photo by Jane Bell Goldstein
Growing a Garden in the Metadivine*
by Charlene Anderson
One day I ran into Curt on the road leading up to the Metadivine. He was standing beside the path, arms outstretched. “Hey, Charlene, what do you think of my garden? I’ve worked hard on it. What do you say?”
I shifted from foot to foot. “But Curt, no offense, old friend, but this ‘garden,’ as you call it, is a weed patch. There’s nothing here but tangles of dead grass.” I cleared my throat. “Am I missing something?”
Curt darted his dark eyes at me, his blond curls standing in stark contrast to the brown seeds that were his eyes. “As I said, I’ve labored long and hard on this, but something isn’t working right. I thought you might be able to tell me why.”
I looked back down the road which led in a gentle slope back to earth where I’d just come from and still dwelled. “But you’ve been up here for over twenty-five years now, Curt, plenty of time to figure out how to grow a garden.” I shrugged. “I know about flower gardens back down the Plateau on earth, but I can’t tell you what to do here.”
He stood up, looking smaller, younger somehow. “So tell me, what would you do?”
I laughed. “Well, I’d go around the corner from my house to the Sloat Garden Center and get some potting soil and MaxSea Plant food and sprinkle a lot on and water like the dickens. Then I’d give it awhile and see what happened.”
He sprang upright and was gone. Almost immediately, he was back. His hands flew around and pretty soon the ground was dark with dirt and plant food. Invisible sprinklers shot water everywhere. I blinked. Tulips in full bloom appeared: red, yellow, pink.
“My God,” I cried. “That was fast.”
“Doesn’t take long to do things here.” He brushed dirt off his hands. “The trick is knowing what to do.”
“I’m glad I could help. If I did.”
“Oh, you did.” He nodded and smiled. “You definitely did.”
He was beside me, and we started walking down the hill. “It was good seeing you again, Curt. Good luck with your garden.”
He stopped and began to slip away from me and back up the hill. He didn’t walk, but floated and slid away into the sky. I sighed that he was gone, and continued on, feeling good despite the fact that my visit with him in the Metadivine was over, glad that I could help him do something in such a marvelous place. I walked on down, focusing on the pale gray day ahead of me in the ordinary world, knowing all too well that I’d soon return to my oh-so-ordinary life.
I still wasn’t convinced I’d done anything.
I shifted from foot to foot. “But Curt, no offense, old friend, but this ‘garden,’ as you call it, is a weed patch. There’s nothing here but tangles of dead grass.” I cleared my throat. “Am I missing something?”
Curt darted his dark eyes at me, his blond curls standing in stark contrast to the brown seeds that were his eyes. “As I said, I’ve labored long and hard on this, but something isn’t working right. I thought you might be able to tell me why.”
I looked back down the road which led in a gentle slope back to earth where I’d just come from and still dwelled. “But you’ve been up here for over twenty-five years now, Curt, plenty of time to figure out how to grow a garden.” I shrugged. “I know about flower gardens back down the Plateau on earth, but I can’t tell you what to do here.”
He stood up, looking smaller, younger somehow. “So tell me, what would you do?”
I laughed. “Well, I’d go around the corner from my house to the Sloat Garden Center and get some potting soil and MaxSea Plant food and sprinkle a lot on and water like the dickens. Then I’d give it awhile and see what happened.”
He sprang upright and was gone. Almost immediately, he was back. His hands flew around and pretty soon the ground was dark with dirt and plant food. Invisible sprinklers shot water everywhere. I blinked. Tulips in full bloom appeared: red, yellow, pink.
“My God,” I cried. “That was fast.”
“Doesn’t take long to do things here.” He brushed dirt off his hands. “The trick is knowing what to do.”
“I’m glad I could help. If I did.”
“Oh, you did.” He nodded and smiled. “You definitely did.”
He was beside me, and we started walking down the hill. “It was good seeing you again, Curt. Good luck with your garden.”
He stopped and began to slip away from me and back up the hill. He didn’t walk, but floated and slid away into the sky. I sighed that he was gone, and continued on, feeling good despite the fact that my visit with him in the Metadivine was over, glad that I could help him do something in such a marvelous place. I walked on down, focusing on the pale gray day ahead of me in the ordinary world, knowing all too well that I’d soon return to my oh-so-ordinary life.
I still wasn’t convinced I’d done anything.
* Hoffman, Richard. “Egyptian Religion: Polytheistic Religion.” Class lecture, Egyptian History Class, SFSU, September 23, 1981. “The ancient Egyptians believed in three realms of power: The Metadivine, consisting of matter or primordial stuff, existing before all, and all powerful; the Divine, which came into being directly from primordial stuff; and the Human which was created from the Divine. Thus, the three realms exist in a continuity of creation.” So theoretically, by manipulating the primordial stuff in precisely the right way, humans can travel up and down the Metadivine ‘Plateau.’
