Creating Eden: The Garden as a Healing Space

by Marilyn Barrett

Overview

The enduring and universal metaphor of the garden is a simple yet profound tool for counteracting the numbing effects of modern life. Creating Eden is Marilyn Barrett's evocative meditation on gardening as a tool for self-exploration and natural healing. Here the principles of psychology and ecological gardening are combined to create a helpful guide to achieving serenity and balance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062500762
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/01/1992
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xi
1	Mind Gardens	1
2	Clearing	7
3	Digging	21
4	Planting	39
5	Growing	53
6	Tending	65
7	Conserving	83
8	Reflecting on Catastrophe and Loss	95
9	Harvesting	109
10	Gleanings	117
	Appendix	121
	Selected Bibliography	125

Editorial Reviews

By likening gardening tasks to psychological states or emotional passages, Barrett expands upon the notion of a garden as metaphor for the psyche. Intended as a self-help guide, "Creating Eden" offers meditations that gently spin off from analogies of the author's creation. Chores and objectives (i.e., clearing, digging, harvest, and loss) encountered in one's garden are seen mirrored in life experiences. Intended to assist in clarifying personal needs--and at a fundamental level, in getting and staying in touch with one's overall mental health--Barrett's gentle, therapeutic approach may be of interest to readers who approach their gardens in a New Age mode.

Alice Joyce