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| devi (anaan.wordpress.com) |
Whether it is the Leprechauns of Ireland, Bhumi-Devas of Buddhist-India, Menehune of Hawaii, Gnomes of Germany, or Pixies of England, all cultures have traditions and tales of wonder about races of beings co-existing with humanity.
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| Natural habitat (ayuda.wordpress.com) |
These beings are so diminutive [or able to shape-shift] and furtive in their actions that very few people actually get to see them.
For centuries, stories have been the way one generation teaches the next certain truths. So why would cultures around the world tell similar stories? What are they really trying to teach?
Biologists have confirmed that plants react to stimuli and communicate, that they are aware of sentient beings around them, that they feel. Physicists have recently discovered that even the smallest of small particles makes choices and therefore can be said to possess some form of consciousness [awareness]. Cultures around the world prior to the "rationalist" era we are now living in believed that everything in the world had sentience (the capacity to feel): earth (rocks), water, air, fire, plants, animals… everything. Furthermore, all things have the ability to communicate and affect one another. Ecologists are currently struggling to teach modern humanity the same ideas.
For centuries, stories have been the way one generation teaches the next certain truths. So why would cultures around the world tell similar stories? What are they really trying to teach?
Biologists have confirmed that plants react to stimuli and communicate, that they are aware of sentient beings around them, that they feel. Physicists have recently discovered that even the smallest of small particles makes choices and therefore can be said to possess some form of consciousness [awareness]. Cultures around the world prior to the "rationalist" era we are now living in believed that everything in the world had sentience (the capacity to feel): earth (rocks), water, air, fire, plants, animals… everything. Furthermore, all things have the ability to communicate and affect one another. Ecologists are currently struggling to teach modern humanity the same ideas.
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| Frightening "Guardian of the Dharma" (Bighead4144/flickr.com) |
This is what the stories of “wee people” in all cultures were designed to teach. It is difficult for the average person to understand or believe that a rock can talk or otherwise communicate. But if one is taught that there are gnomes that live deep in the mountains who mine and protect their precious ores, one might think twice before indiscriminately pillaging a mountain of its mineral riches. And if one were sensitive and actually did hear or otherwise sense communication from a rock, that person would not be frightened to believe that it was a gnome.
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| Undine or water-elemental (realmagick.com) |
The Celts have a diverse tradition of wee people: leprechauns, fairies, sylphs, undines, salamanders, elves… all with an involved lineage, history, and even human dimensions. If one looks pragmatically at the stories of leprechauns and fairies, one can learn a great deal about life on Earth. The beings in these stories always live in nature, and they leave an area when humans populate it, build cities (replace nature), and destroy the natural surroundings. The teaching here is obvious: We need to build incorporating nature rather than paving over it. The unseen beings disappear when we create our modern form of community. We can’t interact with them, for they are no longer present, and we are lessened by the loss of the connection.
Leprechauns teach a humorous tale. The stories are all about gold, greed, and how when humans grasp material things, they find it transformed into "fairy dust." Material things are transient. Nature teaches that constantly through the seasons. Trying to hold on by force puts natural cycles out of balance. [This is the very definition of dukkha, or "suffering/disappointment" which can be understood as life off-center, off-kilter, misaligned]. When things are out of balance, as with a cartwheel, nothing runs smoothly. When we translate this lesson into stories, we see that those who are able to gain, through trickery, the leprechaun’s gold, have a miserable future. More
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