Spring Brings Wild Garden Blessings

Alas, Nature reawakens. Day triumphs over night. The buds that had slept so tightly sealed all winter are beginning to open. Birds are chatting, squabbling, searching for mates. The ever-nervous squirrels have an extra pep in their step. And I too feel a quickening in my body. A readiness. An urge to… spring into action!

At Sunday’s Wild Wombing Day Garden Blessing, I set the intention to clear away self-doubt and bring into my life a fresh perspective—“new eyes,” so to speak, as per one of my favorite quotes by Marcel Proust:

The true voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.

So much – perhaps everything – is a matter of perception. Self-image, our sense of identity and purpose, how we respond to circumstances, all depend on the lens we are using. When we look at the beauty and bounty of nature, when we realize the amazing potential of our own life’s seeds and nurture them lovingly, when we close our eyes and look within to find that eternal divine universal spark, our experiences and expressions change for the better. We blossom. We shine as brightly as stars.

Through the looking glass of nature, I feel, we can find our way back to the wonderland of our mind-body-spirits. In that space, we can do anything – and anything is possible. And after we’ve rediscovered that fountain of blessings within ourselves, we can spread the wealth!

First sending our positive energies to the Be Wild herb garden plots with chants, sage smoke, sound, and Amma water, we extended our blessing to all of the Walt Shamel Community Garden. Appointed as Water Bearer, I sprinkled the garden and anointed each woman in the circle. Giddy with joy in this simple act, I felt like a nymph prancing through the garden with a gift of sparkling cider for the soil and early-sprouting plants. Perhaps I was channeling Hebe, the youthful cupbearer who served ambrosia at the feasts of the Greek gods.

Then came time for us to get our hands dirty in our healing herb plots – turning the soil for aeration, clearing out rocks and weeds, mixing in fresh garden compost. We could see how much of the soil had regained good health by the rich brownness and feel of it; we could just as easily see which spaces need more nourishment and time to heal.

There was one patch of soil that had previously been left idle. Working diligently with hand-rake and spade to integrate it into the garden, I was filled with an unexpectedly deep sense of connection to that tiny bit of land. So I’ve unofficially adopted it, and will make sure it gets the TLC it needs!

In just a short time, this wild woman gathering recalled feelings from last year’s Wild Wombing Day. I felt completely present, cheerful, connected—to both the women in our circle and to the Earth. At the close of our circle, I read the following poem by Rosario Murillo, who is the First Lady of Nicaragua, a Sandinista revolutionary, a poet, and definitely a wild woman:

I’m going to plant a heart in the earth
water it with love from a vein
I’m going to praise it with the push of muscle
and care for it in the sound of all dimensions.
I’m going to leave a heart in the earth
so it may grow and flower
a heart that throbs with longing
that adores everything green
that will be strength and nourishment for birds
that will be the sap of plants and mountains.

What will you plant this Spring? What beautiful flowers will bloom in the garden of your life? With whom will you share and enjoy the fruits?

hugs&love~
Noelle V.