A Glimpse of the Gills © 2022 Oyster mushrooms are common enough in temperate forests, and yet they possess strong medicine. Though something - flora, fauna, human - may seem ordinary, it's important to delve deeper to understand its whole truth. Oyster mushrooms remind us to delve past skin-deep and see the veracity for ourselves.
Sunlit Snail © 2022 If we took the time to examine the small things in our natural world, perhaps we would find that gastropods are another creature left in an isolated corner. These mollusks hold sacred designs and meanings in their shells, where the Fibonacci appears and angles and lines from our world disappear.
Ordinarily extraordinary
The ordinarily extraordinary. It’s the overlooked, the seemingly common, the so-called pests and the wallflowers. What can we glean from delving deeper into the unexceptional, the commonplace, the everyday?
We humans now seem to live in societies that only care to examine each other skin-deep. We prefer this depth because it allows us to see our physical flaws and luxuries without all of the troubling insight to our inner truths – why bother with that when we can amuse ourselves with simple splendors of the real world?
The two photos that had the largest votes for November fit quite well with this skin-deep theory. Oyster mushrooms appear often in coniferous and deciduous forests, and though their delicate beauty might be appreciated, their medicinal value is easily left behind. What depth do oysters hold in their gilled bodies? Perhaps a metaphor of letting wings unfurl, of stretching out into the expanse of the world. Perhaps a deeper gratitude of natural remedies.
The same analogy goes for snails: seen as pests in the garden and overlooked on the ground, we often don’t admire their unique medicine. They are all curves and circles and spirals, exhibiting the artistry of the Fibonacci sequence. The sharp angles and lines from our world disappear in theirs, where there are only shapes and fluid movement. They take their time, knowing they will reach their destination without rush. Snails go with the flow of time and bodily trust.
This allegory of looking past the surface also rings true for people. What can be found underneath our preconceived judgements about the world, ourselves, others? The most accurate way is to hear one’s story or your own, to listen to the truth. You are then at the source, the mouth of the river; not the flooding ocean it runs into where all of our thoughts converge.
Part of being a human is accepting our quick-thinking notions when we assess a situation, but it doesn’t mean we have to buy into that narrative. Who really is that person we’re labelling, under all that outside façade? What do they have to share with the world?
Maybe it’s time to remind yourself of your story, who you as an individual are. That is a truth that no one else can decide, and it’s important to remember that.
Fibonacci yes !!! Turtle shells have 13 main plates. Learned that from Robin, and that’s why 13 poles in a teepee. And all that natural health knowledge … go you Hazel. !!
Thank you for your comment, Les! I didn’t know that the number thirteen is connected between teepee poles and turtle shells.
Beautiful post Hazel!
Thank you, Mom! <3