A friend of mine told me a parable about bamboo that she had translated from a book by Olivier Clerc. Deeply moved by this story, I decided to pass it on, adding my own commentary.
The parable is brief:
“They say that in China, there grows a very special variety of bamboo. If we plant its seed in suitable soil, we must arm ourselves with patience… Indeed, during the first year, nothing happens—not a single blade deigns to emerge from the ground, not even the smallest sprout. In the second year, the same. And the third? No more than the previous ones. Then, the fourth? Nothing at all! It is only in the fifth year that the bamboo shows its tip above the earth. And then, it grows 12 meters in a single year: what an impressive ‘catch-up’! The reason is simple: during those five years, while nothing appeared on the surface, the bamboo was secretly developing its astounding roots in the soil. Thanks to them, at a given moment, it is capable of triumphantly appearing to the world.”
Impressive, isn’t it? To water the earth for four years in a row without seeing any visible result of your efforts! I did not know such a type of bamboo existed, and I am grateful to my friend for telling me about it. This is exactly how the deepest psychic changes occur within us—through hidden and prolonged inner maturation.
I have been exploring how change happens in our lives for a long time, but this particular type of transformation holds a very special place in my mind because it is deeply personal. I know what it looks like because for a very long time, I watered the seeds in my own life and nothing showed above the soil—for years! It was painful and discouraging.
Then I came across a description by one of the founders of psychological astrology, Liz Greene, regarding the action of the planet Saturn in the 12th house (which is my case). She wrote:
“In the twelfth house the process is carried out in secret like the conception of a child. Only after the passage of a period of time can a facet of the personality be brought into the light like a newborn child and find outer expression—the change has been accomplished.”
— Liz Greene, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil
I know that regardless of which house our planets are placed in, we all have within us all the archetypal forces and principles explored by astrology. Consequently, the parable of the Chinese bamboo or the story of a child’s conception is not foreign to any of us, to one degree or another.
If right now you are feeling the helplessness of long and unsuccessful attempts to change things in your life, perhaps this story will remind you to keep watering the seeds, trusting in the hidden processes of inner ripening. Someday, the long-awaited change will burst onto the surface of your life—all 12 meters at once!
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
