Some science behind the scenes
Sacred geography - gardens
Gardens are symbolic.
On a personal level, the garden represents the Soul. It is the symbol of the combination of the Conscious self and the Subconscious self. We can see it in visions, but the gardens we ourselves create also say a lot about our state of mind – so the spiritual and physical are both very telling.
It can represent ‘nature subdued’ or more correctly the subconscious subdued – or it can represent nature used and enhanced – in this case the Subconscious has not been suppressed, but given an equal place – the beauty in nature is brought out.
But larger gardens can also be used to display a whole range of spiritual truths and symbols. They can include statues, lakes, ponds, hills, trees, castles and moats, islands, fountains, springs and so on - every one a symbolic object and every one capable of being used to learn about the spiritual world.
Many of the larger Stately homes in the UK were laid out in this way, as were the royal gardens in France. The Persian gardens were once a wonderful array of beauty and symbolic content, there are some beautiful gardens in Spain that are also laid out on symbolic lines - I have provided some examples to show this.
India, of course, was also blessed at one time with gardens of quite exquisite beauty, immensely symbolic, even the animals in them were specifically chosen for their symbolic value. Japanese gardens are extraordinary in their designs and symbolism.
And so we could go on, China, other countries in Europe, at one time the symbolism behind features was known and incorporated.
They were a mechanism of preserving spiritual truths and also teaching people about them - and what could be a more pleasant way of learning about the symbolism of the spiritual world than walking round a beautiful garden spiritual guide book in hand [I suppose it would be an i-pad these days!] learning about what the flower, trees and features symbolism means.
The photos I have included are of Chatsworth in Derbyshire. This vast garden incorporates just about every symbol, but the present Duke and Duchess of Devonshire have also added some extra statues of their own choosing - all of which have interesting symbolic content.
Observations
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- Ancient Egyptian - The Paradise gardens and their symbolism
- Babylon
- Babylon - The Hanging Gardens
- Babylon - The Temple of Ésagila
- Babylon - The Ziggurat of Etemanki 01
- Babylon - The Ziggurat of Etemanki 02
- Babylon - The Ziggurat of Etemanki 03
- Bayard Taylor - Poems of the Orient – Nubia
- Cornwall - Saint Michael's Mount
- Delos - 03 The sacred geographical features
- Emil Gustav Hirsch - Groves, Gardens, Henges and sacred trees
- Eridu
- Evelyn Lip - Chinese Geomancy
- Father Bernabe Cobo - Inca Religion and Customs - Titicaca Temple of Sun and Moon 1
- Father Bernabe Cobo - Inca Religion and Customs - Titicaca Temple of the Sun and Moon 2
- Gaudi - Professional work - 11 The Artigas Gardens
- Glastonbury
- Glastonbury Tor
- Hernan Cortes - Aztecs and Mexica - The view from Tlatelolco
- Incas - Macchu Picchu
- Japanese islands
- Jardin Majorelle
- John Michell - The View over Atlantic – The sacred geography of China
- Karnataka and South India - 03 Airavatesvara Temple
- Karnataka and South India - 04 Bhoga Nandeeshwara and Arunachaleswara Temples
- Karnataka and South India - 05 Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur
- Karnataka and South India - 06 Ekambareswarar Temple
- Karnataka and South India - 07 Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple
- Kish - The Kish archaeological site
- Lagash
- Lagash - Sacred geography
- Lake Maggiore - Borromee
- Larsa - And the Great Hymn to Shamash
- Mesopotamian - Means of achieving spiritual experience 09 Creating a sacred geography
- Nineveh
- Nineveh - Jonah prophecies the destruction of the city
- Norse - Jelling
- Palenque - Mayan - Overview
- Palenque - Mayan - Pyramids and ball courts
- Paris
- Persepolis - And its sacred geography 01 The Mountain
- Persepolis - And its sacred geography 02 Surroundings and cosmic egg
- Persepolis - And its sacred geography 05 Stairs and ladders
- Persian gardens
- Sacred geography - Ancient Egyptian - Rivers and streams
- Sacred geography - Ancient Egyptian - Temples with pronaos
- Sacred geography – Picts – Citadels 02 – Callanish
- Sacred geography – Picts – Mark stones
- Schuré - The Great Initiates – 01 Reconstruction of an Initiation ceremony
- Susa
- Susa - The meeting place for mystic systems
- Taq Bostan 01
- Temple Mount
- Tepe Ecbatana
- Tepe Kangavar
- Tepe Pasargadae
- Tepe Sialk
- Tepe Tureng
- The Ancestors - Avebury World Heritage site - Marlborough Mound
- The gardens of Iran
- The Sacred geography of the Amazon basin
- Tikal - Mayan - Overview
- Uluru
- Ur
- Uruk
- Uruk - The Anu ziggurat
- Uruk – The Anu district of Kulaba
- Uruk – The Eanna district of Uruk
- Vatican
- Vatican - St Peters square
- Vatican - Vatican city gardens
- W.Y. Evans-Wentz - The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries - The Pyramids as the site of the Mysteries
- Ziggurat of Dur-Kurigalzu
- Zoroastrian - Means of achieving spiritual experience - 12 Creating a sacred geography