Red-Tailed Hawk Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Solstice Is Upon Us

Late this afternoon, I managed to capture a glimpse of the sun just before it descended below the horizon. Yet another raptor darted from the bushes to my left – a falcon this time – crossing my path and weaving effortlessly amongst the saplings and grapevines. Hawks had accompanied me the entire length of my extended walk; I’d seen at least four, not counting this smaller, dark brown falcon. “The Solstice is upon us!” the falcon cried. “Time to fluff our feathers and hunker down. You need to get home,” it added.

And so the longest night of the year began with a messenger swooping before my eyes. This must have been Spirit’s last ditch effort to gain my attention, since a Red-tailed Hawk had literally executed a combination swoop/jump from tree branch to tree branch in front of me, spanning a quarter of a mile, its massive wings cupped forward, beckoning me to follow.

No photos of those quick hops from branch to branch. The best I could do was snag one of it facing the setting sun, turning its back to me, facing the wild unknown most bravely.

Hawk Facing West – Photo: L. Weikel

Pensive

I’m feeling decidedly pensive this evening. I was keenly aware of the impending darkness this evening, especially the fact that tonight the darkness would last the greatest amount of time. Our fire is burning gently, reminding us of just how cold it became tonight – all of a sudden, too. I know I’d looked at the Weather Channel app several times over the past 24 hours and not once did I see the call for such frigid temperatures as those we awakened to this morning.

The cold only drives us deeper within.

Contemplating the dreams we wish to manifest over the next three months is our focus at the moment. What changes are we seeking? What messages will we be delivering? What is the coming year going to teach us about ourselves? How can we best honor the our heart’s desire?

So many questions. Such freezing temperatures driving us inside, making sure we hunker down.

Tomorrow we’ll awaken and the days will begin lengthening ever so slowly.

Enjoy the night. Revel in the silence. Or is that the call of a Great Horned Owl I hear?

(T+13)

Photo: Audubon.org

Hammering It Home

I had to laugh earlier today. A couple different friends of mine shared a quiz on Facebook propounded by The Cornell Lab Publishing Group. As a rule, I don’t take quizzes on Facebook because a technologically savvy friend of mine warned me that quizzes are just insidious means of harvesting our personal data.

But I trust The Cornell Lab of Ornithology organization (they have a wonderful Raptor ID app I use on my phone), and since the quiz takes you to the site of this reputable non-profit (as opposed to the usual anonymous or sketchy sites that are usually associated with ‘quizzes’ on FB), I figured I would give it a try.

WHO Are You?

Basically, you’re asked a variety of questions about your own personality traits, which are then sorted and categorized and result in you being ‘matched’ to the bird that most closely exhibits your constellation of traits.

After taking the quiz and reading my result, I have to admit I was quite impressed to realize that there are a total of 22 different birds this quiz could have identified me as sharing characteristics. That’s quite an assortment!

I could see the thought and care that went into developing this quiz and how the pairings with our bird ‘sisters’ (or brothers) makes sense.

You Guessed It

Naturally, given my posts the last two nights, it will come as no surprise that I was identified as sharing the most characteristics with the Red-Tailed Hawk.

No, this wasn’t a fait accompli. Not in the least. (Remember, I wrote a book called Owl Medicine*, my website is owlmedicine.com, and my healing practice is Owl Medicine Shamanic Healing.) Yeah – no. It wouldn’t have surprised me one bit if owl had shown up.

But let’s be honest. There’s a message being sent to me at the moment, and Spirit is knocking on all the doors (and maybe even some windows) to get my attention.

From a Shamanic Perspective

On a shamanic note, I want to make it clear that this little quiz, while fun and great for the way it matches characteristics and the cool way it gets us to think and care about the birds in our environment, actually has nothing to do with determining your ‘power animal.’ That’s a whole different kettle of fish. (Not to deliberately mix metaphors, but there you go.)

That said, taking a quiz like this can be an opportunity for your power animal to show up and say hi to you. (For instance, if you’ve journeyed on your own and retrieved a power animal for yourself – or if I or someone else has journeyed on your behalf and brought a power animal back for you that happens to be of the feathered variety – this could be a way for it to show up in your life and serve as a reminder that it wants to be in deeper relationship with you. Or it could just be showing up to remind you that it’s always there for you – and not to forget it.)

Or taking a quiz like this could be a way for an ally who wants to make a point of getting through your thick skull that it wants to work with you, or that you need to pay attention to it, to make yet another appearance in your life. You know, hammering it home so you can stop denying that you’re getting a message.

Yep. I suppose it could be that, too.