The Magic Garden

At this website, we will introduce you to the Universe of the Magic Garden.
The Magic Garden is Scandinavians first sustainable and CO2-neutral music studio and a meeting place for creative experiences located in Fredensborg, Denmark.

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The Vision of The Magic Garden

In 1995 Jacob Moth had a vision of his studio and its surroundings. He wanted to create an adventure park that would afford the optimal conditions for inspiration and the creative process. Since then he worked systematically on it, and in summer 2012 the Magic Garden was inaugurated. In his own words:

A meeting place for creative experiences
The vision is to create a state of the art sound and film studio and meeting place for creative experiences. A place where the various reality planes meet; a microcosm, a cosmic space station, a modern Grail castle full of symbols, adventure, magic and symbolism - where artistic and creative impulses are gathered in one place. Axis Mundi Studio is CO2 neutral and is located in the Magic Garden.

Sensitive Eco-System, "State-of-the-Art" Technology, adventure level and archetypal level.
The garden is a sensitive eco-system with at least one endangered species, namely the great water salamander. It has "state-of-the-art" technology, an adventure level and an archetypal level. Among the many symbols and wooden figures are all the planets and the 22 Tarot cards from the Great Arcana.

Map of The Magic Garden
Map of Jacobs vision for Axis Mundi Studio and the Magic Garden. At certain points in the Garden are placed the planetary symbols and the images of the 22 Tarot Cards of the Greater Arcana. The Tarot Cards describe the souls journey from Child to Enlighted Man.

Lord of the Trees
In front of the Magic Garden we have a stub of Denmark's oldest beech tree that stood in Fredensborg Castle Garden from 1666 - 1999. At the top is planted a weeping beech. This is to mark and symbolize several of the fundamental ideas of the whole place: 1) Out of the old the new is born, 2) Death and rebirth, 3) Transformation and 4) the experience of - and to think and act from the view of - cyclic time instead of linear time.

The front gate
The first tarot cards in the Great Arkana "The Fool" is located at the gateway to the road. At the port is an old lightning rod from the Powder House in Christiania and the hinges are from one of Christiania's ancient gates. The following tarot cards from the Great Arkana is set in accordance with the architecture and describes man's journey from childhood to the fully enlightened human being.

The Promised Land and the system of path
To enter the "promised land" one must cross a lake. The garden is divided into two: a normal / profane garden and a holy / timeless / magical garden. The entrance and all paths in the entire garden are made with tile stones from Norwegian mountain rocks in all colours. They form the skeletal structure of this micro-cosmos and lead into the studio's lobby.

The heart of the place
The studios entrance is the heart of the place and connects the inner and outer space. Some plants have a direct connection through the foundation to the earth. An old vine plant stretches out from this room through the other rooms and goes through the wall to the outside, where it embraces the Axis Mundi Studio. The vine plant symbolises the Tree of Life. Some of the furniture, doorposts, shelves, etc. are carved by hand and are highly aesthetic.

The ultimate place is the roundhall.

Axis Mundi Studios cockpit
Axis Mundi Studios cockpit and the control room is a converted old annex building from 1908. It's The Magic Garden "navel" and is a recognized audio and film studio. The studio is used for professional audio and video productions and is adventure and technology unified. The cockpit is equipped with a meditation cave, fireplace, organic carved shelves, tables, hammock and "state-of-the-art" studio equipment. In the studio and the Magic Garden is drawn more than 4 km of cables for audio, video, midi, ethernet. This gives great flexibility in terms of sound recordings, live streaming and settlement of audiovisual shows.

Mandala
There is a mandala on the floor of the studio’s cockpit. Each of the six equally sized parts holds symbols of one of the six world religions (three from the West: Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and three from the East: Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism). In mutual respect, the six world religions point to the same source. Surrounding the circle are four animals (Dolphin, Tiger, Snake and Eagle) which for me represent the four elements and mankind’s primal religion: Shamanism. Encompassing the circle is a square representing agnosticism and atheism. We are all sisters and brothers who share the same planet.

The Roundhall in Axis Mundi Studio
The main hall of Axis Mundi Studio is the Roundhall, which forms the framework for the Magic Garden main activities: The Transformative Meeting, live streaming, concerts, lectures, events, recordings, workshops, symposiums and courses. It is specially designed with starry sky, 250-degree big screen, a large Yin-Yang symbol on the floor and hand-carved wooden pillars in the four corners of the world. The round shape is created to experience cyclical time rather than linear time and think holistically and sustainably. The Roundhall is built of unfired clay bricks that are environmentally friendly and extra sound insulation. The last tarot card in the Great Arkana No. 21 "The World" is located here.

