PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION

Dictionaries quote the definition of perception as:

1.  the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.

2.  immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.

It’s time of origin varies; anywhere from 1250- 1400.

1250–1300: Middle English perceiven  < Anglo-French *perceivre,  for perçoivre  < Latin percipere  to lay hold of, grasp, equivalent to per- per-  + -cipere,  combining form of capere  to take

1350-1400: comprehension, literally, a taking in.

The word PERCEPTION came to me by way of flowers.  I am quick to take in (perceive) patterns where they don’t seemingly belong.

I would recognize flower patterns everywhere.  On crystals, seashells, rocks, fossils and even tree fungus.

Is ultimate perception just a matter of placing ourselves on a different plane?

Walking the path to my circle, it is always my intention to first stop in front of the long branch of the live oak tree.  The view of the tiny garden inside of the circle is framed by these low-lying limbs.

When I do manage to stop at the branch I am rewarded with quite an enchanting vision.  Usually, though, I race past the branch trying to keep up with my thoughts.

If I were to walk by that point and then remember I had wanted to stop and retrace my steps it would not be the same moment in time nor space and would dull the affect.  The precise intended moment makes all the difference when we ready ourselves.

When I walk past, forgetting, I blame nature for my distraction.  So during this particular walk down the path, nature intervened.  (She was not about to take the blame for my ‘missed perceptions’.  )

I stopped where intended, turned and seen the garden through the ‘picture frame’.  I then looked down and like a fool insisted that the large branch I was standing in front of had moved since the last time I was here.

I even went as far as to trace the long branch back to its trunk to see if it had split somewhere along the way causing it to shift.

Racing past the branch so many times I had only perceived it from a glance and didn’t really recognize or ‘take in’ its exact position.

The branch hadn’t moved at all.  My awareness caused me to set time aside and take in the space which now appeared as it always had before but which I had not perceived.  A rare perception indeed.

So when we are having an off day are we perceiving incorrectly or are we just not aware or awake enough? Is there an art to perception?

If perception is to take hold, to feel, to observe and grasp mentally, to become aware through any given sense of ours then, I believe perception can change anything.

Perception means to take hold of.  As in possess or own?  Perceive and grasp a hold of what you desire then.

Perception can be used as a creation tool.

Perception means to become intuitively aware.

Recognize the sounds that soothe.  Feel the sensations that comfort.  Take in the aromas that stir you.  Perceive the sights that make your heart flutter.

Perception greatly inspires us to evolve our spirituality and our intuition.

There are a couple of quotes by William Blake which are worth mentioning that directly relate to the word perception.

‘if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is … infinite’

‘The eye altering, alters all’

So if I sat ‘still’ then (to gain perception) and used all of my 6 or more senses, would everything appear to me in all possibilities of itself (all probable universes)?  So we then could select, from this greater self’s point of power, which probability would be best to pursue.  Is this how change and manifestation happen?

All is a possibility since it already is a probability.

Be STILL, aware, take in, discern, own –

PERCEPTION