Gardening Witchcraft

May 20th, 2007

Gardening is a sacred act for me. As a witch, I find it helps me keep in touch with the cycles of growth and decline. It also teaches humility and faith. Humility in that I cannot always make a plant grow and thrive and faith that when I put something in the ground, it will grow well.

This year I am starting to include my children more in my gardening. It is something I’ve heard others do and it is quite an experience. A couple weeks ago, I started planting in my community garden. While I worked peat moss into the soil to help it retain moisture and to loosen it up, my two older kids devoted themselves to finding worms.

Then, a week later, Aberdeen received the largest rainfall it has in decades. After 7.62 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, half of the town was underwater. Unfortunately, it included part of my garden. Of course, it was the part we had just planted, so our peas were downstream in the creek and the potatoes were rotting instead of growing.

I have since planted on the side further away from the creek, as a flooded creek is poisonous water. Pink geraniums, pumpkins, watermelons, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower have already been planted. So has fennel (for Lord Dionysos), sage (for banishing), lavender (for many magical uses) and garlic chives (for great eating).

Growing a garden in South Dakota is very different than growing one in Minnesota. The soil here is very nutritious clay, instead of the loamier soils of Minneapolis. It is drier here too, so I will be learning a lot about irrigation and weed-control out here. Magically, the nature spirits have helped and taught me about themselves. I have made tobacco offerings to them for protecting my plants and helping them to grow.

Gardening is one of my ways of doing magic. I have learned much over the years that I have done this. My hope this year is to learn more about the energy of the local spirits here and to help my children learn about our sacred connection to the Mother Earth and Father Sky.

Are you growing a garden this year? If so, what is your purpose in doing it? What are you planting and why? Please feel free to leave a comment.

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7 Responses to “Gardening Witchcraft”

  1. hexa Says:
    June 6th, 2007 at 1:08 pm

    I just let my garden grow itself and the result is quiet amazing: There hasn’t been a single day yet without anything blooming. Sure, my flowers are mostly weeds, but to be honest I prefer those over highly cultivated plants. I also collected a lot of seeds from wild plants last autumn and I hope that a few more of them will grow. So far I only noticed poppies and corn flowers.

    Hexa

  2. Babs Says:
    June 9th, 2007 at 2:22 am

    I just found your blog on Blog Soldiers!
    I’m growing a few herbs, but only from the seeds they had available at the grocery store, so my choices were limited. Also, all I have is a 3rd floor balcony to grow on. Still I have sage, lavender, basil and dill.
    Good luck with your garden and I’m adding you to my links. I love to see blogs from other Pagans.

  3. Morninghawk Says:
    June 9th, 2007 at 11:17 am

    Hexa,

    It is nice to have wildflowers (which are sadly called weeds by many) in your garden. I tried growing a new garden a few years ago of all wildflowers from seed. I learned the hard way that many wildflowers look like grass the first year (and bloom in subsequent years). I also learned that the City of Minneapolis forbids grass growing more than 8 inches, so I had to mow them down before they really got going. I hope that your garden fares better. It sounds beautiful.

    Babs,
    Fresh herbs from a balcony garden are special. They show that one can grow something anywhere. I have a friend who grows tomatoes, herbs, peppers and other things on her balcony. She has a large balcony. The magic from fresh herbs can’t be beat. That the seeds came from a grocery store doesn’t hurt the fact that they are living beings.

    Good luck with both your gardens.

  4. silverskye Says:
    June 15th, 2007 at 6:22 am

    I love gardening too. I helps me feel connected to the earth and our living planet. I have all sorts of flowers growing in my yard. I started a few veggies this year like peppers and tomatoes. They are doing okay but it hasn’t been hot enough here in WA yet. Another couple weeks and it will be scorching for about 8-10 wks so they should take off then. I think its great you have your kids involved. Most kids love it once they give it a try.

  5. Alx Says:
    July 1st, 2007 at 6:06 pm

    I agree with you about the feelings created through gardening. I only wish I had more room to do so and that my wife would let herself become part of it.

  6. Morninghawk Says:
    July 3rd, 2007 at 9:47 am

    Yes, it can be difficult at times. If you have a sunny window, you could just do a couple of herbs in a pot by the window.

  7. Sharyn Says:
    July 18th, 2007 at 1:17 pm

    Ah, a kindred spirit… there is just something about plunging hands into soil and getting down & dirty with green & growing things that’s just so… well, magickal! A pure and simple tonic for the soul.

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