Summer-Fall 2018

Often an image insists on theming an upcoming issue of the Journal before I’ve really had a chance to think about it, and it’s always instructive to reflect on 'why this image at this particular time?' My image for our Summer-Fall 2018 issue is the Turtle or Tortoise. So, the question is: why the Turtle at this time?

I always associate Turtles with Summer, since that’s when turtles would spontaneously appear in the overgrown backyards of our neighborhoods in hot humid Philadelphia. They were harbingers of the kind of deep summer green that covered our world wherever concrete and asphalt had not tenuously claimed ground.

The Native Americans local to our region are called the Lenni-Lenape, and their clan animal is the Turtle. I remember when Native American girls on my street joyfully ‘discovered’ a box turtle in their backyard, excitedly and portentously declaring this a sign of very good luck! (When no doubt their parents had bought the turtle and ‘placed’ it for discovery, as their gentle knowing parental smiles implied.) But still, even if it was store-bought, it seemed magical, and box turtles did still roam the land, including the land of our backyards, in those days.

As for me, I’ve always loved the ancient myths about turtles and tortoises, for example, of the world being carried on a giant tortoise’s back, or the indigenous naming of planet Earth as Turtle Island (click on 'A Wing and A Prayer,' sidebar). According to my Dictionary of Chinese Symbols, there is a “saying, ‘ (that the tortoise) conceals the secrets of heaven and earth,’ still current in China,” as the tortoise is “a replica of the cosmos (with) its shell compared to the vaulted heaven and its underside to the flat disc of the earth.” The Turtle shares this kind of ‘ancient earth’ imago in cultures all over the world. In its primeval, silent, almost stone-like presence, the idea that it conceals within itself the cosmic secrets does not seem too far-fetched...

But I was still wondering ‘Why Turtle Now?’ What significance does this image have for me at this moment in time? And I’ve realized that the Turtle speaks to me of the ability to withdraw our attention to the Inner Realms. This has always been a compelling activity in my life, except for a brief spell in my teenage years, when I nevertheless was inward enough to write introverted, and often melancholic, poetry. (Click on Poetry Corner, sidebar)

As a poet, I’ve loved accessing an inner realm of rhythm, feeling, image, thought, color, sound, music, perception and meaning that all seem to criss-cross one another in a kind of ‘poetic synesthesia’ that happens entirely in the inner realms. We weave a ‘poem’ out of these experiences, which then travels out into the world, viewed by others as a ‘self-expression,’ but really a poem is so much more than that. It's a participation in something that just has to come together in a form of rhythm, sound, image and meaning - maybe it comes together just for me, maybe it's something that needs to come together for other people. But we poets are the place where this synthesis occurs. 

(Turtle Tracks. Photo by Paula Brooks, during Summer travels in Florida. Note the red tape keeping people away from the nests where sea turtles have laid their eggs.)

Later in my life, studying what we in the West call ‘Tantra,’ which means ‘weaving’ or ‘loom,’ I’ve learned of the deep underpinnings of sound and syllable, meaning and the transcendence of meaning, which has enriched my poetic sensibilities and deepened my spiritual practice.

I feel the tortoise, in its cosmic imago, 'knows' this, and a friend reminds me that looking into the eyes of the tortoise takes us into a very deep realm.  My friend, Saroja, who has had a tortoise for thirty years tells me (see "Winged Messenger" for the story) that looking into Rosie's eyes, brings her into connection with a very ancient realm, with the earth’s prehistory, and that the tortoise bears the suffering of the earth in its being. These ideas make me think of Christ, who bears the suffering of the earth in his body as well. This links the dark and the earthy, in the Tortoise, with the realm of Light, the Christ in the West, and Devi in the East. In India, the tortoise bears a column of lights in front of certain temples, and I will be sharing some photos of these with you in this issue on the 'Light on Life' page (click on sidebar). Be sure to read the Indian view of the tortoise reprinted there from "Evergreen Leaves."

For me, it’s important to turn within, where we find the Divine Light, and in highly political, tumultuous times, perhaps it is more important than ever to honor that dark place within, lit by the sacred inner light. To reflect on the ancient Oneness of all Life, and to make use of our own connection to the Divine Wisdom and Truth can help to guide us through times when Truth, in all its sacredness, seems to be up for grabs.

The Turtle, on the other hand, is a swimming creature, quick, bright and slippery. Let’s enjoy the remainder of Summer with our joyful siblings, the Turtles. Wishing you Blessings this Summer and Fall ~ Kasturi