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| C.J. Jung fills a kettle in his workshop |
We were about halfway to school when Noah, who was sitting in the front seat, put his finger on the windshield and said, Look it's a praying mantis without a head!
I said, Really? and Oliver, sitting in the back seat, said, Yeah, you're right, Noah. And did you know, Mom, that after mating the female bites the head off the male? Maybe she does it so he can't eat the babies.
I seem to remember something like that, Oliver. I said, but who the hell knows? I'm fifty and haven't picked up a science text in a quarter of a century. There is always much to ponder in the car with children, especially when there's a headless male insect on your windshield, so that's what I did, the rest of the way to school -- 'Bye, have a great day! -- and then when I dropped off mail at the post office and still later when I went to pick up some dry-cleaning. I have a lot to ponder right now in my life and would guess that most of us do have much to ponder. Most of it isn't bloggable, but it's definitely ponderable. My clothes weren't ready, so I sat in the car and read email for a bit, closed my eyes and opened them to see what appeared to be a praying mantis, a pale green and delicate creature, scamper up the top of the windshield and out of my sight.
This one definitely had a head.
***The photo of C.J. Jung has been sitting on my desk for months. I like it and thought it fit in some weird way with this post. Go with it the way you will.
We bought one of those praying mantis egg sacs once to watch them hatch and it was a definite lesson in life and death. About 200 of the little buggers hatched and the strongest one systematically killed and ate all the rest of them over the next week or so, growing so rapidly we were a little scared. Once it got to its adult size, we took it out of the cage and it 'boxed' with the kids in Eve's classroom until we finally released it.
ReplyDeleteOh my. Yes. Much to ponder.
ReplyDeleteAh, the un-bloggable life. Yep. I'm pretty sure my computer would spontaneously combust if I even tried.
ReplyDeleteAs for the praying mantis....wow, I've never seen a post-coital headless one. Score.
It may be because I'm weak and dehydrated and pissy and off today but this post made me laugh so hard I peed a little bit.
ReplyDeletexo
I didn't know the headless males hang around after becoming headless! Now THAT is something to ponder.
ReplyDeletein his workshop? he looks like a blacksmith in that picture - how odd
ReplyDeleteMuch to ponder. Yes. Much. I'd say the ponder to blog ratio is about 90/10.
ReplyDeleteOK, so you know I am one of your wacko followers. For whatever it is worth, I strongly believe in the spiritual significance of animal/insect sightings. Since you saw a praying mantis not once but twice, I would say this is a rather significant and emphatically sent message. So, in an effort to research this "message" for you I came across a sight which had a quote by none other than Carl Jung. Talk about synchronicity...I would suspect that this was letting me know I was at the right place. The quote from Jung was "The unexpected and the incredible belong in this world only then is life whole."
ReplyDeleteThe spiritual significance of a praying mantis:
The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives. Usually the mantis makes an appearance when we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us because of the external din we’ve created.
After observing this creature for any length of time you can see why the symbolism of the praying mantis deals with stillness and patience. The mantis takes her time, and lives her life at her own silent pace.
From yet another web sight:
The praying mantis is the oldest symbol of God: the African Bushman’s manifestation of God come to Earth, “the voice of the infinite in the small,”* a divine messenger. When one is seen, diviners try to determine the current message. In this culture they are also associated with restoring life into the dead. “Mantis” is the Greek word for “prophet” or “seer,” a being with spiritual or mystical powers.
Meet the eye of a mantis and feel the presence of God. Interspecies communicator Sharon Callahan says, “the I of me, and the I of the creature became one and we rested on the breath of God.” She notes that a praying mantis appears sometimes in person, other times in a dream or even in an object of art, but always with the “shiny conscious eye ~ God looking at me through the eye of the Mantis.”
Would be interested to know what your own search uncovers?
well, if Oliver is right, then it must have been the female mantis! so, i take it as a good sign - no need to ponder over this :)
ReplyDelete