Hawk

Final Messengers – Day 299

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Hawk giving me the stink-eye – Photo: L. Weikel

Final Messengers

Capping the remarkable range of creatures crossing my path this week, I was astonished when a massive Red-tailed Hawk rather unceremoniously landed in the top portion of a shag-bark hickory tree yards from where I was sitting this morning. I’d built another fire (because I could, I guess – and because the air was getting chillier and moister by the moment), so it was even more surprising to me that the hawk chose to land in a tree so close to me.

It seemed as though it had landed near me in order to deliberately get my attention. Mission accomplished! And as soon as I welcomed its arrival in my personal psychic space, it leapt off its branch and proceeded to fly in circles directly over my head. After the sixth full circular pass overhead, the raptor veered back into the currents above the creek itself and flew downstream.

Journaling – Pays Off Yet Again

I’m sure you’ll find it unsurprising that the hawk arrived just after I’d made some rather astonishing connections in my journal. I was literally ‘connecting the messages’ brought to me all week via both the Medicine Cards I’d chosen each day and the actual creatures crossing my path. It wasn’t until this morning and my careful reiteration of all the various connections that I realized the orchestration and choreography that had to have been deployed in order to make the messages make sense to each other.

I didn’t get a photo of this particular bird, but I am happy to share a photo of another hawk that crossed my path some months ago.

Yes, Hawk has been tapping at the window pane of my life for many months now. And if you ask him, he’d say it’s been a long hard slog to get me to pay attention to him again.

Spirit

Finally, as I was moments away from leaving my sanctuary and in the midst of closing Sacred Space, I reached the final ‘Direction’ I address, which is ‘Above.’ This is where I greet and give thanks to Spirit and all the representations and emissaries of Spirit that are associated with ‘Above,’ such as Grandmother Moon, Father Sun, the Great Star Nations, God, Goddess, All That Is, Great Spirit, Ascended Masters, etc.

As I was specifically thanking Spirit for helping ‘connect the dots’ for me and illuminating the meaning behind the pattern of messages I’d received all week, I looked up and could barely believe my eyes. The very moment I expressly gave thanks for providing me with such clear messengers and messages, two eagles appeared in the sky visible through a clearing in the tree canopy. Two eagles danced together, circled a few moments, and were gone.

Unlike all the other days I’ve written about this week, I did not even try to get photos of these profound messengers. Instead, I simply, consciously, and reverently took in the totality of the experience.

Convergence of Earlier Encounters

While I don’t have photos of the winged ones who visited me today, I do have photos of a couple who visited me back in the springtime.

Indeed, the stories of those encounters (which took place on exactly the same day in two separate locations) remain to be shared. While I knew the direct experiences were utterly profound in the moments I had them, I also felt the time was not yet right to relay the stories and their significance. That time is drawing nearer.

In the meantime, though, and in honor of their capstone appearances today, I share a couple of my best photos from our April contacts.

I could not have asked for more direct, immediate communication and support. I am filled with gratitude.

Eagle giving me the stink-eye from afar – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-812)

Calling Card – Day 195

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Calling Card – Photo: L. Weikel

Calling Card

When I went out on our porch this morning to give it a quick sweep, I looked over the edge and found a calling card. Not, perhaps, the type you might be thinking I’d find, though.

It was not the digestive ‘leavings’ of a creature, thank goodness. Nor was it the entrails of an unfortunate victim of the various four legged and winged predators we have skulking around in our fields, forests, and skies.

Nope. It was a feather. A hawk feather, to be precise. And I could not be more delighted.

As I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before, when Hawk shows up in my life I always sit up and pay attention. Or I at least feel touched by a sense of specialness – sort of like I’m being given a gift from the Nature Spirits.

When I saw that feather laying on the ground this morning, nestled in the grass beside the huge stump of our now deceased English Walnut, a huge smile flashed across my face and my heart quickened. I propped my broom against one of the lattice-worked stools and nearly skipped down the steps, making my way around the back corner of the house to retrieve it.

What a prize!

Pursuing Tasty Snacks? Or…

Of course, on a purely mundane level, discovering a hawk feather quite close to one of my bird feeders does not bode well for my fine-feathered, mostly finch, friends who frequent those very feeders. That’s especially true when I realize that, at that very moment, there are no songbirds anywhere near the feeders. It’s as if they’ve all frozen in motion somewhere, playing avian statues.

And yet, aside from the single hawk feather, there’s no sign of a struggle; not anything close to an indication that a raptor may have snagged a snack and met a feisty refusenik who may even have succeeded in dislodging a feather of its predator.

So why remain on the level of the superficial, the physical, the obvious?

Bringing a Message

I’d much rather contemplate the possibility that Hawk is coming to me specifically to rekindle the flames of my passion for writing. That it may be whispering, “It’s time now, Lisa. Time to stop, take yourself to the creek, and go within. Time to remember why you write. And time to remember our quest many moons ago when we worked together to birth Owl Medicine.”

Yeah, maybe that’s what I want the Hawk feather to mean.

And truth be told it could mean that. It could also simply be calling me and bringing me the message to, “Pay attention.”

