Spirit Guides, Soul Gardens, Soil Gardens ~ Growing from Seed and Transplaning

Nurturing Soil and Soul Gardens and Spirit Guide Co-Gardeners

On Spirit Guides, Soul Gardens, Soil Gardens ~ Growing from Seed and Transplanting

Plants, like people, need to gradually get accustomed to change; otherwise, plants get shocked, just like people do when exposed to sudden change. Hardening plants as they grow from seeds is how to avoid transplant shock–gradually introducing change. Introducing the newly sprouting plant to the new environment stages is the thing… bringing plants from inside to outside in stages. It usually takes time to become established–whether it a plant or a human that we’re talking about.

Good soil is important to survival too and when I relate that to the similarities to a human being, it comes down to spiritual teachings or understanding making the good soil in the human soul.

Plants are fragile when young. And people are fragile when adjusting to change and  having to sprout from new seeds… change in a human’s life is like a seed that is being asked to sprout. Right conditions and tender care and nurturing are important during early growth.  When sprouting and then transplanting–it’s like proper tending to young leafs and root.

It’s important when tending new growth that is just developing an early root system to use great care when first transplanted into larger containers.  People develop early root systems in new environments too whether those environments are emotional or physical, it’s important to not disturb the soil/soul too much or damage the early rooting process.  When it comes to people and my own life in particular, I realize in retrospect how these principals have played out as evidence of divine intelligence/spirit guides co-gardening some of the changes of my life.

It’s also important to not let the roots dry out–this is true with plants and humans alike. Continuing to nurture the roots… not allowing over-exposure to what is not nurturing… like poor soil and over-watering… the right about of water for a plant is important.  And with a human the right amount of whatever is nurturing to the soul is important too.

What nurtures the soil of your soul? 

In my own case, what I find nurturing is a connection to nature and to meditation (preferably meditation in nature if possible) and also an environment of quiet as well as surroundings that I find attractive to the eye… pretty surroundings with plenty of daylight. My apartment has many windows and this is nurturing to my soul.

What one plant or flower finds nurturing may be different than the next–some like more water, some less and that type of thing. Humans also differ in what nurtures their soul and “SOIL”.

Interesting, isn’t it?  The slight difference in the spelling of the words … i and the o in those two words I mean.  Soul and soil– but both have such a similar meaning.

Sometimes plants can regenerate even if injured–people too. I wonder if our spirit guides assist in gardening our souls.

Do we, as humans, become exposed to harsh conditions on purpose and gradually in order to “harden” us to change so we grow better, just like how we humans do with our plants?

We may take the newly grown flower or plant once transplanted into a larger pot outdoors for only a few hours a day and only in shade and then gradually expose it to sun and then gradually to overnight temperatures or warmer daytime temperatures.

Did you know that removing lower leaves and burying things deeper in the soil helps the plant become more resilient and aids in its growth?

Similarities in plant life and human life

I’m learning about plants and flower planting from seeds right now and can really see how that relates to the human life and soul as it applies to growth and change in our human lives. Removing the lower leaves of a plant leads me to think of letting to of old baggage in a human life– releasing our past memories or experiences in order to acclimate successfully to the changes in life.

Do our guides clip those leaves? People sometimes loose a relationship or a job or sometimes both (those lower leaves) when they are growing the seeds of a new life.

How many times in one lifetime do we die and re-seed and become reborn?

I can see this so many times in my life—as if I’ve spawned new seeds a number of times in this one life.

Plants and flowers that are young need proper nutrition to prevent transplant shock and in our life when we have experienced changes we need to give ourselves proper nutrition too–in whatever way we nurture our soul and our body; we need to do that until we become stronger.

A gardener adds nutrients to the soil after transplanting and I think our spirit guides find ways to bring people, information, and circumstances into our lives at the right time, too, in order to nurture our souls so that we can grow stronger after change.

I think many times our spirit guides are the co-gardeners of our soul and that we should try our best to cooperate with the gardeners and through awareness also help garden ourselves. Don’t we talk to our plants and flowers? Many of us do! And I believe and know firsthand that our spirit guides talk to us too.  Why is this difficult to understand? They inspiring us to grow and to adjust and they teach us how to self-talk so that we can receive proper nurturing and nutrition.   Yes; this is how it is. I think so.

