Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Perelandra - Cooperating Co-Creatively with Nature
http://www.cinemind.com/atwater/perelandra.html
(from the May/June '88 NEW REALITIES Magazine)
 P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. P. O. Box 7691 Charlottesville, VA 22906-7691
© 1988 P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D.

As you change how you approach your garden, you will also change how you 
approach your life.
http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/AB1473/index.cfm?&did=8


The community of Findhorn caused a sensation during the 1970's. Located near 
the Arctic Circle in Scotland this bleak and barren place was transformed 
into a veritable garden of Eden, producing remarkably large vegetables and 
spectacular out-of season blossoms, by people who regularly "communicated 
with angels and fairies." As Findhorn grew and prospered, the transformation 
of soil shifted in importance to the transformation of souls, and the world 
has never been quite the same since.

The successes of Findhorn remain for all to see proof positive that the 
impossible is still possible, that "special magic" is still alive and well. 
Yet, Findhorn is remote for most, a faraway place of faraway visions, 
reminiscent of a time when integrity mattered and the real "bottom-line" was 
service and caring.

What made Findhorn special, the heart of it, was its practical, everyday 
focus on how to create a healthy environment and a healthy life in balance 
and in harmony. It was "nuts and bolts" stuff, and it worked! But the 
"instructions," the informational guidance that made the difference, came 
from what was claimed to be the dominions of God through the kingdoms of 
nature. It was a staggering claim -- one that remains intact after years of 
challenge and criticism.

People forget, though, that the founders of the Findhorn Community were not 
the first to establish a co-creative partnership with invisible worlds. The 
great botanist George Washington Carver also claimed to have spoken with 
plant intelligences all his life, gaining from them the information he later 
used to develop practical ways to utilize the lowly peanut. And there are 
others, many others. In fact regardless of culture or country, legends abound 
describing fairies and angels guiding and uplifting humanity. Far from an 
isolated event, the true magic of Findhorn is the opportunity it represents 
to cooperate directly with the intelligence of nature

The next step in the evolution of that opportunity is happening at 
Perelandra. Where Findhorn became solid and stationary, a fixed-base 
operation one would visit, Perelandra is representative of a process one can 
use no matter where one lives. And that process developed from another very 
special garden.

Located some sixty miles southwest of Washington, D.C., near the tiny hamlet 
of Jeffersonton, Virginia, Perelandra's 45 acres of meadow, woods, streams 
and garden have become a well-established "Center for Nature Research," an 
open-air laboratory dedicated to the discovery of nature's laws, and the 
principles and dynamics underlying the co-creative relationship between 
humanity and nature. As a research center, it is open to the public only once 
a year, and occasionally for classes and workshops.

The driving force behind what is happening at Perelandra is Machaelle Small 
Wright. In an article written for The Virginia Biological Farmer, she was 
characterized as a woman who talked with fairies and angels, materialized 
manure out of thin air, persuaded moles to do her bidding, had no insect 
problems of any kind in her garden, and, in general, seemed to be associated 
with amazing and impossible things. With the help of the spiritual beings she 
claims to work with, Wright has authored a simple "how-to" entitled 
"Perelandra Garden Workbook - A Complete Guide to Gardening with Nature 
Intelligences." More of a manual, it illustrates how anyone can do what she 
did&emdash;and more. Although an introduction to Perelandra is an 
introduction to its founder, the real "Perelandra" is the role model it 
offers, not of a place to visit but of a method to use. With manual in hand, 
one will find that the prospect of cooperating co-creatively with nature is 
now as practical and accessible as one's own front door.

The manual is a culmination of over 13 years spent in meticulous record 
keeping, covering every nuance of growth and change in the nature kingdoms 
Wright claims to work with, a bulk of facts now catalogued into two 
computers. During her first three years on the property, she regularly put in 
12-hour days, seven days a week. But now, after the garden is planted in the 
spring (which is usually by June first), she spends only two or three hours 
per week attending to whatever might be needed until season's end. This frees 
her to devote time to communicating with nature intelligences, conducting 
experiments, and testing and carrying out ongoing projects

Upon meeting her, one finds a woman with both feet firmly planted on the 
ground, a no-nonsense lady who is a far cry from most "spiritual" types. In 
her late thirties, Wright's skin and lanky frame are sure signs of a person 
who spends considerable time outdoors and is no stranger to hard work. Her 
enthusiasm is infectious and her speech as earthy as the soil she tills. She 
sees herself as a research technician and information translator, not a 
psychic channeling messages from "beyond." Metaphysical and occult terms 
bother her so she avoids both, preferring instead to find other ways to 
demystify what she is doing.

