Artwork by Elowen Digital

if you see me in heaven,
tell the gardener

i lived sumptuously 
as pomegranates do 

- From "Pomegranates"

The narrative that follows is about an archetype I like to call “The Gardener.” I first wrote about The Gardener in February 2025. She is, without a doubt, my favorite of the feminine archetypes, as I envision (or re-envision) them, and the narrative that follows (now revised) is probably my most cherished self-fashioning narrative to date. 

I see The Gardener in many ways as an extension of the nurturer or mother archetype. But she’s also more than that: she is a spirit of warmth, loving, receptivity, and abundance that is rooted in feminine sensuality. I’ve come to think of her as a lavishness of spirit, as someone who plants seeds of life wherever she goes. She is also an agent of transformation, similar in some ways to an inner alchemist.

Additionally, before I begin, I’d like to point out that this is the first revision I’m publishing of a self-fashioning narrative. As I’ve said before, I think the goddess stories teach us that the path to integration for women should be poetic, dynamic, and rooted in wholeness, not hierarchies. Therefore, I view each of these narratives as a work-in-progress: they can and should be dynamic and fluid enough to evolve with me. I like the idea that I can return to them whenever I wish and revise them to reflect my own growth, creativity, and changes in perspective. The face of the goddess changes as I change. This is part of what it means to move toward wholeness.

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The Gardener is a spirit of abundance. She operates from a place of love. She can turn a house into a home, a meal into a celebration, a humble garden into a habitat. Everything she touches increases in life. The ground she walks on is always fertile ground.

The Gardener treats her environment like it has soul. That which she tends to becomes an extension of her. She uses her creativity to make spaces that are warm, welcoming, and inviting. She knows how to harness the power of the seasons to create an atmosphere that feels both celebratory and alive. In the wintertime, she fills her home with the scent of freshly-baked cookies and long, slow-cooked suppers served in front of the fire. In the spring and summer, she cooks with herbs fresh from her garden and adorns her table with vibrant colors and fresh flowers. The Gardener knows how to make the everyday feel extraordinary. She understands the power of turning simple activities into celebrations of life. This is what makes her feel magical.

If she cares for you, she won’t buy you gifts. She will create for you. That is the ultimate labor of love. 

There is a spirit of eternal youth about the gardener. She is vital, open, active, and receptive to life. If there is a shadow side to this archetype, it is probably the propensity to give too much to the wrong people and situations, to be too soft and understanding, and/or to have weak boundaries. But much of this I attribute to youthful naivete. The Gardener, as she appears in the more mature woman, recognizes her tenderness, her warmth, as well as her capacity for giving as tremendous sources of power. And she knows how to wield them judiciously.

The gardener is a maker of worlds: she creates an environment that is inherently nurturing and healing for herself and for those she loves. I call on this archetype often when I feel discouraged, stressed, overworked, or in need of self-care. There is something alchemical for me about spending hours in the kitchen making a healthy, nourishing meal or filling my home with the aromas of a slow-cooked dinner or the scent of something freshly baked. The same is true for decorating, perhaps with fresh-cut flowers, handmade potpourri with essential oils, or even DIY planters, bird feeders, or bee baths for my garden—anything, really, that makes my home feel more beautiful and more alive. These kinds of activities bring me comfort. They nourish my spirit and help bring me back to a place of alignment.