the pot of gold at
the foot of the rainbow
Mother Nature
has a lot of stories to tell us and wisdom to teach us.
A rainbow happens when all the natural elements of air, water
and fire meet and balance in harmony with each other.
The sun (fire) shines through water vapour in the air and for
a moment the whole magic spectrum of colours appears against
the background of the gray sky. The old fairy tales tell us
that when this happens we can find a pot of gold where the
rainbow touches the earth. How are we to understand this
story?
A pot or
cauldron is an ancient symbol for the matter which
contains spirit, emotion, etc. The physical substance of
Mother Earth itself may be referred to as a cauldron in which
the energies which feed the earth are stirred.
The cauldron is often used as a poetic symbol for our own
physical body. Our body 'contains'
e-motions (that's why so much fuss was made of stirring the
cauldron in various stories).
When all our
elements are balancing in harmony, the whole range of our
abilities becomes visible (i.e. the seven rainbow colours).
And where these are in touch with the earth (symbolised by the
earthen pot, which as explained above is really our body of flesh and bones and
the container of our spirit), the balanced energy in our makes
our spirit luminous and we start to radiate!.
Our 'pot' becomes filled with gold: precious, radiant and warm.
The
story teller uses poetic, descriptive images to tell the tale:
"the cauldron starts ringing with a golden tone".
Our ancestors loved a story that was interpretable on many
levels, and could be enjoyed by all ages with varying levels of
wisdom.
And so, as the story was told and retold in the huts of the
ancient people, when the family or clan sat around their fire,
nobody minded, if the images were exaggerated: the pot of gold
was full to the brim with gold pieces!
No
doubt you've heard stories of dwarfs hiding or burying their
pots of gold. One way of interpreting this is that the dwarfs
symbolise the sort of being we are ourselves! (for an other
interpretation please read about the Alder tree in the Enchanted
Forest).
Like the dwarfs we love our pots of gold, but we don't know how
to make proper use of it. We have a strong feeling that our pot
of gold is the most precious thing we possess and we work hard
to fill our pots. However, it's only when we stop hiding our
gold, and share it, that we don't need to be dwarfs any longer and can begin to
grow!
When
fire (traditionally a symbol for spirit and intuition), water
(emotion) and air (mind) are all in perfect balance and harmony,
it is inevitable that where it touches matter (the earth, our
body), we will begin to radiate with a golden glow of life
force.
In
cultures all over the world the rainbow has a magic meaning.
Noah's covenant with God was sealed with a rainbow. In Nordic
mythology there is a rainbow bridge between the world of the
Gods and humans. In North American native culture it was
foretold that when the earth will be in dire need, the rainbow
warriors will emerge and do what they can to save our world.
Greenpeace's
ship "The Rainbow Warrior"
Many
of us, who feel passionate about this beautiful world, would
love to become rainbow warriors.
We
can grow a lot by learning how to 'read' the rich animated
picture book which Nature provides all around us. And it helps
to look again at the old stories which give us hints about
having heart, mind and emotions aligned.
Some people may say that the pot-of-gold story does not make
sense, because you can never get to end of the
rainbow.....
However, we can also 'read' this fact as a sign that harmony and
balance only exist in movement. It is not a 'thing' we can
possess, but a process we can be in tune with.
Not an object to 'have', but a state of being to share.
Let's
look for our own pot of gold and share it around.
It
is not an impossible dream.
