Uncle George has a green thumb. I spent a week with him in his village farm last year during my trip to Bulgaria. It was a precious week where he initiated me into the secrets of metaphysical gardening. Uncle George, my mom’s cousin, has lived in the country side of Sofia all his life. His days revolve around cultivating land and his secrets of biodynamic and organic gardening combine with spiritual knowledge as he teaches others how to plant in tune with the Earth.It was harvest time, so there was a lot of work to do on the field. The first day I woke up at dawn, equipped myself with all the reaping and harvesting tools, wore my mountain shoes and headed to the meadow. Uncle George escorted me. He was barefoot. I felt awkward – like a spoilt city girl, so I took the shoes off and marched on. He taught me the first lesson of metaphysical gardening – “bury your feet deep into the soil, so you can become a plant, so you feel rooted, secure in the knowledge that nature is nurturing her children”. I felt the moist, permeable land as I breathed the scents and sounds of the soil. Then he turned to me and said: “The garden is a place that can be whatever you want it to be. It is where the joyous come to celebrate, the seekers of knowledge to learn, the weary to rest, youth to grow and the aged to reflect.” Then he picked some soil and let me smell it: “This is the scent of fertility…it is fragrant only when the top crust of the soil is properly weeded, turned, nourished and nurtured. Usually our local, environmental flora builds the flora of our organs and glands. That is why women in this area are notoriously fertile until older age.”

I thought it was an interesting analogy to equate the cultivating of land and the nurturing of local flora to female fertility and procreation. I was curious to learn more about the properties of soil that combines mineral material, water, air, and organic matter. Uncle George further explained that the soil “enwombs” microbial essences – like Earthworms, fungi and soil organisms, which in turn provide the nourishment for the land. So in a way the soil was the ultimate “multi-tasker” – it served as a reservoir of nutrients, water, humus and microorganisms to protect plants and provide oxygen through aeration while offering mechanical anchorage.

The different steps for cultivating soil corresponded to the steps for maintaining a healthy vaginal flora. In fact, the flora of the lower female genital tract is formed by various micro-organisms that colonize the vagina and provide a healthy environment for the function of the reproductive organs and glands. In order to ensure proper function of this “lunar soil” you first have to cultivate the crop. In gardening, this process involves loosening and upturning the soil, also known as plowing. In order to turn the soil effectively, you first need to weed it. Uncle George taught me that the weeding actually required minimal effort and bending. You simply had to come to ground level and gently groom the soil allowing it to tell you what needed to be removed and what still needed to stay. “After all, what is a weed? He would say… It is no more than a plant growing in a time and place where you do not want it. You are the determining factor, not Nature. For Nature there is no such plant as a weed.”

In the female womb this process requires proper hygiene that does not chase away the beneficial bacteria. This is obtained by alkalizing the entire organism and not indulging into acidy foods, and by wearing organic breathable fabric that provides optimal airing. Similarly, it requires mental uprooting of unwanted thoughts, feelings, emotions mostly related to fear of un-fulfillment and lack. There is no “lack” in nature, everything is self-inclusive and self-sustaining and when we bring our womb flora to vibrate at this holistic frequency we can simply thrive in our femininity.

Once the weeding and plowing was done, Uncle George taught me the secrets of leveling. We used a wooden plank to level the soil to prevent erosion and make sure that the top layers would not be blown away by the wind, or washed away with rain. Conversely, erosion of the vaginal flora happens when the good bacteria are washed away with unnecessary douching or abuse of sulfate based soaps and shower gels. It is vital to stay clean, but without interfering with the natural vaginal flora and by nurturing it to maintain healthy levels of fertility hormones.

Nurturing is indeed the last step of producing a healthy crop. Once the soil was weeded, upturned and leveled Uncle George and I nourished the land with healthy bio grown cow manure. He told me that the vital nutrients and organic matter contained in the manure supplies all the nutrients for a healthy, living soil.

In endocrine fertility treatment “manuring” is the art of rebooting the function of the ovaries to produce healthy follicles by using acupuncture, herbs and natural supplements that allow the sexual glands to secrete healthy levels of procreative hormones. It is necessary to check the gonad hormone levels frequently and to detect red signals in the system before it is too late to resort to natural remedies. In every day terms, healthy “manuring” also involves a plant and protein rich diet that supports the optimal biochemistry and efficiency of the reproductive organs.

After nurturing the soil, uncle George turned to me: “But that was not yet it…The process of cultivating land needs a moment of merging with the soil, so you can reconnect with nature and become the fertile ground yourself…” So we took this last moment to lie on our backs facing the sky as we opened our arms like a snow angel. Except, the snow had now melted to provide moisture for the Earth and the land was throbbing with joy and anticipation. Then Uncle George added: “This is what I mean by “being with‟ not just “doing to.‟ While I was “being with‟ what I was doing, it flowed easily, but when you are simply “doing to” with thoughts scattered every which way, you are not connected in a conscious way with your task. Nor are you connected with the available energy that accompanies that task.” What he meant was that doing and being was equally important in the cultivation process.

Living in a career-driven world we, women, sometimes get wrapped in the act of “doing things”, and we forget the simple art of just “being”, or embracing our receptive nature and reveling in the act of absorbing, accepting and receiving. Every woman is potentially fertile – an abundant source of creativity. Infertility problems stem from disrupting the natural balance of the body and losing “Qi” or vital force in the sacral and abdominal regions. Regular Qi-Gong and Yoga practice containing, breathing, balancing “mudras” and creative visualization helps restore the lost equilibrium and bring the body back into homeostatic resonance. So it can pulse with the Gaian rhythms and succumb to the Earthly womb. Enshrining the body with light, positive thoughts, proper breathing and exercise and most of all gratitude for being a woman and bearing the seed of procreation initiates us all in the sacred act of metaphysical gardening. How will you tend to your metaphysical garden? It’s all in your hands, mind and heart…