The Garden as Sanctuary

A sanctuary is a place where you feel totally safe, like a fort made of pillows or a warm hug. The Garden was the ultimate sanctuary because nothing could hurt you there and you had everything you needed. It represents the peace we all look for when the world gets too loud or scary. When we plant a small garden or clean our rooms, we are trying to make a little piece of that sanctuary for ourselves. It reminds us that we deserve to have a place where we can just be without worrying.

A golden light surrounds you like a bubble. Nothing bad can get through. That is the garden. It is not a place. It is a feeling. And you can build it anywhere you stand.

The Garden is the Temenos — sacred precinct where mundane laws are suspended. The Hortus Conclusus symbolizes purity of the soul and the protected state. The loss of the physical garden necessitates interiorization of sanctuary. As Milton wrote: 'The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.' The goal: cultivate an internal Eden through spiritual discipline.

SOUND: The gentle glug-glug of a small brook.

SMELL: Freshly cut grass and blooming jasmine.

TASTE: A strawberry perfectly ripe and warm from the sun.

TOUCH: Walking barefoot on soft, cool moss.

SIGHT: Every shade of green you can imagine all at once.

BODY: Sinking into a soft, comfortable chair: the body arriving home.

Music: Crow by Bear's Den

Music: Break on Through by The Doors

Part of The Garden & Paradise Lost — MYTHOLOGY — Education Revelation