The Purple Daisy

Once upon a time, there was a purple daisy who lived in a beautiful green field beneath a snow capped Mountain.  Daisy felt special being a purple daisy as there were not many other purple daisies in the field. Most of the other daisies were plain old white daisies and would never have a chance to be purple like her and even the other purple daisies were not nearly as violet as she was. “I’m a Special Daisy”, thought Daisy to herself, as she sniffed up her nose and looked down on all the plain old white daisies.

But the plain old white daisies didn’t like Daisy because she was not ‘plain old white’ like they were. The plain old white daisies thought that Daisy looked dirty and they didn’t want to play with a dirty daisy. They all turned their backs on Daisy and would not let her join in on their games.

“Daisies aren’t purple!” laughed one of the other daisies, “Daisies are white with golden centres like the Great Sun who lives in the Heavens. The Great Sun found fault with you and painted you purple instead.”... “Oh?”, said Daisy to herself, “Is that why I’m really purple?”. But Daisy protested, “No!  You are wrong – I am purple because I am special”. All the other plain old white daisies burst out laughing in a loud chorus: “Special!” they laughed, “Daisy thinks she’s special! She thinks that it’s better to be a purple daisy than a white daisy!”. All the plain old white daisies fell about laughing. Daisy walked away, feeling hurt and confused and sat on her own beneath the snow capped mountain.

“I’ll get this nonsense out of her”, said one of the leaders of the plain old white daisies. The Leader called a meeting of all the plain old white daisies and called Daisy to sit at the front. Daisy felt nervous. She did not know why she had been called to the front. “Maybe it’s because I am special”, wondered Daisy. The leader told Daisy to stand up in front of all the other plain old white daisies. “Do you see any other purple daisies here?” the Leader asked Daisy in front of the gathered assembly. Daisy felt confused. “Do you see any other purple daisies?” Daisy’s knees began to shake as she answered, “No”. The leader threw a satisfied glance at Daisy and told her to remain standing while he continued to speak:

“Daisies are, always have been and always will be Linen White with Golden Centres. You are a purple daisy and therefore a disgrace to us all. Ever since you were little you have defied our Linen White ways. Therefore, you displeased the Great Sun that lives in the Heavens who bestows great kindness upon us by granting us Golden Centres in image of Him. We, the Linen White Daisies with Golden Centres, are the Chosen Daisies. Every time you displeased the Great Sun, he painted one of your beautiful linen white petals, purple – and now, all of your petals are purple with barely any white left at all. You will always be a purple daisy. May the Great Sun of the Linen White Daisies bestow blessings on your Golden Centre.”

With that, Daisy was handed a purple cloak and banished from the green field of the plain old white daisies. The gathering of plain old white daisies began loudly applauding the very honourable and righteous speech of the Leader who pretended to be very humble about his words, declaring them to be the words of the Great Sun.

Daisy believed the speech of the Leader. “Oh, That’s why I’m purple...and, all of my petals are so very violet so The Great Sun must be very displeased indeed. I hate my purple petals – I want to pull them all out and be a plain old white daisy instead so I can return to the green field and play with all the other daisies.”  Daisy looked up at the Great Sun who was high up in the sky above the snow capped mountain and began to feel nervous of the Great Sun. “The Great Sun is displeased with me because I am purple”, Daisy said to herself as she hung her purple-petalled head down low.

“I know”, said Daisy to herself – “I’ve got a Brilliant plan. If I can go and visit the Great Sun who lives at the top of the mountain and tell him that I no longer want to be purple, maybe he can paint me Linen White again and then I can go back to the green field and live happily ever after”. Daisy was pleased with her plan and set off with new resolve up the snow capped Mountain. The Mountain felt Daisy’s tiny little feet ascending his sturdy body and resolved to help Daisy as much as he could as he had been watching everything that had been happening in the green field below and he felt sorry for Daisy. The Mountain was old and, in his time, he had seen many purple daisies be banished from the green field below and begin their ascent up the mountain, attracted by the gleaming white snow that capped his brow. The Old Mountain knew it was a tough journey for daisies and not many purple daisies ever managed to reach the top and touch the gleaming white reflection of the Great Sun.

The Great Sun had also been watching everything that had been happening in the Green field below but He had an even higher perspective than the snow capped Mountain. The Great Sun knew that it was Daisy’s fate to take the perilous journey up the Mountain and so he did not feel sorry for Daisy. Actually, he did not feel anything at all. He simply watched and watched and saw it all happening below. Unlike the Old Mountain, He did not criticise the Linen White Daisies for their views about Purple Daisies for he knew that without it, Daisy would not have turned to face her journey up the Mountain to touch His gleaming white reflection in the snow. The Great Sun simply smiled on Daisy as she continued her ascent. He was fondly amused by her plan for He knew it was well intentioned and, after all, it had started her on her journey up the Mountain but the Great Sun knew that her plan bore little resemblance to the real purpose of her climb.

