Beyond Mimicry

By judithnilan on July 21, 2024

July 21, 2024

When we merge with and surrender to
the Sacred Alliance of earth, ancestral,
otherworld, and cosmic energies…

Shapeshifting is a vibrant thread in the tapestry of Irish myth, legend, and lore in ancient times and relatively recent times. In 1920, when Lady Gregory was collecting stories from her country neighbors, which happened in the neighborhood of my Irish cottage, there were many to claimed absolutely to have seen wise women shift into the shape of a hare. Wise women into hares was considered rather commonplace.

And while the mythic legends tell us of this happening, they offer no clues about the biology of how this happens. It seems an alchemical wisdom much lost to us in the mists of time. But it's not lost in the plant nation where scientists are discovering that a common vine in the Chilean rain forest is capable of spontaneously morphing into the shape of almost any nearby plant.

Boquila trifoliolata is a simple-looking plant, with bright-green leaves in groups of three. Ten years ago, scientists discovered that Boquila vines take on the shape and structure of adjacent trees and shrubs. They found that a single vine can climb though and up their neighbors, imitating as many as four different plants simultaneously. While scientists are most comfortable with calling this chameleon behavior and mimicry, the change is not merely a facade of outward appearance. It's fundamental and cellular. The shape, color, texture and vein pattern changes. It is literally shifting shape. There seems no mythic cause for this shapeshifting. Scientists speculate the purpose is to blend in with other plants and not stand out as a unique delicacy to foragers. Safety in numbers.

In considering the Boquila, I reflect on what it means to merge with earth, ancestral,
otherworld, and cosmic energies. Are we being called to shapeshift? I feel that is beginning to happen in my ancestral connection. I feel her integration at a cellular level. It is indeed a spiritual journey of mystical possibilities.

Beannacht,
Judith