Animal Speak

Flicker – ND #142

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Flicker, left profile – Photo: L. Weikel

Flicker

I found a feather the other day as I was walking past High Rocks State Park. I made the discovery shortly after the rain finally abated after falling all day. Gray clouds persisted overhead and the feather, sadly, was caked with mud. I noticed it anyway because fragments of bright yellow still managed to peek out from its sad, soggy condition. What was that? A flicker? A glimmer of light amidst all the dirt and damp?

I picked the feather up, of course, if only out of respect. It was in sad shape, but I figured it only needed a quick run under the faucet. Yanking a couple strands from my scalp, I offered them in exchange and appreciation for the bird’s loss.

It was risky, but I stowed the feather gently in the front pouch of my hooded sweatshirt. The feather was superficially a mess, but it felt like a messenger and I wanted to honor it.

Yet Another Encounter

Fast forward a handful of days to this afternoon. Again, I’m out walking, about a zig-zag mile away from where I found the feather. Also again, the sky is overcast, the atmosphere thick with mist and about 20 degrees cooler than the day before. This time my attention is snagged by a furtive rustling amongst the dry, dead oak leaves littering the berm of the road. There! A bird, with coloring that allowed it to blend in yet stand out. Quite a trick. (And luckily, I was on a solo trek, because I’m sure Pacha and Brutus would’ve pounced on it.)

Oh, what a beauty! It hopped amidst the twigs and detritus seemingly unafraid. It scratched and poked, attempted feigned indifference, then glanced at me to discern my intentions. While I was able to walk right up to it, if I had to guess, I’d say it was just young and inexperienced. It didn’t appear to be wounded or compromised in any way, which was a relief, and the main reason I approached it.

I spoke to it gently and took a couple photos. And I made sure to tell this winged creature how much I appreciated its intriguing coloring and design, especially the magnificent heart at the back of its head. Of all the birds for me to discover ‘in the feather’ one-on-one, here was the very same kind – a flicker – that had left me a feather only a few days earlier.

Flicker, its heart at the back of its head – Photo: L. Weikel

Walking It Off

As it happened, I was walking off the effects of a profound discovery I’d just made within myself. If I made a choice I knew I was being asked to contemplate, my soul would collapse within itself. My heart would break. Sounds hyperbolic, I know; but that’s how it felt at the time. In short, I was feeling an absolute gut-level certainty that I couldn’t – mustn’t – go back. I thought I could, but my body and soul said otherwise.

I’d actually walked about six miles by the time I came across the bird – a Flicker, of course, in case you haven’t guessed. By that time, I’d not only processed my visceral reaction to the choice presented to me, but also pivoted within myself to embrace an alternative that felt like a ray of warm sunshine. A flicker of hope? The choice couldn’t be more obvious; the message more clear.

Looking It Up

Naturally, as soon as I arrived home, I consulted my trusty Animal Speak*, by Ted Andrews. I was delighted to discover almost two full pages of information. Following are just a few tidbits that called out to me:

“Keynote: New Rhythm of Growth and Healing Love.

(…) Flickers are woodpeckers in the process of changing from life in the trees to life on the ground. Because of the tapping and drumming that all woodpeckers do in their search for food, they have connections to new rhythms coming into your life.

(…)

The flicker is a golden-winged woodpecker. It often has a red patch on the back of its head and a black crescent on its breast, all of which are very symbolic. When it flies up from the grass, it takes off in a strong, bounding flight, flashing the gold of its wings. When a flicker comes into your life, it will reflect new bounding leaps of spiritual growth.

The red on the back of its head reflects a stimulation of the chakra centers of the head – the throat, brow, and crown centers. These centers will be stimulated into new activity. The reflects that latent talents and intuition are going to be activated to a greater degree.

(…)

If flicker has come into your life, it indicates a time of rapid growth and trust. Flicker will awaken a new rhythm and the ability and opportunity to manifest all-healing love.”

Trust

And there it is. While I might personally feel like the feather I found a few days ago, muddy and a bit battered, the bright ray of hope represented by the yellow shaft of a flicker demands a certain amount of trust. Trust in myself. Trust in my unique path. And trust that when I ask for it, my allies conspire with Nature and All Life to bring me the guidance and insight I seek.

ND #142

Flicker, right profile – Photo: L. Weikel (Thank you, little one!)

