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forma aldatzen, eta bere gorputz berriaren forma Dragonfly-renaren antzekoa bihurtu zen. Bere boterea eta trebetasun magikoa frogatzeko erronka onartzean, Dragonek bere boterea galdu zuen.”

Gizonari gustatzen zitzaion dragoiaren harrokeriak forma gutxiago indartsu baina eder batera eramango zuelako ideia. Hala ere, bere erara, sorgin-orratza izaki magikoa da, zientzialariek erakutsi dutenez, balentria harrigarriak egiteko gai dena, gizakiok ziurrenik inoiz guztiz ulertuko ez dugun adimen mota batekin. Eta jende mota guztiak liluratzen dituen esentzia batekin, entomologoetatik hasi eta natura idazleetaraino eta urmaeletan jolasten ari diren haur txikietaraino.

Libelularen “funtzionamenduaren” mekanikak zientzialariak eta buruzagi militarrak liluratu dituen arren, intsektuaren beste alderdi batzuek aspalditik liluratu dituzte gizakiak, joera mistikoagoa dutenak. Gizonaren ikerketak agerian utzi du libelulek esanahi berezia izan dutela mundu osoko kulturetan eta denboran zehar. Herri batzuek libelulari errespetua eman diote, beste batzuek beldurra eman diote. Noski, horrek gehiago esaten digu gizakioi buruz, intsektuari buruz baino.

Bereziki bitxia iruditu zitzaion Asiako eta Amerikako natiboen kulturek tradizionalki sorgin-orratza ezaugarri positiboekin lotu izana izan zela —oparotasuna, harmonia, zoriontasuna, zorte ona eta garbitasuna—, eta Europako hainbat gizartek, berriz, kaltegarria eta baita deabruzkoa ere zela uste izan zutela, sorginen animalia, deabruaren orratza eta sugearen morroia bezalako gauzak deituz. Beren sustrai europarrak kontuan hartuta, azken lotura horiek kezkagarriak iruditu zitzaizkion. Zerk azaldu zezakeen beste herriek imajinatzen zuten ontasunetik hain desberdinak ziren ikuspegi ilun horiek? Haien erlijioen izaera izan ote zen, haien sinesmen espiritualak?

Gizonaren ikerketak argi utzi zuen, desberdintasun guztiak gorabehera, kultura askok sorgin-orratza aldaketarekin lotzen dutela. Hori bera ez da harritzekoa, metamorfosia bere bizitzan (eta beste intsektu batzuen bizitzan) funtsezkoa baita. Baina bere iturriak ondo ulertu bazituen, sorgin-orratzak adierazten duen aldaketa mota batez ere barnekoa da: gure bizitzak gidatzen dituzten baina, egia esan, funtsezkoena edo "errealena" dena ezkutatzen duten ilusio kultural edo pertsonaletatik urruntzeko mugimendua, eta norberaren, bizitzaren eta munduaren ulermen sakonago eta argiago baterantz —ikuspegi argiago bat, esan liteke—, bere alderdi ukiezinak edo batzuek "ikusezinak" deituko lituzketenak barne.

Beste era batera esanda, sorgin-orratzak adierazten duen aldaketa kontzientzia, jakinduria eta argitasun handiagoaren aldeko aldaketa da. Benetakotasunerantz.

Gizonak hori guztia animatzeko gogoa piztu zion. Agian sorgin-orratzekin izandako topaketa ezohikoek norabide onean zihoala adierazten zioten, benetakoago den bere buru baterantz.

Gizona barne-aldaketa moduko bat jasaten ari zela zirudien. Bere kulturaren "egia" nagusi asko zalantzan jartzen eta zalantzan jartzen hasi zen, haren balioak, usteak eta akordioak; gu, gaur egungo, goi-teknologiako eta Interneten menpeko estatubatuarrok, munduari eta kosmos handiagoari (edo "sorkuntzari") buruz dakiguna eta bertan dugun lekua uste duguna. Mundua ezagutzeko eta bertan egoteko modu desberdinetara irekitzen ari zela sentitu zuen; eta errealitate handiagoak zirela imajinatzen zuena, zientziak edo erakunde erlijiosoek azaldu dezaketenaz haratago. Edo posibletzat jo dezaketenaz haratago ere.