Sometimes plant wilt and when plants wilt sometimes they need more water and more shade many times too. (Of course we can over-water plants as well which speaks to proper balance.)  The human soul and spirit wilts sometimes too (and the body does as well through over fatigue sometimes; too much watering!)–and when these things happen, we tire of the struggle.

So what can we do?  When that happens to the plant or flower, the gardener removes it from the environment which is not agreeing with it and gives it more shade and more water or whatever is needed.  Humans can take a vacation or relocate and in that way it’s similar — or if that’s not possible, change the mind in some way.

Until we or our plant grow stronger and more resilient and until there is proper soil and surroundings we try different things.

Some gardeners when planting in the ground (from container to ground) which is done  after gradual acclimation to the outdoors when the plant is stronger… well, they plant flowers or plants in the ground late in the day so that they get accustomed to the overnight temperatures and wake up in their new place in the earth in the morning. Another new beginning.

Some seeds don’t make it of course. Some plants that are transplanted, don’t make it either. Bu the gardener learns through their failures.

Sometimes gardeners will direct-seed into the garden or the earth itself without growing it indoors firs in a greenhouse of some type beforehand. This can avoid transplant shock but the gardener has to know how that seed does in that soil and in that environment first. (Experience and book knowledge help.)

Maybe our spirit guides know us well and which of us can be directly transplanted into the garden or in human terms can just be planted right into the place where we are intended to grow and without needing gradual acclimation from one type environment to the next.

Have you ever been transplanted?

Do you ever feel like you’ve been a seed that sprouted and then dug out of the pod holder and planted into a new environment?  I sort of feel that way about some of my own recent moves in this location since I left the mountains. I’ve moved several times since seeding in this city.  Each apartment I lived in was a temporary container as my seed grew and perhaps I was being “toughened up or hardened” in order to survive in this environment.  Makes perfect sense to me!

We get ‘hardened’ as humans and as plants by growing in an environment that we simply have to deal with day in and day out.

Some plants can be directly sown outside — some are by nature more hardy or tough. Some of us can be direct seeded into the soil of our lives—some of us can just naturally deal with change easily or deal with suddenly moving to a new location or starting a new relationship or a new career without stress.  Some of us need gradual acclimation.  Sometimes we can wilt a little bit,  but can come back with a small amount of TLC.

I had one huge plant that I gave my daughter when I moved from the mountains because I simply had no room for it; it’s in a big pot that sits on the floor and takes up a good deal of space. We call it “grandpa” because I’ve had it for such a long time. Its fairly pot bound but we just don’t want it getting any bigger than it already is — so it needs a lot of water being a water loving plant by nature but because it’s mostly all roots and not much soil to hold moisture. Anyway, grandpa will easily wilt and look almost dead if not watered; YET, as soon as it gets a drink it stand up straight and salutes.  Only in a matter of hours! Some of us are like that plant I think.

Dropping seeds and re-blooming

Some plants will drop seeds and re-bloom again the next year, planting their own seeds so-to-speak. Tomatoes can be like that I hear (have never grown tomatoes so I don’t know firsthand) and Morning Glory flowers will drop their own seeds and come back again the next year too.  Regenerating themselves; that’s pretty cool. It’s like a plant having it’s children from generation to generation, isn’t it?

I have dropped my own seeds and those seeds have grown to drop seeds of their own; children and grandchildren. But those seeds need nurturing too and I’d like to think that I have become that human gardener to human seeds as a parent and grandparent.

Yet, I also know that I have had co-gardeners from higher places helping me.

Educated Gardeners 

We can improve our gardening through education — just as I’m doing today as I learn about growing flowers from seed which inspired me to write this piece.

The human body, mind and soul are no different when speaking of educated gardeners. We can learn how to garden our children and of course our own self through education–through learning what helps us to grow stronger and more resilient and what kind of soil we need as well as how to acquire the proper nutrients.

Some gardens simply grow on their own, reseed themselves every year but still we must keep and eye for predators, pests, etc. Sometimes we have to rid ourselves of certain people or energy that damages our growth–it’s true, don’t you think? Just like we take precautions to protect our garden.

