The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra - Currently Reading Chapter 9

HOPE F MCGEE

Next up on our magical journey together we have The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra. If you’re sensing a theme I’m glad you are because I didn’t when I bought this book. I would love to say I was working my way through a metaphysical “New York Times Bestseller” list. That I desired to work my way through the different mindsets of Gilmore Girls characters. That I desired advice from the new age self help gurus that have saved countless lives from utter dismay and guided numerous students through some of the hardest chapters of their lives. But that is not the case.

I was simply walking a full perimeter around my Dad’s house. This was a part of a daily routine I was doing for a month or so in an attempt to inspire home improvement solutions after the house had been neglected for an uncertain (not a significant, but not non-existent) amount of time. When suddenly, I notice the largest moth I have ever seen in my life. It was beautiful. Red, black, and yellow patterns on the wings -that looked like eyes. I noticed what appeared to be holes in the wings. Based on its massive size and my familiarity with urban pigeons, I assumed it could probably take care of itself. But just in case, I encouraged the moth to crawl onto my hand (I regularly handle bugs and would never grab the wings or legs due to their delicate nature). I then walked the moth over to the new roses I had planted. I then realized that I had no way of knowing if the moth was happy in it’s new location, or unhappy in the old one for that matter. I was worried about the perceived wing damage the moth had suffered previously (causing the holes); and that it would potentially be too difficult for it to go back to where I had moved it from, if it so desired to go back. I was just so concerned it couldn’t fly to where I perceived it would be more comfortable. Only after I had done it did I consider the multiple possibilities in which my “good deed” could have accidentally created harm. This was really weighing on my mind. Even for days after the occurrence but I left the moth there for fear of making things worse.

Days later I was in the bookstore looking for some books on witchcraft. What specifically I was looking for I don’t remember. The only part that matters is that the books on witchcraft in this particular bookstore happened to have been at that time (and currently as far as I am aware) stocked in the bookshelf next to the self help section. In the self help section (at eye level), there was a book displayed with the front cover facing out… and there it was. My moth. 

I had never heard of Deepak Chopra. I remember being surprised when I was watching tv and Liz Danes mentioned listening to him. I was already in possession of The Book of Secrets at that time. I was even more surprised to find another book of Chopra’s hidden in my Dad’s bookshelf in his office (this being extremely strange because my Dad prefers audiobooks. Audiobooks about secret societies and the Catholic Church and espionage). Suddenly the name written under the picture of my moth represented something much larger than I expected.

I explained the moth story to a childhood friend and he told me (which I later confirmed with a quick google) that the wings of my moth probably weren’t damaged at all. That some moths feign broken wings to gain assistance from sympathetic beings. But that sometimes their wings do get damaged on spiderwebs and can give off a similar appearance. But the wings on the book looked the same.