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Avian Extravaganza – ND #129

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Red-Shouldered Hawk – Photo: L. Weikel

Avian Extravaganza

While I may be indulging my more reclusive tendencies lately, all of you are never far from my thoughts. So when this blustery, cloud-crowded day proved to be an avian extravaganza, I knew I’d succumb to the temptation and share a few photos of my encounters.

The photo above is a Red Shouldered Hawk – one of several nesting in the trees lining the fields around our home. Yes, they’re nesting; but it’s the mid-air swoops and daredevil dives amidst screams of passion (and sometimes what seems like relentless badgering) that makes their mating the most notable activity.

I only distinctly noticed and accurately identified the Red Shouldered Hawks in our area a year ago. In fact, I wrote about the first relentless mating calls, discernible through closed doors and windows, here just last year. I could’ve sworn it was at least two years ago, but nope. Lucky for me, I have my searchable blog posts at my fingertips to remind me of the exact dates when I started writing about these winged messengers.

Eagle Approaching Nest – Photo: L. Weikel

Eagles, Too

After I managed to sneak up on the Red Shouldered just as it took off from the wire it was perching on, surveying the field for a four-legged snack, I headed down River Road. There’s a place along the Delaware River where a massive eagles’ nest sits wedged in a proportionately gigantic sycamore on the New Jersey side. It never ceases to thrill me to see the heads of eaglets and, more obviously, the white heads of the parents, popping up from that compact-car sized conglomeration of sticks.

Just as I pulled off to the side of the road to see if I could catch a glimpse of these majestic birds of prey, one of the parents hopped up and plunged from the nest. Its broad wingspan scooped the air and it soared upriver, eluding my efforts to catch a photo of it in flight. I was excited by the sighting – I’ll forever be a child of the DDT era, when all our raptors were in serious threat of extinction – and decided to wait to see if Mommy or Daddy might return pretty quickly.

My patience was rewarded! I don’t think I had to wait longer than five or ten minutes before I caught sight of its return. And while I’m sharing the best ‘still’ shot I can manage, I wish I could upload the ‘live’ shot that captures this gorgeous bird sweeping upward and landing in the nest. It may be hard to discern the eagle because of the outstanding way in which its coloring blends so well with the sycamores and other trees lining the river.

Turkeys: “On your marks, get set, GO!” – Photo: L. Weikel

Yet Another Gift

Later today, the pups and I were cramming in a quick walk before it started sleeting. Lo and behold, four turkeys were having a little coffee klatch in the middle of the field when all of a sudden they decided to take cover. Never underestimate the speed of a running turkey. They are hilariously fast on their feet.

But when Turkey shows up in your life, it’s often heralding a gift that you need to recognize and be grateful for receiving. The turkeys I saw today reminded me of just how incredibly lucky I am to receive the gift (Turkey) of a message (Hawk) from Spirit (Eagle). And the message was probably to savor the richness of the avian extravaganza surrounding me.

For while I’m only including photos of these three species (and none of them doing justice to their subjects), I was also graced with the presence of geese, black vultures, turkey vultures, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, sparrows, goldfinches, cardinals, starlings, and fish crows. And while it was a tad too cold today, I actually had my first hummingbird visit my porch on Sunday.

And the only thing better than receiving the gift of having all of these birds show up in my life all in one day, was the message – the reminder – from Spirit that I have friends with whom to share my joy.

(T+129)

Too Many Clouds – Day 1063

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Spartacus Dreaming – Photo: L. Weikel

Too Many Clouds

Alas, I was not beamed up by yesterday’s mothership. Nor did I see any Draconids on our walk tonight. There were too many clouds lingering at the first edge of evening, holdovers from the grumpy, overcast weather of the entire day.

I doubt it would come as a surprise to any of you to learn that Spartacus’s sudden death wrenched our family’s hearts. It threw us for a loop. As weird as it may sound, I think the sudden and unexpected loss of him was a cruel reminder of that same sudden and unexpected loss of Karl.

And yet again, I struggle in my attempts to describe my feelings without being perceived as some kind of hack who is unable to discern between love for a human and love for an ‘animal.’ As if one is higher or more refined than the other.

I struggle because, as I’ve said before, love is love. Love is that unabashed, open-hearted relinquishment of barriers between two beings. It’s a giving of one’s heart. It’s a sense of being seen and heard and cherished no matter what.

