Friday, April 1, 2011

From scribbled writing found on index card, unknown book

The Secret Garden: One theory has it that these private enclaves came about in the Middle Ages, when the patriarchal church sought to wrest power from women---in part by usurping their long-held role in the healing and horticultural arts. To avoid inquisition and punishment, women who continued to raise potent medicinal herbs and plants (for reasons both salubrious and nefarious) were forced to do so in stealth, often by moonlight and in gardens sequestered from prying eyes.

From 'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf

Let the swallow build in the drawing room and the thistle thrust aside the tiles and the butterfly sun itself on the faded chintz of armchairs. Let the broken glass and the china lie out on the lawn and be tangled over with grass and wild berries.