Marcel in Wonderland

 

“When you gather to plan, the universe is not there.” — Novalis

 

As both an adult and a teacher, both my capacity and need to plan things ahead of time is essential. From my next meal I’ll cook to the next class I’ll teach to the next workshop I’ll give to the next book I write, it’s planning, planning and planning. The better I plan, the better the outcome. 

 

Up to a point. To plan meticulously is admirable, but often we become attached to how we thought the outcome should be and we shut the window to the voice of the universe chiming in. We need to leave space for the unexpected, the surprise, the miraculous to enter. And just sometimes, the universe knows better than we do and throws us an opening that will change our lives. 

 

Remember Alice following the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole? Her extraordinary adventure in Wonderland (see yesterday’s Rachel Carson quote) never would have happened if she hadn’t noticed and then followed that rabbit. You may object that this is just a dreamy story, but it’s precisely what happened to reveal the hidden wonders of the Lascaux caves! 

 

The story goes that in 1940, Marcel Ravidat and three friends, all teenagers, were walking in the woods when his dog chased after a rabbit. The dog tried to follow it down a rabbit hole and got stuck. When they pulled him out, a stone fell into the hole and made a surprising reverberation. This attracted the boys' attention, who thought there might be a hidden treasure. They returned a few days later with tools to make the hole bigger and lowered themselves into it. In the dim light of the torch they fashioned, they were mostly looking down to get their footing. But in one remarkable moment, one happened to look up and saw the bull painted on the wall. And then more. And then more. 

 

They vowed to keep the secret amongst themselves, which lasted of all two days before one of them brought their school teacher there. The word spread quickly and in a short time, the whole world knew about it. The four teenagers were associated with the caves for the rest of their lives. One moment with their dog chasing a rabbit and their lives were changed forever. 

 

As was the world’s. It seemed that this apparently serendipitous moment was meant to happen, as if the ancestors were calling out from 21,000 years ago: “Hey! Look what we did!! Beat that, Picasso!” (Who apparently greatly admired the upside-down horse drawing that he once saw in a photograph). It seems that hidden treasures long to be discovered and will have their say.

 

And I, for one, am grateful.