Errepikatzen zen irudia atalase edo aurrerapen batean zegoen bere buruarena zen, nahiz eta batzuetan haustura handiagoaren aurrean ote zegoen galdetu bere buruari. Eta batzuetan gauzak (eta bere burua) serioegi hartzen zituela kezkatzen bazen ere, batzuetan atzera egiten zuela sentitzen zuen, zalantzek, segurtasun ezak eta auto-epaikek jota.

Nahaspila hutsa naizen pentsatu zuen. Baina hori gertatzen da gauzak astintzen direnean. Orduan, irribarre batekin eta agian barre txiki batekin ere, beste pentsamendu ezagun bat etorri zitzaion burura: Gehiegi pentsatzen dut.

Azkenean, gizonak ezin zuen ziur jakin zer esan nahi zuen sorgin-orratzak bere bizitzan sartzeak. Eta zergatik “esan nahi” zuen ezer? Baina nahiko ziur zegoen ez zela kasualitatez gertatu. Eta gizakiok sorgin-orratzei esleitzen diegun esanahi edo sinbolismoa edozein dela ere, argiena —eta garrantzitsuena— iruditzen zitzaiona zen bere arreta bereganatu zutela eta nolabait hunkitu zutela, agian berarekin komunikatu ere egin zutela oraindik ulertzen ez zuen maila batean. Eta hau: atari edo belo bat ireki zen, laburki bada ere, eta bertatik igaro zen. Modu arraro eta azaldu ezin batean, bere mundua handitu egin zen. Eta ez al da hori asko esaten?

Beraz, hor amaitzen da istorioa. Honekin izan ezik: asmatu duzuen bezala, ni naiz sorgin-orratz gizona. Eta partekatu dudana egiaren hurbilen dago ahal dudan neurrian, sorgin-orratzaren gertakariari buruz dakidana eta sentitzen dudana eta uda amaierako egun haietatik ikasi dudana kontuan hartuta —eta beti daudela aztertzeko geruza gehiago aitortuz—.

Ziur egon zaitezke sorgin-orratzei arreta handiagoa jarriko diedala eta gogoraraziko didatela zein gutxi dakigun gizakiok munduari buruz (eta geure buruari buruz), ikasi dugun guztia gorabehera. Eta nik, behintzat, misterioa ospatuko dut.

Ai, istorio honetan beste zati bat partekatu behar dut, ia ahaztuta nuen esperientzia berri bat, nahiz eta ez dakidan nola den posible. Goiz batean, loaren eta esna egotearen arteko leku lauso horretan noraezean nenbilela, amets edo ikusmen bat izan nuen, non nire patioan aurkitu nituen sorgin-orratzaren gorputz-atalak hautsiak —nire logelako apal batean jarritako kutxa zuri txiki batean bilduta zeuden zati horiek— berriro elkartu ziren izaki osoa berregiteko. Interpretazio posible askoren artean, hau izan zen lehenengo bururatu zitzaidana: osotasunera itzultzea. Eta nahikoa da oraingoz.

