Caterpillars

 Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your Mother and all things as your Brothers and Sisters.

Tribe Unknown

”All things in the world are two. In our minds we are two, good and evil. With our eyes we see two things, things that are fair and things that are ugly…. We have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and we have the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So are all things two, all two.” 

Eagle Chief (Letakos-Lesa) Pawnee

In the space of two weeks I've watched the gypsy moth caterpillars devour the green from the giant oaks, the cheer from the birch trees, the rich colour from the purple beech and the shimmer from the quaking aspen. I put up barricades of tape and burlap, only to find hours later hoards more are clambering over those unfortunates who got trapped on the way and the tree base is teaming with creatures that have one thing on their mind; to satisfy their hunger. This single minded purpose makes it hard to think of them as my brothers and sisters.

And yet, perhaps they are a mirror to many things ... greed is their nature. They consume til they cocoon, a moth emerges, eggs are laid and generations continue blindly following the pattern until - Yikes - a Virus attacks and they are vanquished for a period of years until the virus itself runs out of easy food and its numbers fade (they still lurk about though) and the gypsy moths rise again.

If this were told from the tree's perspective; it would read similar to the biblical seven years of feast before the famine story. They have several years to gain reserves of energy to withstand the next surge of these glutinous predators. Although, of course, trees have many other predators to protect against which makes their story infinitely more complicated.

If we told this story from the perspective of the undergrowth in the forest; they could be grateful to the caterpillars for allowing them some sunlight to grow and maybe establish themselves to be a next generation of trees and food for caterpillars. (and yes the "invasive species" also would have light to grow, good/evil coexist everywhere.)

 

With all our brain power, intellect and imagination humans could potentially rise above this instinct. Signs of this are hard to detect in the news, but individuals and small communities are proving it possible to care for and support each other. 

I wonder if this is the virus that will allow enough sunshine through for these sapling groups to gain stature and withstand the caterpillars... 

Or will we need to wait until the next one??

Good and evil exist everywhere in everything. Judgement is dependent on perspective and is only possible when we turn a blind eye to what is in ourselves. Knowing this does not make staying out of judgement easy...it is hard not to judge people harshly where we see cruelty, unconscious waste and people denying other's rights in favour their own.  But everyone has an inner world and can justify their reasons for what they do ...  as I do when in my efforts to save the little trees on the lawn I pick off gypsy moth caterpillars and drown them in soapy water...

Perhaps that is the ultimate question; where does good end and evil begin?

Cheers

Jeanne