Arin Murphy-Hiscock - The Green Witchs Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space

The Green Witchs Garden

Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space

Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Author of The Green Witch

Adams Media

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First Adams Media hardcover edition December 2021

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This book is intended as general information only, and should not be used to diagnose or treat any health condition. In light of the complex, individual, and specific nature of health problems, this book is not intended to replace professional medical advice. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions in this book are intended to supplement, not replace, the advice of a trained medical professional. Consult your physician before adopting any of the suggestions in this book, as well as about any condition that may require diagnosis or medical attention. Consult your physician regarding reliable sources for herbs and oils. The author and publisher disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of this book.

This is for Ron, because, lets face it, youre the green thumb in the family, and this green witch would be sad without you. Thank you for our pretty gardens and for being patient when I send you to the greenhouse with a very specific list.

T HE WAY OF THE GREEN witch is the path of the naturalist, the herbalist, and the healer. As a green witch you work closely with nature and its gifts and strive to build a relationship with the natural world. The act of working hands-on in a garden offers you a deep, rich, and personal connection with the life cycle of plants, which benefits both you and your practice.

For the green witch seeking to have a hand in curating their spiritual interaction with plants literally from the ground up, The Green Witchs Garden provides a basic introduction to gardening while also offering a cross-section of gardening lore, folk traditions, and magic. Inside youll find information about planning your garden (either inside or out), suggestions for what plants may be beneficial, and ways to use your harvest in your magical practice.

Perhaps you havent had the opportunity or inclination to work with living plants before. Its possible that your only interaction has been with plants in their harvested forms, either fresh or dried. If you havent had the chance to work with green growing things in various stages from seed to plant, this book will help you think about how you can approach it. If you have worked with plants before, perhaps you havent approached them from a spiritual direction, and this book can show you how.

Youll find that the experience of interacting with the energy of plants at different points of the life cycle is valuable for you as a green witch. For example, knowing how a seedling differs from a well-established plant gives you insight. Also, observing how the energy of a plant changes as it develops can help you examine ways to use those energies differently and further your practice.

Designed to support a green witchs exploration of creating a garden in any situation or location, The Green Witchs Garden allows you to experience the joy and reverence attached to overseeing life as it germinates, grows, and yields, and how to use the bounty in your magical practice.

F IRST OF ALL , this cant be a step-by-step guide. Growing zones, climates, and geological composition all vary widely across the world. In that sense, this book has to be a bit vague. I can suggest and offer you choices, but ultimately, your decisions will be grounded in the realities of your location. It will also depend on your personal vibe within your practice, meaning that if youre a potions person, telling you to grow tomatoes in your container garden because you can preserve them as sauce isnt going to help you much. This is a much more free-form book than the previous green witch books Ive written. Youll find this one to be less prescriptive and more of a guideline for working intuitively within your own garden, according to your own choices.

Read it for ideas, to fill in your background, to help you have a better idea of where your materials come from. Remember: The most powerful magic you can create comes from you and your connection to your local energies. Work with your land, not against it.

While it can offer valuable spiritual insight and experience to nurture something from seed to healthy plant, this may not be possible for you. Taking an already established plant into your home can be just as beneficial to your practice. (Make sure to purify it; see Chapter 7 for ideas on how to accomplish this.) Not everyone has a green thumb. Thats absolutely fine! Youre not a failure as a green witch if you cant get seeds to start, or if you lose control over the process between germination and a seedling establishing itself securely. (If theres a stage that gives you a lot of trouble, however, meditate on it, and think about where it is in the life cycle of the plant. It may give you insight into your own spiritual insecurities or areas to strengthen in yourself.)

You dont have to have a greenhouse full of vibrant, fertile green things to qualify as a green witch. We all have different areas of strength. You can try growing all sorts of different plants, and you might discover that while you cant keep one kind alive, you do decently well with others. Find what youre best at and work from there.