Contents i Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning ii Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Picture credits All photographs were taken by the author except those of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, which were taken by Connie Hanna. The view of The Hide, Ohio, was drawn by Jan Heynike. The plans in Chapter 12 are by Sandra-Jasmin Kuhn. Contents iii Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Christopher McIntosh iv Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Published in 2005 by I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU In the United States and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com Copyright © Christopher McIntosh The right of Christopher McIntosh to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 1 86064 740 5 EAN 978 1 86064 740 6 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Typeset by ITS, Edinburgh Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin Contents v To Ian Hamilton Finlay, who started me on the quest Contents vii CONTENTS List of Illustrations xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction xv Chapter 1 The symbolic language of gardens The garden as an interface between nature and art. Creation of meaning in gardens. The ‘languages’ used and their basic structure. Perennial symbolic themes and features, such as groves, rocks, grottoes, fountains and labyrinths. The garden as an initiatory journey. 1 Chapter 2 Balancing the forces of nature: Chinese and Japanese gardens Influence of feng shui and Taoism on Chinese gardens. Balancing of Yin and Yang. Examples from history and from present- day Hong Kong. The tradition of bonsai Japanese gardens – similarities and dissimilarities, when compared with those of China. The influence of Shinto and of Pure Land Buddhism. Examples of Zen Buddhist monastery gardens in Kyoto. 18 Chapter 3 A foretaste of paradise: the Islamic garden and its forebears Ancient roots of the paradise garden tradition. Its adoption by Islam and its recurring features such as four water channels representing the rivers of Eden. Plant symbolism in the Islamic context. Examples of Islamic gardens in India and Spain. 35 viii Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Chapter 4 Gardens of gods and gardens of saints: pagan and Christian motifs in European gardens Gardens and their symbolism in medieval Christianity. Transition to the Renaissance and the rediscovery of classical motifs. Key works of literature used as sources. Abundance of pagan imagery. Renaissance magical and memory systems as a possible basis for the iconography and design of certain gardens. 46 Chapter 5 Ancient mysteries revived: the Renaissance garden in Italy A look at selected Italian gardens and their symbolic dimensions: the Villa d’Este, near Rome; the Villa Castello and the Boboli, in Florence; the Villa Garzoni at Collodi; and the mysterious Bomarzo in the Latium and its enigmatic creator, Vicino Orsini. 56 Chapter 6 Rosicrucian marvels and recreations of Eden: late Renaissance gardens in Europe The botanical garden and its connection with the search for Eden. Horticulture as reflecting the mingling of new scientific theories with older ideas and beliefs such as the doctrine of plant ‘signatures’. The symbolism of the Palatine Garden at Heidelberg, Germany, and of the Garden of the Planets at Edzell Castle, Scotland. 69 Chapter 7 Theatres of transformation: symbolism in Baroque and Rococo gardens Grand visual rhetoric as a characteristic of Baroque gardens. The park of Versailles and its dense mythological symbolism. Baroque gardens with a Christian message, such as Bom Jesus do Monte in northern Portugal and Count von Sporck’s Bethlehem in Bohemia. Sanspareil, Bavaria, based on the story of Telemachus, son of Odysseus. 76 Contents ix Chapter 8 Visions of a new Elysium: symbolism and allegory in gardens of the eighteenth century Gardens as reflecting the ideas of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Two outstanding English examples: Stowe in Buckinghamshire, expressing the political and philosophical views of its creator, Viscount Cobham; and Stourhead in Wiltshire, based on Virgil’s story of the voyage of Aeneas. 84 Chapter 9 The symbol-strewn landscape: initiatic themes in European gardens of the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries The influence of masonic and initiatic themes on garden design. Examples in Germany: Wörlitz in Saxony, Goethe’s garden and park in Weimar and Frederick William II’s garden at Potsdam. Some comparable French and Italian examples. Gardens as settings for monuments to the dead. More recent symbolic gardens and parks in Norway and Germany. 