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Did Not Disappoint – Day 849

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Red-shouldered Hawk – Photo: L. Weikel

Did Not Disappoint

Well, I must admit – the anticipation I was feeling last night over the prospect of a serious taste of spring was not only met but exceeded. In short, today did not disappoint.

The sap – both proverbial and literal – is indeed rising in Mother Nature’s many splendored children. The excitement attendant to simply being alive and having survived a very snowy winter was palpable everywhere I looked (and listened).

It’s this listening part that had the biggest impact upon me today. Early this morning, as Karl and I were having our coffee and picking our cards for the day we heard a very loud and distinct bird call sounding an alarm that neither of us recognized. We both noticed it; the bird’s urgency was clear and unmistakable – and it sounded like it was practically right outside our front door, perhaps sitting in the lanky pine trees across the road.

Slowly opening the front door so I could hear the call more clearly and perhaps get a glimpse of this intriguing new vocalist, the simple warmth of the outside air enveloped my senses. Oh my, such a dramatic change. How is it that even though I knew to expect this lovely shift in the weather it nevertheless stopped me in my tracks and demanded I breathe deeply.

There it was again! That call! My eyes scanned the sky. There! I called to Karl to quickly come and see. At least two hawks were quite literally dancing in the sky just above us. I could see (and hear) another one, maybe two, also darting and swooping in and out of my line of vision. Another was perching in a still bare beech tree a hundred yards down the road.

Raptor ID

I checked my trustee “Raptor ID” app and was quickly able to identify the distinctive cry of these Red-shouldered Hawks. I’m extremely surprised, to be honest, that I’ve never isolated this cry in my mind well enough to identify it as a Red-shoulder. After today, I guarantee I’ll never forget it.

These birds were very clearly in full mating mode, calling and dancing, tumbling and soaring. I’ve honestly never witnessed such a full-on display of pure avian joy and desire to mate and create life. I was surprised to read that they tend to be monogamous and mate for life.

Fascinating.

Photo: L. Weikel

A Message and Realization

While I’m intimately familiar with Hawk in general being a messenger – when they show up it’s often a sign that a message is coming our way or we’re being asked to be a messenger in our own right – I wondered if the Red-shouldered has a particular significance (aside from being the creatures that I suspect snack readily on our smaller birds).

The most I could find specifically on the Red-shoulder was in Animal Speak* by Ted Andrews. As with the Red-tailed Hawk, which are found in abundance in our area (but they don’t tend to hang around near our house) was a focus upon its red (ferrous) coloring and the particularly intense vibrancy of energy they may be indicating is arriving in one’s life. They could be considered instigators of new ideas and optimism, hope and creative opportunities.

All I can say is that I was smitten by the intensity of their ardor. They entertained me for hours, even after I successfully identified them and did my best to capture some photos with my phone.

As I re-settled myself on our porch and started focusing upon my own creative endeavors, I realized with a mixture of delight and dismay that these predators are definitely hanging out on every side of our house – and sticking close. This clip captures both their call – and the probable reaction of all our ‘regulars.’

Red-shouldered Hawk – Photo: L. Weikel

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Unexpected Message – Day 670

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Komodo Dragon in the Sky – Photo: L. Weikel

Unexpected Message

I was on a mission today, a quest of sorts. And in my travels I came upon an astonishingly unexpected message from a source equally unexpected. But in hindsight…

As I drove home in the very late afternoon, I happened to glance into the sky. And there was the biggest Komodo Dragon I’ve ever seen. As I’m wont to do, I checked my rear view mirror and, seeing I was all by my lonesome on this country road, pulled over to whip out my iPhone.

There it was. Clear as day. A Komodo Dragon. A Monitor Lizard.

Bigger Surprise

Imagine my surprise when I got home this evening and looked up Komodo Dragon. To be honest, I didn’t find anything specifically under either Komodo Dragon or Monitor Lizard, but I did find a photo of one in my trusty Animal Speak* (by Ted Andrews) under the generic entry of “Lizard.” And the photo provided clear confirmation that this was indeed the creature the Cloud Beings were forming for my – ahem – perception.

And therein lies the unsubtle persistence of Spirit when it wants me (any of us) to pay attention and listen.

The literal “keynote” associated with Lizards? Subtlety of Perception.

So there it is. I’m being hounded by the need to pay attention to my perceptions.