Daisy had been climbing for a while so she paused. She placed her purple cloak on a small stone and sat down. She realised that she had climbed quite high already and had a view of the whole of the green field that belonged to the plain old white daisies. “Oh, it looks quite small from up here”, Daisy thought to herself, a little surprised. Then, she realised that she could see other fields too and gasped, “Oh, the world is much bigger than I thought. I had no idea that there were other fields of different coloured flowers. I wonder whether they hate purple daisies too”.

The Mountain listened to Daisy’s thoughts and knew that her new perspective of the green field that she had left below would help her on her journey. But the Mountain knew that it was a long climb and that Daisy would need to keep walking if she was ever to reach the top. The Mountain breathed and dislodged a small bolder that was beside Daisy. The bolder tumbled down the Mountain startling Daisy out of her day dream. Daisy felt afraid as she thought that she had been very nearly killed on her journey and she realised that she must keep on climbing the Mountain. The Mountain felt relieved that Daisy was back on track and, with every step she made on his belly, he breathed with her, putting a spring in her step.

The Great Sun knew it was his time to retire for the Evening so He bade Goodnight to Daisy and disappeared behind the Mountain. Daisy was tired and made her bed for the night under the Crescent Moon and Stars and quickly fell asleep. In her dreams, the Crescent Moon began to sing a moonsong to Daisy’s Golden Centre:

“See the Starry Night, a blanket of Noble Purple,

Adorned with jewels and woven to Infinity. 

Each Star, a Noble Soul,

 Shining light for your Journey into the Dark Night.”

In the morning, Daisy woke up feeling refreshed. She recalled a dream of jumping with ease from star to star in the Bejewelled Heavens and she took comfort from her dream and felt encouraged to continue her journey. But the ascent became steeper and her steps from bolder to bolder did not resemble her dream of jumping from star to star with ease. Daisy began to tire. She sat down once more on a small bolder that provided her with an even higher perspective of the green fields below which were becoming smaller and smaller to Daisy. Daisy felt tired, dejected and alone for there was still a long way to go to reach the snow capped top. The Mountain was aware of Daisy’s plight and, true to his promise to help Daisy as much as he could, he asked one of the Mother Eagles who nested with him to fly down and keep Daisy company. The Eagle was an Old Mother Eagle who had also seen many purple daisies trying to climb to the top of the Mountain. The Mother Eagle was impressed at how far Daisy had come on her own already and was pleased to help her.

The Mother Eagle did not want to frighten Daisy so she circled around the Mountain for a while so that Daisy got used to her Presence. Daisy liked the graceful flight of the Eagle and wished that she too could catch the thermals and glide with open wings. Daisy became increasingly curious about the Eagle. When the Mother Eagle saw that Daisy was looking at her with curiosity and not fear anymore, she approached Daisy and perched on a branch close by, looking kindly down on Daisy. Daisy looked up at the Eagle and said, “I’m climbing to the top of the Mountain to visit the Great Sun. I haven’t got so far to go now. What are you doing here?”. The Eagle said, “I live here – this is my home and my nest is on the other side of the mountain”. Daisy was curious. “What’s that like?”, she asked. The Mother Eagle replied, “Well, it’s much the same as this side of the Mountain except that when the North Wind blows we don’t feel it quite so much because we have found a natural shelter and, because it’s not so cold there, more flowers bloom in the spring.” Daisy thought that the other side of the Mountain seemed much nicer than the side that she was climbing and said, “Can I go and see it with you?”. The Mother Eagle was not prepared for Daisy’s question and she was not sure what the Old Mountain would think about this. She waited for a sign.

As the Old Mountain pondered Daisy’s question, the Great Sun beamed a sunbeam onto the Mountain’s forehead. “Of course!”, thought the Old Mountain in a flash, “It would be very helpful for Daisy to visit the other side of the Mountain with the Mother Eagle and to see all the other flowers there that bloom in the spring. It would be a great way for Daisy to learn more about other flowers - what a clever fellow I am to think of this so quickly!”.  

The Mountain breathed deeply and expanded his chest causing three boulders to fall in front of the Eagle. The Mother Eagle knew that this was a positive sign from the Old Mountain and so she agreed to take Daisy to the other side. Daisy climbed on the wings of the Mother Eagle and flew around the mountain. Daisy loved to fly and enjoyed the swiftly changing views that passed her by as she cruised. The green fields below seemed so distant now and she realised that she no longer cared about the views of the plain old white daisies. Daisy laughed to herself with her new found freedom and gasped with delight at the array of different coloured flowers that cushioned their landing.

