Why are you there, moon, up in the sky;
tell me, why are you there, silent moon?
(…)
And you must understand
the “why” of things, and see the fruit
of the morning, the evening,
the silence, the endless passing of time.
(…)
(Giacomo Leopardi, “Night Song of a Wandering Shepherd in Asia”)
“Librating”
From the dawn of time, a muse and inspiration in every culture, in mythology and legend.
Nature’s gift to the Earth, to light the darkness, her “libration” in the cosmos is an eternal dance that presents us with varied depictions of the same face.
This is the Moon.
The splendour of her reflective light brightens the nights of every season in which gardens and forests awaken our senses to a different world: the moon flower1 opens under our gaze, the four o’clock flower2 reveals its multi-coloured calyxes, the devil’s snare3 seduces and allures nocturnal insects with its magical, redolent character…
The Moon regulates the passing of time, her attraction to the earth moves the oceans’ waters… what is legend and what is truth?
Orticolario observes, discovers and tells her story, below the sweet allure of her fragrant light.
Glancing beyond the confines of our gardens, the most beautiful and purest mirror invites us to discover and observe, with new eyes and from various perspectives, the largest garden of all, the Earth.
1 Ipomoea alba
2 Mirabilis jalapa
3 Datura stramonium
The other dancer….
Bibliography
“Il volto della Luna” Plutarco (Adelphi Edizioni, 2013)
“Piccola Pedagogia dell’erba. Riflessioni sul giardino planetario” Gilles Clément. A cura di Lousia Jones (DeriveApprodi, 2015)
“In traccia di luna. Mitologie lunari tra oralità e scrittura” Alfonso Cardamone (Luigi Pellegrini Editore, 2006)
“Poesie alla Luna” (Rizzoli, 2013)
“Pianeta acustico” Trevor Cox ( edizioni Dedalo, 2015)
“L’astro narrante. La Luna nella scienza e nella letteratura italiana” Pietro Greco (Springer, 2009)
“Tra la terra e il cielo. La vita segreta degli alberi” Nalini M. Nadkarni (Elliot Edizioni, 2010)
“Planetario. Simboli, miti e misteri di astri, pianeti e costellazioni” Alfredo Cattabiani (Mondadori, 2015)
“Calendario. Le feste, i miti, le leggende e i riti dell’anno” Alfredo Cattabiani (Mondadori, 2003)
“Lunario. Dodici mesi di riti, feste, leggende e tradizioni popolari d’Italia” Alfredo Cattabiani (Mondadori, 2015)
“Simbologia della luna. L’archetipo del femminile in Astropsicologia” Lidia Fassio (Spazio interiore, 2013)
“I giardini incantati. Le piante e la magia lunare” Devon Scott (Venexia, 2006)
“Conversando con i pianeti. Il cosmo nel mito e nella scienza” Anthoy Aveni ( Edizioni Dedalo, 1994)
“Il linguaggio della Dea” Marija Gimbutas ( Venexia, 2015)
Ph. Luigi Fieni
