A particularly striking but little mentioned practice is the Moon Garden. Moon Gardens are traditionally made of plants which are white or silvery, like the moon, and relect the moon’s light, seeming to glow even in the dark of night.
Whether your Moon Garden is a place of safety or sanctuary, where nothing dare spring from the shadows for it cannot approach unseen against the silvery radiance (there may be some reason to wonder if this is the real reason the Scotch Thistle got the reputation of helping prevent a surprise attack by the Romans on the Scots), a place where magickal things are done beneath the moon, a simple place of quiet comtemplation, or a place in honor of one’s particular Goddess of the Moon, it can be a beautiful, relaxing, rewarding and inspiring undertaking.
Besides a great many of the plants that are dedicated to the Goddess, Artemis, which still bear her name in their scientific name, Artemisia, there are other familiar and less familiar herbs that can be utilitized for their quality of silvery foilage.
A Few Moon Garden Plants:
Artemisia absinthium (Wormwood)
Artemisia ludoviciana (White Mugwort)
Lavandula sp. - many species and varieties (Lavendars)
Santolina sp. - numerous specie of Santolina (Lavendar Cotton)
Stachys byzantina (Lamb's ears)
Likewise, there are many more common herbs, or certain of their close relatives that can be added to such a list, certain Thymes, Germanders (the genus Teucrium), many Sages (the genus Salvia)... Some of the catnips and catmints may also suit your purpose in a moon garden, like many of the moon garden plants, they can be deliciously fragrant:
Nepeta mussinii (Catmint)
Nepeta dirphya (sometimes sold as Nepeta parnassica or Greek Catnip)
Nepeta phyllochlamys (Turkish catmint)
As time goes on, I will strive to have a more and more complete and specific list of plants that can be used to create this sacred space in our magickal environment... and a list of resources to help you locate them.
There are other devotions that may be made to the Moon Goddess; after the fashion of Artemis’ Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), which has wooly, white undersides to the leaves... we can find hundreds of more plants that have such a characteristic; indeed we may name some, and look back on literature and see that they were recognized this way by the ancients, and with considerable likelihood, regardless of where on the earth they occured, or what peoples were regarding them (Indeed, the familiar pagan associations with Mugwort were also a great part of the culture of the ancient Aztecs, and the same sentiments may be found in the ancient Orient.)
But it is also occasion for exploring the incredible depth of magickal thought we can create by combining herbalism with mythology... we can go far beyond the associations that others outside of paganism find dubious and questionable, to the very heights of reason that may walk hand and hand with devotion and service to the Goddess, or even our mere ideal of her; far beyond simply the color that pleases our spirits through our eyes, and into infinity...
Update 10/7/1998: Well, enough waiting... of all the things I've promised to are yet to come on these pages, these have been the ones waiting longest, so here they are, what there is of them, as they are, ready or not and come what may. Please keep in mind that like all of this site, these are subject to constant reconstruction and update. As you can see by the following links there is still much more to come, so please keep checking back to see what has been added.
Goddess’ Garden, Part One: Introduction
Goddess’ Garden, Part Two: Introduction, Part Two
Goddess’ Garden, Part Three: Mugwort
Goddess’ Garden, Part Four: Mugwort, Part Two
Goddess' Garden, Part Five: Wormwood, an Exquisite Creation
Goddess' Garden, Part Six: Wormwood, an Exquisite Creation, Part Two
Goddess' Garden, Part Seven: Herbs, Blue and Green as the Sea
Goddess' Garden, Part Eight: Herbs, Blue and Green as the Sea, Part Two
NEW! 10/16/98
Goddess' Garden, Part Nine: Manna from Heaven, Part One
Goddess' Garden, Part Ten
NEW! 10/16/98
Goddess' Garden, Part Eleven: Snake Mother Medicine, Part One
Goddess' Garden, Part Twelve
Goddess' Garden, Part Thirteen: Summary Table I: Uses
Goddess' Garden, Part Fourteen: Summary Table II: Signatures
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