A while ago I received a name in the in-between. It appeared to be my name, yet I wasn’t sure. I didn’t write about it because at the time I was experiencing a deep emotional purge and felt a need to withdraw and reconnect with 3D. I also had no idea the significance of the name I received. All I knew is that I identified with the name. It was one of those experiences where I heard the name in the in-between and repeated it until I awoke. The name was Sakura.

The next morning, I looked it up. I kept hearing it two ways – Sakura and Zakura. The pronunciation only slightly different. In my research I quickly discovered it is Japanese for “cherry blossom.”

Since that morning I the name continues to come to mind at random times. This indicates I have not received the full message it brings, but I was not motivated to look further until today when, yet again, it came to mind.

So I looked up the word again and found two websites that seemed to provide the message the name was meant to convey.

The characters included on this site drew me to it. I’m not drawn to the middle one as much as the top and bottom ones. They remind me of Light Language, especially the one for tree/wood.

This is the Japanese character for sakura. The 木 (ki) on the left side means tree/wood and developed from a pictogram of a tree, with the horizontal line as branches and diagonal lines as roots. Sakura is derived from saku 咲, which means to bloom, or alternately to smile/laugh. The 口 in 咲 indicates an open mouth.

花 (hana) means “flower,” and 見 (mi), means “to view.” Together, hanami literally means “to view flowers.” 見 is a combination of the characters for “eye” and “human,” evolving from a pictogram of a human figure with two legs and a large eyeball for a head.

These characters (yozakura) mean viewing cherry blossom at night. 夜 (yo) means night, and 桜 (zakura) is the same as sakura.

This website drew me in with the explanation for the symbolism behind the cherry blossom. I think the quotes below contain the message I was meant to receive.

Cherry blossoms hold elevated status in China, signifying love and the female mystique (beauty, strength and sexuality)….

Tied to the Buddhist themes of mortality, mindfulness and living in the present, Japanese cherry blossoms are a timeless metaphor for human existence. Blooming season is powerful, glorious and intoxicating, but tragically short-lived — a visual reminder that our lives, too, are fleeting.

Why don’t we marvel at our own passing time on earth with the same joy and passion? Why do we neglect to revel in life when it can end at any moment, or in the grace surrounding us everywhere: our family, friends, a stranger’s smile, a child’s laugh, new flavours on our plate or the scent of green grass? It is time, cherry blossoms remind us, to pay attention.

Sakura are also revered as a symbol of rebirth.