A Couple of Quick Hits

I suspect I should devote additional time and space to deciphering precisely why perception continues to be highlighted as something I (we?) need to pay attention to. But in the few moments I have left this evening, I’ll share two short passages from the entry under Lizards.

“(…)The lizard is the expert at subtle perception. It can sense vibrations through the ground. Its eyes can detect the subtlest of movements, and it has extremely acute hearing. All of these are symbolic of specific forms of clairvoyance practiced in many societies.

(…)

Individuals with a lizard totem should listen to their own intuition over anyone else’s. Lizard usually reflects heightened sensitivity. You feel what others may not. You will see things that others may miss. You will hear things that are not being said. No matter how strange it may seem, learning to follow those perceptions is what will enable you to succeed most frequently.

One of the most significant characteristics of some lizards and their claim to fame is the ability of the tail to come off. A predator may grab for it, its paw landing upon the tail, only to be surprised as the tail breaks off and the lizard scampers to freedom. The lizard then begins the process of growing another in its place.

This detachment is also part of what lizard can teach. They can help us to become more detached in life to survive. Sometimes it is necessary to separate ourselves or part of ourselves from others to be able to do the things we must desire to do. The lizard helps us to awaken that ability for objective detachment so that it can occur with the least amount of difficulty. Lizard can show up to help us break from the past. It may even indicate a need to explore ne realms and follow your own impulses before you get swallowed up in what is not beneficial for you.”

This is definitely significant. Not only to me but to us.

I will share more tomorrow.

Photo: CNTraveler.com

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(T-441)

Grackle Medicine – Part 2 – Day 575

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Incoming! Share! – Photo: L. Weikel

Grackle Medicine – Part 2

Knowing a good thing when they’ve found it, several grackles continued to frequent our feeders today. While they did become a bit petulant and mouthy as the afternoon grew long and the peanut coil emptied, this only reinforced my commitment to sharing with you the message of Grackle Medicine – Part 2!

And so it was that, when I checked my trusted and dog-eared copy of Ted Andrews’s Animal Speak*, the entry for Grackle made my jaw drop. I will synopsize here:

Grackle –

Keynote: Overcoming Excess and Emotional Life Congestion – Cycle of Power: Early Spring

Although the grackle is often considered part of the blackbird family, along with crows and starlings, it actually is not. It is part of the meadowlark and oriole family of birds. It is a large black bird with an extra-long tail. About its head and shoulders are iridescent feathers that change from blue to green to purple or bronze, depending on the light.

This coloring often reflects a need for those to whom the grackle comes to look at what is going on in their life differently. It says that situations are not what they appear to be and you may not be looking at them correctly – particularly anything dealing with the emotions.

Keep in mind that black is the color of the inner and the feminine. The purple and bronze coloring about the head especially usually indicates that emotions are coloring our thinking process. The grackle can help us to correct this.

During courting season, the male grackle will fold its tail, creating a diamond-like trough. This diamond shape is often reflective of activation. It hints at a need to become active in regards to emotional situations. Have we been too passive in our emotions? Are we simply rehashing and talking about them without doing anything to correct the emotional situations of our life? The grackle is a noisy, chattering bird and may be a reminder to quit talking and do something.

(…)

Grackles have inside their mouths on the hard palate a keel which helps them cut open acorns and eat them. We have often heard the expression, “It’s a tough nut to crack.” Well, this reflects the role a grackle can serve as a totem. Dealing constructively with our emotions and those people and things in our life which aggravate them can be a tough nut to crack. The grackle can show us how to do this.

Grackles love to live in pine trees. Pine trees are very therapeutic to emotional states. In a form of homeopathic medicine known as flower essences, the essence of pine can be used to help alleviate strong emotional states, particularly feelings of guilt. Again this reflects the grackle showing up as a sign to help you clear the emotions.

Emotions that are not dealt with can congest our life, aggravating or even creating congestion in the body at some level. The grackle can serve as a warning to be careful of this possibility, but it can also help show us how to prevent it from occurring. The droppings of grackles can serve to culture fungi which, if the wind blows, can cause a pneumonia-like infection.**

Most illness is symbolic. Congestion, especially pneumonia-like in appearance, can tell us that we are holding in our emotions. It can reflect a suppressed crying or a refusal to deal with certain long-standing problems and issues. (Have we neglected situations, giving them time to be cultured?) It can reflect a refusal to take in new life and new approaches to life, and so we become congested with old emotions.