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37 PAST RESPONSES

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Pat Apr 25, 2023
I had a magical encounter of a different sort. On an afternoon hike to a hill not too far from me in NH, I came to an expansive field with hundreds, if not thousands, of dragonflies zooming back and forth over the tall weeds and wildflowers, the sun glistening on their wings. The air was filled with them. What a breathtaking thing to witness! I have seen much smaller versions in my backyard -- but maybe only a dozen or fewer.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 28, 2023
Pat, thanks for sharing your own amazing encounter.
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Anna F. Apr 9, 2023
Oh my! What a piece of writing and sharing about mystery. "A hinged and serrated lower jaw" … only to end that paragraph with the part where I chortled — "a pollywog’s worst nightmare." Then on to more philosophical wonderings in the mythic story of the dragon’s hubris transforming him/her into a dragonfly but still magnificent. And then the science bit about flying and still seeing us when they have passed us by; and that without a rear view mirror. My personal story is a moment I’ll never forget. It happened somewhere between a swamp area and a quiet stretch of ocean beach just north of the 49th latitude in Western Canada. It was a warm, late spring day. Not a soul there except myself, birds and the "invisibles." First I heard a thrumming that was not quite a wing beat coming up behind me. It was actually thousands of gossamer wing beats in unison. Very soon I was in the middle of a throng of hundreds if not thousands of blue darners flying at my head level and slightl... [View Full Comment]
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Anna, wow, what an experience you share! Yes, so many questions after such a wonder-filled experience. I love (and relate to) your statement, "I was outside of thought and simply in a moment of revelation." And yes to celebrating (and embracing) the mystery!
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dail Apr 8, 2023
Thank you...we need this expansive embrace and appreciation of living things for our own evolution.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Thanks, dail. Your comment makes sense to me.
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Seraphina Landgrebe Apr 7, 2023
Fantastic story. Beautifully written. Touched my spirit and love is nature, birds and much greater appreciation of dragonflies. Thank you, seraphina. www.seraphina.com
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Thanks, Seraphina. I have briefly visited your website and love your images. Will give it a closer look.
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Barb Apr 7, 2023
AWESOME!!! So much to learn from the most simple and touching experiences in our relationship with nature! As I age and ponder, I become more aware and at peace with varied life experiences with parts of nature that I ounce feared. Thank you for sharing your personal insights of the blue dragonfly...
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Barb, yes, "so much to learn." And I, like you, am becoming "more aware and at peace" as I grow older (and, I hope, grow in wisdom as well).
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Nancy Vermond Apr 7, 2023
Thank you for the dragonfly story. I read the whole thing, though it took more than one sitting. I like that the dragonflies were catching his attention! That's how I thought/ felt about the baby squirrel. He definitely got my attention, climbing up and sitting on my bicycle seat and staring at me! Asking for help. That was quite a surprise. Like the dragonfly, needing help, but also giving so much. I also liked how it raised questions of our relationship with other life forms. I am very much into that enquiry myself, wanting to honor other beings, but at the same time I am eating meat that often comes from a place of cruelty to the animals whose flesh I am eating. TIme to think about this again!
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Nancy, thanks for your own story. And yes, our human relationships with other beings/life forms is complicated. Being open to new possibilities is important, I believe.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 6, 2023
Thank you to all who've posted these wonderful responses to my essay. I'm deeply moved by your comments and when time allows I'll do my best to respond to each person individually.
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Linda Apr 6, 2023
I loved reading your beautiful story. I also have had a magical encounter with a tiny electric blue dragonfly in the ti-tree lakes in northern N.S.W. in Australia one summer afternoon. I was standing in the lake and saw a tiny dragonfly floating on the water. I thought it was dead and picked it up. I placed it on my palm and realised it was still alive. It took a few minutes for the dragonfly to recover, stood up on its tiny legs, primping and preening itself, shaking its wings. After a few minutes it stopped and looked at me, gazing at me - and me looking at it - in my palm close to my face. It was as if time stopped - me staring into its tiny extraterresstial, eyes with the tiny black centre - we became one - I don't know how long we were connected but it was extraordinary, then it just flew away. But I was changed forever. It was an amazing encounter - and have felt a strong, loving connection to dragonflies ever since. I see them everywhere. When visiting that lake a year lat... [View Full Comment]
