The Secret Garden: Temenos for Individuation

This fascinating study grew out of the author’s abiding interest in gardening as a metaphor for the process of individuation.  It circumambulates the psychology and rich symbolism associated with gardens and secrets, with particular reference to The Secret Garden, the much-loved novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

We read here of the reality of the psyche, the importance of symbols, imagination and play in the pursuit of self-knowledge.  We learn about sacred time and sacrifice, and how these relate to the analytic process.  We learn of gardening “Magic,” of rituals and how to address our fallow periods – times we feel flat and uncreative.  We are reminded of how the mysterious transcendent function may manifest in our darkest hour.  We read here of soul.

Many more motifs associated with gardens, secrets and the process of individuation are explored here, with dream examples, and a summary of the Burnett novel.