A lot has happened in the past few days – suddenly – to people who matter a great deal to me. People I love. And I want them to know how deeply I care, and how much I want them to recover and to get better quickly and easily.

So perhaps Hawk left its calling card to remind me, too, of the message that things (LIFE) can change drastically in the blink of an eye. We all know it; yet sometimes we need the reminder.

Maybe I will gain a little more understanding as the days unfold. Or maybe I just need to let myself be – the messenger.

(T-916)

Hawks Came Calling – Day 109

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Hawks Came Calling                         

Hawk medicine is all about being a messenger.

I have a deep affinity for Hawk. It was extremely persistent in showing up and prodding me back when I was writing Owl Medicine. It wouldn’t let me go. It wouldn’t let me off the hook.

So as I drove to my presentation at St. Joseph’s University today, I was delighted by all the Hawks that accompanied me on my journey.  I spotted at least eight of them, four of which were hanging out in trees along my route. The others were in flight – one being raged at by a crow – and then the final one I spotted was sitting boldly on a speed limit sign right along the roadside, its belly bulging a bit over the top of the sign.

A Veritable Entourage

I felt escorted. Not only by my Hawk allies themselves – but perhaps even more powerfully by the lineage of paqos into which I’ve been initiated. I felt the Hawks’ presence was a signal from Spirit that my lineage was with me, had my back, and supported my effort to be an effective spokesperson to the next generation.

Of course, I joked with the students as I began my presentation. I let them know right up front that I’d radically indulged my intellectual side when I began preparing to speak to a college class. As I described last night, I literally surrounded myself by my substantial collection of books about Andean shamanism – the equivalent of my mind’s comfort foods.

I think they felt surrounded too – I brought ten of my favorite books. Yes, I’d created a “Recommended Reading List” for them, just in case their curiosity was piqued by my presentation. But there’s something special about being able to pick up a book and flip through it. Sometimes you open a book and you read exactly the right words that let you know this is the book you’re meant to read. So I brought them. Just in case.

More Meaning Than I Realized

But I also reassured them while I had indulged my logical, pragmatic side as I prepared, I also opened my arms wide to trusting that I would cover exactly what they needed to hear. And assuring me that I could trust myself and my message were all these Hawks that had basically lined my route as I drove there.

I was puzzled, then, when they all looked at each other and laughed.

Turns out the mascot for St. Joe’s is the Hawk. And as the professor kindly pointed out, “We’re on Hawk Hill.”

I was exactly where I was meant to be.

Hawks Brought a Message of Hope

And I can honestly say, this group of young people was thoughtful, engaged, respectful, and attentive throughout my presentation. They asked questions that honestly reflected curiosity. They give me hope for humanity.

And that was probably the very best message any HAWKS could have given me today.

I’m filled with gratitude: for the opportunity. For the reception. And for the hope*.

(T-1002)

*And even more for my awesome great niece, Madde.

Messenger – Day Thirty Six

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Messenger

I’m thinking perhaps the Medicine Cards®took pity on you today, my wonderful 1111 Devotion companions.

My last two posts have been sort of on the intense side, and may have actually ruffled a few feathers. That’s especially true given what I might characterize as Pollyanna-ish lenses through which many people look upon prayers and ‘good intentions.’

But lucky for you, I chose Hawk with Deer underneath, so this message carrier is going to take a more gentle approach today. (I hope.)

Indeed, I wasn’t sure what message Hawk was bringing me when I chose and read it this morning. One interesting possibility that presented itself was when one of my readers sent me a message letting me know that she chose Hawk reversed today, and didn’t that contrary description of Hawk contain the very word I’d focused on in yesterday’s post? Tampering. Yes it did. So being astute, and having that somewhat odd word show up in her experience two days in a row, she definitely felt like she needed to pay attention. Well-spotted!

The word was used in the context of Hawk being the message carrier and therefore needing to focus upon and remain dedicated to its job: delivering the message. Its charge is not to ‘interpret’ the message for the recipient, because obviously, everyone perceives life through the filters of their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. So when the messenger puts their unique spin on that message, they are tampering. For it is entirely possible that they could be way off base and sending the recipient into a spiral of confusion.

I’d forgotten that that particular word is used in Hawk reversed – and I probably wouldn’t have remembered it this morning had Janice not called it to my attention, since I chose, and thus only read aloud to Karl, Hawk upright.

As my day unfolded, I found myself feeling overwhelmed by end-of-year responsibilities. In beginning the process of reflecting upon my accomplishments during this year, I found myself wanting. It seemed as if everywhere I looked, I was coming up short, and I even started questioning just what I was doing with this blog and this 1111 Devotion.

All of this took me somewhat by surprise.

Deer to the Rescue

And then I realized that I needed to apply a little Deer to myself. I take the responsibility of being a messenger (Hawk) very seriously. I talk a good game, saying that I ‘know’ there will be days that my posts won’t deliver a compelling or even entertaining message. But I hate the thought.

Deer underneath, though, had perhaps foreseen that I might take the downward path of self-criticism today – and was telling me to go easy. Don’t be such a harsh critic. Be a little kind to myself.

It’s not always easy, is it?

(T-1075)