Svaha

“Opportunity is a bird that never perches.” Claude McDonald 

“When written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters – one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” John F. Kennedy, address, 12 April 1959 

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison 

Svaha… In Hinduism and Buddhism, this Sanskrit Lexical item is used as an interjection like “Hail!”, and is often used to indicate the end of a mantra. From the Tibetan language, this word is often translated as “so be it.” In Old Icelandic or Norse, it becomes “the pause between the lightning and the thunder". Sanskrit and Norse both spring from the older Indo-European language group. 

In the fictional book “Svaha” by Charles De Lint, this word is revealed as an Amerindian word meaning “the time between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder; a waiting for promises to be fulfilled”... an eternal moment of Hope and the potential for sacred Creation. 

This word is one of many little threads I’ve encountered that speak to me of ancient wisdom and interconnectedness. I’m amazed and grateful for the many ways in which bits of Truth have survived through ages long past, and are still relevant, still alive, understood and influencing us today. Some of the challenges we face in life are bound to be more difficult than others, but sometimes that is what it takes for us to reach the valuable treasure within that challenge. 

Today, I honor the concept that 
our greatest trials in Life are transitions from ignorance to enlightenment…. that every crisis is, indeed, an opportunity to create, grow, enlighten, learn, change, or renew rather than the fearful obstacle it so often appears to be at first view. I honor that amazing moment in which the Universe pauses, holding it’s breath, waiting to see us seize the Hope that rests there… waiting for us to recognize, accept, and fulfill it. May we all awaken to the opportunities within our trials. 

Svaha!