2
Olive tree with pruned branches
all the more fertile
Cut off the parts fading with so much blight,
So that the offshoots develop richer virtues.
O
live trees, a symbol of longevity, can grow to an age of 1500 years. After old and useless branches have been pruned, the tree’s innate oiliness and fruitful juice bring forth new sprigs more happily. In this way the tree is made much more fertile and beautiful. The same measures should be used on us, so that we can enthusiastically destroy and uproot what is useless and fruitless. Consider it a gain to endure any loss, as if you were purging a fruitful tree.
companion scent Cedarwood
2
Olive tree with pruned branches
all the more fertile
Cut off the parts fading with so much blight,
So that the offshoots develop richer virtues.
O
live trees, a symbol of longevity, can grow to an age of 1500 years. After old and useless branches have been pruned, the tree’s innate oiliness and fruitful juice bring forth new sprigs more happily. In this way the tree is made much more fertile and beautiful. The same measures should be used on us, so that we can enthusiastically destroy and uproot what is useless and fruitless. Consider it a gain to endure any loss, as if you were purging a fruitful tree.
companion scent Cedarwood
5
Elephant & sheep
The elephant passes among but does not harm small animals;
great things give way to the tamed
This is something a merciful person could imitate.
G
entle and tame by nature, elephants are close to being an animal endowed with reason. If one member of the elephant herd is harmed, the rest will come to its aid. They never fight weaker animals. They do not foolishly crush and trample herds that they meet, instead with their trunks they slowly move apart and segregate the creatures. Unless the elephant is harmed, it does not get angry or savage. Nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing more admirable of a great and noble person than peaceability and showing mercy. Mercy guards the universe and good people’s minds are peaceable. A noble mind has generous impulses; the greater someone is, the more peaceable their wrath.
companion scent Vanilla
5
Elephant & sheep
The elephant passes among but does not harm small animals;
great things give way to the tamed
This is something a merciful person could imitate.
G
entle and tame by nature, elephants are close to being an animal endowed with reason. If one member of the elephant herd is harmed, the rest will come to its aid. They never fight weaker animals. They do not foolishly crush and trample herds that they meet, instead with their trunks they slowly move apart and segregate the creatures. Unless the elephant is harmed, it does not get angry or savage. Nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing more admirable of a great and noble person than peaceability and showing mercy. Mercy guards the universe and good people’s minds are peaceable. A noble mind has generous impulses; the greater someone is, the more peaceable their wrath.
companion scent Vanilla
16
Snake with tail in its ear
The snake escapes the traps of flatters and syncophants by closing its ears:
let the ear not harm the mind
Just so, flee dishonesty and you will be safe.
T
he ancients commonly believed that the snake is the shrewdest of all animals. But since snakes can be seduced and endangered by hearing lies, they have devised a brilliant defense. Psalm 58 mentions a deaf asp, which stops both its ears to the voice of a charmer, by fixing one to the ground and closing the other with the tip of its tail. The cunning of serpents can be a useful example to us for avoiding what is destructive. We are warned to stop our ears to flatterers and deceivers, who ruin our resources more often than enemies.
companion scent Shiso
16
Snake with tail in its ear
The snake escapes the traps of flatters and syncophants by closing its ears:
let the ear not harm the mind
Just so, flee dishonesty and you will be safe.
T
he ancients commonly believed that the snake is the shrewdest of all animals. But since snakes can be seduced and endangered by hearing lies, they have devised a brilliant defense. Psalm 58 mentions a deaf asp, which stops both its ears to the voice of a charmer, by fixing one to the ground and closing the other with the tip of its tail. The cunning of serpents can be a useful example to us for avoiding what is destructive. We are warned to stop our ears to flatterers and deceivers, who ruin our resources more often than enemies.
companion scent Shiso
40
Bat flying
belongs to the night
Leave the darkness by listening to your intuition,
Just as the bat that gets its name from the late evening.
T
he bat is a nocturnal animal that dwells in dark places and flies in erratic swoops at twilight. The bat has remarkable auditory senses—which were once mistaken for having acute eyesight, that allow it to navigate in the dark with great precision. At the worst, the bat represents an enemy of light and an ally of evil spirits, and can personify ignorance: the ignorant person prefers to remain in the dark rather than come into the light. But the bat is also capable of transformation, emerging from darkness to represent new beginnings as people move toward the light.
companion scent Oakmoss
40
Bat flying
belongs to the night
Leave the darkness by listening to your intuition,
Just as the bat that gets its name from the late evening.
T
he bat is a nocturnal animal that dwells in dark places and flies in erratic swoops at twilight. The bat has remarkable auditory senses—which were once mistaken for having acute eyesight, that allow it to navigate in the dark with great precision. At the worst, the bat represents an enemy of light and an ally of evil spirits, and can personify ignorance: the ignorant person prefers to remain in the dark rather than come into the light. But the bat is also capable of transformation, emerging from darkness to represent new beginnings as people move toward the light.
companion scent Oakmoss
58
Crocodile & trochilus bird
grateful service is rendered
A crocodile’s favor is given even to a trochilus bird for its merits.
Do your turn well with your own merits.
W
hen the crocodile yawns, the trochilus flies into his mouth and cleans his teeth. The trochilus gets his food through this, and the crocodile gets ease and comfort; it makes no attempt to injure its little friend, but, when it wants it to go, it shakes its neck in warning. The crocodile makes itself tame, so that the bird can enter its open mouth, please itself with tiny morsels of flesh from the crocodile’s teeth, and then take them off with its beak by picking and rubbing them. When the crocodile wants to close its mouth, it gently twists its jaw to signify this and does not close it until it senses that the bird has flown away. This is a notable example of gratitude, which we should always keep before our eyes: the good should give great benefits to the small. This is the mother of the other virtues. Indeed nothing is more proper than being bound through kindness, and good will. companion scent Frankincense
58
Crocodile & trochilus bird
grateful service is rendered
A crocodile’s favor is given even to a trochilus bird for its merits.
Do your turn well with your own merits.
W
hen the crocodile yawns, the trochilus flies into his mouth and cleans his teeth. The trochilus gets his food through this, and the crocodile gets ease and comfort; it makes no attempt to injure its little friend, but, when it wants it to go, it shakes its neck in warning. The crocodile makes itself tame, so that the bird can enter its open mouth, please itself with tiny morsels of flesh from the crocodile’s teeth, and then take them off with its beak by picking and rubbing them. When the crocodile wants to close its mouth, it gently twists its jaw to signify this and does not close it until it senses that the bird has flown away. This is a notable example of gratitude, which we should always keep before our eyes: the good should give great benefits to the small. This is the mother of the other virtues. Indeed nothing is more proper than being bound through kindness, and good will. companion scent Frankincense