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Linda, thanks to you for sharing your own beautiful and magical story. There is so much we humans don't know about the larger world of which we're a part.
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Sharon Apr 6, 2023
I so love this. I wrote(in my book A Blessing of Toads) a similar/though not similar, experience of rescuing a dragonfly along a roadside in Maine. It returned to me the next morning after the eve I released it. Such magic. I must relate that in Cahuila myths the dragonfly will only land on those people who are pure of heart. They have a song, Ush Kana, that is used to call them down from the sky. I did this, and the dragonfly came.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Sharon, thanks for sharing your own experiences and understandings taken from "Cahuila myths." To "call" dragonflies from the sky--and have the animal respond--seems mystical indeed. I will check out your book, thanks for that information.
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Marcia Zina Apr 6, 2023
Beautiful story! When I was young (about 50 years ago) I used to play with "automatic writing"! And a sentence came through about dragonflies that has always stayed with me and that I never fully understood: "Dragonflies seem drastically treacherous, knowing only the solitude of becoming."
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Marcia, yes, an intriguing and perhaps unsettling statement. What's your interpretation now?
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Carol Apr 6, 2023
I am so glad to have read this. Dragonflies have always attracted me. But the main pleasure for me, in this writing, is the reflective quality of the author's experience, even his admissions of forgetting and other human foibles. I'm grateful to Daily Good for making this available for reading.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Carol, I add my thanks to DailyGood for sharing the story.
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sadhana Apr 6, 2023
It is an extraordinary article.Thanks for posting it.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Sadhana, it's my pleasure and honor to share this story.
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myrna Apr 6, 2023
beautifully written and relatable…. thank you
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Judith Apr 6, 2023
So well written and transformative! Thank you for waking me up!
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Thank you, both Myrna and Judith.
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Kristin Pedemonti Apr 6, 2023
Thank you Bill for sharing your meaningful encounters with dragonflies. I too have had magical & mystical moments with these 'fairies' including in a parking lot outside of Nairobi Kenya when I was suddenly surrounded by 10 or more of these mystical creatures just after a Storytelling Performance. Just lovely. Often dragonflies find me when I'm in times of transition or challenge with a choice. I do my best to listen. 🙏
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Kristin, wow, your experience in Kenya sounds marvelous, as the "mystical creatures" were apparently drawn in by the energy you carried. Mystical, yes!
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Patrick Apr 6, 2023
Oh the stories I could tell of dragonflies, frogs and more, but I’ll not disturb this beauty with reminiscing of my own. I suspect though that this will stir much in others hearts and minds. }:- a.m.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Patrick, other "reminiscences" are welcome. Frogs are another of my favorite life forms.
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Mer Apr 6, 2023
How refreshing to come upon this story, just this morning on coming back from deep inner space, where I gently touched a somewhat sperical blue orb like a water balloon, and hoping it did not hurt it to do so, and "getting" an understanding of "no, it tickles". I chuckle, knowing full well we've been put to sleep like Rip Van Winkle, and waking up is inevitable. I chuckle to know I don't take offense that many still sleeping would snicker, if they saw me this morning, tickling a blue sphere, and escorting a granddaddy-long- leg outside from within a large Mason jar to be free to scuttle among the two-inch wild tulips I planted and forgot about until they emerged, like bright stars awakening , remembering they have a coronosphere turned on. My cup fills full with your sharing.
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Anna F Apr 9, 2023
Beautiful. Thanks.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Thanks, Mer, for your reflections and the sharing of your experiences. I agree with Anna, "beautiful." I admit that at times I'm more "asleep" other times more wakeful and open to the many dimensions of life.
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Lionel Apr 6, 2023
Mmm, such compelling writing sharing an experience so far from anything I know. Thank you for your willingness to express the authenticity of your inner life and thoughts.
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Lionel, it was a pleasure and honor to write about the experience and my "interior" world.
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Colette Apr 6, 2023
Beautifully written, deeply touching, spiritually uplifting, filled with awe and reverence for the mystery of life - the mystical - that saturates our incredible world... Thank you
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Bill Sherwonit Apr 16, 2023
Thanks, Colette, for your comments.