"Six hundred million books tell you how to enlightenment but none tells you 
what to do after you get it," she says. To her, the secrets of spirituality 
and success are laziness and guts: the laziness not to get in your own way 
and the guts to act when it is appropriate. "I don't have any special gifts. 
All I have is guts. If I am to offer what I have learned to others, I need to 
know what I am talking about. I accept that responsibility --to do what I do 
well."

The star attraction of her work is the garden, a focal point in her study of 
what she believes to be the vibrational reality behind form. Called an 
"energy garden," she claims it is the result of a co-creative process between 
herself, nature spirits (called fairies by some), and devas (a Sanskrit word 
meaning "shining one," a divine being or angel). Speaking matter-of-factly, 
she defines devas as "overlighting intelligences still consciously connected 
with God and part of the Original Pattern." She further defines them as the 
"architects" throughout creation who hold together in perfection all energies 
necessary to produce whatever will develop into form. She explains that 
although each one is a specialist, guiding the development of any particular 
species, each is also capable of revealing "The Greater Whole." Accordingly 
then, the "Deva of Carrots" is the same architect for any carrot planted 
anywhere in the world. Contact with this deva, no matter from what location 
or in which language or by what person, always reaches the same deva.

"During the early days with the garden, I would go into meditation each day 
and open my connection with the devic level. A deva would come into my 
awareness and identify itself. I was then given instructions. I was told what 
type of seed to buy. What fertilizer to use. How far apart to plant the 
seeds. When to thin the plants and how much space to leave between them. As a 
deva came into my awareness, I noticed that each had its own vibration. After 
awhile, I could recognize which deva was entering my awareness. This led me 
to develop the ability to call specific devas by 'aiming' my awareness for 
the deva's own vibratory pattern. It was as if I was faced with a gigantic 
telephone bank and I had to learn how to make all the different connections. 
Once learned, I was able to 'make calls in' as well as receive calls."

Wright makes a definitive distinction between devas and nature spirits, 
although both, she feels, are "energy bodies of pure light.'' She says nature 
spirits are "more dense in vibration" because they appear in a closer 
proximity to Earth. "They are the workers responsible for tending to the 
well-being of plants, animals, and minerals. They maintain the necessary 
blend between form and life energies contained within that form." She 
continues, "If I were to desire a change in the color of a carrot, I would 
seek that change on the devic level, for that is part of the pattern of the 
carrot. But if I wish to prepare the soil and tend to the carrot perfectly, I 
would seek out the nature spirits for help because they work directly with 
existing form." Wright says that she experiences nature spirits sometimes as 
balls of energy, which move alongside her as she walks.



After our first trip to Perelandra, my husband and I drove around the 
countryside checking out other gardens, fields, trees, and whatever plant 
growth we could find. This was the summer of 1985, a time when that part of 
Virginia had been officially declared a drought disaster, a condition that 
continued into 1986 as well. We noticed mostly stunted, straggly growth in 
predominantly clay soil, packed and hard. There were a few bright flowers 
next to some homes, but no one had much of a garden and crops looked sparse.

Wright does use a heavy straw mulch to hold in moisture, and it is true that 
my "labor of love" can often result in "miracles," but dedication and hard 
work do not adequately explain the following facts about the Perelandra 
Garden: nearly perfect roses and vegetables grown without using any kind of 
chemical or organic repellent, no pest or animal problems of any kind at any 
time, minimal cash outlay and upkeep, no added moisture in a drought area, 
and an unusual energy "vibration" which permeates the area. The energy is 
similar to what I've felt visiting the Sequoia National Forest and the Four 
Corners Area, a feeling I would describe as an "accelerated uplift."

