For most of this year I’ve been working my way deeper into the woods,
becoming more familiar with secret places. I usually clear paths and planting
spots by hand or with a bow saw. I’ve laid down a short walking trail from the
labyrinth in the west to a shrine under the cedars in the east. After leaf-fall
I can glimpse the road from one or two places on the trail. From April through
October, my network of shade gardens and tiny altars is completely hidden.
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| In the labyrinth |
Last week the local power company came through with chainsaws and a
mulcher to replace a precarious electric pole. Now there is space for a couple
more parking places along the driveway and a clear corridor under the power
line from the herb garden to the road. The guys were aware that I might be
emotionally invested in my trees. They offered me a sensible choice of places
to cut. They cleared a narrow swath about fifty yards long in less than an hour.
 |
| Under the power line |
I go deep into the woods to draw from hidden sources of power and
strength. Suddenly I’m facing a new direction, opening spaces that were not
there before. I will continue the inner work: private contemplation, secret
gardening. But now I’ll turn my attention outward as well. From the secluded
places of power I’ve already found, I will connect with the wider
world. The webs and knots of energy I’ve drawn among the trees and underbrush
will flow into the corridor under the power line.
 |
| Colchicum with Pan |
My woods are part of Gaia’s
woods, burgeoning with
zoë, infinite potential
life. The power spots I’ve nurtured tap into the source of indestructible life
in its myriad forms, the
bios of
Dionysus. My labyrinth is linked to a medicine wheel in the wetlands twenty
miles away. My cedar shrine faces toward a nemeton in the next county. My power
lines are part of the infinite web of life.
 |
| Kwan Yin shrine |
New plants will grow in the cleared corridor. I’ll encourage the process
this spring with wildflower seeds. Before the trees return, buckbrush and
goldenrod and ragweed will sprout. Gooseberry and black raspberry and elder
will colonize. Birds and raccoons and deer will come to feed. Cedars and
redbuds will plant themselves. Gaia works with existing conditions. Every
change is a new chance for Dionysus to display his flamboyant creativity.
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| "The forms pass, but the circle of life remains." * |
*
From "Blood of the Ancients" on Charlie Murphy and Jami Sieber's album, Canticles of Light.
