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Nature is the ultimate creator. At a nearby gardening or hardware store, get an assortment of seed packets to plant newness into your life. If your thumb is not the greenest, try nasturtiums, which are extremely hardy, grow quickly, and will spread to beautify any area. They also reseed themselves, which is a lovely bonus. Light the following candles, charging them with appropriate gems and stones: 

• Green candle with peridot or jade for creativity, prosperity, and growth 
• Orange candle with jasper or onyx for clear thinking and highest consciousness 
• Blue candle with turquoise or celestite for serenity, kindness, and a happy heart 
• White candle with quartz or limestone for purification and safety 

Put the seeds under the soil with your fingers and tamp them down gently with your wand, the branch, which you should also stick in the ground at this time. Water your new moon garden, and affirmative change will begin in your life that very day. Get ready for the exquisiteness of new love. Ahhhhh! 

A few weeks back, I asked my friends and readers: Should I put the little terracotta Garden Goddess out:

1. when I till, or
2. when I plant, and
3. why?

Interest in the question has been keen, and discussion lively: my thanks to everyone who took the time to consider, and to reply.

So let me tell you what I ended up doing, and why I so chose. Here's a teaser: the Great Pagan Sin.

Help! I need an answer to a theological question, and I need it quick.

As I write this, the little terracotta goddess lies sleeping, wrapped in silk, on a shelf in the pantry.

But soon she'll be standing out in the corner of the garden, plunged to her thighs in the ground. Through the summer to come—night and day, rain and shine—she will watch over the growth of this year's tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, squash, beans, herbs, and greens.

So here's the question. Does the Garden Goddess go into the ground:

1. when I till, or
2. when I plant, and
3. why?

Several years ago, I bought a small wormwood plant at a local nursery. I loved its soft, silvery leaves, clean scent, and knew of its use in absinthe, so I had to have it. I potted it for a year or so, and it didn’t do very well (to be fair, I’m not great with potted plants). But I knew that we would be moving eventually, and I didn’t want to leave it behind when we did. Two and a half years ago, we made our move to the Blue Ridge mountains and I brought my sad little wormwood with me. Not long after I planted it in the ground -- a claiming act -- beside our front porch, it sprang back to life. It’s full and vital now, and its clean scent, feathery texture, silvery green color, and powerful magic have preserved its status as one of my favorites (my mints share that status).

I tell people that gardening is my therapy and they always think I am joking but I am not. It is an enormous source of peace in my life. Pulling weeds and plant tending is very positive way to handle nervous energy or upset. It also helps me work out problems.  I will come back in after a wild and weedy session and feel calm and in control. Bringing together the divine with the beauty of the plant kingdom can bring great pleasure to your life. Gardening is also very calming and, after the work is done, you can enjoy the fruits of your labors. Sometimes, literally if you have fruit trees and berry bushes. A green thumb is hardly necessary to create your own secret sorcerer’s plot. I am an advocate of garden statuary and, if you were to come over for a sip of tea and garden gazing with me, you will see an altar adorned with deities and a few carefully placed statues, What seems sacred and inspiring to you and is pleasurable to your eye will certainly do nicely but even if you have a deck, a fire escape or sunny windowsills, you can create your own sanctuary, indoor gardening can absolutely fulfill the desire for an otherworldly aesthetic.  For a truly witchy garden, it will come as no surprise that many of these plants love shade, or look best in the moonlight.  The rare art of magical gardening serves to put you in closer touch with nature, which is essential to pagan’s horticulture and is an amazingly peaceful pursuit, and working directly with the earth and her plants and flowers will teach you the secrets of our Great Gaia.  Tending and growing these herbs and flowers will usher you into a very specialized world.  From this vantage point, you can dry herbs to make special teas, potions, tinctures, and flower essences that are uniquely healing and magical.