Connected World - Dar Menebhi Palace, Marrakech

Leonardo - Vitruvian Man

The Marrakech Museum is in a lovely restored small palace, the Dar Menebhi Palace, from the 19^th century, near the Ben Youssef mosque. More interesting than the exhibits is in fact the palace itself, a classic example of Islamic architecture. There is much to be explored here, not least the striking distinction between the ‘outer’ and the ‘inner’ life that is suggested - the outside is plain, austere and protective, while the inside is a glorious feast of open courtyards, intricate decoration, five distinctive living areas and above all colour. Here I am going to focus on these 5 living areas and their colours. 

Hamam - Red Door

 

But first a journey through space and time. It is quite usual to see the human as a living pentagram, as Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man of 1487 (now in Venice) famously demonstrated; and to continue our journey rapidly to China and to perhaps 1000 BC or earlier, we find that the human pentagram is ascribed colours for each of the five points as part of their ancient healing and acupuncture system – Green, Yellow, Blue, Red and White. The importance of the five colours to human life and wisdom is found in many other places too, as an example the Hindu Upanishads from India of c 500BC. ‘I have found the small path known of old that stretches far away ..... It is adorned with white and blue, yellow and green and white’. Today this five coloured human system is still an important aspect of energy healing techniques, from China to the West. 



Entrance - Green



KItchen _ White Emphasis

And here in an Islamic palace in Marrakech, remarkably, it also can be found. First of all in my explorations I discovered the five main parts of the palace, 1. the entrance hall, leading to 2. the main open courtyard and living areas, then 3. the kitchens, and 4. the Hamam (bathing and cleansing), and finally 5. The special or more religious hall off the courtyard – highly decorated and tiled, and aligned in the same direction of the Mihrab that points to Mecca.

Courtyard - Blue Detail

I always wonder about colour wherever I am, it is a great revealer of underlying influences. Firstly I noticed that there seemed to be virtually no red anywhere ... until I came to the Hamam where red was everywhere! Then I remembered that in the entrance hall the main sense was one of green ... and then to the kitchen which while still using green, had far more white over all the walls and ceilings. The use of colour was not bald single colours in a room, as we are wont to use, but more subtle, often with several colours but with one emphasised. And so it was in the main multicoloured courtyard, which had an subtle emphasis on blue in the tiling – until I realised that of course it would have emphasised far more originally as there would also be a highlight of water and fountains, and of course the blue sky (the open space was now covered over). Finally as I stepped into the more special areas on the floor tiles the emphasis  changed to a lovely golden yellow.

Special Hall - Yellow Rosettes



I sat in the beautiful courtyard quite amazed. Were these colours intentional, Instinctive, accidental? Certainly the five colours with the five living areas were quite clear, relating to the five coloured processes of life of the human pentagram and possibly also to the five prayer times of the Islamic day? As you walk from one living area to the next, if you are sensitive to these things, you can feel the different influences and energies of each quite distinctly. I was left musing on the how this fundamental ‘law’ of human design appeared in so many parts of the world across so many eras, and here too in Islamic architecture in Marrakech.

Connected World – The Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech

One of the most famous sites in Marrakech and a well known garden in its own right; described as mysterious and mystical. We know how gardens can have wonderful effects on our well-being, and highlight the power of our connected world, but just how does this garden weave its spells? With my love of gardens and landscapes this was just too good to miss, and a must to explore.

For me one of the most valuable ways of understanding gardens is to see how they use and balance the four elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, that science now tells us are essential conditions for life (fire as 'energy'). Here in Morocco and Marrakech the two that dominate are of course fire and air – vast skies and burning sunshine, earth is often reduced to sand by the sun and the lack of water, and plants and shade is scarce. Humans are best suited to a balance of these elements, for their comfort and well being; and so it is that one of the key features of a garden is to create that harmony and balance and so become a sanctuary for us, in what might otherwise be an inhospitable environment.

It is very quick to see and feel as you step inside that the Majorelle Gardens expertly fulfil this sense of balance and wellbeing. Firstly – and a stroke of genius – are the use everywhere of massive tall arching bamboos, some perhaps 30 feet (c10 metres) high. You are immediately plunged into their green shade, and the otherwise burning sun tempered dramatically. They are found everywhere in the garden providing their wonderful protection and bringing into play the cooling aspects of the earth element – also connected to greenery and shade itself. Adding to this feeling are the ground cover plants that are found in many places, and the other trees, such as the rubber trees, which also add calm and coolness.

The element of water is of course found in the several ponds that are placed around the garden, but the sense of this element is also enhanced by the use everywhere of a beautiful deep blue, reminiscent of deep water, that has become known as Majorelle Blue. Perhaps it was used deliberately because of the complexity of adding many water features at the time Jacques Marjorelle was building his sanctuary, or just instinctively, but it certainly enhances the sense of coolness to the eye and in the spirit that water itself brings.

There are also any other fascinating aspects to this garden, two in particular I will mention. Firstly the high arching bamboos and the palm trees reaching up towards the sky, create a sense of uplift to the mind and spirit, not unlike the high pillars and arches of a cathedral. And while at the ground there is little wind, the element of air is always felt to be present as the fine leaves of the bamboos high in the canopy, catch any slight breath of wind and rustle and tinkle with a light ‘silvery’ sound, lightening the feeling of the shade.

Another way you might wish to explore this and other gardens is to discover the three different influences of Sun, Planet and Moon, that govern all that grow here. One way of exploring is to consider that the sun influence is seen in sharp pointed leaves and shapes, the moon in circular and the planet in more oval forms that combine the two. Look for them here .... and one great place to start here is among the stunning collection of cacti where all these different shapes can be found; another magical aspect of these truly special gardens.