The Key to the Universe
Axis Mundi Studios ground plan is exactly 123.4 m2 and is shaped so that the basic form seen from above forms a key - the key to life, creativity, innovation and the Universe. All rooms in the Axis Mundi Studio and The Magic Garden is deliberately placed in different levels to eliminate "Flatland" and invites people to think and experience the multidimensional. Flatland is the denial of the existence and importance of the inner world.

The Gateway to the mythological landscape
The Magic Garden is built like a Garden of Eden - a mythological landscape. The Magic Garden is not visible from the profane garden. The only hint of its existence is a large gate supported by two pillars with carved power animals. Going through the gate, you find the three classic paths, one going off to the left, one to the right, and the golden mean.

Through the portal - the innermost part of the Magic Garden
The innermost of The Magic Garden is quiet, hidden and undisturbed behind trees and hedges. It is centred around a lake that with branches going off to other little lakes and waterfalls has a freshening effect on the plants, animals and spirits of the garden with its purling. The Garden is divided into different sections and levels connected by paths, stairs, winding stairwells, footbridges, suspension bridge, platforms, plateaus, a subterranean tunnel and little hills.

Aerial runway with specially built Butterfly Gondol
A specially-built iron butterfly is suspended over the entire Magic Garden on an aerial runway. The places for immersion, relaxation, regeneration and inspiration gathering include flowerbeds, a tower, an elf castle, a pavilion, a tribune, a subterranean meditation chamber and a stage among the trees. This is of great value when you’re recording, getting ready for that special solo or are trying out new forms and music parts.

The jaguar head and the subterranean meditation chamber
Behind the wizard's tower is the Magic Gardens treasure: a large jaguar head carved from a thousand year old Danish oak, whose mouth is the entrance to the subterranean meditation chamber. Passing through the mouth of the Jaguar gives it an extra dimension. It's a very powerful place to meditate, innovative thinking, get visions and inspiration. Look forward to meditating in our subterranean meditation chamber.

Animal and plant life
The garden’s flora and fauna are extremely rich. The long list of animals includes salamanders (both small and big), frogs, grass snakes, dragon flies, hedgehogs, squirrels, blackbirds, great tits, blue tits and owls. One of the garden’s unique dimensions is that it consciously creates a synthesis between nature and culture by synthesising the plants and trees with the man-made contraptions. Thus the beech, oak, poplar, and willow trees are guided to carry the upper levels in several places, with their branches intertwined with the footbridges.

The synthesis between nature and culture
Jacob started building the Magic Garden in 1994, so now the trees and the ivy have started growing together with all the buildings. This is done consciously to create a symbiosis between nature and culture. The footbridges go through the crowns of the fruit trees (cherry, plums, apples, nuts), whose branches are bent into tunnels. So there’s easy access to fresh vitamins and natural nourishment. Climbing plants have been planted everywhere (Ivy, woodbine, clematis, wistaria, winter jasmine), intertwining and flowing in a rainforest symphony. The Garden is also endowed with an abundance of magical light and fountains, all powered completely by green energy. The figures, symbols and characters from different parts of the world contribute to creating the vision of a microcosm. Among others Odin and his two ravens gazing out over the world, a Mayan mushroom god and the Cosmic Tree. Many who come here feel swept off their feet and say they feel they have returned to childhood or that they are entering other states of consciousness.

The symbol of the Magic Garden
The butterfly is the ancient symbol of death and rebirth, and a symbol of the soul. It also refers to the famous old story, The Soul and the Butterfly, by Chuang Tzu:

Once Chuang Tzu dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Chuang Tzu. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Chuang Tzu. But he didn’t know if he was Chuang Tzu who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Tzu. Between Chuang Tzu and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation af Things.

The Sun Wheel and the Yin-Yang symbol
Adorning the left wing is the ancient symbol of the sun: the holy circle with the four corners of the world and the four elements, and in the middle, the centre of the Universe. Inside the circle is mythical time and space; outside the circle is profane time and space. The vertical line also symbolises the Axis Mundi, which goes from the Underworld through Middle Earth to the Overworld. The horisontal line symbolises the temporal axis with the past, present and future. On the opposite wing is the Eastern universal symbol of Yin and Yang.

The visitors in The Magic Garden
Musicians, artists, friends, project partners and visitors tell me again and again that it is like stepping into a completely different world and becoming like children again – revitalised and full of zest for life. For the people who come here for a long or a short while, it is an endless source of inspiration. Come and take part in the inspiration.

Thank you for visiting. We look forward to seeing you and inspire you to manifest your innermost dreams and visions.

Magical greetings
Jacob Moth and the team

Acknowledgements
All wood sculptures are made by the talented Danish artist Finn Rune. www.finn-rune.dk
Most of the pictures on the website have been taken by the talented Danish photographer Per Rask. Per Rask.