Prayer Gardens

My interest in prayer gardens, specifically Mary Gardens, doesn't come from a background of warm, fuzzy spiritual moments in them. Rather it comes from a childhood curiosity. Raised as a Catholic, my entire experience, post Novus Ordo of course, is of a cold Church. With the notable exception of a few sparkly midnight Masses, all my experiences in the Church were cold and prickly (to use technical terminology). I promptly left the Church as soon as I was living on my own in college.

I recall a college trip visiting a friend, I went for a long walk one morning by a riverside and stumbled across a Mary grotto and garden in the middle of nowhere. The recent decision to break from the church contrasted with that fact that I was moved by some spiritual force at this grotto. Yet I disconnected from the Catholic roots of this handmade shrine. I couldn't make the dots connect.


My catholic experience might have ended there had it not been for John Michael Greer. After reading the Archdruid Report for many years, I dismissed the Well of Galabes as nonsense initially. But in a low period, with nothing to lose, I tried the Sphere of Protection. I recall in a post somewhere that he said when you re-engaged with religion, the religion of your baptism would come back for you (link?). This unleased a series of TSW moments involving Catholicism and particularly, St. Mary. Despite the fact that baptism has kept me on the official membership rolls, I don't know if I identify as Catholic now. I definitely identify as Marian.

And continuing the theme of reconnection, I was surprised to recently become a volunteer helper at a Mary Garden in a Catholic school. A few internet searches later and an entire world of ideas came rushing at me. Mary Gardens were/are a widely practiced act of devotion and prayer with a history of scholarship.

But yet, why were so many Mary Gardens cold, or energetically dead to me, when I, a gardener, plant lover, a follower a St. Mary, should run to them. For those who have read JMG's Encyclopedia of Natural Magic , you might be on to me. My working hypothesis for this blog and my research is that modern Mary Gardens have become disconnected from the natural elements that are representative of the qualities and blessings one would pray to Mary for. They have become, like the post Vatican II Church, disembodied (disemspirited?) from an original purpose.

This hypothesis exists in the larger context of the, perhaps, declining days of the Roman Catholic Church. So my research question beyond my hypothesis is, can Mary Gardens serve as a tool to modern Marian devotion outside of the Catholic Church and can the chosen plants and designs create an effect that furthers devotion and prayer to St. Mary. As JMG once noted (link?) in a blog post, the rosary is the most powerful thing left in the Catholic Church. But why do many of the modern Mary Gardens I see leave me cold?

To be continued...


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