About
Stargate Garden is an exploration of metaphysics and magick from the ground up...
collaborating with the cosmos,
from the soil to the stars.
Why Magick?
The modern world often functions in direct opposition to the natural world. In colonized spaces, we are conditioned to reject our own internal natures and disregard the forces of nature all around us. Humanity is plagued by epidemic levels of disassociation from the wisdom in our hearts and disconnection from the living intelligence of plants, ecosystems and the planet as a whole.
Healing our relationships — with ourselves, with each other and with Earth — requires an animist perspective.
If we cannot see trees as sentient beings with knowledge and agency of their own, how can we collaborate with them to create harmonious ecosystems that support life? If we do not regard the rivers and oceans as living beings with moods, personalities and perspectives of their own, how can we conspire with them to bring our atmospheres back into equilibrium? If we are unable to recognize ourselves as potent creators with the capacity to shape our world, how can we build new worlds for the future?
Remembering the old ways is the pathway forward.
It is no coincidence that indigenous spiritual traditions the world over have been systematically destroyed and demonized by the colonizing forces who seek to control land, resources and populations. Human relationships with the more-than-human world leave no room for rulerships or exploitative hierarchies. Collaborating with nature brings our bodies, minds and ecosystems into a state of coherence — rendering systems of social control completely irrelevant.
We do not need to look to ancient texts or occult orders to learn potent magick.
Living on Earth is the highest form of alchemy. With each breath and every heart beat, we conjure our bodies from elements and ancestral memories. We enter and exit our Earthly vessel every night when we dream and ultimately when we cross the final thresholds of birth and death. With our ideas and imagination, our choices and actions, connections and collaborations, we materialize entire realms and realities out of thin air.
When we touch the body of the Earth with our feet and feel the warmth of the Sun on our skin, we are in direct contact with vast living beings the size of stars.
The natural is the supernatural.
Stargate Garden is a resource for remembering and reclaiming what we already have — magickal powers.
Through astrology, mysticism and herbalism, Stargate Garden is a place for exploring our place in the cosmos and cultivating our relationship with the plants, planets and beyond. Visit the apothecary shop for handcrafted herbal goods, read articles and recipes on the blog, listen to astrology insights on the podcast and stay tuned for educational programming coming soon.
Created by Petra Valoma in 2018, Stargate Garden began as a small backyard garden to provide family and friends with fresh herbs. The garden has since grown into an online apothecary shop offering handmade herbal medicines and a local source for metaphysical services and programs.
Petra is a diviner, dancer, writer, herbalist and gardener. Based on the coast of Northern California, she cultivates + crafts herbal remedies from seed to bottle and conducts readings for clients across the globe.
Petra studied spiritual herbalism with Karen Rose of Sacred Vibes Apothecary in Brooklyn, NY and she continues to learn every day in conversation with the plants, elements and stars. She is the daughter of textile artist Deborah Valoma and the granddaughter of Elizabeth Valoma, founder of the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley, Ca.
In all her work, Petra considers it a great honor to serve the well-being of her communities.
Petra currently offers spiritual & ceremonial services on a limited and select basis. Please email to inquire about availability and prices.
The Garden
The Apothecary
