Fertilise the garden

I first came across the idea of Devas when reading a book that mentioned the work of the Findhorn Community in Scotland. I was intrigued that a group of people would dedicate their whole lives and lifestyles to the idea of working with the spirits of plants and elementals which governed the form of the physical vegetation. I wanted to know more and so I bought William Bloom’s book on the subject, and read anything else I could discover too, including Marko Pogacnik’s book on Deva forms.

This year we have finally transformed our patch of bare clay soil, with its patches of eternal dampness, into a landscaped concept garden that is in its nascent state. Having spent all of the early Spring digging, moving, turning and tilling the soil, adding conditioner and compost to it, finally it was in a state to accept some plants. The process took days, even though the space was only twenty feet by six.

The concept of the garden was typically druidic. M had given me free reign to design as I saw fit. As the pressure mounted to produce a design I turned to the inspiration of Nature and with a blank sheet of paper a form emerged in the symmetrical rounded rectangle: a quadrant of elemental ideals.

Preparations for growth

In one corner I created a dew pool – a shallow depression which will catch the rainfall and retain it long enough to reflect the nearby magnolia tree. The pool also acts as a moon, filling up like the phases of the moon until full. It is surrounded by dark grasses which are interspersed with star-shaped white flowers. Together this end of the garden forms the moon aspect with the tree as its living balance, it’s reflected beauty.

At the other end is a mound to counteract the shallow hole at the opposite end. This mound has a rockery of local sandstone in the shape of a sun. Inside the rockery we have planted yellow, orange and red primroses which will be in full strength at the start of the year as the sun gains in strength. This will be our inspiration for the approaching summer. The sun rockery is also oriented towards the setting sun in order to catch the last rays of the day which is practically the only full sunlight that this end of the garden ever gets.

To balance the mound and sun I want to eventually erect a small standing stone. This will be in opposition to the tree in terms of providing a vertical counterpoint element, and to the planned ring of white quartz which I wanted to counteract the red ring of sandstone. Of course, with my knowledge of earth energies, I will also encourage the corralling and propagation of earth energies using this stone once it is correctly positioned, set and oriented.

In between these four elements is a sinewing river of slate forming a naturalistic pathway through ornamental grasses on one side, and freshly-sown wild flowers and meadow grasses on the other side. In the centre is a wooden bridge which acts as a division point between the “night” and “day” sides of the garden. All together the forms have come together much better than I could have even envisioned. Something was directing this work because I feel that the end result has been far more than the gentle and hesitant inputs that I put in. Yes, we did the spade work, but something helped make the resulting elements balance so well.

Encouraging your garden’s growth

So, why am I telling you about my new garden? What had this got to do with druidry? Well, I was wondering whether to ask for some form of Deva to visit the garden and take up residence there, except that I didn’t really know whether this was a good idea, or how to go about it exactly. Then I was directed to continue reading the book “Tree: Essence, Spirit and Teacher” by Simon and Sue Lilly. I had been plodding through it for weeks, not really making much progress, but then I opened the book and began reading about Devas, and the idea of using their co-operative force to promote the fertility of your garden. Why, this was exactly the encouragement I needed! I began to think about where and how I could do this.

Coincidentally (is there such a thing) I was due to walk up Snowdon mountain in North Wales the next day. Could this provide the spirit that I was trying to find? Might it also provide me with some white quartz for the “moon” I was creating in the garden? I waited until I reached the top to ask that question. Amid a howling gale I got my answer from the spirit of the mountain. Yr Wyddfa (to give it its Welsh name) was a combination of all the elements, but it was particularly strong in Earth and Air elements. It would help me find a white stone, and also offer a spirit to come work with my garden. But there was a return price. I would have to ask genuinely for this spirit to help, and I would have to offer the mountain a genuine story of my worth to “prove my credentials” as it were. As I walked down the mountain I told the wind the story of my meeting with Nimue, the Lady of the Lake at Bala. I recounted the tests she had put me through, and then exhibited the Sword and Shield that I had obtained on my travels so far this year. With each step the story was trodden into the mountain, and this was my gift.

Somehow I took a wrong turn on my way down. I hadn’t seen a single white quartz that would be of the right size and purity on the way up, but now I was being taken down the Pyg Track instead of the Miner’s Trail. This track was much more rugged and rock-strewn. Just as I finished my story I spotted a white rock on its own just to one side of the path. It was of perfect size. It was pure white. I asked the mountain if it was alright for me to take this stone to use in the garden, and I waited for a response  An icy gust of wind blew in my ear and made me clutch the stone as I hunched up. It felt right, so I carried it down the rest of the track.

As I walked I opened my heart centre up in order to do some emotive communication. I put the call out for any gnome or earth spirit that wished to come with me in this stone to look after my new garden. I explained who I was and why I was asking for this, and promised that the garden would be well-tended and loved, and that it would be a perfect home for any Deva spirit to adopt.

When I got home I dowsed the stone. I had placed it in the garden and now I dowsed for whether I had been successful. Yes, the rods confirmed that a spirit was in the stone but it had not been “released” or activated yet. I had to provide a trigger for it to be released into the garden. I lit some incense and sent out the thought that I wanted the spirit to adopt the garden, and to promote the growth of the plants.

Something happened. In my head the name “Pantaak” appeared. When I asked it to identify where it had come from it showed me a picture of Snowdon’s slopes. Next I dowsed to see whether the fertility of the plants would be affected by the spirit’s presence. How much would their growth be affected, I asked the dowsing rods. After a day it was already registering a 40% increase in fertility potential. I asked if that would increase if the spirit was given energy, and the answer was “Yes”. The intuitive extra to that was “…if you believe in the spirit.” I see. So, by encouraging the spirit through belief I was also giving it the energy to increase the growth potential of the garden? Interesting. Let’s see how that pans out because the seeds have been in the soil for three weeks and nothing had happened yet. Let’s see how they come through in the near future.

I asked for more information from the Deva about the kinds of activities it would do. The information I got back was that it would encourage growth, right form, and could ensure a delightful harmony between the various species which would result in a nice composition and healthy competition between the plants, instead of any plant trying to dominate another species. Well, I will post the results of this experiment once the garden gets to its full potential later in the year.

For now I’ll let you imagine how the garden might look. Think happy thoughts. Give the Snowdon gnome some of your good will!