creating sacred space
well, i like the idea, i guess that's all that should really matter.
an explanation and my thoughts.
Creating Sacred Space
The Reader's Digest version:
The whole idea is to take the basic outline of the jewish tree of life, and create it by planting trees. So => each circle and each pathway will be outlined with trees. Then, once I had planted the tree of life, I was going to embellish the entire area with all kinds of stuff; grottos, flowers, rocks, statues, totem poles, benches, tables, stands, water fountains, etc etc. Each of these little areas would then be dedicated to the elemental essence of a universal quality, like hope, joy, love, well being, compassion, light, life, those sorts of things. And, That's basically it. In my mind, I have always called this "Planting a garden to my patron saints".
The War and Peace version:
We're in the year 2020 right now, and I'm in my sixties. 40 years ago, in my twenties, I picked up a book that talked about the jewish tree of life and meditation. In the beginning of the book, the author suggested that one could imagine themselves inside the circles, walking the pathways, and dwelling on the meaning of existence and other stuff, all while picturing yourself going from point to point inside the tree of life. When I finished reading that paragraph, the first thought that popped into my mind was, why should I have to use my imagination, I could just plant one. Then, I could physically be inside each of the areas, and devote the entirety of my thought process to my personal journey through the tree of life, from top to bottom and back again.
I don't remember actually finishing that book, because I started thinking about, how would I do this? I would want the planted tree of life to last a long time, so I would plant sequoia redwood trees. That would mean finding a piece of land, close enough to the coast, some where in the north west United States, Northern California, Oregon, Washington, or perhaps, British Columbia in Canada. Then I started thinking about how large my garden should be, -> one mile long, two miles long, quarter mile wide, half mile wide? I can leisurely walk a mile in about 30 minutes, so that seemed about right. But then, how large do the circles need to be? How many people could comfortably fit inside a circle without feeling crowded? 100, maybe 200 people? and still maintain one's personal space? and then, there are the angles of the pathways that emanate from the circles, and, do I orient my garden north / south / east / west ?? I do not know. I was just going to figure it all out while I was doing it.
Then I was thinking, how "new age-y" do I want to go? I am trying to create sacred space, so I was hoping, that as I planted each tree, I would put a quartz crystal and a shiva lingam stone in the bottom of each hole. I'm not sure what that might do, but I have always liked that idea. It seems like it would be a good way to link the whole garden together, maintain the energy of the garden, help people connect with the patron saints, and, possibly, come to peace with themselves in ways that they never thought possible.
Then, it's like, what happens when I pass on. So I was hoping to donate my garden to a national or state park system so that it would be looked after for a very long time. But, to do that properly, would also mean setting aside a chunk of money so I would not burden the park system. What would also be a nice touch, if the house I built for myself on that property, could then be easily turned into a visitor center. I saw a TV show that talked about some lake in Canada filled with fallen trees. The trees have been in the lake forever, and are ideally suited for building log homes. That, I thought, would be perfect for a home/visitor center. And, as long as I could get a 3 story tower some how, I would be very happy. What would also make me very happy is a covered porch that wraps around the entire ground floor. Covered porches are just cool.
Then, I started adding up numbers, and, depending on the ultimate size, it could be thousands of redwood saplings, crystals, stones, and holes to dig. There is also staking out the initial design, laying everything out, making sure it all looks correct, And, there is also all of the embellishments that I want to add inside and around my garden, dedicated to the patron saints, the elemental essences of a universal quality, which number in the hundreds. The list I have included is all that I could think of. I am fairly sure there are a lot more, but my tiny brain just could not think of them.
40 years ago, no problem. But now, I just want to nap :)
Anyway, I have always liked this idea. It has stuck around, rattling inside of my head, off and on, over all of these years, and I promised myself that if, by some fluke of nature, I got rich, I would plant one. Well, if you're reading this, I never did get rich enough to plant one for myself. I'm old and tired now. So I am just hoping that some one else likes this idea enough to pursue it and plant a tree of life for all of humanity to use and enjoy. It could be any where in the world with any kind of tree. This is just what I was hoping to do. I have never wanted to profit from this in any manner what so ever. I just wanted to leave the earth and my fellow humans a gift. Thanks for reading! And may peace doggedly follow you.
Misc. note: What I mean by patron saints. There was a point in my life where I was looking for inspiration and help. That's what patron saints are for, right? So I was trying to discover which patron saint would be appropriate for my life's journey. That's when I was struck with the idea of elemental essences of universal qualities, like courage, bravery, love, light, life. Sure, one can draw inspiration and help from which ever god one believes in. But I liked the idea of receiving help and inspiration from the actual elemental essence itself, no middle man involved. So I just adopted them as my patron saints. Now, they're not mine exclusively, I like to think that they could be anyone's patron saints, you just have to talk to them and have an open heart and an open mind. They might answer back, or they might point you to whoever would be most appropriate to your life's journey, one who would understand and be able to give you the guidance and help that is needed during each moment of your life. Something like that, there is no hard and fast rule for this, so one has to keep searching until you find what you need.
Toodles, - Michael Lawrence Joseph Hallsted
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Sunday, September 20, 2020,, is the date this page was created on.
Sunday, September 20, 2020, is the date this page was last updated.