Doorway Garden Shrines

There are things we know, and things we don't know... and in between there are the doors. I am haunted by these words of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors. I can hear him say them in my dreams, with the sensual, ominous voice which, in his recordings, remains just as compelling today as when he died twenty-five years ago. What we all seek today is the door, through which we gain access to an etherial plain, one beyond all dimension and form. In this single statement, Jim captured the essence of our quest for the sacred, for he identifies the world of reality, the realm of the spirit, and knew there are portals or doors between the two. For Jim Morrison, the doors proved to be drugs, psychadelic or otherwise, and in the anthology of his poems, Wilderness: The lost writings of Jim Morrison, he states "Why do I drink? So that I can write poetry".

Our searches are complicated by the past because so many grew up in the 1960s and '70s, when the profound discovery of psychadelic drugs proved just how much more the mind was capable of than we ever imagined. The trips we took within the realm of our own mind granted us special powers, and visions that showed us the face of God. Neither of these can ever be matched by anything in the real world.

Sadly, Jim Morrison's need for drugs to tap into his own natural creativity proved much like a prostitute who believes that the act of sex with her customer is the same as making love. The death of Jim's creative spirit occurred long before that of the body, because the creative cannot sustain itself when artifically stimulated. Thus, with this taste of the mystical from so long ago, we continue to search, without drugs this time, for a conscious recreation of the visions.

As we seek out true sacraments in our lives, it is natural to wander into the most hallowed of all earth, the garden. What is more miraculous than the intricate parts of the flower, the sprouting of a seed that has lain dormant for many years. Certainly dowsers who listen to the nature spirits have found the door in their gardens, but for me it must be more tangible, and perhaps more traditional.

Shrines have always been the doorway to my spirit world, for they create a unique sense of separation from the world at large. As a Catholic, I have come to know shrines in churches, monasteries and convents where candles flicker, monks chant in Latin, and the smoke of frankinsence and fresh flowers permeates the air lending an almost hypnotic environment.

Outdoor shrines are much the same, like tiny temples made of stone and wood, where spirits and God resides. Be they pagan or Christian, it matters not, for all share the same basic components and offer us a most powerful design element in the garden. Just what constitutes a shrine? It is simply a place where we acknowledge spirituality or pay homage to virtually anything or anyone that is meaningful to us. A shrine can become the portal which transcends the garden, forcing our minds and hearts to rekindle past love, emotions and above all, a deep connection to the mystical.

Religious shrines across the world are littered with offerings and signs of prayers asked and prayers answered, as is the case with silver milagros of Mexican churches. A shrine is personalized by adding our own meaningful objects as well. In my shrine is a piece of the chalk downs at Stonehenge, and a precious chunk of concrete taken from the Berlin wall in the 1970s. Among my most meaningful stones are a few chunks of glittering black Vishnu schist picked up from the deepest part of the Grand Canyon. There it is said that early geologists were so moved by the great age of the schist they were inspired to named it for a Hindu deity. Thus, my stones have transcended their ordinary status and have become a doorway to good memories and world events.

There are three basic elements to creating shrines. First is the primary image, be it a goddess sculpture, a Celtic cross, St. Francis, Virgin Mary or any other element that is meaningful. The second requirement is enclosure, which might be a stone grotto, a wooden roof or just a canopy of soft green foliage. Third is the altar which serves as the threshold, for upon its surface we may place our ritual offerings such as candles, incense, fresh flowers, food and even objects such as brightly colored glass or magical herbs.

Burning candles of various colors has long been part of Christian and pagan ritual as it is in many Mezoamerican rites. Incense, be it frankincense of the church, copal of the Americas, or a wide variety of Asian origin, all allow us to go beyond the every-day, and enkindle both a visual and sensory experience, thus defining the aura of the sacred. Offerings of symbolic foods are placed upon the altar, to feed the gods, to make a sacrifice, or to suggest mystic Christianity with bread and a goblet of wine. For those who follow the wise woman's craft, the altar becomes the place to empower magical herbs, to recite the incantations that unleash their forces.

A shrine should be beautiful in order to evoke our response. Because it is in the garden, the surrounding planting is the most natural way to embellish the shrine. Brilliantly colored flowers, or the gloom of evergreens in a variety of shapes and forms make this special place different from the rest of your garden.

Consider stones such as obsidian, marble and even fossils that could be built into the shrine as decoration or placed before it as an offering. Consider all glass the jewels of the sun, for only in its light do their glinting colors come true. Gather beach glass with its rounded edges, broken crystal, colored glass insulators, old stained glass pieces and iridescent beads strung together to hang like shining cords from tree limbs. Pile your glass up like riches or glue onto surfaces filling nooks and crannies with glittering color.

To better focus your garden this new year, strive for meaning in your life by creating a garden shrine. It is a combined act of faith, hope and love of the earth, its bounty and plants, and the perfect way to express your own personal creativity. Many believe that those who are inspired by a higher power find the act of shrine making a creative sacrament. And perhaps, if more of us create garden shrines of deep meaning, we will all find that these works of our hands, and the plants that surround them prove to be a doorway. There we may come from the world we know, and through the shrine step into the infinite worlds we don't know. And in the process we will find door to true peace without ever leaving your own backyard.