The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2017
The Power in a Garden
Keep a Green Witch Garden
Walking the Green Path
THE GARDEN IS AN IMPORTANT element of the green witch’s practice. Working with nature does not always mean immersing yourself in the great outdoors. As many modern green witches are discovering, both out of necessity and in their desire to adapt to the needs of the modern world, there are many other methods of interacting with nature’s energy. Creative solutions are required in urban areas. This chapter looks at how the concept of the garden functions in the modern, urban green witch’s reality.
The wilderness is not the antithesis of civilization. The two are environmental extremes that complement each other. People require a secure environment in order to function well, and so over the millennia we have carved out sections of the wilderness and organized them. The city is not evil, and the wilderness is not automatically good. Because the modern urban green witch understands this, part of her calling involves bridging the gap between “wild” and “civilized.”
There will always be some products you will not be able to grow where you live. Not many people in North America, for example, can grow cinnamon. You don’t have to break your back and your budget trying to forge a personal energetic connection with highly exotic plants that won’t grow where you live. Do what you can, when you can. Growing plants whose energy you can work with offers you a more than adequate opportunity for a deeper dialogue experience and interaction with nature.
The Power in a Garden
The practice of green witchcraft is innately tied to the agricultural cycle, which dictated the rhythm of the lives of our ancestors. The agricultural societies of yesteryear focused on the seasonal changes of soil and crops. Witchcraft’s concern with fertility, sowing, tending, and reaping (metaphorically and otherwise) is rooted in that agricultural tradition.
It thus makes a certain kind of sense that the green witch has a strong spiritual and personal connection to nature and the land. The connection to nature is also a practical one. The witch’s garden provides a ready source of food as well as components of spells and ingredients for various remedies.
By working with a garden, indoors or out, the green witch is interacting with nature on a personal basis. Hands-on practice offers you the opportunity to physically feel your connection to nature. It gives you the simple pleasure of working in harmony with the natural cycle.
Working with a garden of any kind also allows you to meditate on the concept of harmony and balance in a completely different way. There is a very real give-and-take of energy involved in tending a garden. The time and care you put into maintaining the garden is directly reflected in the garden’s health and what you harvest. Like a person, a garden is also in a constant state of change. Just as you solve one problem in your life and another pops up, what you do to tend your garden one week may be different from what you do the next week. The sun may beat down without mercy for weeks, drying your precious plants to a crisp, only to be followed by a monsoon-like week of pouring rain that nearly drowns what you’ve managed to salvage. Working with a garden is a continuous lesson in patience, acceptance, and recognition that nature functions as an independent system that operates no matter what we humans do.
THE HARVEST FROM THE GREEN WITCH’S GARDEN
Are herbs you buy less powerful than those you grow? Are the spices you use off your kitchen shelf any less powerful than those from your garden? It depends on who you ask. Hands-on work allows a green witch to understand the energy and power of a plant from seed to dried form. However, even the ground spices on your spice rack originally came from a natural source. Being practical, the green witch uses what she has on hand. You don’t have to harvest the plant yourself in order to use its energy. You can reach out and touch the energy of the herb and make a personal connection with purchased herbs. If you want something that isn’t local, you can buy it from an herbalist, a metaphysical supply shop, or online. If you buy herbs from one of these sources, however, be sure to use them only for magical purposes; don’t be tempted to make tea unless the purchased herb is certified as being safe for internal consumption.
A gardening climate zone map can be an immense help to you as you plan your garden. Climate zones are determined by maximum and minimum temperatures, which in turn determine what plants can thrive in the area. You can see the USDA National Plant Hardiness Zone Map on the United States National Arboretum web page, the introduction to which can be found at: www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/index.html.
As for fresh versus dried, the energy is similar, though in different forms. Think of the energy of a live plant as running water, whereas the dried herb’s energy might be like the water in a cup. As long as the plant is alive, its energy flows. Once harvested, the energy of the plant is like water caught in a container. It continues being water, and it has the energy of the water, but the energy is still instead of flowing. What you need to do with the energy of a plant or herb and where and how you need to do your work will help you determine whether to use fresh or dried. Using fresh plant matter in a sachet, for example, isn’t a good idea because the fresh leaves will mold and rot.