link to Mary's Spiritual Garden article

for photos and video, go to http://www.wickedlocal.com/bridgewater/archive/x1543597499/PHOTO-GALLERY-A-haven-of-healing-and-peaceful-retreat
VIDEO: A haven of healing and peaceful retreat
Wed Jul 22, 2009, 05:12 PM EDT

Wicked Local Staff Photo by Hacob Belcher
Mary Fontes and Angelo Terrizzi have opened their spiritual garden at their Mansfield home to anyone seeking peace and healing.



Mansfield - The Spiritual Garden on Jewell Street is more than just another pretty place.
“I think people have found over the last decade that gardens have healing properties. Our lives are more stressful, and every year we raise the bar on how much stress we can take,” said Mary Fontes, a registered nurse, Reiki therapist and master gardener.
Fontes, who runs a Spiritual Garden out of her home, designs spiritual gardens and indoor spaces for businesses, hospitals, nursing homes and others, as well as offering a variety of other services, including Reiki therapy and training, angel and card readings, crystal therapy and spiritual services.

Fontes said spiritual gardens are intended to be special places where people can relax, perhaps meditate, and find peace and a sense of well-being.

She and her partner Angelo F. Terrizzi Sr., also a Reiki therapist and an electrician who focuses on green technologies, designed and planted more than a dozen small gardens at their home, but the jewel in the crown is the healing garden that dominates their spacious backyard.

Spending time in a healing garden is intended to help people “improve their physical, mental, spiritual or emotional condition,” Fontes said. Healing gardens are spiritual gardens with a special focus on creating an environment conducive to healing, she said.

Her healing garden features the four classical elements, water, fire, earth and air; sacred geometry; hunks of semi-precious stones such as red hematite and violet amethyst; plants and other components that appeal to the senses.

There is Russian sage for its soothing fragrance, grasses for their gentle and eye-pleasing movement and bright flowers for their cheerful colors.

The plants attract birds and insects, further populating the garden with a life force that promotes healing, such as the bees drawn to the deep pink roses, Fontes said.

A waterfall babbles gently in the background over stones polished by the water, creating a compelling sound and sight. And if you dip your hands in, the waterfall appeals to the sense of touch, as well, Fontes said. It also makes the air smell moist and fresh.

People seem to gravitate naturally to the center of the garden, where several stone paths converge. It is also the center of a Star of David 33-feet long, a hexagram, an ancient example of sacred geometry, Fontes said. The hexagram is demarcated with crystals, which Fontes said aid in healing.

Sacred geometry involves shapes that occur in nature and are also used in architecture. Common examples are a triangle, a square, a pyramid and a spiral.

“These are all things that have to do with our universe, so when you make a connection between the sacred geometry and where you are trying to meditate or heal, you’re actually having a conversation with you inner being and the universe that’s very effective,” Fontes said.
The healing garden is non-denominational, Fontes said, noting a person does not have to be religious to enjoy its healing properties.

The healing garden is bursting with lush green foliage that exudes a kind of primal well being that can’t be faked with cloth or plastic, no matter how artful.

Fontes said the healing garden isn’t just a salve for its human visitors.

“With the energy that comes to this space, these plants grow like crazy,” she said. “I cut back more than I plant.”

Terrizzi said a spiritual garden “amplifies” the healing properties of nature.

“Connecting with nature, you are connecting most basically with who and what you are and where you came from,” Fontes said.

“Whenever you walk in a forest and you say, ‘Oh this is beautiful, look at the colors, at the peacefulness here, the foliage, the quiet,’ it’s a natural understanding with our universe, and now people are seeing they can help bring that to their own space,” Fontes said.

Fontes and Terrizzi open the healing garden to the public free of charge. She said they would love it if more people were aware of it and made use of it.
For more information, call (508) 339-5444 or go to http://www.aspiritualgarden.com/.