BOOK - "THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS" by Elizabeth Gilbert

I just finished reading "THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS" by Elizabeth Gilbert, who also wrote "EAT, PRAY, LOVE". It was published in 2013 (499 pages), and is highly rated (3.78 out of 5) on Goodreads.com. Although I didn't really care for this book (it was longer than it needed to be and was just "ok" for me), she penned a number of VERY special, thought-provoking passages, a few of which I'm inspired to share here.

"The old cobbler believed in something he called "the signature of all things" - namely, that God had hidden clues for humanity's betterment inside the design of every flower, leaf, fruit, and tree on earth. All the natural world was a divine code, Boehme claimed, containing proof of our Creator's love.  This is why so many medicinal plants resembled the diseases they were meant to cure, or the organs they were able to treat. Basil, with its liver-shaped leaves, is the obvious ministration for the ailments of the liver.  The celandine herb which produces a yellow sap, can be used to treat the yellow discoloration brought on by jaundice. Walnuts, shaped like brains, are helpful for headaches. Coltsfoot, which grows near cold streams, can cure the coughs and chills brought on by immersion in ice water. Polygonum, with its spattering of blood-red markings on the leaves, cures bleeding wounds of the flesh. And so on, ad infinitum."  (pg. 229)

"And yet Boehme said that God had pressed Himself into the world, and had left marks there for us to discover."  (pg. 230)

"As a child, I used to fall so deeply into prayer that my mother would shake me in church and punish me for sleeping during services, but I had not been sleeping. I had been... corresponding.  Now, after reading Jacob Boehme, I wanted to meet the divine even more intimately. That is why I gave up everything in the world, including sustenance."

"What happened?" Alma asked, once more dreading the answer.

"I met the divine," he said, eyes bright. "Or, I believed I did. I had the most magnificent thoughts. I could read the language hidden inside trees. I saw angels living inside orchids. I saw a new religion, spoken in a new botanical language. I heard its hymns. I cannot remember the music now, but it was exquisite."  

(pg. 231)

"If you ask me what I believe, I shall tell you this: the whole sphere of air that surrounds us, Alma, is alive with invisible attractions - electric, magnetic, fiery and thoughtful. There is a universal sympathy all around us. There is a hidden means of knowing. I am certain of this, for I have witnessed it myself. When I swung myself into the fire as a young man, I saw that the storehouses of the human mind are rarely ever fully opened. When we open them, nothing remains unrevealed. When we cease all argument and debate - both internal and external - our true questions can be heard and answered. That is the powerful mover. That is the book of nature, written neither in Greek nor in Latin.  That is the gathering of magic and it is a gathering that, I have always believed and wished, can be shared."  (pg.242)  

"Darwin wrote, "More individuals are born than can possibly survive. A grain in the balance will determine which individual shall live and which shall die"."  (pg. 473)

"Unfortunately, like your friend Mr. Darwin, I still seek the firmer answers of empirical science. It is my nature I'm afraid. But Mr. Lyell would have agreed with you. He argued that nothing short of a divine being could have created a human mind."  (pg. 494)

"Well, you are not alone in this world, Miss Whittaker, even if you have outlived everyone. I believe that we are surrounded by a host of unseen friends and loved ones, now passed away, who exert an influence upon our lives, and who never abandon us."  (pg. 496)

"I believe that we are all transient," she began. She thought for a while and added, "I believe that we are half-blind and full of errors. I believe that we understand very little, and what we do understand is mostly wrong. I believe that life cannot be survived - that is evident! - but if one is lucky, life can be endured for quite a long while. If one is both lucky and stubborn, life can sometimes even be enjoyed."  (pg 496)

Joan