I. What is a co-creative garden?

By connecting with the plant spirits, establishing permission, and trusting the process, these unique qualities are brought forth in the essences and remedies produced.

In his book, Coyote Medicine, Louis Mehl-Madrona relays what the Lakota elders tell us about co-creation. They say that when humans take action and create from a space of honoring all of creation, allowing input and participation from the spirit world and all beings that will be affected, our creations are in harmony with the whole. They bring only positive results. When humans try to short cut the process and act from personal will, the resulting creation is out of harmony with the whole and creates only more problems. Co-creation seems like the long road. It takes extra time and patience, just like working with a committee that operates through group consensus. However, because it honors the cycles of life, all beings, and the great mystery, the resulting creations are harmonious, healing and life enhancing.

An example: One year I had an idea to harvest the roses in the garden. I connected with the plant spirits and asked questions about when to harvest and how to process them. The spirits advised me to use a small amount of grain alcohol with pure spring water and rose petals. I placed them in a dark place and shook the bottles every two or three days. At the end of a two month period, I had the freshest and sweetest rose water that I had ever experienced! It was lovely, and I sold my supply very quickly since everyone who smelled it just had to have some.

The following year I waited patiently to experience more of the divine rose water. I assumed I would be able to make the rose water again, with a similar result. I went out into the garden with my pendulum and connected with the plant spirit. This time I could not get permission to harvest any roses at all! I asked as many questions as I could think of, about timing and possibly harvesting less, etc. but I could not receive permission to make the rose water. I went back to my studio, trying to figure out why.

A week later, I was out in the garden feeding plants, when I noticed the roses blooming. I couldn’t stop myself! I went ahead and picked just a few of those vibrant roses, adding the alcohol and water just as I had before. Inside, I felt that at the very least, this would be a valuable learning experience. This time I acted purely from my personal will, ignoring what the rose spirit had told me. I really wanted that rose water!

When the time came to open the bottle and strain out the rose petals, I had to laugh. The aroma from the rose water was very weak, almost vinegar like. Definitely not the divine aroma of the year before. This truly turned out to be the best experiment, because I got to see the differences between co-creation and personality-level creation. Not only was the final result less beautiful, but more importantly, the feeling I had about the process was different. The co-creative rose water process of the first year felt vibrant, exciting, like I was a part of something beautiful. The second year, I felt a little separate, a little less radiant. It was a subtle difference, but very significant.

I learned in this way the most valuable lessons about honoring the cycles of life. Over the years, we have found that most plant species will experience vibrant growing conditions only once or twice every few years. There will often be years where conditions are okay, but not excellent. I now know that when I listen to the plant spirit’s guidance and honor the cycles, harvesting only in the years where conditions are prime, all the products and remedies produced will be of exquisite quality and filled with vibrant life force. And the harmony, beauty, and balance that are created within our ecosystem and our lives are more valuable than we can know.