Simply one of my favorite photos; Son & Mom, Spartacus & Sheila – Photo: L. Weikel

Imbalance

After Sheila died, a year ago, Karl’s and my walks felt out of balance. For over 12 years we’d taken daily walks, each with a pup of our own on a leash. I’ve often wondered as Spartacus and I walked and walked and walked mostly by ourselves over the last several months whether Karl’s sudden, strange onset of pain, making our walks uncomfortable for him, was at all related to that ‘imbalance.’

Surely it doesn’t seem to make any logical sense that losing one of our cherished pups would impact us physically. And yet, the question lingered. It remains unanswered to this day.

I, for one, only realized after his death how constant a presence in my life Spartacus had become. I’ve always been deeply connected to my four-legged companions, from my very first kitten, Katen, who came into my life when I was six. (He passed away shortly before Karl and I were married.) But especially since the pandemic hit, Spartacus had been literally my constant companion. Even in work, which I now do ‘long distance,’ he was at my side. On the porch, in the house, it didn’t matter. He was with me.

“Arf!” – Photo: L. Weikel

Dream

Several days ago, completely unexpectedly, Spartacus appeared to me in the very early hours of the morning. This is when I often receive my most profound communications from other realms.

That morning, I felt like I opened my eyes and saw Spartacus. He was in my face – I could see his adorable little front teeth. His front paws were on me, on my arm, getting my attention. He kept saying, “Arf! Arf!” very insistently. His big brown eyes looked right into mine.

I thought, what is he telling me? What does he mean when he arfs at me like this?

“What pup? What are you telling me?” I asked.

“Get it,” he replied.

“But…”

“I used to tell you to GET IT when I wanted you to go into the yard and get one of my toys to throw for me.”

“But…”

“Get it. Get a puppy. I don’t want you to wait.”

“What???”

“ARF!” And he grinned at me. Love poured out of him, poured out of his big brown eyes.

All I could feel was love for him and his love for me.

“You need me,” he said. And I woke up.

(T-48)

Lighten Up – Day 996

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Speaks for Itself – Photo: L. Weikel

Lighten Up

One thing I’ve always been able to count on my sons for is a well-timed poke to lighten up. Of all three, though, Karl was the raw and uncensored (believe me) comedian. He had an impeccable sense of comedic timing that came through for all of us time and again. Sometimes it perked his father or me up or helped his brothers see the absurdity of a situation. Usually he was being irreverent but at the same time scathingly truthful. He had a knack for finding the humor in the weirdest situations.

All of which leads me to a discovery I made this morning.

It could be said that perhaps I’d gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. That’s at least one perspective. The details are unimportant, but capturing the crankiness of the moments leading up to my discovery is essential.

I was foul. That much is indisputable. I looked at the state of the world on my phone and wanted to chuck it across the room. And when I brought my attention to my own little microcosm, I felt equally irritated. Well, maybe not equally, but I was definitely unhappy with a lot of little things all around me.

Cleaning the Catbox

I was actually in the perfect mood to clean out the catbox. In fact, that is an activity I was perfectly suited for in that moment. Sometimes cleaning up another creature’s crap can inspire you to clean up your own. Meh. Maybe. I tell myself that, though. And I do take pleasure out of leaving the litter pristine and ready for Tigger to jump in and re-christen it, which he invariably does within five minutes of it being cleaned out.

This time, though, there was a sign. Ha! A rainbow turdlet.

Pointed Message?

We’ll occasionally find rainbows arcing across our walls – often in intriguing places that almost seem to be aimed onto a specific object like a laser pointer.

I have to admit, though. This was the first time I’d ever found a rainbow in the catbox.

“Mom. Lighten up,” I could almost hear him saying. Just barely. And I had to admit, he’d managed it again. He made me laugh.

(T-115)

Cacophany – Day 880

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Pileateds Face-to-face – Photo: L. Weikel

Cacophany

Spartacus and I were sitting outside on the porch this morning writing (actually, Spartacus was sleeping) when a cacophony of shrieks and excited chatter erupted behind us. The sound of wings flapping and clattering through the bushes behind me made me fear the worst: a red-shouldered hawk making a meal of one of my smaller songbirds.

Instead of carnage, though, I was stunned to see two Pileated Woodpeckers dancing down the length of a tree behind our house. Two!

