Birds of a Feather Do Something Together

Hi Everyone! Welcome back!

Mild Spoiler Alert:

There are three birds who fly in and out of the story. Their presence is critical to Taro for a variety of different reasons. They are a red-winged blackbird, a female cardinal, and a male cardinal. You will be properly introduced to them once the Anniversary Edition is out in November 2023.

Each has its own personality and brings their own value to the story. The blackbird has a Sage archetype. He is the one who has integrated Gennan Roshi's teachings and is a very wise bird.

The female cardinal is more on the rule-bound side and often uses Roshi's words but doesn't quite have the depth of integration the blackbird has. So she uses rules to prop herself up, but she's pretty advanced and can talk a good Zen story or two. She can be kind of bossy sometimes, though. We know people like her.

And the male cardinal is excitable, a little goofy, and less disciplined than the other two. He brings some relief to conversations, and I always felt good writing his lines. He adds the perfect blend of levity in contrast to the other two.

I use these birds for many reasons, but one is to represent to Gennan Roshi the barometer of the feeling state of all the animals in the forest. In other words, if they had really hated or rejected the idea of Taro, Roshi would have thought twice about accepting a cat into the monastery and the storyline would have been very different. Actually, there would have been no story at all.

So I’m giving just a teeny bit away by talking about these birds, but they are so wonderful, I just had to share a little prematurely.

Blessings. May your life go well with good stories all around and lots of beautiful birds in your life.

Jennifer