CHAPTER TEN

DICTIONARY OF BIRD TOTEMS

When you start to work with bird and other animal totems, it is important to examine them carefully. A casual look will not do. To look at their qualities and behaviors casually will lead you to miss aspects important to you and your life. It is too easy to be wrong about their role, especially in the beginning.

Begin by asking yourself some basic questions:

• What is its color? (Remember that colors are significant and symbolic. Some birds and animals change colors with the seasons. Ask yourself what this should tell you about your own life.)

• What is its size? (Do not compare the size of the bird to the power that it can reflect. A ruby-throated hummingbird is one of the tiniest birds upon the planet, but it has the ability to make great migrations of over 500 miles. Bigger birds and totems do not reflect greater power.)

• What is its shape? (Shapes of the bird and its nests can reveal much about its character and activities. With some birds, characteristics may stand out. Does the bird have an unusual neck? Beak? Legs? These aspects can be very symbolic.

• How does it act? (We have already discussed the importance of looking at its behavior. Every bird and animal has something unique and characteristic about its behavior. This is one of the primary clues as to the significance of this totem in your life.)

• How does it fly? (Not only how it flies is important, but where. If it migrates, is it to a specific part of the world. This can tell you much. Remember directions are also symbolic. Sometimes, the place it migrates to can reflect a past life that is affecting you and which you may be drawing upon more within your present life.)

• Where is it from? (Places are just as symbolic as other aspects of the totem. Some birds and animals are actually imports from other countries. If such an animal comes into your life as your totem, it can reflect past-life connections to that area or time. For example, the kingfisher has a mythological link to ancient Greece, and the legend of Halcyone. If this is your totem, it can reflect that there are past-life connections to this time and place in Greece or even that current events and situations in your life have ancient ties to this area.)

• When is it most often seen? (The time of day at which it is most visible and active will tell you when its energies are more likely to become active and be experienced in your own life.)

• What kind of sounds does it make? (When and how sounds are most often made can reflect much about the energy of this totem. Sound is an expression of energy. A crow’s constant “cawing” out is significant.)

• What is its favorite food? (Remember there is always a balance of predator and prey. Its primary food source will often be a totem as well.)

• When does it breed? (Usually the breeding time will also reflect the time in which its archetypal energies are most powerful, fertile, and recognizable.)

• What environment does it live in? (Remember that the kind of environment it lives in will reveal much about the energy coming into your life. Is it forested? Marsh? Open fields? Just where does it live?)

The following dictionary will help you get started. It is not complete by any means. It will simply give you a starting point at beginning to understand the energy and force associated with your totems. If there are myths associated with them, I heartily recommend studying them as well. Myths and tales have long been a source of spiritual insight and they can help you in understanding the spiritual significance of the totem.

The keynote and its cycle of power are guidelines. The keynote is a synthesis of the bird’s energies based upon my own studies and observations. The cycle of power reflects several possibilities. It can indicate the time of the year, month, or day it is most active, or it can reflect its most fertile time, based upon its mating season. In your own, more in-depth studies, you may find that other times are more fertile and powerful. Use those. Remember that these are guidelines, just to get you started.

This list is also not complete. There are many more birds and variations of species than are listed within this text, but this will show you how to begin to read the significance into your own totem. Some birds are listed generically, grouped under common headings. For example, all species of hummingbirds are listed under “Hummingbirds” and the description is based on general characteristics that they all exhibit.

BLACKBIRD

KEYNOTE: Understanding of the Energies of Mother Nature

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer

The blackbird has long been associated with omens and mysticism. Its color, alone, has evoked both fear and promise. Although called a blackbird, only the males are black. Females usually have a streaky, brown plumage.

Not all blackbirds are black. One variety has a yellow head and throat which stands out strongly against the black plumage. The yellow and black coloring has long been associated with the Archangel Auriel. Auriel is considered the tallest of the angels, with eyes that can see across eternity. This being oversees all of nature and all of the nature spirits. Auriel has traditionally been associated with the summer season.

Another variation of the blackbird is the red-winged blackbird. This bird has a red path on its wings, with a dash of yellow as well. These colors connect this bird to the level known as Binah in the Qabalistic Tree of Life. This is the level associated with the Dark Mother and the primal feminine energies. This bird has ties to all of the creative forces of Nature.

On the Tree of Life, black is the color for Binah and red is the color for Geburah (Mars type of energy). Yellow or amber is the color of the path that connects the two, and it is the path of Cancer, the mother sign of the zodiac. The red-winged blackbird is thus a totem associated with the stellar energies of Cancer.

The male red-winged blackbird will lose its luster during the winter. This reflects how the summer is the time of vibrancy and vitality for those with this bird as a totem. It indicates the need to use the winter to go back into the great womb of life in order to be able to bring forth new energy and expressions of energy the following summer.

Blackbirds nest in swamps, marshes, and low brush-usually just a few feet from water. Again this reflects a tie to water, an ancient symbol for the feminine force and for Nature. They often use cattails as perches. A study of the herbal qualities and characteristics of cattail will also provide further insight.

Blackbirds are known for fiercely staking out their own territory, and they will often drive off any other of their kind that are in the vicinity. Because of this, the sight of two blackbirds sitting together is often considered a good omen. In Europe, blackbirds came to be associated with St. Kevin, and one story tells of how they nested in his hand. Again because of this association, to have blackbirds nesting in your environment is usually a beneficial sign. St. Kevin was known as a person of tremendous gentleness and love.