The grackle shows us how to handle this. It can teach the proper expression of emotions. They can show us where excesses are dissipating our life force and facilitating a congestion of growth and movement. They can teach how to get back to creative and beneficial experiences and expressions of emotion.”

Grackle sampling – Photo: L. Weikel

So Many Take-Aways

Hmm. Wow. A lot of the information contained in this entry set bells a-ringing and whistles a-blowing for me.

First of all, who can deny that emotional overload hasn’t been an increasingly powerful factor in our lives as Covid-19 took root in our country? Since none of us have faced anything like this pandemic in our lifetime, we don’t have a first-hand frame of reference with which to deal with it. So our emotions are all over the place. And when we don’t know what to do with them, they clog up our systems; we become congested with emotion.

Secondly, I had to laugh at the admonition: “The grackle is a noisy, chattering bird and may be a reminder to quit talking and do something.” Umm, yeah. Point taken. Indeed, I think we’re all realizing the importance of action over words. Social distancing. Wearing face masks. We either do it or we don’t.

Biggest Confluence of Meaning

But almost immediately, I see how much more Grackle’s message applies in a cultural sense, in light of the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter eruption over the past two weeks. Indeed, it was easy to draw parallels between our current social experience vis-à-vis guilt and facing hard emotional lessons (tough nuts to crack) in the first several paragraphs.

But I nearly fell over when both the trauma of the pandemic and the trauma of systemic racism in our nation dovetailed in the paragraphs on illness. It is as if Grackle was signaling me with flares and sirens that our current experiences are a perfect storm for transformation. We must process our emotions instead of deflecting and burying and denying them as we have, as a culture, for 400 years.

The pandemic is a symptom of the guilt and shame we carry, collectively, over the shameful act of exploiting others based on the color of their skin. And this infection is, in a sense, carried on the wind (which is why face masks protect us all), yet the brutality and inhumanity we are confronting now has been carried on the winds of time.

A Lot to Contemplate

I’ve read this information by Ted Andrews over and over since I finally succumbed to Grackle’s insistence that I pay attention. And I keep gleaning additional perspectives and tidbits of information that can help us all navigate this cultural storm.

Probably one of the most important concepts we can all apply to our experiences at this point is something one of my most beloved teachers, Puma Fredy Quispe Singona, suggested in a FB broadcast today: We must take care of ourselves as we deal with these great changes. And beyond that, we must remember that Mother Earth is here for us. She wants to support us; she loves us; she stands with us; and she is always there to ‘back us up.’

Grackle – Yum – Photo: L. Weikel

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**Clement, Roland C. The Living World of Audubon (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, 1974) p. 254.

(T-536)

Themes and Msgs (Part 2) – Day 505

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Photo: feeder watch.org

Themes and Messages – Part 2

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve received the coolest gift from Spirit on my last two birthdays: the unmistakable appearance of a bird that I felt was bringing me a message about a potential theme in my life for the coming year. Themes and messages, they’re all around us.

Before last year’s appearance of a pileated woodpecker right outside my bedroom window on the morning of my 60th birthday last year, I don’t recall ever having a bird (or any other emissary of the natural world) make a point of showing up in my life on my birthday. And the manner in which the woodpecker showed up last year – hammering me awake, hauling me from the dreamtime – made the bird’s message seem all that more compelling.

I Lost Track

I’ll admit it; while I didn’t forget that the pileated woodpecker had dramatically appeared on the morning of my birthday, I did neglect to check in on whether there was any applicability of the bird’s message as my year unfolded. I hate to admit it, but I lost track of the pileated theme.

Last night, when I reread my post from last year, I immediately noticed the use – twice – of the word ‘wary’ in the quote I included from Animal-Wise*. That, in and of itself, should have been a concept I highlighted in my own consciousness as a watchword for my year.

I don’t know. If I’d exercised vigilance in revisiting the pileated’s message would I have made other choices or picked up on the motives or actions of others before getting blindsided? Would I have allowed myself to become so sidetracked by the needs and desires of a few others that I set aside my own sense of the rhythms and ways in my life? I don’t know.

But I do know I could’ve – and probably should’ve – been more wary.

