hertha

In the realms of the west of the West, where the eagle takes flight, is the sunflower, a child of the Americas. A vision of splendour and might, it ascends between 5 and 12 feet tall, a heavenly tower reaching for the Divine.

The younger blooms turn their faces to the sky, seeking the sun as it journeys across the sky, a heliotropic trance in a mystical embrace with the giver of life. Yet older plants, wise and knowing, set their gaze towards the East, no longer searching, for they have found what they want.

The sunflower’s alignment to the East forges a golden link to symbols profound and timeless. A connection to the cradle of dawn, a harbinger of birth, renewal, enlightenment, and spiritual awakening. A beacon of Light dispelling darkness and ignorance. Conversely, the West, where the sun sets, symbolizes the end, death, and descent into the unknown.

The East and West not only represent geographical directions but deeply rooted philosophical dualities. Eastern thought, marked by harmony and interconnectedness, contrasts sharply with the Western emphasis on logic, reason and individualism. These distinctions reverberate through culture, art, and religion, capturing the essential struggles of our time: tradition vs. modernity, spiritual vs. material, collective vs. individual, authoritarianism vs. democracy.

Yet the core of these themes, renewal, transformation, and the pursuit of higher wisdom, transcend specific traditions. They speak to the soul, a universal melody that echoes through the chambers of the heart. In the hallowed halls of Christianity, the altar faces the East, awaiting the resurrection and the second coming of Christ. In Buddhism’s serene embrace, the East is enlightenment, and in the sacred texts of Hinduism, the East is Surya’s golden chariot.

These simple and beautiful plants have woven themselves into a complex fabric of symbolism that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries. In its golden petals, we glimpse the Divine, a vision that transcends time and space. It’s a spiritual journey, a poetic revelation, a cosmic symphony, that sings to the soul. I’m sure there’s no irony in the fact that a plant rooted in the west, faces east.

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