I was beyond excited. The last time I was given the gift of a sighting of one of these extraordinary, why birds was exactly 742 days ago. At least, it was 742 posts ago. The day of my 60th birthday, in fact, I was awakened from my dreams by the incessant echoing pecking of a pileated woodpecker right outside my window. What a gift that was.

You surprised me! – Photo: L. Weikel

Double the Message?

While of course I hope you’ll go back and read that post if you’re so inclined, I’m going to repeat here the information I quoted from Animal-Wise* by Ted Andrews:

“PILEATED WOODPECKER – Keynote: Follow your own rhythm, regardless of others

“I am fortunate to have in the woods around my home at least seven types of woodpeckers, including the pileated. All woodpeckers teach us something about a new rhythm at play within our life. Some do so more strongly than others and the pileated woodpecker is one of them.

All woodpeckers have a strong bill, pointed for chipping and digging through the bark of a tree for insects. Their stiff tail is used as a prop, allowing them to ‘drum.’

The pileated is a wary kind of woodpecker. One of the largest, it is not always seen. It is solid black, distinguishing it from most other birds and it has the red crested plumage. Any kind of crown or crest on an animal is usually an indication to follow one’s own thinking.

When the pileated appears, it is time to follow your own thinking and your own rhythms. Be wary of others trying to nudge you into a rhythm or behavior with which you are not comfortable. Trust your own instincts as to the rhythm that works for you. Though others may not understand your thinking processes as you take on new endeavors, do not be dissuaded – even if you do not quite understand them. The pileated reminds us that our way will work best now. Take your thoughts and give them action.”

PIleateds Mirror Dancing – Photo: L. Weikel

Exciting Visit

I have to admit, this encounter with the Pileateds was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. Not only has it been two years since I last saw one, but that encounter was also from the inside of my bedroom. This sighting was incredibly intimate as we were just yards away from each other and – if they were paying attention – they most certainly would’ve been aware of my presence.

They were intent on checking out the entire length of two trees right behind our porch. I’m not sure if they were searching for food or a nice place to build a nest. But I’ve never seen two birds work in tandem the way they did.

Every once in a while they’d squawk at each other or flare their wings out. It almost seemed as if they were surprised to see each other appear from around the other side of the tree.

I wish I could share the videos with you. Perhaps I’ll try to upload one of them onto my YouTube account page.

In the meantime, I want to share these photos. I’ll leave the musing about the message – the double message – for another day.

Do You Like My Profile? – Photo: L. Weikel

*affiliate link

(T-231)

Stinky Surprise – Day 729

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Stinky Surprise

Everybody chime in with me: “If it’s not one thing…” Yeah. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. And we actually encountered a handful of circumstances today that would fit that bill, the latest (but a mere 90 minutes or so ago) was a most stinky surprise.

You can guess what happened. We were watching an episode of one of our latest distractions (Patriot, a quirky and unpredictable series on Amazon Prime), when Spartacus woke up and asked to go out. Karl did his bidding and opened the kitchen door, whereupon Spartacus took off like a shot.

Now, we routinely try to make sure there aren’t critters hanging around the yard when we let Spart out, but sometimes we forget to check. He’s had a couple of encounters with opossums, raccoons, and deer – but it’s been a while since he’s encountered a stinky surprise. (Thank goodness, I might add.)

But alas…

Good Boy

I could tell Karl sensed trouble was ahead just by the tone of his voice as he called out to Spartacus. When I jumped up and joined Karl, calling to him, I saw that he was trotting up toward the house like a good boy. While seeming a bit reticent, like maybe he knew he might’ve done something he knew he regretted but wasn’t quite sure, he entered the kitchen and headed toward his water bowl.

The skunk stink wafted into the kitchen like PigPen’s cloud of dust as he passed by me. But his fur wasn’t ruffled, and he didn’t have the same ‘look’ about him as the last time he got skunked. Clearly, he’d been in the vicinity of a spooked skunk. But had he been nailed? It looked like he’d endured a ‘near miss.’

I’ve had to deal with these circumstances before, so I knew if he was the victim of a direct hit, I’d have to run out to the grocery or drug store for a couple of bottles of hydrogen peroxide. Sadly, because this isn’t our first rodeo (with Sheila too – she was no angel in her younger years), I knew the remedy of bathing in tomato juice is ineffective. Nope, I had direct experience with this recipe, and I know it works.

