Hope, respair and despair

When we think of hope, we think of the uplifting gold of Gorse.  The sunshine yellow of sunflowers has a similar effect.

Both photos: Ally Matson

Despair is a word that comes from the Latin desperare, where ‘de’ means ‘down from or away’ and ‘sperare’ ‘to hope’.  Thus, the definition of despair is “the complete loss or absence of hope”.  When we need the Gorse flower remedy we have given up hope of solving our problems or recovering from a situation, but usually it’s not despair, more a lack of faith that things can always change for the better.  People who benefit from Gorse are uncertain that life can improve, rather than being at the end of their tether.

When Gorse is the appropriate remedy and works its magic, we feel the opposite of despair which is respair, a 16th Century word that means fresh hope, a recovery from despair.  The prefix ‘re’ in front of the ‘hope’ means ‘to start again’, just as it does in renewal, reconnect, re-emerge, reborn.  All words we associate with Spring and the return of life and hope.