The Enclosed garden: Temenos of the Soul, Juliana Kaya Prpric

The Enclosed Garden is one of the oldest expressions of civilization, and possessesa long and direct relationship to symbolism and mythology. Such a garden creates afertile place of verdant abundance, a haven of peace and quiet, shade and water,order and pleasure and a retreat from a hostile, threatening and chaotic wilderness.The world beyond the wall is boundless, expansive, universal, timeless and chaotic.By contrast, the world within the wall provides us with a sense of palpability of therich dark earth or the ‘erotic’ sense of space; senses and feelings of safety, finitudeand individuality: a Temenos for the soul. This lecture explores three images of theEnclosed Garden: the Garden of Eden, the Islamic Garden and the Taoist Garden.The enclosed garden symbolises not only our coming into being, but also our journey of becoming.