In contrast to the surrounding countryside, Perelandra sod is rich, moist, 
loose, and supports abundant, healthy life. Several neighbors commented on 
the Perelandra garden, noting that it always looked great regardless of 
season and seemed to always produce good food. None believe the fairy-deva 
stuff, but no one could explain why that garden stood out from all others. 
"It's not normal," said one. "Weird," said another. "Oh, she's just a good 
gardener," joked one woman. When I began quizzing some people who attended 
one of her workshops held on the property, most comments were an 
enthusiastic, such as: "I tried what she recommended and it worked." "I read 
her first book and thought, if she can do it, so can I &emdash;so I did." "I 
live in a large apartment complex and cannot garden, but I do use some of her 
methods to help improve my life." Comments less than enthusiastic were: "I'm 
really confused on how all this might help me." "None of this makes sense to 
me." and, "I just came here to get back to nature."

Wright told of elderly neighbors who have been gardening in the area for over 
60 years and how, even using chemical insecticides , they still lose between 
25 and 30 percent of their cabbages each year to cabbage worm. At Perelandra, 
I saw only a few leaves discarded because they were too tough. No heads were 
lost, and I never saw any insect holes in any cabbages. Only natural 
fertilizer is used, and the specific amount for each plant is prepared and 
administered in accordance with "instructions." Although I did not witness 
nor hear of anyone contacting nature spirits or devas during the several 
times I have been on the property, I have to admit something very different 
is happening at Perelandra.

The most obvious difference is the unique shape of the garden &emdash;18 
concentric circles, which gives the appearance of a spiral, and a smaller, 
regularly-shaped circle nearby. The circles are arranged within a neatly 
mowed square of grass surrounded by a meadow and woods. Machaelle's cabin 
fronts the larger section of the garden, with tool shed to one side. Between 
both buildings is an entry gate and a roped-off area of undisturbed brush 
marked "The Elemental Annex," home for what Wright believes are the nature 
spirits she works with. Various havens for creatures and critters dot the 
entire property. Down a wooded path, past several log piles and a dog run, is 
the main house where Clarence Wright, Machaelle's partner, lives, and beyond 
the house is the small, octagonally-shaped office with a tall, peaked roof, 
resembling a sculptured version of a Native American (which, in fact it 
actually replaced several years before).

Through Machaelle's forming of her own company, Perelandra, Ltd., books and 
products have now emerged from the operation . "Behaving as if the God in All 
Life Mattered" (an introduction to Machaelle and the concept of an energy 
garden) and "Perelandra Garden Workbook" (co-authored by the nature spirits 
and devas she claims to work with) are both available, as well as a soil 
balancing kit, instructional cassette tapes, and a complete line of rose and 
garden "essences" (energized and refined substances taken by mouth in 
measured drops for use with balancing and harmonizing levels of life energy).



The history of Perelandra is really the history of Machaelle and Clarence. 
During a special Catholic mass in 1971 Machaelle joined in partnership with 
Clarence Wright, a former Paulist priest turned electronics specialist. 
According to Clarence, a partnership, unlike a traditional marriage, is where 
two independent people can interrelate and support each other while retaining 
separate identities. "You do not create a third entity, but support each 
other's growth and learning." Although their partnership has been frustrating 
at times, Clarence points to their rings as a symbol of the uniquely evolving 
relationship they share. Obviously proud of Machaelle, Clarence is 
unhesitating in his approval of their lifestyle and where they live, which 
means a 90-minute commute each day from his job in Washington, D.C. "I learn 
a lot being here. Machaelle and Perelandra have been like teachers to me in 
terms of opening up to my inner self and the cosmos. I'm hanging on for the 
ride and it's real exciting." Clarence does most of the cooking on the 
property (his specialty is vegetable spaghetti) and seems to enjoy being an 
all-around handyman and engineer of sorts, as well as the Perelandra 
photographer. He helps Machaelle some but says she does 90 percent of all 
garden work.

When they first moved to the property, they found the damage done by improper 
logging more substantial than previously thought. Healing the land 
necessitated that they also heal themselves. Creating harmony and balance 
became an internal as well as external task. Since their personal struggles 
were so akin to the story of Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis, they chose the 
book's name for their land. Lewis's "Perelandra'' meant Venus, planet of 
perfection, and he used the conflict between two earthlings, one representing 
good, the other evil, to illustrate how the balance between the two is the 
real source of true perfection, the harmony of the whole. This story inspired 
both Machaelle and Clarence, and gave them courage.

