When I visited it for the time, I knew there was something special about the property, but I didn’t know exactly what it was. I’d been searching for my first home for a few years, and seen dozens of properties, but none of them gave me the comforting and familiar feeling of home that this place did.
Despite being a barren wasteland of grass, punctuated by a decrepit washing line and piles of rubbish left behind by the previous owners, there was something about the land that inspired me. I could clearly see it’s potential and I knew this was THE place I had been searching for all these years!!! It was hard not to give away my excitement.
Ah, but there was a problem, it was well out of our price range. Our real estate agent urged my partner and I to put forward our best offer, which we did. Long story short, our offer was flatly rejected, but thanks to the global stock market crash, the vendors called back a day later and accepted our offer. It was Divine Timing.
My life changed dramatically in the first seven years of living there. I gave birth to a baby girl, I started my own company, survived a heart attack, a burglary, a relationship breakdown and a prolonged, messy separation. Through all the turmoil, the backyard became my retreat sanctuary and gardening became my therapy.
I naturally gravitated to a spot where I felt most at ease and drank my cup of tea, while I fantasised about transforming the garden… and my life. It was fun to let my imagination run wild. Back then I knew next to nothing about gardening, and many of my experiments were failures, but I didn’t let that stop me. My creative desire to turn the ugly lawn into something beautiful kept me thinking positively and trying new things.
As the garden transformed, so did I. I went from being a sad, burned-out photographer into a healthy energy therapist with a renewed thirst for life, and a passion for garden design. Was it this place that had been the catalyst for the sudden shifts? I believe that had a lot to do with it. The land held a secret that would reveal itself to me a few years later…
As part of my learning journey as a Biofield Tuning Practitioner, I developed my skills as a dowser and through that became fascinated with geomancy - the art of reading the energy of Mother Earth. I learned there are many similarities between Her energy system and our human biofields, and I came to see Her as our indigenous cultures do - as a living being.
Curious to know if there were any underground water pipes, or streams under our property pipes I made some dowsing rods and went hunting. Sure enough, I found where the water mains were and some old pipes, but I also found something else… an energy vortex! I was thrilled.
An Earth energy vortex is like a human chakra, a place where energy spirals in and out. My pendulum revealed this vortex has a predominantly anti-clockwise spin, which is typically classified as ‘female’, which pulls energy towards the ground. No wonder this place made me feel more grounded and anchored in my body.
I shared this exciting news with my new partner who (like me) had become ‘green thumbed.’ We marked the centre of the vortex with a wooden stake and from then on designed the rest of the garden around it. The ideas for the circle changed dramatically over the years. My partner wanted to plant a tree in the centre, but I thought some sort or meditation space was more fitting.
I was researching garden temples and sacred geometry when I came across the work of Freddy Silva whose temple making videos proved very helpful. That was how I decided on the pentagonal geometry and orientation of the structure we would build there.
During its construction there were many visitors who thought we had gone completely mad, and I guess I couldn’t blame them. Who builds a pentagonal temple in their backyard these days? Now that the garden temple is almost completed, visitors can see our vision more clearly and understand why we were so passionate about our creation.
FEATURES OF OUR GARDEN TEMPLE DESIGN
The slope of our section presented a few challenges for designing the temple and I had to make some compromises to my original idea. But fortunately, those same challenges ended up improving the design and made it more unique.
For example, instead of there being just one entrance, there are two, one which faces East on the outer circle and the other one faces West on the inner circle. Both are located on a natural boundary line created by the vortex’s energy field. These two entrances are designed as moments to pause and become aware of the subtle changes of energy as you cross the threshold of these two energy field boundaries.
Schist stepping stones lead you from the first entrance around the circle to the second entrance, a feature that is designed to slow your walking rhythm down and allow your body to down-regulate from the Beta brain wave state to Alpha, which is the rest, digest, and regenerate (meditative) state. The sparkling mica in the schist not only looks pretty, it also facilitates improved grounding and static discharge when you walk on them with bare feet. This helps recalibrate your own magnetic field.
The planting is designed to make the whole temple blend into the landscape and hide features until you are up close to them. The plant colour scheme is purple, pink, white and silver, which resonate with the higher chakras of the 3rd eye and Crown and are colours that invoke a tranquil quality.
The fusion of colours, textures, fragrances of the plants, combined with the pleasant sounds of water, birds and bees heightens your senses and reconnects you with Mother Nature. It also helps bring your awareness into the present moment. The variety of medicinal herbs growing in the outer circle provides an opportunity to explore plant medicine through the creation of incense, essential oils, smudging sticks and (my favourite) herbal teas.
The wooden bench seat by the entrance to the inner circle provides an opportunity to sit and contemplate the beauty of the surroundings, and (when in season) munch on an apple from the overhead branches of the apple tree.
As you enter the inner sanctum you notice the sloping hillside has been carved away to create a circular area whose pebble floor is level. The tall wooden pillars, plants and retaining wall surrounding the circle help create a womb-like ‘room’. The retaining block work’s rough texture is softened by the delicate foliage and flowers of a cascading native groundcover. In the centre of the inner circle is stone with a spiral design on it which marks the centre of the vortex.
Each of the five wooden pillars represents one of the five elemental forces of Nature: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Aether. Earth’s energy grid and her signature frequency are also pentagonal in geometry. What better tribute to Mother Earth?
SOME OF THE MANY BENEFITS OF A GARDEN TEMPLE
A place to ground yourself and reconnect with Nature.
A sanctuary in which to slow down and listen to your body.
A place to unplug and escape from manmade EMFs (electromagnetic fields) and wifi frequencies
A place to detox and recalibrate.
A place to facilitate healing for the body, mind and spirit.
Be a sacred place where you can connect with Source and unlock the wisdom of the Higher Self.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN GARDEN TEMPLE
A garden temple doesn’t have to be big or fancy to give you these benefits. You can make a simple one with a stick, string and some strategically placed stones.
Choose a spot in the garden that makes you feel relaxed and at ease, or you can dowse with a pendulum and rods to find the best spot.
Place a peg or stick at the epicentre of your chosen spot and run out a string line from it so you can mark out a circle around it.
Choose which direction you would like to enter your temple from and mark the entrance with two stones either side.
Choose the geometry you would like to be the ‘frequency signature’ of the temple and place your stones at the apex of those geometric points.
With the correct techniques, it is possible to open up a vortex inside your temple so you can benefit from the inspiration, wisdom and healing its energy provides.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. I hope it has been informative and inspires you to give creating your own garden temple a go.
If you would like to experience our garden temple vortex, I warmly invite you to come along to one of our Sister Circle Group Sessions for Women, or my next Studio Level 4 dowsing class.
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