The Greek Garden

The hot Mediterranean sun shines down on the ripe red fruits of the pomegranate, who's gently swaying boughs shed shadow upon the array of plants beneath it; the silver-leaved wild thyme, the pungent basil and oregano. Among the brilliant sunny flowers of the heliotrope, rest statues of ancient, powerful gods, standing sentinal over the garden and filling it with divine energy.

The Greek Garden is a mystical one, steeped in the ancient powers of the old ways. Anyone who loves the ancient Greek ways and wants to intigrate that passion into the garden can create this sanctuary. Whether you are a practitioner of the Dianic Witchcraft Tradtions and worship the Greek Gods or simply harbour a love for the myths and legends of the time, you can bring this wealth of enchantment into your garden.

The Greek Garden is a beautiful, rocky, and sunshine-filled oasis to remind one of the hot islands in the Aegean and the ancient myths of the Greeks. It's central point is often a pomegranate tree or a grove of any of the trees below, surrounded by wilde basil, thyme, or whatever plants invoke the divine presence you desire. It can include statues to honour the gods and contain any of the plants listed as sacred to the deities...

As in the out-of-print book Wicca Garden by Gerina Dunwich. No copyright infrigement is intended

ADONIS (the personification of male beauty) ~ anemone (red), bay laurel, false hellebore, fennel, lettuce, myrrh, and rose.

APHRODITE (goddess of love and beauty) ~ anemone, apple, benzoin, campion, cinnamon, crocus, cypress, daisy, mandrake, marjoman, myrrh, myrtle, orris root, palm, parsley, periwinkle, quince, rose, and violet.

APOLLO (god of the sun, fertility, prophecy and oracles, and also a god associated with light, healing, music, and poetry) ~ anise, apple, bay laurel, cypress, date palm, dogwood, fenugreek, heliotrope, hyacinth, jimsonweed, lily-of-the-valley, mistletoe, olive, sunflower, and tamarisk.

ARES (god of battle, identified with the Roman war god Mars) ~ ash and oak.

ARTEMIS ~ (goddess of the moon, hunting, and wild beasts. The equivalent to the Roman moon goddess Diana) ~ almond, amaranth, artemesia, bay laurel, cedar, cypress, daisy, date palm, fir, hazel, hyacinth, moonwort, muwort, myrtle, sagebrush, St. John's Wort, tarragon, willow, and wormwood.

ATHENA (goddess of wisdom and the arts) ~ apple, fir, and olive.

ATROPOS (one the three fates) ~ belladonna.

CHIRON (fabled centaur and mentor to many greek heroes, including Achilles, Jason, and Hercules) ~ centaury, cornflower, and yarrow.

CHLORIS (goddess of flowers) ~ all beautiful flowers, but especially the rose.

CIRCE (enchantress who used magical potions to turn men to swine) ~ belladonna, mendrake, and mullein.

DEMETER (corn goddess, mother of Persephone, and personification of the fruitful Earth) ~ bean, corn poppy, myrrh, oak, pennyroyal, poppy, rose, sunflower, vervaine, wheat.

DIONYSUS (god of wine, ecstasy, nature, and fertility who was worshipped in frenzied orgies) ~ Agaric, apple, beech, fennel, fig, fir, grape, icy, myrtle pimpernell, pine, and walnut.

DRYADS (tree-dwelling oaks) ~ elder and oak.

EROS (winged goddess of dawn) ~ saffon.

THE FATES (three goddesses who presided over the course of human life) ~ cypress.

GAIA or GAEA (Mother Earth) aspen and bay laurel. (and everything, obviously)

GANYMEDE (handsome Trojan youth who became the eternal cupbearer and lover f the god Zues) ~ cocanut, mistletoe, olive, and tansy.

HADES (God of the Underworld and Lord of the Dead) ~ cypress, oak and narcissus.

HEBE (goddess of eternal youth) ~ cypress.

HECATE (goddess of the moon and protectress of all Witches) ~ aconite, almond, azalea, belladonna, cyclamen, dandelion, date palm, garlic, hemlock, lavender, mandrake, mints, monkshood, myrrh, oak, osiers, willow, wolfsbane, and yew.

HELIOS (god of the sun) ~ bay laurel and heliotrope.

HERA (wife of Zeus and goddess of marriage and childbirth) ~ apple, iris, lily, oak, orris root, pomegranate, and willow.

HERMES (good of commerce and invention, and a messenger and herald for the other gods) almond, lotus, palm, purslane, verbena, vervaine, and willow.

HESTIA (godess of the hearth; similiar to the Roman goddess Vesta) ~ lavender.

HYACINTHUS (god of springtime flowers and the lover of Apollo) ~ hyacinth.

HYMEN (god of marriage and wedding feasts) ~ hawthorn.

HYPNOS (god of sleep) ~ opium poppy.

IO (deified priestess of Hera) ~ violet.

IRIS (goddess of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods) ~ iris, orris root, and wormwood.

MEDEA (evil sorceress and daughter of King Phineus) ~ aconite.

MENTHE or MINTHA (nymph who was transformed into a mint plant by the jealous goddess Persephone.

MYRRHA (daughter and lover of King Cinyras) ~ myrrh.

NYX (goddess of night and darkness) all night-blooming flowers.

ORPHEUS (god of the lyre) ~ violets and willow.

PAN (horned god of woodlands, fields, shepherds, and fertility) ~ blessed thistle, fir, oak, pimpernel, pine, and reeds.

PERSEPHONE (queen of the underworld) ~ dittany of crete, narcissus, parsley, pomegranate, poplar, poppy, vervain, and willow.

PHAETON (son of Helios) ~ poplar.

POSEIDON (god of the sea) ~ ash, olive, pine, and all ocean plants.

PROMETHEUS (a Titan who fashioned the first man out of clay and gave fire to humans in defiance of the gods) ~ fennel.

RHEA (Earth Goddess) ~ myrrh, oak, and pine.

SATYRS (anthropomorphic woodland dieties with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a goat) ~ savory.

SELENE (lunar goddess) ~ moonwort and the rowan tree (if any can find this tree, please mail me.

URANUS (Father Sky, consort of Gaea) ~ ash tree and pomegranate.

ZEUS (ruler of Heaven and Earth, and master of thunderbolts and shapeshifting; the most powerful of the ancient Greek Gods) ~ almond, apple, aspen, banyan tree, daisy, fig, mistletoe, oak, olive, orange, peppermint, poplar, sage, and violet.