During those early years Clarence worked nights, which left Machaelle home 
alone. She remembers how uncomfortable she felt at night, sensing a kind of 
energy or presence coming from the woods, a feeling she could not shake nor 
identify. "The nights of the full moon were the worst," she recalls. One day 
she started hearing "voices." After awhile she confided in Clarence and, 
instead of calling her crazy, he quoted a letter by Saint Paul to the early 
Christians in which Paul assured the people that the voices they heard were 
of God. Clarence suggested she start meditating, which she promptly did, 
although not following any particular method other than lying down, relaxing 
with eyes closed, and opening up to whatever felt right at the time. For some 
time after that, she continued to explore various realms of consciousness and 
the possibilities of other dimensions of reality. She had sevaal teachers, 
but it was Clarence who again was a catalyst for her. One day while shopping 
for books to read, he handed her two he thought she might anjoy: Tbe Magic of 
Findhorn and The Findhorn Garden. These two books changed her life.

Wright says that she has learned many important lessons from nature spirits. 
She believes the "fear-of-stepping-on-an elf-syndrome" can retard 
communications and progress once a person discovers the validity of nature 
intelligences. "These people,'' she laughs, "are afraid to try anything for 
fear of squashing an elf." She cringes when people start talking about nature 
spirits as sweet, cuddly little things. "That's not true. They do not respond 
to sentimental love. Their love is a love of action and purpose, and it is 
that kind of love they desire from us." To make her point, she tells of 
giving a workshop in a spiritual community and being asked to see what was 
wrong with a large bush. Apparently the bush had been recently transplanted 
and, as part of the transplanting process, community members gathered around 
it each night, joined hands, and "sent" the bush L-O-V-E. Instead of 
flourishing, it was dying. "I walked up to the bush, looked at the soil, 
checked the leaves, then turned around and said, 'Try watering it!' That's 
love in action."

I made it a point to ask her why anyone should bother going through the 
effort it takes to incorporate an entirley different approach to gardening or 
farming == especially in view of all the other proven, established, and 
successful methods?

"I'm very aware that this is a valid issue. I've raised the question myself. 
I'm espe cially prone to raising it when crouched over in the garden working 
on the third day to do something that takes regular gardeners less than an 
hour to do. I've been known to stand my weary bones upright, look toward the 
sky, and give serious thought to the state of my sanity. But each year as I 
watch my garden flourish under adverse conditions and the other gardens 
around me struggle, even die, under the same conditions, I find I raise the 
question less and less. The Perelandra garden thrives because of the approach 
I have been taught and the underlying consciousness and reality that motivate 
the approach."

"But," she adds, "everything that you know that has gone into establishing 
your sense of order, stability, and balance &emdash; in other words, logic, 
both in the garden and in your life away from it&emdash; will be constantly 
challenged if you use this method. For you see, this gardening is, in fact, a 
metaphor for the whole of life. As you change how you approach the garden, 
you will, in turn, change the very fabric of how you approach your life!" 
That challenge caught my attention.



The Perelandra garden changes to some degree each year. At first it consisted 
of normal, straight rows that formed a rectangle. Later, concentric circles 
were used in place of the tradidonal rows. Eventually, the smaller, 
regular-shaped circle was added for tomatoes only, as Wright was "told" 
tomatoes were incompatible with any other vegetable and should be alone.

Each year, after the winter solstice, she begins the process of planning the 
next year's garden. The information she claims to receive from devas is 
detailed and specific, including exact timing of when to plant what, and the 
ratio of each plant to the whole pattern of the garden. "I depend on the 
devas and nature spirits to inform me of my direcdon and the step-by-step 
process I need to take. Without that information, I would be guessing along 
with everyone else.

"None of it makes any sense until you see how it weaves in with weather 
patterns and insect hatchings for that year. Nature always strives for 
balance between such things as insects, weather, climate, soil, birds, 
hatchings, and so forth. The other traditions of gardening are not that 
reliable any more. Like everything else around us, these traditions must 
change, too. Many of our gardening techniques come from native peoples. 
Companion planting, for instance, is a native American technique. Because of 
the impact of today's ecology, the original companions in planting are no 
longer as effective. They need to be updated.

