Druid in the Garden

Druid in the Garden - Samhain 2010

by Aauriane Veleda

Hearth of the Sacred Ways Grove

Greetings my fellow travelers - how fairs your journey? MIne - well it took a few turns I never even thought of taking and as a result - I am taught yet another lesson in the garden!

This has been a hot but relatively shorter summer than last - not near as hot but just as extreme. I think in many ways I was able to miss the "misery" of such a time which for me is the worst time of the year due to my natural earth and water energy - the air of summer is too much for my blood - at least where I am living now - take me further north and the air of summer isn't so extreme and I love it - but I can't handle their earth and water times then :) SO for me - a job change brought on my "missing" the outside energies of air and summer. TO me where I am - summer is pure air - light and flighty - spring brings the fire of renewal :) Fall begins to fall into water and winter is earth deeply bound - ah my favorite times! Down here anyway - I am lucky I can garden year round except in summer and then still but selectively and carefully.

New career paths take you on roller coasters sometimes. Yep you got it - this isn't a gardening blog - its a life connection run :) When i first changed to my current job as a full time nursing instructor - I got so much time for myself by the change - I got to garden and rest and read and craft again - and boy did I need that time! I was renewed and invigorated. Now I have stepped into the next role up - I am not the director of this same program - but I was thrown in feet first and indoctrinated by fire. My life has gone on the back burner and so has my garden - literally. I look outside the windows of myself and I see the grass is over 4 feet tall in the beds and not pretty flowering but still there. SO too has the life inside of me - no time for the gardens both inside my spiritual soul and the gardens in my yard. My life is reflected in what is happening around me. As within - so without! I was forced to stop and step back - I became fatigued and exhausted, got so sick I have recently almost been hospitalized - forced to slow down. And now the job is beginning to shift into something I can handle - something I can begin to mold into a life for me - separating my work and my home - myself from my job. I am not my job - but I am what I do. I nurture and give - on many levels and plains. But was giving nothing ot myself. I must reclaim my inner gardens and as I find that returning sense of renewal - I find my outer life is also slowing and steadying out as well.

SO think on this - how does your inner life become reflected on your outer life? have you ever thought of it? How do you relate to it now? YOurs may not be a garden or herb bed as mine are. My gardens encompass life, food, herbs and crafting - they connect everything together for me. What is your connector for your life? What holds your glue together? When is the last time you tended your garden - internally and externally?

Take a moment and look at your life - what reflects you? Your home? Children? Spouse? Fights at home? Hectic at work? Have you ever noticed when things are going well everywhere - what seems to pop out at you as something you are really enjoying having but never seem to get enough of to qualify it as activating or touching your daily life? And no you can't say vacation or not working - but sometimes that 15 minutes of daily meditation can make a huge difference - tending a small set of garden plots or plants, sewing, reading, soaking in the tub, walking, turning off the radio and listening to a good book on your Ipod or mp3 player instead of the harassing jar of advertisements trying to sell you something else you don't need, but they make you believe you want.... etc. Do you see what I mean? Can you find it for yourself? If you can't see it clearly but have idea's - start watching and seeing where you think it might be taking you. Try it on, feel it out. It won't be noted in 1 day alone. It takes over 30 days in a row for something to become a habit. If you have to work at it and find no joy in it - then it isn't meant to be that thing you are trying to make it. This tending should be freeing and relaxing - invigorating and renewing.

Think on this on the time of renewal and new beginnings - how can this impact your year to come? Can you set new goals? What will they be? How will you become more aware of your gardens?

MY gardens - both living and inner world living - are slowly coming into focus. I have realized I have been way too structured in trying to form up my new home and land to get there to where I thought they should be - I bit off more than I could chew. SO now I am maintaining what I worked to cut out, but now I am working to begin filling in and naturalizing those same area's bit by bit - a bit less structured than originally intended - informal if you will. We shall see how it goes. Trees to be bought and espaliered and create a living fence - berries ready to plant and arbors to build. New ideas and new challenges - but at the same time - I am reconnecting to my inner garden and realizing I had lost my ritual and inner meditation and more. I now reclaim that part of me I had put aside. WHo say's you can't have your inner life at the same time as your outer life - I am and I am happier doing so. Let go of what no longer works and hold onto what does :)

I am also contemplating making a blog about these sharings and thoughts and perhaps posting herbal lessons and gardening tips. If you would be interested in seeing something like that give me an email at Aauriane@aol.com. I hope you like these post - they are near and dear to my heart and give me a chance to share my own views and thoughts. Use what works for you and leave the rest :)

Blessings from the Groves!

Aauriane Veleda

About the Author: Aauriane Veleda is Priestess Hierophant and founder of Garden of Sacred Wells Lyceum and Seekers of Sacred Wisdom Iseum. She is Grand Dame Commander of the Green Ways of the World Tree Priory and ArchDruidess of the Hearth of the Sacred Ways Grove. She currently lives in Central Florida with her husband and one fur child, a kitty called Kerridwen. In addition to the FOI, she is an active member of the Henge of Keltria, a Druid Companion of the OBOD, trained Celtic Shaman, Gythia and Seidhmather. Her personal work is focused on Irish and Scottish Druidry with its Avalonian connections through Kildare and the connections to Northern Ways (Norse). She is a full time Nursing Instructor, Master Herbalist, Naturopath and Reiki Master/Teacher. Aauriane is a member of the ArchDruid Union of the Fellowship of Isis.