Salmon: Wisdom

In the Celtic tradition the salmon is the oldest and wisest of animals. Legendary salmon lived in a sacred well which was the source of the Boyne, a river running past ancient Druid temples. These salmona fed on the hazelnut, the source of wisdom.

We can understand why the salmon was considered the wisest of animals by comparing its journey to our own. So often in our lives we seem to be struggling on our journey, both against external obstacles and against those obstacles which often present much more difficulty -- our resistance to and fear of change. We can ease our journey by learning from Salmon's example.

Although the standard depiction of the salmon's journey to the spawning grounds shows this animal struggling just as humans do, the truth is very different. There are difficulties, but Salmon, when it jumps upstream, doesn't fight the current, but goes with the reverse current which flows beneath the surface.

This form of leaping inspired the word summersault, which is actually derived from salmon-sault. Children who summersault are engaging, in playful, agile behavior, and the ability to be childlike is another lesson we learn from Salmon.

When the salmon makes its long journey it's actually returning to the place where it was spawned. So, in order to complete our own journeys, we need to understand our own history, and often must return in thought and feeling to our childhoods for that understanding.

This return is more than mental. What Salmon wisdom requires is a return to the spirit of childhood, to a way of being which includes innocence and openness, and the ability to flow with the currents which run beneath the surface.

When we are light-hearted and childlike on our journey it becomes not a means to a goal, but the goal itself. Salmon teaches us to leap joyfully at the prospect of each new day and to know that, wherever we are, we are always going home.

Salmon is one of the Wild Earth Animal Essences