There is barely a glimmer of dawn on the horizon when the sound comes from far away. The first blackbird makes his song: the night is over, the sunlight is coming! Soon another comes from almost as far away, then the next, and the next, closer. Thus every morning the blackbird song spreads over the land. From early spring to early winter, the heralds of the sun bring a succession of sound-clear melodies – the short pause during the period of moulting is forgiven them wholeheartedly. One great web of song stretches before the light, circles of praise. It seems that each blackbird starts exactly 20 minutes before sunrise. They form the overture to a symphony: later the smaller songbirds complete the melody lines with their finer motifs. If this wakes you up, the day can’t get any better.
You don’t have to be an expert to hear that each bird has its own unique melodies, at the same time clear and warm in tone. Sometimes there is a beginner, one who does not get further than two tones too-too, followed by a clumsy short riff. And yet it also participates in the larger pattern, this blackbird also awakens another. The announcement is not to be missed, and it has been that way for centuries. A glorious gift of creation. It is not surprising that this bird song was for Paul McCartney the inspiration for Blackbird, one of the most beautiful pop songs of the last century, based on a piece by Bach.
According to biologists, birds sing to mark their territory. They certainly do that, also in other ways. How aggressive they sometimes are during the mating season, some don’t allow another within their sight. But at the same time, with their singing, they create a melodious network of intertwined circles of sound. How far does their singing reach? At least far enough to inspire the next bird to its own song. In their variation in tone, melody, timbre and rhythm they form a multitude of expressions of creativity, in receptivity to the light. In all weathers, even in stormy weather or March snow showers, the birdsong unfurls before the sunrise, like a feathery fabric urging humanity to listen. Look at the reaction of a small child when it hears a blackbird sing, and you can see how receptive we are in our deeper being to the song of these messengers of light.
Nature has been given to us as a mirror, but when we dare to open ourselves and are willing to reflect on ourselves, it can also serve as a guide. All of nature is inspired by the same driving force, which also drives us humans to turn to the light. It is striking that we tend to look outside ourselves for that light, for warmth, for happiness. Sooner or later, however, we run into the feeling that we have actually already done and seen everything, and that everything remains the same. This experience is already recorded in the Bible book of Ecclesiastes. Yet everyone continues to search, it seems to be an innate motivation. But maybe we’re not looking in the right direction. Why not turn our search inwards, to our own inner self? The spark that lies there waiting is a small but efficacious remnant of the Light Force that inspires every living being, waiting to be discovered. The eighteenth-century German mystic Karl von Eckartshausen [1] describes it this way:
Wherever there is a possibility of light absorption and light receptivity, the light communicates itself. However, it does not impose itself and waits until it can be absorbed quietly.
The light is there for everyone, young and old, regardless of sexual orientation, status, education level, position in society, skin color, social background. Whether we sing a simple melody or blow high from the tower, it wants to communicate itself to every light-seeker; it waits quietly until we are ready. And when the moment comes, our consciousness opens to a silvery choral song and to a treasure trove of light and color of immeasurable intensity far beyond our comprehension. The beautiful morning choir of the blackbirds is a small, modest harbinger of this.
Blackbird
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to ariseBlackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be freeBlackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of a dark black nightThe Beatles [2]
Sources:
[1] Karl von Eckartshausen, The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary: Esoteric Classics, Third Letter, Lamp of Trismegistus 2020
[2] Wings – Blackbird – YouTube
Paul McCartney – Blackbird (The Beatles) | The story behind the song – YouTube