91 Chapter 10 The present age Continued vitality of the tradition of sacred and symbolic gardens. Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Little Sparta, Scotland, Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden in Tuscany and other modern examples in Britain and the United States. Gardens in cyberspace and the possibilities offered by computer technology in garden design. 113 Chapter 11 Connecting with nature The garden as a miraculous treasurehouse of nature. The alchemy of plant growth. Planting by the moon, companion plants, and how to work with earth energies in the garden. 136 x Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Chapter 12 Creating a garden of meaning Practical suggestions for applying some of the approaches described in the book to create meaning in one’s own garden. Tuning in to the space, choosing the overall mood, selecting decorative motifs and plants. Three case studies, illustrated by plans and drawings. 148 Appendix: Some plants and their associations 165 Notes 184 General bibliography 193 Index 196 Contents xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. The garden of the Tenryu-ji Zen Buddhist temple, Kyoto, Japan. 2. Sand garden at the Ryoan-ji temple, Kyoto. It consists essentially of an area of pale sand carefully raked into a pattern of parallel lines, the surface broken only by 15 carefully placed stones. 3. Looking out from one of the pavilions of the Red Fort garden, Delhi. 4. Image from a French sixteenth-century manuscript showing an enclosed garden in the medieval style. 5. Statue of Hercules at the Villa Castello, Florence. 6. The Fountain of Oceanus in the Boboli garden, Florence. 7. Garden of the Villa Garzoni, Collodi, Tuscany. 8. One of the fountains of the seasons at Versailles: Autumn. 9. The Gothic Temple at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. 10. Wörlitz, Germany: the Venus Temple and the window of the Grotto of Aeolos. 11. The ‘Stone of Good Fortune’ at Goethe’s Garden House, Weimar. 12. Allegorical figure of Spring in the garden of the Bossard Temple, Lüneburg Heath, Germany. 13. Little Sparta, the garden in Lanarkshire, Scotland, created by the poet and artist Ian Hamilton Finlay: view across the pond to the Apollo Temple. 14. Little Sparta: head of Apollo depicted as the French revolutionary Saint Just. xii Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning 15. The garden in Tuscany with images from the Tarot trumps, created by the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle. 16. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC: the Star Garden. 17. A figure of Pan points the way in the Dumbarton Oaks garden. 18. Renaissance garden designed in the 1990s by Neill Clark at a teachers’ study centre in Cullowhee, North Carolina, USA. 19. Paving at the entrance to the Cullowhee garden. 20. A fish-eye view of The Hide, Ohio, USA: a drawing by Jan Heynike. Case study 1: Druidic mystery in a town garden Case study 2: As above, so below Case study 3: A feng shui patio Contents xiii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In addition to recording my special debt to Ian Hamilton Finlay, for his seminal role in arousing the interest that led to this book, I would like to express my thanks to the following people: to Katherine Kurs for sharing with me her own research and insights into the garden as sacred space; to Sandra-Jasmin Kuhn for her drawings and planting suggestions for Chapter 12; to Princess Emanuela Kretzulesco for the inspiration I have gained from her work on the symbolic dimensions of Renaissance and Baroque gardens; to Deborah Forman for visiting with me some remarkable gardens; to Joscelyn Godwin for giving me the benefit of his knowledge of Renaissance paganism and for a memorable and insightful tour of the Boboli garden in Florence; to Lionel Snell for his practical suggestions on the magical approach to gardening; to Jan Heynike and Neill Clarke for providing information on their own sacred and symbolic gardens; to the staff of Dumbarton Oaks Garden Library in Washington DC for enabling me to consult their rich collection; and to the creators of all the gardens that have given me inspiration and delight. xiv Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning Contents xv INTRODUCTION This book is an invitation to look at gardens in a new way – or rather to rediscover a very old way of looking at them. My theme is the garden as a sacred space, an outdoor temple carrying an intentional transformative message, religious, mystical or philosophical in meaning. For the author, this rich subject has been a compelling personal quest.