Slightly (But Enough!) Stinky Boy – Photo: L. Weikel

Tangential Hit

We quickly herded Spart back outside onto the porch. Walking out the door, it was as if we were walking into a cloud. Precious was on the porch, looking totally freaked out, and Cletus was nowhere to be found. I got down on my hands and knees and put my nose right up to Spart’s fur (a dangerous undertaking, believe me). It wasn’t him; or at least it wasn’t a direct hit. It almost seemed as if he may have walked through the spray after the fact. I did notice his mouth seemed to be watering a bit, but sniffing his head and neck, it didn’t seem to be giving off any greater amount of stink than anywhere else.

The mouth watering worried me, though. While I was glad that at least it wasn’t in his eyes, it did look like he might’ve gotten a mouthful. Ack! The last time he got majorly nailed by a skunk, his entire face, including his eyes, nose and mouth had been drenched. And his stench had been so powerful at that time that I’d nearly passed out while trying to clean him up.

The Remedy

While utterly and disconcertingly smelly, I still don’t think he sustained a direct hit. Although I will confess, I mixed up some of the remedy* (baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and a little bit of shampoo) and washed his face and mouth, and even down his back. Sadly, and somewhat inexplicably, I can still smell it.

Whether it was a direct or tangential hit, the skunk definitely made its presence known. And of course me being me, I am compelled to consider the potential message it was bringing. Skunk is all about reputation – having self-confidence in your own abilities and gifts and realizing that your ‘reputation precedes you.’ Perhaps we might benefit from reflecting on how our self-esteem is holding up?

Whatever. If it’s not one thing…

*Note! You need to be careful mixing these items; it can be dangerous. You should also wear gloves. I learned that the hard way.

Sassy – Photo: National Geographic

(T-382)

Watchwords – Day 710

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Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn – “Perseverance”

Watchwords

You may have noticed that I’ve been trying to keep my recent posts light and, while not totally ignoring the mayhem and insanity all around us, at least making an effort to think and write about generally more upbeat, or at least benign, topics. But what we’re enduring politically and existentially in the United States at the moment is the elephant in the room. Every once in a while, therefore, I’m compelled to address it. Tonight being one of those nights, I was inspired to choose watchwords for us specifically to hold on to over the next three days or so.

I’m not sure why, but the sense I got was that this pick of cards from the Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn was valid ‘for the next couple of days.’ I may be told to choose additional cards as events unfold – or not. My sense is that the next two weeks will almost feel as though we’re reliving the last four years, only this time experiencing them crammed into 14 (or fewer) days.

This deck has been a reliable resource over the past several months, weighing in every once in a while with watchwords or concepts that have been remarkably appropriate to our circumstances. It feels important to emphasize that this oracle deck contains 64 different cards representing vastly different concepts. I suppose it feels necessary to state this because the main card I chose (the top card) in answer to my specific request for guidance for all of us over the next few days almost seems set up. But it wasn’t.

Perseverance

Yes. I chose the Perseverance card. And while that single, simple word may be all we really need to hold close as circumstances grow increasingly precarious, I just have to quote Cher Lyn’s words. Even the title of her painting (the card’s image) and her introductory poem are eerie in their appropriateness:

Perseverance – “Still I Rise”

Twas the hardest thing to do,

Be myself under that rule.

Burning rage red-hot fire,

I am not a slave nor I aspire.

Bury the cross and my loved ones lost.

I persevere through white man’s fear.

“…Life can be hard with many painful lessons. Sometimes it feels as though it will never end. For a time there is nothing more you can do than to breathe and know ‘this too shall pass.’ In the dark tunnel of suffering acknowledge others who have carried on through unimaginable torment. Brave ones rise from the ashes like the phoenix to find that the gift of Perseverance is freedom. Physical, emotional, or spiritual, it is freedom you come to know through Perseverance. Know that with every thought, word, feeling, and action you are either adding to your suffering or nurturing with a healing touch. Carry on in the monitoring of your thoughts and focus your attention moment by moment. Change is coming.

Your prayers, intentions, surrender, and trust in the Divine Will of Creator does matter. Take steps to transform what needs adjustment, clear your plate of that which does not serve you. Receive help, forgive and embrace all of you.

The medicine of this card is asking you to know this suffering will pass and never give up. Thin of an oak tree growing out of a rock with little or no soil. So determined to live. This is Perseverance, this is the power of life. This is God, the sun, and the love light giving life. This is you shining through despite circumstances.”

Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn – “Transformation”

The Foundation – Underneath: Transformation

Transformation – “Egyptian Magic”

“ (…) All things form and transform within the mysterious cycles of birth, life, and death. Instead of fearing the darkness you can bless it, learn from it, and embrace it. It is both your humanness and your light. The shadow you fear is powerless without the interpretation of your beliefs, thoughts, and desires. The power of Transformation lies in your ability to find the light within the shadow and make the connection, infusing focus on its light quality instead of the darkness.

Everything you think, feel, and do creates your lessons in the world you live in. Inside you great intelligence, wisdom, and love are ever present. It is the beliefs you have been taught that are the hindering factor here. Let the fire in your heart inspire you for Transformation. Perfecting your character and at the same time helping you let go while allowing any pain, sorrow, or difficulty to just be there. Allow the alchemical change to unfold and evolve you in its own time as you journey through your world with the power of intentions.

The Transformation card suggests that you be in touch with both your shadow side and your spiritual side. True Transformation can only happen in connection with your heart. Setting in motion authentic spiritual alchemy you will see a change in you, like base metal into gold. Essentially shifting your whole perspective.” (emphasis added)

My ‘Take’

Once again, I dare say words added by me are pretty much superfluous. When I ask Spirit for a message for us, something for us to contemplate and hold on to through the coming turbulence, Spirit delivers.

Almost every time I decide to choose cards for us in this way, I feel a little hitch in my chest. It always feels like at least somewhat of a risk – in spite of the fact that I’ve never been abandoned by Spirit. Will we receive some dire message? Will a card present itself that leaves me completely unable to see or perceive a connection to what we’re experiencing?

In a word: no. We’re always supported. Always guided.

Hang on and hang in there.

(T-401)

Yet Again – Day 659

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Ace of Swords Tarot of the Crone – Photo: L. Weikel

Yet Again

I found the appearance of the Perception card* in last night’s post thought provoking. The encouragement it gave us to pay attention to how and why our perceptions influence what we see and hear and are influenced by what we experience or believe was powerful. I found myself circling these ideas all day. It seems Spirit felt the need to reinforce these ponderings, though, because I received the message yet again – but from an entirely different source.

I love it when this happens! It’s harder to deny the existence of interconnecting and unifying threads within our lives when these types of experiences occur.

Another Walk

Karl and I were taking a walk early this evening, luckily managing to get two miles in before raindrops started splattering around us as we approached the house. Not only had we managed to get all the way around our shorter loop, but we’d also managed to pick cards from another one of my favorite decks, Ellen Lorenzi-Prince’s Tarot of the Crone.

Karl’s choices were clear entreaties for him to continue exploring and honoring his creative process. My choices, on the other hand, were such obvious affirmations of the message I received and shared last night that we both just shook our heads and said, “Wow.”

The foundational card I chose (i.e., the ‘bottom’ card) was the Ace of Swords. I offer you the author’s words, verbatim, because YCMTSU**:

Ace of Swords~Thought

In my Sight

In my Mind

Is the Power to Perceive

The One or the Many

Worlds of Creation

 

“A great blue eye shines with stars within and reaches out to a piercing point. The Ace of Swords, the root power of the Mind is Thought. See now with fresh eyes. Hear with new ears. Perception is a power not to inhibit or to take lightly. Strive now for lucidity. Foresee what may be and speak your truth. Settle for nothing less than original thought. What is your vision? It is time to share what you see, what you know. Let the world not be diminished by the lack of your voice.”

Perception. Its power. Seeing with fresh eyes and hearing with new ears. The power inherent in the words we choose.

78 Cards

It occurs to me that it might be worth remembering that traditional tarot decks contain 78 cards. While certainly the suit of Swords in any deck is associated with the element of air and the powers of the mind and thought, it cannot be said that every person ‘reading’ the Ace of Swords would necessarily utilize the word ‘perception’ in this way or urge us to refresh and renew the lenses through which we perceive the world.

Seriously. What are the chances that perception would be the prominent, foundational message of the cards today?

Quite honestly, it makes me a little uneasy. The power of our perception is being emphasized so profoundly that I worry that I’m not quite ‘getting it.’ It feels like Spirit is saying, “Yeah, you get that this is a powerful concept. And you understand – to a point – the power all of you hold to shape and create your individual and shared worlds. But do you really get how big a deal this is at this particular moment? Do you really comprehend the point at which all of you find yourselves, collectively, at this moment?”

