Tasting the Wisdom of Nature

 

I can't get enough of the amazing patterns of desert varnish that occur in the redrock deserts of the American Southwest. I believe this is the case because I experience the rock so viscerally - or, more accurately - within my palate and throat. It's a sort of synaesthesia, where one sense is connected to another. In this case, the sight of the rock leads to a sensation of taste in my throat. This makes sense to me, since the varnish stripes look so much like drizzles of chocolate syrup. It also corresponds to what the early Christian mystics called "the spiritual senses." They spoke often of "tasting" the wisdom contained in the biblical scriptures during times of lectio divina, or sacred reading. The fact that the Latin word for wisdom - "sapientia," as in "Homo sapiens" - is related to the word "sapor," or taste, supports this association of reading and taste. In addition, the same writers believed that Nature is the second scripture, and that it is just as important as the Bible. Indeed, I find that the rock really does contain wisdom, one that leads me to become more solid in my bearing and attitude toward life, yet also to become more receptive in a positive way to the weathering effects of life. But this wisdom isn't just cerebral. It's something I can actually taste!

Photos: Desert Varnish, Escalante - Grand Staircase National Monument, UT; May 25, 2014