Daisy was introduced to all of the multicoloured flowers who greeted her warmly. They all sat around that evening telling each other tales of their own journeys up the Mountain and they were always delighted to meet another fellow traveller. However, one of the flowers who had been a plain old white daisy, had not quite been able to shake off her characteristic criticalness and said sharply to Daisy that she thought that Daisy was really rather too young to have climbed so far up the Mountain on her own. Daisy was upset as it brought back all of her buried feelings of judgment that she had felt from the Leader of the Linen White Daisies. The Mother Eagle comforted Daisy and reminded Daisy that all flowers just keep on growing, and unfurling new petals all the time.

As Spring was approaching, the Mother Eagle suggested that Daisy might like to watch the new flowers grow. Daisy thought that this sounded exciting and readily took up the opportunity. She saw that some flowers grew tall and others short and that some flowers unfurl their petals openly to the Great Sun but others were more cautious and kept themselves close to their centres. She noticed that flowers generally didn’t grow well if they were in the shadow of another flower’s leaf and that if flowers became blocked from the Sunlight for too long they would quickly wither up and die. The Mother Eagle asked Daisy what else she noticed. Daisy said that she had noticed that there were many different colours of flowers, not just Purple or White ones. Again, the Mother Eagle asked Daisy what else she noticed about the colouring of the flowers. Daisy felt confused. She couldn’t see anything else about the colouring of flowers so she asked the Mother Eagle to tell her but the Mother Eagle would not tell her because she said that Daisy would only appreciate what she saw for herself. Daisy felt frustrated and sat down staring at the field of flowers.

Daisy noticed that a new little flower was blooming before her and so she drew closer to watch its petals unfold. The flower was a little daisy and Daisy watched closely. As the days went by, Daisy saw the stalk of the little daisy grow tall and the leaves on the side of the stalk sprout out. She observed the characteristic Golden Centre of the little daisy and watched as its leaves unfolded. “Just as I thought – another plain old white daisy”, said Daisy to the Mother Eagle. The Mother Eagle smiled and they both watched as the Great Sun leant forward and kissed the daisy with a sunbeam. Slowly the leaves of the petals began to turn purple. “What’s happening?”, asked Daisy to the Mother Eagle. “Just watch”, she smiled. Daisy watched as all the petals of the daisy began to turn purple. The Great Sun smiled as Daisy was watching the growth of the little daisy and, when Daisy was not looking, stretched out a sunbeam and gently touched Daisy in her Golden Centre.

Suddenly, Daisy gasped and looked up towards the Mother Eagle. “Look – all the petals are turning purple at once. I thought that the Great Sun only turned one petal purple at a time, each time he was displeased. But, all of the petals are turning purple at once.” The Mother Eagle smiled. “That’s right”, she said, “It’s not possible for one petal to turn purple at a time – they all turn purple together, depending on how much they have been kissed by the Great Sun.” Daisy was silent for a moment. “So, the Leader of the Linen White Daisies was making it all up!”, Daisy exclaimed delightedly. “That’s right”, said the Mother Eagle, “They made it up because they didn’t know the truth - because they have never climbed the Mountain and seen for themselves that the Sunbeams kiss the Petals.”

“So, purple daisies are not dirty daisies after all”, said Daisy, “I’m a Linen White Daisy who was kissed by the Sun.”  The Mother Eagle smiled and took Daisy in her wings and hugged her. Daisy felt a tear roll down her beautiful purple petals and wondered how she might be able to tell others about what she had seen. Daisy looked up to the Great Sun with gratitude and smiled. The snow capped Mountain was moved by what he had witnessed and, as the Great Sun smiled back towards Daisy, the snow on the brow of the Old Mountain began to weep. Daisy had touched the Heart of the Old Mountain and he now understood the role he had played for the Great Sun. As tears fell down the cheeks of the Old Mountain, an old river bed began to fill. The Mother Eagle held Daisy’s leaves and told her that her time with her had come to an end and that she must continue her journey home alone back to the World of the Green Fields. Daisy was very upset and asked if the Mother Eagle might take her on the back of her wings instead. The Mother Eagle said that she wouldn’t do that as that would take away from Daisy the precious experience of her journey. Daisy sighed as she felt the truth of the Mother Eagle’s words but without fully knowing why and she finally left the multicoloured flowered nest at the side of the Mountain. And, with a leaf for a raft, Daisy relaxed as the Old Mountain’s tears took Daisy all the way back down the Mountain to the Green Field that she had left so many years ago.

As Daisy stepped onto the Green Field, she looked back at the Old Mountain and smiled as she saw the Mother Eagle’s outspread wings, catching the thermals. Suddenly, a boulder rolled past Daisy which came to a stop under a tree. Daisy followed the boulder and went over to the tree and there she saw a green field full of daisies and she realised that she had finally come back home. Daisy felt a kind of kinship with all daisies and no longer felt the need to feel special for being a purple daisy. She knew that some other Linen White Daisies might still regard her as an inferior purple daisy but Daisy no longer believed the words of the Leaders, as she had seen the truth for herself and knew that she was a Linen White Daisy that had been kissed by the Sun.

– Rev. Jenny Miller