Goosebumps

Which leads me to share the top card I chose as we walked today. Unlike the Ace of Swords, which is only one of 56 cards that comprise the four ‘suits’ of the Minor Arcana, the main card I chose was a ‘Major.’ The 22 ‘Majors” in a tarot deck are the archetypal representatives of the story of our spiritual evolution.

The card I chose on top was the World – the final card of all the Major Arcana – the culmination of our evolution.

World – Tarot of the Crone; Photo: L. Weikel

XXI ~World

I am all you have been

And all you will become

I am the exercise

Of your power

And the key

To your future

“(…) The entry to a new world and your ability to create it, is in giving all that you are a place, Devil and Empress and Fool. Forget none of their lessons. Give up none of your power. Within your World, all of them come together and create a whole more than the sum of any amount of parts. More than a balance, more than integration like some locking together of pieces, when you are all, you are on another scale entirely.”

We are such complex, creative creatures. Our realities are like tapestries woven by the warp and weft of what we perceive and what we create as a result of those perceptions.

This feels big. We have a huge responsibility right now – to ourselves and to each other.

* Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards
** YCMTSU = You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

(T-452)

Pay Attention – Day 591

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“I’m a Stick” – Photo: L. Weikel

Pay Attention

“Stop!” I yelled, jarring Karl out of his reverie. We were just entering the part of our walk that approaches High Rocks, where the over-arching canopy of trees throws shade and cools us off on days of bright sunshine.

“What? What?” he asked, momentarily stopping in his tracks but looking to his left, into the woods and toward the cliffs. He started turning toward the trees, not even thinking about the fact that he was moving his feet to do so.

“Stop!” I yelped again. “Don’t move. Look down.”

“Ooooh, wow. I totally missed it,” he said, when he spied the young snake laying stock-still in the gravel.

Camouflage?

I was walking a few steps behind Karl and had noticed the characteristic swooshing ‘s’ shape of the snake as it scurried across the road. Karl narrowly missed stepping on it and probably only did so because the snake was moving so quickly. Nevertheless, it was as if the snake understood me as well as Karl did when I yelled stop, for it, too, froze in its tracks.

Curiously, it stopped its trek through the gravel and came to rest straight as a pencil. In fact, it looked like a stick or a long piece of hay (albeit slightly more brown) just laying in the road. I wonder whether this was intentional, or unique to this particular type of snake – at least, in a survival sort of way – since most snakes I’ve seen will stop mid ‘s’ curve, showing no effort to straighten itself out.

S/he did permit me to take its photo up close and personal enough to get a nice shot of its impressive tongue.

Forked Tongue! – Photo: L. Weikel

Finally, as it decided to resume its journey, I managed to catch it sssslithering its way onto the berm.

Change in Topic

I was going to write about a different animal messenger that’s been coming to me lately, but this encounter changed my mind. Something tells me I’m not alone in still needing to shed or transmute some old attitudes, beliefs, or maybe even grievances before we can step fully into manifesting our future.

Perhaps our old ways of blending in or ‘going along to get along’ just aren’t cutting it anymore. Our environments are changing. The old means of camouflage don’t work anymore. Or maybe we no longer want to fit in? That’s possible too.

Snakes teach us that sometimes we need to recognize the poisons in our environment and learn how to transmute them into something we can live with – indeed, something we can allow to pass right through us – like water or air.

An essential aspect of working with snake, though, is appreciating the need to pay attention in the first place. We don’t have to be bitten by the snake in order to learn to transmute its poisons. We can, if we watch where we’re going and pay attention to our environment, avoid the worst of the poison* by never getting bitten to begin with. That’s a different sort of transmutation. Seems to me it could be a bit gentler on our systems.

Movin’ along – Photo: L. Weikel

*Just to be clear: I’m not saying this particular snake was poisonous. I’m talking about poison in the context of snake venom in general and transmutation of poisons. Indeed, using my trusted identification website, this looks like a Northern Brownsnake,, which is non-venomous.

(T-520)

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)

An Idea – Day 519

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Blue Jay – Photo: L. Weikel

An Idea

Back when I was only a year into writing this blog (yes, well before beginning the 1111 devotion, which I began on 12 November 2018), I had an idea. I engaged in a form of “the 12 days of Christmas.” Only it was actually the “Nine Days of Solstice,” leading up to 12/21/2012.