The life in your soil and the life in your soul 

Gardeners say that it’s not just about the soil it’s about the LIFE IN YOUR SOIL.
I can realize how that this translates into the human condition as well. It’s not just about the soil it’s about the LIFE IN YOUR SOUL. What do we do to nurture that ‘soil’ and that ‘soul”–?

How do we unlock the nutrients within the ‘soil’ and in the ‘soul’?

If we are not in the perfect environment we can do things to condition that environment so that we can grow better within it. That’s a lot of what Feng Shui is about–“treating” the environment so that it is balanced so that we can unlock the nutrients of our “soul” like natural fertilizers (compost, etc.) can unlock the nutrients of the “soil”.

If the soil in the backyard of where someone lives is not conducive to what the gardener wants to plant, then the garden is created in an above the ground raised bed. You’ve seen that in gardens, right?  People will create a raised frame with wood or anything that creates a barrier to hold soil thereby creating a raised flower bed or garden area so that the gardener can control the proper soil.

In our lives we can do the same thing if we find we are on ground that isn’t naturally nurturing for us.

With any garden — the garden of our soul/psyche or the garden in our backyard or patio, we learn as we go and we learn as we grow.

I think spirit guides are learning too, right along with us. Can I prove that? No, but it makes sense to me; that’s all.

We are all growing and evolving as above so below, and as below so above too.

We learn as we grow!

Whether it is the earth garden or the garden of our own soul.

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Guilt, Withdrawal, The Hermit, The Leopard and the 12th House with Moon and Pluto

The HermitIts probably a good day to stay home and write.  The Moon is transiting my 12th house and sitting atop of my natal Pluto with Mars nearby.  Could get intense in the outer world today–best to keep that intensity within the 4-walls here.  Or so says the intuition.  The 12th house is about seclusion and withdrawal — or at least that’s one of the archetypes.  Or that’s one astrologically accepted classic model of the House 12 pattern anyway–withdrawal.

I think that its good for the soul:  withdrawal, going within, terminating connections with the outer world.

Sometimes we withdraw from life or from certain situations for self-protection but what do we really want to protect ourselves from?  The same thing that motivates all of us–we either seek pleasure or avoid pain.

Let’s face it. We don’t have to be martyrs in life.  I don’t think it’s wrong to disengage from persons, places or things that are unpleasant if we have a choice.  Sometimes we don’t but with the blessing of the universe, sometimes we do.  Why not exercise the choice and not feel guilty about it?

That’s how my 12th house Moon conjunct Pluto feels about it today.  I think that choice is a gift, why not use it and do so so without guilt?

I don’t know about you but sometimes my feelings of guilt, when present, seem to come from worries about what other people will think about me–people that I care about or who are important to me.  Sometimes we see ourselves through other people’s eyes and that triggers those old patterns of guilt that we’ve probably carried over a number of lifetimes.

Guilt serves no purpose and is un-necessary self-criticism.  Its like allowing those voices of the old Catholic nuns or critical parents or other authority figures to take over our psyche.

It serves one thing that is purposeful however; it let’s us know that we are still working on resolving something within our own relationship to our self.    We always think these things are about us versus them.  We think it’s about our connection to the ‘other person’ or ‘the job’, etc.  When really its about our own relationship to our own self.

In other words, in my own case, honoring my own tendencies and feelings without concern of being misunderstood or judged as being uncaring or cruel.  So in that way we can see that the concern really is self-judgment.

Give self permission to embrace one’s own natural tendencies which are there for a reason and there as much for other people’s benefit as well as our own.  And honor that.

One thing we learn when we withdraw is how to experience our feelings fully and to release them in full too because we are giving ourselves the space by withdrawing in order to do so.

To carry guilt is to sabotage ourselves.  Withdrawal gives us the space to know ourselves, and to understand our feelings and to release them.

One way to resolve any guilt is to rebuild faith in one’s self and withdrawal creates the space for faith and self-trust to become strengthened.

I always relate the TAROT card of THE HERMIT to 12th house withdrawal energy.  I think of an “old soul” (if you will) and someone more comfortable alone than with others and not because of a lack of social skills or anything of the sort.  Just someone who values alone time higher than surface or shallow time with others.

