Said George Bernard Shaw, "The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig him up there." 

Many of us in the developed western world have recently rediscovered nature's “holy” qualities.

We no longer see the natural world as something to be tamed but view it as a nourishing source that deserves our reverence.

We sure took our sweet time to get to this place! It has been over 150 years since Chief Seattle warned us:

Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.

This ecological awareness is leading many of us to yearn for a meaningful connection to the Earth. I find that I want to share garden ideas others can use to touch the Earth. In particular I want to inspire others by showing how they can create gardens of serenity as I have for almost 40 years in my professional landscape design practice.

I see the piece of ground outside our door as an everyday conduit to the energy of life that flows within plants, water, trees, sunlight, rocks, birds, and assorted creatures. When we are in a serene garden we connect to an aliveness that resides in these forms. They help us to experience the divine.

Looking at nature in this way is nothing new. The idea of sanctified outdoor space can be seen in the sacred groves of the Egyptians, Indians, and Greeks. It is present in medieval labyrinths and the Native Americans’ medicine wheels. And of course ancient Chinese geomancy Feng Shui and Indian Vaastu both see the Earth and her directions as living, vibrant forces.

We have largely forgotten these traditions. But now, as our enthusiasm for plants, spirituality, and the unseen in the natural world has developed, we are suddenly realizing that there is something more to the world around us than what we have been taught. So we are looking to these sage cultures for guidance. 

Great thinkers such as Lao-Tzu, Pythagoras, and Emerson spoke of the power the natural world to affect the human spirit.

Ancient Native Americans, Chinese, and Celts have longstanding traditions that teach us how to listen to the plants and the land.

Also, the almost mystical discoveries of modern science reveal the interconnections between ourselves and the natural world.

I look to these three branches of exploration for inspiration for the blog entries that I write. I believe that at the dawn of the 21^st century we can learn a lot from such discussions.  It is my firm belief that the numinous dimension of a garden is where we will find the enchantment we are all seeking.

*Editor's Note: Today's Compassionate Eye is by guest blogger Jan Johnsen, who writes the blog Serenity In The Garden: www.serenityinthegarden.blogspot.com. Jan is a professional landscape designer and planner (www.johnsenlandscapes.com).