THE THYMUS GLAND

Consider the region of the sternum and bring yourself to what lies immediately beneath it - the thymus gland.  Out of curiosity I looked up the origin of that word.  “Thymus” is derived from word “thyme,” since the gland reminded early anatomists of that herb’s bud. This herb of course was immortalized in the Simon and Garfunkel song, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.” Traditionally parsley was comfort,  sage was strength,  rosemary, love,  and thyme was courage.  

Thymus gland indeed is the source of the famous T-cells, defenders against all sorts of diseases. So yes it is a important source of physiological courage. Yet its origin in the herb of thyme, leads to another beautiful association.  The ancient root of thyme comes from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning “smoke”! 

Thyme was used for its scent and was burned as part of rituals. Its smoke and fragrance may evoke for us then the notion that the heart (“couer”) plays an essential role in the production of courage as well as love.

It is said “love is the greatest miracle of all” and who can conceive of love without the notion of fragrance? 

Imagine the thymus, heart and sternum all as elements of a fragrant cloud that holds and precipitates our courage and our love, radiating throughout our being and out into the world around. us.