Leopard walking towardThe Hermit card relates to the 12th house in another way –or so I think.  I liken this energy to someone who has created their own religion or their own rules to live by following the inner guidance or personal conscience.  Here is someone with personal dogma and may be seen as eccentric because this is quite different than the consensus rules of society and is seeking spiritual happiness in ways that the consensus cannot understand or does not follow.

Sometimes I feel a lot like THE HERMIT and its animal counterpart THE LEOPARD. Today that feels more intense than usual — it’s one of those times.

But then again, the Moon is setting off my 12th house now highly activating Pluto so I accept that as normal for today.  Once a month my inner Hermit and Leopard get kicked up to higher levels as the Moon passes through this area of my psyche.

Thus, I stay home and even write about it!  😉 wink!

When the Moon Transits Your 1st House

When The Moon Travels through Your First House

Moon in the First House

Intention:   to blog the Moon through the houses starting with the First House Moon and starting now and to use my chart as an example but being as objective as possible.

So let’s start with the meaning of the Moon itself and recall that it resonates with feelings and emotions and in the sky it changes its amount of visible light through its monthly phase. But for the purpose of the blog for the next 30 days, my plan is to simply discuss the houses.  (We’ll leave Moon phases, signs and aspects out of  it for now.)

For example, if you see your Moon traveling through your second house, a way to work in harmony with the Moon’s energy in order to feel … well, to feel harmonious or  to be in synch with your emotional nature and in order to enhance happiness, those 2 or 3 days of each month would be a good time put your finances in order.

That’s going to be the underlying connection in the psyche’ anyway (2nd house/finances), why not use this knowledge and cooperate with the energy?  During the few days each month that the Moon is moving through your seventh house, for example, you will likely be drawn to giving some quality time to your relationship.  If you know your relationship partner’s chart, you might imagine just how beneficial it would be know when the Moon is moving through their seventh house too!

Timing for scheduling family gatherings, career presentations and many other areas of your life can be enhanced through knowing when the Moon moves through your houses.

Even if you don’t schedule an event or activity based on your Moon transit, you can at least understand your own energy patterns and use the map of your chart to know yourself and other people better.  Of course, that happens with all the planets and the whole chart too.  The Moon is 1 out of 12; but it’s an important one—our feelings of security and happiness are connected to the Moon energy.

I love astrology because there’s no other system like it in which we can reap the benefits of consciously working in cooperation with natural forces! These forces are those that are recognized as we begin to awaken and as we really observe our life.  Astrology is a structure that helps us see the order of those forces. Once realized through astrology, we can get in touch with that energy and work in harmony with it instead of struggling against it, enhancing self-understanding, understanding of others… and well… so many other benefits…but mostly we get those types of jaw-dropping types of realizations that enhance the feeling of magic and awe for the universe and divine forces.

Getting back to the Moon now… I like to think of the Moon as one giant crystal in the sky that affects our emotions, our heart… our soul.

Astrologer, Steven Forrest, is often quoted as saying, “The Sun is the Secret of sanity and the Moon is the Secret of Happiness.”

Happiness is an emotion, after all, and so it’s right up the Moon’s legendary alley.

I won’t spend many more paragraphs describing the Moon’s archetype assuming you wouldn’t have read this far if you didn’t already have at least a small “feel for” the Moon (pardon the pun).

But what about the FIRST HOUSE and when the Moon Moves through it?  How does the Moon moving through the FIRST HOUSE area of our life affect our heart, our soul, our feelings, our security and our happiness?  

I think it’s fair to think of EGO when you think of the first house.  We need our ego’s after all and if we give a few days a month to acknowledge it and appease them, well… that doesn’t seem like too much to ask.  This area of our life relates to the physical body, self-image, physical accomplishments… we’re very aware of how we are seen or viewed when the Moon moves through our firs house. Yet, sometimes we want to keep a mask on and keep people at a distance at this time too and that would be typical.

We’re talking about an outward area of our life, our physical issues including appearance, and instinctual behaviors –the Moon is not about thinking, it’s about responding from the heart, the soul, and the emotional center that is triggered resulting in outward physical behaviors.

