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... Gary Huntbatch
THE PARABLE OF THE GARDENER
There was once a gardener who would plant his garden on the old seven year cycle. On the neighbouring property there was stinky pile of ageing cuttings. Our gardener too had a stinky pile of ageing cuttings but his was growing bigger each year. His neighbour would pile his up but would use it each year by spreading it on his garden while our gardeners stinky pile just grew bigger because was throwing his cuttings on but not spreading them. He thought that this horrible stinky mess would only poison him and his family. As time went on the bigger the pile got the more our gardener found it to be offensive both to his eye and to his nose so he decided to build a wall to both block it out and contain it but now he had to throw his cuttings over the wall that he had built which grew physically harder with each passing year. During the time of this growing problem (pun intended) our gardener was noticing that, even though he thought he was doing everything correctly, year by year his crop was less fruitful and had had some problems with diseases. He was becoming worried that soon he would not be able to produce enough food to feed himself and his family and that they they too may become ill and die due to lack of good food to eat. One day when he was out by the wall he climbed up, held his nose and took a look, but both the sight and smell of it made him feel ill. He then looked over at his neighbours garden which seemed to be flourishing so he decided that he would go and speak to him about the stinky piles and successful garden. His neighbour welcomed him into his home where he gave him food and something to drink. When questioned upon his garden the neighbour told him that he too did a seven year crop rotation but his 'secret' was in his compost pile which was comprised of all the old cuttings from his previous crops to help nourish the new crop each year. He also explained that without the nourishment of the past years cuttings his garden would begin to fail and eventually produce no crop. Our gardener thanked his neighbour for the good advice and proceeded to do the same, after knocking down the protective wall that he had built. Over the coming years he noticed how his garden was producing more and more healthy produce. So much more in fact that he was eager to share his crop and knowledge with friends, family and to anyone else that that wished to learn his 'secret'.
* THE BEGINNING *
It is in much the same way that our lives are structured, in seven-year cycles. If you were to take a look back at your life you will be able to see where major changes have either been felt or indeed happened with each seven year cycle. Our internal or emotional problems begin to surface through either our personality and or disease at the end of each cycle. We can become sick, bitter or resentful while all the time wearing a beautiful mask that we think will hide it all. The reason is, although we sometimes agree that things have to change and sometimes we do indeed change them with maybe a new home or relationship, the old stuff is still there behind a wall....rotting and becoming stinky. What would be useful to do with that stinky old mess is not to mask it with a wall where we can occasionally climb up, look at it smell it, being thankful that it is no longer in our life because it makes us feel ill, but to use it as fertilizer for growth in the new life (garden) that we are trying to create. We can then come to love and appreciate all of those events (the stinky pile) along with all of the main characters in them for the nourishment they are providing to our new 'garden'. It is my belief that if we do not use the 'stinky pile'' in this way by loving and appreciating it, it will eventually bring disease into our new garden. How many people do you know of that that have 'cleaned house' as it were, only to become ill or sometimes die after leading an apparent 'healthy' life? Love the people and events that will nourish your garden....do not build a wall of hate or resentment and then wear a mask to hide the wall. You will always know and feel what is behind the mask even if others don't. This doesn't mean that you have to sift through it and and hug kiss it, just mentally do it. For some this will mean a lot of shoveling to spread that stinky pile over their new garden but sometimes the more you have the better your garden will be.
The moral of the parable is :
The new crop planted in the garden bears no ill will towards what was created in the past. It acknowledges and welcomes the gifts of the past (the old cuttings or residues from good and not so good years) and will joyously build on it and make it a part of the new bountiful future crop they will co-create together. On the other hand, humans tend to view the past as something to be feared, ashamed of or unforgivable where even just the thought of it will bring pain into their lives. I believe that it is part of our journey to acknowledge the co-creativeness of our past and to be like the crops, welcome it into our co-created future through total forgiveness. A forgiveness that allows us to accept our past as a co-creation that some say is planned before birth so with that in mind there is really nothing to forgive and we are truly free.
In Brief....At the end of a seventh year we know that change has to be made within. We feel unsettled. Sometimes we think that the the change has to be external and that can help us to see more clearly but the real change has to be inside. If we do not make this change our higher consciousness will create a trauma of some kind to facilitate it early on at the beginning of the next cycle of seven.
These are the books that inspired this parable:
Radical Forgiveness by Collin Tipping.. This book clarified the concept of planned incarnations. Planned with souls that would provide our incarnate bodies with the opportunities to emotionally experience whatever the 'we' on the higher plane of existence chooses for the growth of the soul that we will take to the incarnation after that, until we have experienced everything and accepted that it is all designed to help us reach a state of unconditional love on the earth plane.
Radical Incarnation by Collin Tipping......This novel by the same author gives a hypothetical story of two souls, George W Bush and Saddam Hussein planning their incarnations.
The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton. Bruce Lipton is a cellular biologist who used to teach doctors about the behavior the cells of the human body and how he later discovered that stress triggers the pituitary gland to switch from operating the immune system to producing adrenalin. With this information it is easy to see that if you are in stress most of the day your immune system is only working in your sleep. He also talks about how our mind uses our past traumas to influence the decisions we make in our life and how the stresses of these mental gymnastics could eventually create something that will kill us prematurely.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.. Based on Toltec wisdom this book influences my every thought and action in some way through my efforts to 'Be impeccable with my word'. 'To not take anything personally. 'To not make assumptions'. To know that I will 'Always do my best', even though my best will vary from day to day depending on my mood, it will always be my best.
Across Time and Death by Jenny Cockell...To me this book is irrefutable proof in reincarnation. Through her dreams and visions Jenny was able to trace her past life in Ireland where she died in her thirties during childbirth leaving her young family motherless. She found that all but one of the children were still alive and that they had all been adopted out. She was able to re unite the aging family through the sharing of memories that only she as their mother would know.
Divine Design by Gail Minogue.....This book gave me the information regarding the seven year cycle but there is much more information regarding the numerological aspects of our life plan through our birth date and more.
I know that the 'Conversations With God' series by Neal Donnald Walsch and 'Kryon' series by Lee Carroll are in there big time too.
All of these books are available through our bookstore and other similar stores that may be in your area. If this parable has raised any questions for you, please email them in and I will do my best to answer by posting them on our site. Although these writings are given freely we have accepted that if anything we do write on our web site helps you in any way the store will be open to receiving a donation should you feel inclined to do so. I am sure that by helping each other in this way information that will be of help to some will continue to flow. We welcome your ideas and comments.
...Gary Huntbatch and Jessica Durant.