THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF SALMON

In the beginning, a baby salmon is born in pristine, mountain headwaters. Then, it feels an instinctual urge to swim downstream to commence its life journey. And so, the evolutionary stages from its source are set in motion. Down, down, down the salmon swim, each little, rushing tributary contributing to a larger stream. Once in the river of their origin, the biological compass points the fish to the ocean. After that, the river’s course directs them into ever bigger waters where the individuals that have persisted thus far form a collective of salmon. The one body of ocean is their home for now. In this community, there is the feel of safety, an inward pull to group and swim within certain bounds, entrained in behavioral, survival norms. Many live on. Many don’t. Months pass as the biological clock ticks. At the exact moment, reproductive timing turns them in the direction of their birth waters to fulfill the destiny of the coming generation. From the ocean to the big river, the return journey beckons. Up, up, up the salmon swim to smaller, purer, swifter, more demanding waters where all manner of boulders and impediments test them. At this altitude, fewer and fewer endure the pressures of individual quest. More and more perish or succumb to distractions along the wayside. Once home within the unspoiled, immaculate, mountain headwaters of its origin, a salmon spawns; and the eggs are fertilized with all that is needed for their own journey— each egg a perfect yet individual replica of its parental heritage. Its singular mission realized, having bestowed upon the offspring an unfolding template of guidance, a salmon dies to its physical self, only to be reborn into the conscious awareness of the one Life in its multiplicity of absolutely unique expressions. Whole and complete at the beginning. Whole and complete at the end. The sun, moon, stars, tides, rivers, and salmon all move in their precise pace and rhythm within the divine governance of One ever-watchful, loving Presence.   Other Nature and Animals Offerings: • Sacred Rivers • The Marys River of My Youth—Eternally Flowing • Spiritual Ocean • Earth Day 2012 • The Essence Of Spiritual Ecology • Forests as Our Spiritual Inheritance • For the Love of Animals • Animals Born of Good Heart • The Little Ones • Birdie Diner • Bewick’s Wren—His Own Song • Saint Felis • The Tree That Shares • Orchid Talk © Prose © by Zane Maser, 2019. Photo of baby salmon by John Anderson, Bureau of Land Management. Other photos gratefully used from Wikimedia Commons. All 2009-2019 rights of Zane Maser and SunnyCat Astrology reserved worldwide. My editorial master and technological wizard is Chris Maser, my joyful husband.