Wrights ideas are surprising. She explains, "What I am finding that works 
best is a garden that constantly changes, that is free to breathe and grow on 
its own with out set rules. An organic garden will selectively repel some 
life, but an energy garden repels nothing and includes everything. It took me 
a long time to learn that. I made a sign saying, 'YOUR GARDEN IS INCLUSIVE, ' 
and tacked it to my shed to read every day. Once animals and insects realize 
they don't have to fight for their lives, that they are free to live and 
grow, their aggression subsides and they regulate themselves! My few Japanese 
beetles, for instance, stick to the same flower and leave the others alone 
now that they are no longer threatened with extination. A dead bug is a dead 
bug, whether it's killed organically or otherwise. I had to consider another 
solution. "

Because of this decision of hers, Perelandra has become a sanauary for life 
and healing. Ten percent of all produce raised is regularly tithed for animal 
and insect consumption, and sections of land are left unmoved or untouched 
for their benefit, as well.

It is Wright's belief that most of the gardens and farmlands around the world 
are now without nature spirits. For that reason, she feels that the amount of 
energy any present form contains is at its minimum. "What we end up with is 
basically empty form. Food without light. We are constantly eating 
unenergized food &emdash; and it has nothing to do with the fast food chains. 
It is our lack of understanding of what's happening within ourselves and 
outside us that has gotten us in trouble. Because of our ignorance, we have 
not only complicated our own process, we've managed to affect the process of 
everything around us as well."

I can't help but reflect how different climate and weather are now and how 
pollution is worldwide in its effects. Since everything evolves, I paid close 
attention to Wright as she explained how foolish she thinks it is to expect 
the same results from the same methods each and every time. "It's just not 
possible," she cautions. Addressing the subject in larger terms, she refers 
to a message she "received" from the "Over lighting Deva of Planet Earth":

"Allow me to give you another insight. The Aquarian impulses are already 
seated within the planet. Visualize, if you will, the planet as a container 
of these impulses: Energy held beneath the Earth's surface. This energy is 
seated within the very soul of the planet, seated within its heart. It is 
there to be released and integrated into all levels of life on the planet. 
Now, picture one small, co-creative garden on the planet's surface. See it as 
a window into the interior of the planet, into its soul. As the gardener 
works to align this garden to the new dynamics, watch the window open and the 
energy contained within the core of the planet gently gravitate to and 
release through the window. Feel the sense of relief and freedom within the 
Earth's core as the energy moves outward and up. And watch the actions and 
the form living on the Earth's surface suddenly shift to reflect he impact of 
the heart energy which has now surfaced.

"That which exists on the surface has begun to connect to and integrate with 
the heart and soul of the planet, which, in turn, is fully aligned with the 
heart and soul force of the universe. As with the experience the human 
receives when he consciously shifts his perceptions in such a way that the 
heart energy he holds deep within is suddenly released and allowed to 
surface, so, too, will Earth as each person opens the window through the 
framework of the co-creative garden to the heart and soul energy of the 
planet.

"It is not enough to move about the planet in a state of benevolent love for 
it. Human state alone will not create the passageways through which the heart 
energy of the planet is allowed to release. It must be accomplished through 
the state of the human mind, his consciousness, combined with parallel and 
appropriate action. Once released, this heart energy from the planet will 
permeate all living reality upon its surface and support the evolutionary 
process of the planet and its inhabitants in tandem movement with the 
universe into the Aquarian era.

"I fully understand that I am aligning deep planetary change and universal 
movement with the actions of one gardener tending one small garden. This is 
precisely what I mean to do. One need not wait for group consensus in such 
matters. One need only move forward, sound the note for change, and follow 
that intonation with parallel action. Each gardener, in the role of the 
Knower, shall hold the seed to his heart and shall plant this seed in the 
earth. The fruit of this plant shall be the winged and shafted Sun above his 
head, and a new kingdom shall be grounded on Earth. This I can promise you. 
This is what awaits you. "

Perelandra is truly a role model, an example of what anyone can do anywhere. 
It is a method, not a place; an opportunity, not an event. What it teaches is 
invaluable even for people who do not garden.

When I left Perelandra after my last stay there, I pondered a challenge 
Wright offered: "You are the creator of your 'garden, ' even if you live in 
an apartment. It's up to you to ask your own questions and act on your own 
answers. Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Take what gardening teaches and 
use it in all of life!"



For informational brochures and product lists write:
Perelandra
P.O. Box 3603
Warrenton, VA 20188