A Rose, by Any Other Name

What’s in a Name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet… From Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare

What is in a name? It’s a good question.

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In previous articles here at Whisperia, I’ve written about encounters I’ve had with otherworldly beings: some appearing angelic; others like elemental beings; some as light beings; nature spirits; and even unseen entities who nevertheless possessed great presences. During the majority of my interactions with these beings, we did not engage in conversation. These experiences all had the common element of telepathic communication, with only one exception that comes to my mind.

(This one exception occurred back in September 2024, I was in what I call my “twilight state,” which is to say: I wasn’t fully awake, nor was I fully asleep. While dwelling in that state of twilight, I repeatedly asked a question. For the purposes of this article, the question itself isn’t important. The reason for mentioning this is that quite unexpectedly I became aware that a living being, a woodland entity was quietly “speaking” into my right ear. This being looked something like a tree, but with arms, legs, a torso, and a head with eyes and mouth and ears. Instead of being enveloped in skin or fur or hair, it was covered in a “skin” of bark. While murmuring softly in my ear, it made strange clicking sounds, which I - somehow - understood.

I suppose this clicking language was a kind of speech. Yet, this is the only encounter wherein I heard an audible “language.” )

In all my encounters of this kind, another common element is that names are not used. There is no spoken language, so there are no names, at least of which I’m aware. There is no need for names because in these realms wherein materiality is less prominent, beings perceive one another for who they are, not what they might be called.

(The only exception to this occurred when, during a period of meditation, I specifically asked who had repeatedly contacted me during a period of several months. Only after asking, did I receive a reply in which I was given a name.

The reply was given to me three times, in succession. It was almost as if the being answering me was humorously intimating that if I had to ask for a name, they were going to be sure I received a name loudly and clearly. In answer to my query, I was told: Uriel, Uriel, Uriel.

I was not familiar with the name, “Uriel.” After doing some research, I discovered that Uriel is, in some traditions or schools, considered to be one of the archangeloi.)

We humans place a great deal of importance on names and being able to name things such as people, places, phenomena, ideas, traditions, groups, illnesses, and - well, everything. When we’re able to name something, it gives us a sense that we have some recognition or familiarity with it. Beyond this, when we’re able to name something, we often feel that we have some influence or even a greater control over it.

However, our practice of naming and labelling can be problematic.

Here, I’ll paraphrase from an earlier Whisperia article entitled, “A Fool, A Wise Man and a Tree:”

“... once we name (or label or measure) something, we often feel satisfied that we know and understand what we’ve labelled. We can move on, never having encountered or experienced even a hint of the essence of that which we’ve named.” (1)

But, of course, we are living here, in a material world, and it’s necessary for us to give names to everything in order to share our ideas with each other and in order for us to understand each other. But, it’s unfortunate, too. Perhaps, because we do this without consciously thinking about it, we often assume that we’ve understood what we’ve named. Yet, after “naming” or - in our estimation - “identifying” something, we often comprehend next to nothing about it. After naming it, we have no real appreciation for, or understanding of, what we’ve just named. In other words, we can talk about things using names and labels while really having no idea what we’re talking about.

As Dr. Henry T. Edge stated:

... verbal language is the instrument of a certain portion of the mind which has limits... (2)

So, we could say that verbal language, which includes names, expresses ideas of the intellect. Whereas, in order to express ideas that are greater in scope, or ideas that transcend the limits of the mind, we must resort to symbols.

Again, returning to Dr. Edge:

… knowledge... which... relates to powers of the mind which transcend those limits... and are beyond the power of words, such profound ideas are expressed by symbols; the full meaning of these symbols has to be grasped intuitively by the exercise of higher faculties of the mind... (3)

I’ll take this one step further: Those experiences that are beyond the limits of symbols and that are beyond the material, must be grasped intuitively and telepathically.

Perhaps Johann Gottfried Herder expressed it best when he wrote that:

All our science calculates with abstracted individual external marks, which do not touch the inner existence of any single thing.

Why focus on this? Why consider our penchant for naming and classifying? Simply, because if we continually move through life in this manner of naming and labelling, we’ll fail to truly appreciate anything. Only by bringing ourselves up short, and consciously choosing to “stop and smell the roses,”can we understand or have reverence for anything.

We’ll ignore the mystery of life contained in a seed. We’ll forget the wonder of the grass that grows - unbidden and without cultivation - everywhere. We’ll neglect to raise our eyes heavenward to see ourselves reflected in the stars. We’ll disregard the Sun and overlook the myriad ways in which we, and all life here, are sustained by it. Lacking any sense of reverence, we’ll forget that - somehow - we are one with everything; all plants, minerals, animals, people, friends, enemies, and the universe! We’ll label and classify with our science, and our sense knowledge, and our words, while failing to ponder that we are a part of an exquisite cosmos of which we know so little.

If we look upon a rose, what do we see? What do we smell? What associations do we make? What do we not understand about that rose? What do we feel? What do we remember? Do we ask from where its life came? Do we marvel at its petals and wonder why they’ve unfurled in a particular pattern? Do we meditate upon what it’s like to be that rose?

What are the qualities in that rose that will always be its qualities, even if it were known by another name? What is it that makes it what it is and what it always will be, even if it had no name?

Until next time,

K. M. Anderson

PhD, Metaphysics

PhD, Spiritual Counseling

Whisperia

NOTES

1. “A Fool, a Wise Man and a Tree,” K. M. Anderson, Whisperia.substack.com, September 13, 2024. (See link, just below).

2. “The Universal Mystery-Language,” Dr. Henry T. Edge, in The Theosophical Forum, 1936.

3. Ibid.