Psalm 11

Whakapapa: This psalm arose out of the experience of tearing up a previous psalm. I liked the original psalm. It expressed a difficult struggle & deep emotion, but, after writing it, I decided to tear it up. I felt that to publish it would violate the law of love (i.e. there are values higher than self expression). This psalm arose out of the remains of it. I’m not sure where the quail came from. They just turned up.

“Quails are symbols of heat, or more basically, of love-heat. In China the quail was the bird of the south and of Fire, being the Red Bird; it was the symbol of summer. As a fire symbol it was later replaced by the phoenix. Because of its migratory nature it also symbolises the alternating patterns of yin & yang. In Greek mythology, Ortygia, ‘Quail Island’ was the birthplace of Artemis (Moon) and Apollo (Sun). The light from ‘Quail Island’ (free from the underworld) is not simply that of the rising Sun but that of the spiritual Sun (or Self or inner Christ). Quail, along with Manna, provided miraculous food for the Children of Israel in the Wilderness.” 1)

1) The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols: Jean Chevalier (author), Alain Gheerbrant (author), John Buchanan Translator) pg. 780.