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By Bill Campbell,
Annmarie's father
Explanation of Zen Garden
Yesterday, Terry Cushing and I placed the stones in the maple grove. These stones were selected over a three to four month period, as I tried different stones and arrangements in my backyard. At first, they seem to engender a lot of hand-on-hip staring, but hopefully, over time, they will speak to many people as Annmarie spoke through her art.
Annmarie's area now has both benches, the carved stone (which we saw as a work in progress), the circle of edging stones, a field of round gravel stones, a number of larger stones (which I just placed yesterday), and a number of very nice bird houses. (At some point, I could imagine placing a Japanese stone lantern being placed along the winding grass path shortly after the grass path departs the Lake Nevin gravel trail.)
If I were to name the stone arrangement, I suppose it would be called "Life's Circle."
The large cylindrical limestone in the middle symbolizes the wellspring of life. All of the stones rotate in various distances from this stone. The bowl in the center of this stone both gathers water and easily spills forth its content. (In the future, perhaps we can encourage moss to grow on the north side, to further emphasize this pouring forth.)
On the eastern side (the road side) of the circle is the first arrangement: three stones. The two taller stones represent parents (similar in some ways but also very different). The smaller stone, before the parents, is a child. Far outside the circle, farther to the northeast, is a large stone partially obscured by a maple tree. This large stone represents the distant sentries who love and guard us. (It also represents the thought that though we see a distinct circle, some things of importance are far outside our own borders.) This large stone stands on the edge of the grove, from the perspective of the road, beckoning and welcoming those who would enter the circle. As the sun sets, this stone glows warmly and beautifully. (This stone is also important to me because I was digging a new garden bed in May, and encountered this large stone, immovably sandwiched among other large stones. It was shallow enough to make the planned tomato garden impractical. But, I continued working to get these stones out. After the funeral, my mom suggested that we just concede that this area won't work. I didn't want to do that, so the last day my mom was here, we worked much of the day, frantically straining against the mud and weight of the stones. Finally with all our energies, we succeeded.)
Proceeding clockwise from the "parent-child" stones, the next arrangement is one large stone, which is dramatically broken. This cleaving represents broken relationships, but also, perhaps separation from parents as one forms a distinct identity.
The next stone is a single stone: "sailing solo." In its area, it is quite alone, but viewed in context of the entire circle, it is not alone and it is part of a moving story.
The next arrangement of stones, on the western side, is a series of small stones partially gathered by a larger stone. The larger stone represents an adult tending to children. I thought of how Annmarie loved children, and loved being with them and tending to them.
The last arrangement is three stones. My understanding is that in Japanese stone gardens, a low flat stone is held to represent humanity. A large stone beside the flat stone is held to represent eternity, and a vertical stone represents the connection between humanity eternity. So, this grouping depicts this very thought. It also, to me, depicts setting sail for eternity. The flat stone is land, and the vertical stone (a triangle) appears as a sail passing from land and along side great cliffs as the sailor puts forth to eternity. And, of course, the sailor is returning towards the wellspring. (This arrangement is closest to Annmarie's bench. And, from the perspective of the bench, the breaking of the cleaved stone is mostly obscured by the wellspring stone.)
Of course, in some ways, explaining the "meaning" of the stones is contrary to the very nature and purpose of a stone garden. But, because stone gardens are alien to typical Western thinking, and I offer a few suggestions just so people don't think this a random gathering of stones with no purpose. Indeed, there are many meanings which await the stones await to tell to those who stop, and contemplate, and listen intently to what these stones might have to say.
Bill
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