When the Moon moves through anyone’s first house (and it does this once a month) it triggers a Mars/Aries warrior within and so there may be  a competitive edge or quality to one’s emotions and an attraction to some type of physical endeavor.  On the other side of the coin repressed anger could surface as the Moon moves through the first house as well.  The paragraph below is optional and not necessary for our purposes but is only for the interested reader.  Feel free to skip over the next paragraph if it sounds confusing:

OPTIONAL PARAGRAPH:  If a person knows the sign on the cusp of that house as well as any other signs in the first house, this gets blended in or factored in with the core Moon and 1st house Combo energy.  Not to mention—but I will—the aspects the Moon makes to other planets  and the phase that the Moon itself happens to be in as it moves through first house.  All that plays into the outward behaviors that are possible due to the Moon’s transit there.  You sort of blend it all into a pot like soup but some chucks are bigger than others but let’s not go there now.   I need to keep things simple for this blog—just the house and the Moon are the main course for my purpose here.

If you know someone who suddenly wants their space and to keep you at a distance and goes suddenly for a “new look” in their physical appearance, Luna may be moving through their first house. New ‘anything’ relates to the first house and so does freedom and independence.

Some things you may want to do when the Moon moves through your first house appearance factors like getting a haircut or a new hairdo or a new outfit—anything that would enhance the appearance to change the self-image would be in line with the energy.  Sometimes we need to feel a sense of freedom and have a desire to be alone—Aries, after all, is about freedom and independence and it rules the first house naturally.

The first house can be like the first hour of the morning or the first few moments—there’s a feeling of fragility as one comes to this point of awakening and you need space.  The spirit here wants unrestrained joy and unrestrained freedom.  If there was a time of the month in which we would be rediscovering ourselves and changing our image to match that new discovery, it would be when the Moon transits the first house.

Relationships feel more strained at this time—other people may not understand this new image you create or that you suddenly need more freedom to discover and express the next new aspect of yourself in the world.

Any needy people in your life are likely to feel disappointed with your energy response to them at this time.

There actually are times when to be free and alone is more important than anything else—that would be a Lunar first house time.

We need this time to consider our own self-image and possibly try those new changes:  a different outfit than you normally wear, new glasses or the new hairdo.

But whether you redress yourself in some way or if it’s only a desire to change the physical appearance, you will likely be asking those questions that go along with that kind of thing such as, “Who am I? And What am I doing here?


 Personal Observations of the First House Moon Transit

  • The Moon crossed over into my first house on my daughter’s birthday and I wore my hair down that day (at least partially).  Just for the record as it relates to this First House Moon transit, I always wear my hair up in a ponytail.  Actually I look different and feel different with the hair down.
  • I purchased a pair of weight lifting gloves (because I was starting to get callouses on my hands from the gym) and while I’m not sure yet how beneficial they are, I notice that this makes me feel more like a more serious exerciser as far as my self-image is concerned.  I didn’t think about that connection until just now–i bought the gloves for practical reasons but I think it relates to my current first house lunar transit.
  •  I made a blog post about who I am and what I’m doing here when the Moon just entered my first house so that may have also been a lunar effect–CLICK TO READ. 
  • I notice that I’ve felt more self-assured as I relate to others these past few days—more than usual which could be part of this whole blend of energy with Mar/Aries being the natural ruler of the first house.
  • The opposite polarity to house 1 is house 7.  House 7 is the house of relationships – the opposite house; so one affects the other due to its opposite polarity.  Relationships over these past few days have definitely changed the way I am seeing other people as well as myself!

If I think of any more personal examples to share that relate to the Moon transiting my first house, I will come back later  to add those to this post.  But what about your personal moon transit?


 Your Personal Moon Transit

I hope this post has sparked an interest in astrology and that you may like to continue reading the posts as I go through the remainder of the Moon’s transits through the 12 houses.   Your Moon may be in different house right now.  You can find out by creating your natal and transit chart on this free chart creation website:  www.astro.com .

You will need your date, time and place of birth.  Once you have that, click on the MY ASTRO link at the top right of the page.  That takes you to a page that has a link next to a star offering you these choices:

Create a horoscope immediately, as a Guest User or…..

Create a free registered user profile

From there you can enter your birth data and then create a transit chart to see what house your Moon is in on any given day!

See you again in a few days when my Moon is in my 2nd house for more on the Transiting Moon though the houses and my personal observations.