25 Aug Orchid Magic
GardenSong1 – Garden of Atema
From the end of 2005 until 2011 I was living on the BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII, co-creating with NATURE in my GARDENSONG1 PROJECT, on the land surrounding our home in Kona Paradise. The name I was given for my first GardenSong Project was the GARDEN OF ATEMA.
My Orchid Wish
One day I realized how much I LOVE ORCHIDS. I had a few and wanted more, yet they were sooooooooo expensive and we were living rather “careful” financially. So I made a SIMPLE WISH TO THE UNIVERSE; “I wish I had more Orchids!” Then I let it go.
One day soon after I made the wish the most amazing thing happened. I was visiting our friend, Len, next door and noticed that there were some “SPENT” ORCHIDS in pots lining his driveway. I asked him what he was going to do with them? He explained that once a week when he is a vendor at a market on the other side of the island he buys his beloved an Orchid. Sometimes vendors have many left overs and they make him a “deal” for a whole flat of them. They enjoy them in the house until they stop blooming then out they go. He said he wasn’t going to do anything with the “spent” Orchids and that I COULD HAVE THEM ALL and any more that showed up there! I WAS ELATED!
Of course none of them were blooming so I had no idea what kind they were, yet I knew in GARDENSONG things thrive. I placed some on our Lanai, a screened in porch over-looking the ocean, where we slept, read, and meditated. The rest I placed outside in the gardens here and there to see what would happen.
There was an area just outside my “front” door where I had created a little terraced garden with paths under a magnificent TREE with a group of runners that would attach to the ground like a MONKEY POD TREE. We were friends, so I arranged them in his LAVA ROCK grow boxes and even hung some in his branches. I certainly wasn’t ORCHID knowledgeable, yet I had hope.
Magic Takes Over
The MAGIC of our GARDEN OF ATEMA and THE GARDENSONG1 PROJECT in that tropical Hawaiian environment took over. I image the FLOWER FAIRIES, PLANT SPIRITS and OVERSEEING DEVAS got to work and co-created the MAGIC. Soon a few of my new ORCHIDS began to show TINY BUDS. It was very exciting as each one began to slowly unveil their mysterious gifts. I took photos.
One day there was a BLOOM! A beautiful colorful EXOTIC ORCHID FLOWER to oooh and aaah over! Have you ever REALLY LOOKED at an ORCHID? There is a kind of sparkling luminescent quality to the petals, as if they are made of PCL (pure condensed light) with a touch of iridescent glitter. Have you ever stuck your nose deep into a flower blossom and inhaled its delicate scent? Have you ever carefully studied the EXTRAORDINARY PATTERNS and STRUCTURES each one has to show off and to assure it continues its species? Sometimes I think what they would look like if I were a BEE or BUTTERFLY or HUMMINGBIRD… How would I decide which FLOWER to visit? I decided one day that I would like to meet the DESIGNERS with SUCH WILD IMAGINATIONS!
Day by day, more bloomed. Little by little, my gardens and home filled with ORCHIDS. When one came into bloom, I would take many photos, like a parent takes lots of photos of their children. I would carry it inside to show it off and admire it. I loved how the little FLOWER FAIRIES followed the FLOWER inside and tended it. I loved their company, too. I loved having FLOWERS and the ENERGY they bring in my ART STUDIO where I co-created VIBRKAKEYS and other TRANSFORMATIONAL ART. Flowers are so inspiring!
One day the CHOCOLATE ORCHIDS bloomed! OH MY, the delicious smell of chocolate wafting from a FLOWER was almost unbelievable! We, being CHOCOLATE LOVERS, certainly enjoyed sleeping to that scent in the moist OCEAN AIR of our sleeping Lanai. It was truly PARADISE living there.
One day, right before it was time to move to TENNESSEE, I counted them. I had received 75 ORCHIDS from one WISH! I was astonished.
I had to find homes for them, along with the 100s of other potted plants I had gathered and grown in the GARDEN OF ATEMA. I couldn’t take them with me. Oh I was sooooooo sad! I tried to sell them with little luck.
I gave some to my friend, MERLYN, who was the ALCHEMIST MASTER GARDENER there in the GARDEN OF ATEMA. I gave a few to my sister, VERONIQUE VERABIJA, who was the SEED SAVING and GROWING QUEEN OF THE GARDENS. Eventually I gave almost all the rest of the Orchids and Plants to a wonderful big-hearted friend, PAM, who helped us in so many AWEsome ways to make our move work. Even though my heart was tender to leave all my GARDEN FRIENDS, it lightened me to see how much Pam loved my Orchids and to see them settling into their new home in her lovely terraced ROCK GARDENS.
I GIVE UP!
When I arrived in TENNESSEE, 5 years ago, I bought a few ORCHIDS thinking I would grow them here, since it was so easy in Hawaii. NO LUCK! No matter what I did, only a few blooms and then pest STRUGGLES, whiteflies, not the right light and wrong environment. Just a few weeks ago, I GAVE UP MY DREAM OF GROWING ORCHIDS HERE. I gently placed them outside in the blazing heat, kissed them ALOHA, and told them I appreciated their efforts and they could now GO TO THE LIGHT. Whew, it was a relief to let go of something that just wasn’t working.
So today I am posting a new gallery of my favorite HAWAIIAN ORCHIDS to celebrate their AWESOME BEAUTY! Orchids have such EXOTIC VARIETY and TEXTURES. Sometimes they show their PLANT SPIRIT DEVA in the portraits I snap of them. I love the VISUAL STORIES they evoke! I hope you enjoy them.
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