Welcome to my Perching Post.

Blue sky, blue flowers…

When the sun shines at last and the sky is that deep blue that cheers the soul there can be few pleasures that beat taking time out to lie on a rug on the grass and gaze up at the eternal expanse of sky high above…

Early civilisations thought that the sky was a dome. When it rained the water came through small holes in the dome – a bit like a colander or strainer you might use for draining water from cooked vegetables.

Scientific research into the evolution of sight reveals that humans probably first started making blue pigment about 4,000 BC. Though cave paintings date to about 20,000 years ago, none contain blue pigment, probably due to the lack of available blue colorants in plants, rocks, and other natural materials.

But Egyptians are thought to have developed blue pigment using lapis stone in about 2200 BC.

Blue rock from which stunning blue dyes could be made

The rare nature of the ingredients needed to create blue meant the color was reserved for the rich, royal and elites. This may have also caused blue to be associated with divinity, as it is in several Eastern cultures.

Traditionally, blue is a symbol of calm, serenity and peace, perhaps because of its associations with water and the sky. To Hindus, blue is the color of Krishna. Blue flowers symbolize the divine, as well as joy and love. In Judaism, blue hyacinths stand for constancy and sincerity. Blue roses stand for the impossible. For Buddhists, the blue lotus symbolizes intelligence, wisdom, knowledge, and the dominance of spirit over the senses. It’s often depicted as a partly opened bud. To Catholics, blue flowers are often associated with the Virgin Mary. Blue columbines are used in art to represent the Virgin’s sorrow in childbirth and connections with the Holy Spirit.

Mary wears blue to signify her place as Queen of Heaven

Turning your gaze earthwards – and see just how many blue flowers there are… Early spring will bring hyacinths and forget-me-nots. Later, delphiniums, hyssop and iris.

Lofty blooms of agapanthus create a dramatic show..

The globe-like flowers of agapanthus come in varied shades of blue

A field of blue flax., gently waving in the breeze.

Wind-wafted flowers of flax ripple like moving water

But one of my all-time favourites is Anagelis Sky Lover (what a name!). It overflows its pot and cascades in a fall of serene, intense blue and is simple to grow in a container and enjoy throughout the summer. It drops its seeds as autumn arrives and you may well find self-sown seedlings appearing the following spring in unexpected places. A joyful happenstance.

Intense Anagelis Sky Lover flowers overflowing their pot

The rich intense shades of blue may present us with an image of ‘heavenly blue’ but we need to keep ourselves grounded. The priest and author Angela Tilby writes,
‘Do not try to anticipate heaven in this life, but keep attending to the beauty that is here, with all its promise and its limitations.’

There is so much beauty around us – let us keep our eyes open and our senses alert…

The Beauty of Blessing

So many conversations end with that throw-away line, ‘Bless you’ – and it is indeed a gentle and kind way to finish an encounter with someone. But just what do we mean by ‘blessing’? For some it has a religious connotation; for others it’s a way of wishing ‘all the best’.

Some blessings are specific; others are a kind of catch-all ‘I hope everything goes well with you.’ No matter how we define it, our hope is that it makes the recipient feel cared-for, protected and supported.

The priest and poet John O’Donohue defined ‘blessing’ as –

‘a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal and strengthen.’
Benedictus: A Book of Blessings

He goes on to describe how blessing can draw the person from brokenness to wholeness.

Using the analogy of a wound John O’Donohue says this –

‘When you have a cut on your hand, it always heals from the edges; the centre is the last place to heal. Clearly it is not the wound that has finally relented, and decided to heal itself. Rather it is the surrounding health and wholesomeness of your body that invades the stricken place with healing. The mind of blessing is wise and it knows that whatever torments or diminishes a person cannot be healed simply from within that diminishment; consequently it addresses the wholeness and draws that light and healing into the diminished area. When someone blesses you, the fruits of healing may surprise you and seem to come from afar. In fact, they are your own natural serenity and sureness awakening and arriving around you.’

There is a peculiar sense of beauty about this concept of the fruits of healing coming from afar. Sometimes we receive blessing from unexpected sources – ‘from afar.’ The benefit comes unbidden and unlooked for.

Perhaps we’ve searched all the obvious places and found them empty. The tried and trusted methods no longer work; the paths we used to tread no longer take us to a happy place. And then, suddenly, something clicks, the dark lifts and light floods in. The blessing comes from afar but it may well have been with us for a long time. As TS Eliot said –

‘We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.’
Little Gidding

And that is a blessing indeed…

Northern Lights

Over the last week or so there have been some incredible displays of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. Not something that trips lightly off the tongue but, if you are fortunate enough to experience this wonderful sight, it is an experience that will stay with you for a long time.

*Aurora Borealis* – or *Aurora Australis* if you’re ‘down under’

Usually the Aurora Borealis are seen in northern latitudes – northern Scotland, Scandinavia and areas north of the Arctic circle. But just lately, as a result of severe space weather conditions, they have been seen in many parts of the UK. (You won’t see Northern Lights if you live in the southern hemisphere – BUT you may well see the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis.)

The Lights appear as vast expanses of colour – green, pink, red, yellow, blue and violet. These patches shift and change, creating spectacular dance-like movements in the sky. They are best seen away from areas of light pollution and they can extend from 50 to 400 miles above the Earth’s surface. The lights occur due to solar activity as charged particles in the solar wind collide with molecules in the upper atmosphere. Solar winds are the result of charged particles streaming away from the sun at speeds of up to one million miles per hour and when the magnetic polarity of the solar wind is opposite the Earth’s magnetic field the two combine to allow the energy particles to flow into the Earth’s magnetic north and south poles.

The colours vary depending on what gases are given off during the collision. Oxygen gives green light lower down and red higher up; nitrogen causes blue and violet colours. But if all the science is making your brain spin don’t worry about it – just enjoy the amazing effects produced and be happy that you are able to experience it. It truly is one the world’s greatest wonders.