In the autumn of 2018, I began to study western calligraphy. Growing bored with writing only the alphabet, I looked on my bookshelf for something more inspiring. The book that jumped into my hand was Philosophies of India by Heinrich Zimmer and edited by Joseph Campbell. On page 11, in the chapter titled The Roar of Awakening, I found a quote from the Aitareya Upanisad.
This poem, reverberated in me, and over the next several months, the seeds it planted began to grow. Building on a lifetime of explorations of the body and consciousness, my own words began to form. I hope you too find it more interesting than the alphabet.
The Roar of Awakening
‘A Song of Creation’
Fire became speech, and entered the mouth.
Wind became breath, and entered the nostrils.
Heaven’s vibration became sound, and entered the ears.
The sun became sight, and entered the eyes.
Plants became touch, and entered the skin.
Animals became movement, and entered the sinews.
Water became the sea, and entered the cells.
The moon became mind, and entered the heart.
Earth became blood, and entered the feet.
Air became cerebrospinal fluid, and entered the hands.
Darkness became sleep, and entered the hidden places.
Light became awareness, and entered everywhere.
Stars became selfother, and entered the center of the perineum.
Life became the inbreath, and entered the navel.
Death became the outbreath, and entered the crown of the head.
Space became love, and entered our essence.
Time began to pulsate, and created cycles of being.
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, 2018
Inspired by the following:
Aitareya Upanisad 2. 1-4. Translated by Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford, 1921, p. 295.; quoted in Philosophies of India by Heinrich Zimmer and edited by Joseph Campbell, 1951 (p. 11). “Fire became speech, and entered the mouth. Wind became breath, and entered the nostrils. The sun became sight, and entered the eyes. The quarters of heaven became hearing, and entered the ears. Plants and trees became hairs, and entered the skin. The moon became mind, and entered the heart. Death became the out-breath, and entered the navel. Waters became semen, and entered the virile member.”