A Second Chance

Imagine my delight when I awoke yesterday morning to the squawking and incessant voice of a blue jay – again – just outside my bedroom window. Truly, I was delighted. I confess that when I went to sleep the night before I wondered if the pileated would show up again as magically and unmistakably as it had last year. (I have heard it – or them – hammering relentlessly in the small stand of woods on the edge of our property.)

But Blue Jay’s birthday morning wake up call was such a confirmation! I’ve found at least a dozen Blue Jay feathers over the past couple of weeks, probably since the beginning of March. And it’s not as if some poor bird got nailed by a car (or an owl) leaving a pile of feathers. No, it was a couple here and a couple there. Several singlets. And all along at various points along our two and four mile walking routes. Blue Jay has been present.

I feel this is a second chance for me to notice and continue to pay attention to this theme being set for my year.

Joining Heaven and Earth

I’ve looked up the meaning of Blue Jay many times over the years, but I must confess, I only retain a cursory recollection of what many birds and animals represent. Since I’m working with them for others so often, I try not focus on specific characteristics because I don’t want to have any pre-conceived notions when I journey to find power animals for others.

The last time I’d probably looked up Blue Jay for my own edification was when two pairs of blue jays nested above both of the doorways to our home. That was about 15 years ago at least, possibly 20. And all I remembered was that the feathers of blue jays signify the sky (blue) joining heaven (white) and earth (black). Beyond that, I just generally enjoy their somewhat pugnacious attitudes, even if they can be a bit annoying.

Audubon.org

A Different Perspective

So when I looked up Blue Jay again last night, I felt a bit of a chill ripple through me. The message feels like it is much more specific than just some random application of the three colors of its feathers.

This is from Animal Speak* by Ted Andrews:

“KEYNOTE: The Proper Use of Power        CYCLE OF POWER: Year Round

(…) For those to whom the jay comes as a totem, it can reflect lessons in using your own power properly. It can also reflect lessons in not allowing yourself to be placed in a position in which power is misused against you.

(…) It has the ability to link the heavens and earth, to access each for greater power.

The black and white markings found on its blue wings also reflect this same ability. The sky (blue) separates the Heavens (white) and the earth (black). This is a totem that can move between both and tap the primal energies at either level. The jay is aware of this innate ability, and this is reflected in its blue crest – higher knowledge that can be used.

The bright blue crest of the jay should always be a reminder that to wear the crown of true mastership requires dedication, responsibility, and committed development in all things in the physical and the spiritual. The blue jay is a reminder to follow through on all things – to not start something and then leave it dangling.

The blue jay reflects that a time of greater resourcefulness and adaptability is about to unfold. You are going to have ample opportunities to develop and use your abilities. The jay does not usually migrate, staying around all winter, so look for there to be ample time to develop and use your energies to access new levels. It will stay around and work with you as long as you need it.

The blue jay is actually a member of the crow family, and most crows have no fear. Crows and jays alike will gang up to harass and drive off owls and hawks. The jay is fearless, and it is because of this that it can help you to connect with the deepest mysteries of the earth and the greatest of the heavens.

(…)

(…) If the jay has flown into your life, it indicates that you are moving into a time where you can begin to develop the innate royalty that is within you, or simple be a pretender to the throne. It all depends upon you. The jay has no qualms. It will teach you either direction.”

Gauntlet Thrown

Obviously, I’ve excerpted here (and it was still a long post!). And if experience is any lesson, undoubtedly the parts I’ve left out will be the ones that end up having the most significance.

But all in all, I tried to include here the paragraphs that hit me hardest when I read them. In other words, “Yeah, I need to commit. I need to be courageous. I need to do the work.”

I’d say the gauntlet has been thrown. Blue Jay has come knocking and is ready, willing, and able to kick my ass if I don’t develop and use my abilities, apparently in a new or different way than I have so far.

And quite frankly, I feel this relates in particular to developing or offering who I am  in service to others in the face of this utterly unique challenge our entire world is facing.

Finally, it’s not lost on me that blue jays are corvids. I’ve known that blue jays, crows, ravens are all corvids, and every time I’ve written about the pandemic I’ve had to stop and make sure I was writing COVID-19 – not corvid. Somehow or another, that feels relevant. Or at least noteworthy.

So Blue Jay’s been showing up in my life for weeks. Insisting on gaining my attention. Now I know it’s going to be pushing me – as a theme and a messenger – all year. I better buckle down.

abcbirds.org

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**Pretty cool: today’s post is #505, leaving 606 remaining to be written!

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