in two by their cool, solid stability. Today my work involved cleaning, sweeping, removing weeds and debris from the stairs, and it struck me how strong the metaphor is, of clearing steps, of making the way clear, of allowing energy to flow.
A recent garden in Scotland that I worked intesively on, was based on the chakra system of the human body: a central path connected several circular terraced beds, on a steep north-facing slope. Very similar layout to here in Guardia, though here is a radically different equation to work within! My intuitive methodology, creative (art) practise, and deep-ecology philosophies have built into a strong interest in metaphor; literal and subtle ripples of interconnectedness and influences. Akin to currently fashionable ideas around the law of attraction: the working concept of all things echoing each other- as above, so below. I am writing a book outlining these ideas, and practical ways in which we can improve the cycles of events in our lives- transforming them from negative (or downward) spiralling patterns to upwardly moving ones!
~
Rather an easier climate to work here in Italy than at 1,000 ft deep in the Scottish hinterland, and yet everything requires input, sacrifice, energetic exchange. Here the current focus is on water, managing dust, protecting soil from sun, wind, erosion. Already the ground we have weeded is dry as concrete, and beginning to form a similar consistency! Fortunately this situation will transform now that the water hose is in place! Flow: communication, dialogue, fluidity, nourishment, lubrication, allowing, opening the mind and intuition, extending awareness, becoming more conscious, connected with the intimate flow-of-all-things within this contained space.
The garden structure reminds me of the sacred geometry flow of water in the Glastonbury Chalice Gardens; the Steiner-and-nature-influenced form that is a favourite pattern within permaculture design; strong flow downwards, lapping from one side to the other, and energising on the way. Like the most beautiful burns, falls and pools of the Scottish hillside.
Family and friends are invited over the Easter weekend; we are tidying and preparing the space for their visit, making way for fire and seating, and trying to de-clutter sufficiently that those without an eye for the dream might still see the potential of the place! We chat about our 'phase one' moving into 'phase two' now; the clearing making way for the planting. It is always powerful to mark the movement into a new phase: to acknowledge what has been achieved, what has changed, to rest, and to welcome the next stage as a natural progression.
