[...]... symbolic ornamentation of the kind which, in the West, finds its finest expression in the Christian cathedral Hence the function of the threshold is clearly to symbolize both the reconciliation and separation of the two worlds of the profane and the sacred In the East, the function of protecting and warning is effected by the ‘keepers of the threshold’ – dragons and effigies of gods or spirits.5 We... by the 12 Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning frequent references to them in Homer’s Odyssey, of which the following is an example: At the head of the harbour there is an olive tree with spreading leaves, and nearby is a cave that is shaded and pleasant and sacred to the nymphs who are called the Nymphs of the Wellsprings and there is water forever flowing It has two entrances, one of them... of the tree in the centre of paradise, which often represents death but also birth and immortality In the Middle East this was often a cypress, but many other peoples, including the Hindus, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Maoris of New Zealand and the pre-Columbian civilizations of Central and South America, incorporated a sacred tree into their images of the afterworld or the abode of the gods. 6 Other... (1620), the collection of designs for the Heidelberg palace gardens, created by de Caus for Prince Frederick of the Palatinate These gardens, one of the marvels of their age, were tragically destroyed following the defeat of Frederick by the Habsburg forces in 1620 at the Battle of the White Mountain A variation of the mountain at the centre of the world is that of the Omphalos, or sacred stone (from the. .. cyclical processes and the complications and entanglements of life 16 Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Wildlife in the garden The creatures that live in or visit gardens must also be mentioned In many cultures that have created gardens, animals have been seen as part of the pattern of meaning In Japan the white crane is considered a symbol of good fortune and the upward flight of the spirit,... list of plant meanings can be found in the appendix to this book These are, so to speak, the three main ‘parts of speech’ in the language of gardens The vocabulary of that language has no end, as 4 Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning it has been reinvented many times in history and continues to be created Nevertheless, just as the origins of many European words can be traced back thousands of. .. life and the creation of the garden In contrast to the disciplined neo-classicism of Stonypath, Niki de Saint Phalle’s garden is a wildly surrealistic creation, a collection of giant figures based on the Tarot trumps, some of them big enough to live xvi Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning in, brilliantly coloured and decked out in a shining mosaic of glass and ceramic With echoes of the weird... from the placing of the traditional four watercourses, already mentioned We shall also find it in other horticultural styles, such as that of the botanical garden, where plants are allocated to the quarters according to their region of origin The symbolic language of gardens 7 Four is also the number of the seasons of the year and of the classical four elements (see The elements’ below) Both of these... Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning book, although controversial, enabled me to perceive in a whole new way the symbolism of such gardens as those of Versailles, Fontainebleau and the Medici villas in Tuscany The book Landscape and Memory by the cultural historian Simon Schama (1995), is a rich exploration of the way in which history and myth merge in our perception of landscape and gardens Turning to the Orient,... examples of sacred trees include the bodhi tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment; the burning bush from which Moses heard the voice of God; the Ygdrassil of Norse mythology, which is both the ‘axis of the world’ connecting the upper and lower realms and the tree on which the god Odin hung for nine days and nights in order to receive the secret of the runes A similar role is played by the Irminsul, . Contents i Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning ii Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Picture credits All photographs were taken by the author except those of the North Carolina. rivers of Eden. Plant symbolism in the Islamic context. Examples of Islamic gardens in India and Spain. 35 viii Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Chapter 4 Gardens of gods and gardens of. language of gardens 1    THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGETHE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGETHE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF GARDENSOF GARDENS OF GARDENSOF GARDENS OF GARDENS A verandah