In that exercise, I chose a card each day, a “Point of Reflection,” for myself and my readers to apply to our lives as we awaited the much-ballyhooed ‘end’ of the Mayan Calendar.

As I was sitting here a few minutes ago pondering what I might write about this evening, I found my eyes scanning the bookshelves surrounding me, causing me to appreciate the embarrassment of riches I’ve accumulated over the years. Ever since I invested in my first set of Medicine Cards*, I found that I have a predilection for divination tools – which gave me an idea.

Divination

Yeah…as I glance about the walls in my living and dining room I’m realizing just how much I enjoy exploring the various means we have at our disposal which help us tap into our own inner knowing or, perhaps, the guidance provided to us by unseen allies or forces.

Dictionary.com defines ‘divination’ as follows:

  1. the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means;
  2. augury; prophecy;
  3. perception by intuition; instinctive foresight.

To be clear, when I access a divinatory tool, I am not ‘attempting to foretell future events.’ The reason I say that is because I don’t think ‘the future’ is something static or fixed to which we’re inexorably bound to ‘arrive.’ Since we have free will, we can change ‘the future’ at any moment. Thus, there are an infinite number of futures to which we can travel.

Usually, though, when making a decision, we are faced with only a limited number of options at any given time. We could call the paths that each of these decisions would set us upon ‘strands’ of destiny. And each strand we choose at any given moment weaves together to form the fabric of our reality.

My perspective on divinatory tools, as I’ve undoubtedly expressed in various other posts, is that our souls know, at the deepest levels of our being, the lessons we’ve chosen to learn in this lifetime. We’ve set a course for ourselves before we were born. Tools that help us tap into our own inner knowing can help us make choices that can are in greatest alignment with our chosen destinies.

The Times We’re Experiencing Now

Because of my lifelong interest in acquiring tools that would help me develop my intuition and also access the inner knowledge I hid from myself at birth, I have access to a vast array of such items. From oracles such as runes, the I Ching, and oracle card decks to the almost limitless number of tarot decks that exist, I have a sweet collection. This work – this dedication to discerning our inner wisdom and accessing the guidance that is available to us is part of my livelihood – but even more importantly, it is part of who I am.

Right now, I think it’s indisputable that humanity has entered a whole new phase of existence. Indeed, we are at a confluence of many different paths, a crossroads of epic proportions.

Not only are we each being asked, individually, to stop our relentless running in what we sadly but accurately call the ‘rat race,’ but we’re also being asked, collectively, to decide – to choose – the path, the strand, that best serves humanity’s destiny or evolution.

We Could Use Some Guidance

We’re all in this together. We’re each facing situations that probably none of us expected (consciously, at least) we’d ever encounter. Each of us has our own unique constellation of factors influencing us, not least being the life lessons we set out for ourselves long ago. But again, we’re all, also, in this together, and each of our decisions impacts everyone else, even if we don’t realize it or see those impacts on a daily basis.

I have access to all these cool tools. Some will appeal to one person while others will appeal to someone else. Many of the decks I have do not resonate with me on such a level that I use them often. That doesn’t mean they don’t have value or might appeal and speak to someone else quite powerfully. And it doesn’t mean that one or another of them might not be absolutely perfect for the particular day – or moment – it’s used.

My Idea

My idea, which you probably all saw coming a mile away, is to periodically choose a card or a rune or throw an I Ching ‘for us.’ The intention I will set is to ask for a message or guidance for us, both individually and collectively, and then report it here. Depending upon the day or what’s going on for me, or for us, I will offer my perspective. But I’ll also encourage and ask you to contemplate what the particular oracle might be specifically telling you.

How could whatever I choose apply to you and your unique life?

Do you notice that you resonate with one particular oracle more than another?

Maybe allow yourself to think about what I’ve chosen for the day or days that it applies (which is until I choose another). You know, maybe write about it in a journal that you’re starting precisely because of these times we’re experiencing – so you can remember how you felt, what you experienced, and how you’ve been changed by these extraordinary times.

And if you discover a tool that particularly appeals to you, then you can buy it for yourself and work with it more extensively. I’ll provide links where I can (and full disclosure, if they’re to Amazon, I am an affiliate, so I might earn a couple pennies if you purchase through a link from this blog).

That’s my idea. We’ll see how it goes.

Goldfinches – Photo: L. Weikel

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(T-592)