Europeans used to eat blackbirds in a pie, as reflected in the nursery rhyme. Most of the time though, live blackbirds were hidden in empty pie shells to provide amusement at gatherings. If the blackbird has come into your life as a totem, you will open to new surprises and to a new understanding of the forces of Nature as they begin to migrate into your life.

BLUEBIRD

KEYNOTE: Modesty, Unassuming Confidence and Happiness

CYCLE OF POWER: Winter and Summer (changes of seasons)

The bluebird is a native bird of North America. Although once common, they are now quite rare. This often is a reminder that we are born to happiness and fulfillment, but we sometimes get so lost and wrapped up in the everyday events of our lives that our happiness and fulfillment seem rare. When bluebirds show up as a totem, it should first of all remind you to take time to enjoy yourself.

Bluebirds are part of the thrush family, and you may wish to read about thrushes to learn more of the bluebird. The males are entirely blue, while the females are blue only in the wings. Occasionally there will be some warm reddish tones on the chest as well. Pay attention to the colors and where they are located. This will provide some insight.

To the Cherokees, blue is the color of the North, while in many magical traditions, it is the color of the East. The edges of many Jewish prayer shawls were often the color of blue. Blue is associated with the throat chakra and creative expression. Blue is symbolic, so ask yourself what blue means to you personally. The idea of the bluebird being symbolic of happiness is fairly recent. This concept has developed more within this century than any other time. As far as I have been able to discover, the bluebird did not play any major role in Indian myths or tales.

This bird always has a plaintive song and a modest, unassuming appearance. Its shoulders are hunched up when perched, giving an impression as if ready to dive. This can be symbolic of a need to work hard and play hard. Are you trying to shoulder too much responsibility?

To the Pueblo, bluebirds are considered winter birds because they descend to the lowlands with the snow and cold during that season. This transition from winter to summer is dramatic in the area of the western home of the Pueblo. It is a transition from great coldness to summer heat.

This is symbolic of a passage, a time of movement into another level of being. Specifically, it is connected to the transformation of a girl into a woman, and thus the bluebird is also sometimes connected to puberty rites.20 This, of course, has connection to human fertility and a new confidence and happiness in coming into your own.

Other Pueblo rites revolved around the use of bluebird feathers as prayer sticks. They were considered beneficial for snow and ice, and for bringing the summer rainy season. There are also rites in the Pueblo tradition that tie them to the fertility of the land.

Bluebirds are gentle and unaggressive. They do not push or bully other birds, but they are very scrappy when threatened. They have been known to put to flight jays and even larger birds. Their homes usually have an entrance facing South, the direction for awakening the inner child. If a bluebird has come into your life, look for opportunities to touch the joyful and intrinsically native aspects of yourself that you may have lost touch with.

BLUE JAY

KEYNOTE: The Proper Use of Power

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The blue jay has long been thought of as a bully and a robber, and although it can have those tendencies, it has other qualities that make it stand out positively. 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.

The word “jay” comes from the Latin “gaia” or “gaea” which has associations to Mother Earth. In Greek mythology, the union of Mother Earth (Gaea) and Father Heaven (Uranus) resulted in the first creatures who had the appearance of life. This reflects much about the intrinsic power associated with the jay. 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 main problem will be in dabbling in both worlds, rather than becoming a true master of both. Those with a jay as a totem usually have a tremendous amount of ability, but it can be scattered or it is often not developed any more than is necessary to get by. It is not unusual to find individuals with blue jays as totems being dabblers-especially in the psychic and metaphysical field. They know a little bit about a lot of things, and they use that knowledge sometimes to give the impression they know more, or that they are true masters.

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.

The blue jay is an excellent mimic, with a sharp eye and voice. It especially has a wonderful knack for imitating red-shouldered hawks. Old-time naturalists were convinced that the blue jay derived pleasure from this activity. As with all members of its family, this sense of seeking pleasure-often at the expense of others- can reflect an imbalance. Sometimes jays show up when this is occurring in your own life.

Blue jays have a tremendous ability for survival with the least amount of effort. They reflect great talent, but that talent must be developed and utilized properly. 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 simply be a pretender to the throne. It all depends upon you. The jay has no qualms. It will teach you either direction.

CANARY

KEYNOTE: Power of Song and Voice

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The canary is not native to America. It originally came from what we now call the Canary Islands (Insulae Canariae). It is a member of the finch family, and a study of the basic qualities of the finch family should be studied as well.

Originally canaries were a dull, olive green or a greenish yellow, streaked with black and yellow, but centuries of breeding have produced the completely yellow canary. This breeding also improved its singing voice.

In Germany there was a center for breeding canaries and for training them to sing. Those involved were the people of Hartz Mountain. This is one of the most familiar brand names for many pet products today-especially bird supplies. This links the canaries and those with it as a totem to the ancient schools of the meistersingers. Minstrel brotherhoods existed in Europe during the Middle Ages. One was the Strasburg Brotherhood of the Crown, and another was formed by St. Nicholas of Vienna in 1288. In Germany, specifically, there existed a guild of meistersingers at Nuremburg. This schooling was to teach the power of sound, music, and voice-physical and spiritual. It was part of the bardic tradition as we now know it today.21

Those who have a canary as a totem may have past-life connections to this guild. It can also reflect that you are going to learn more about the mysteries of sound, music, and voice to heal and bless your life and that of others.

The power of your own voice is going to be awakened. This doesn’t necessarily indicate musical training. Sound, whether spoken or sung, is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. With it you can heal, enlighten, excite, stimulate, awaken intuition, and manifest joy. When the canary shows up as a totem, it is time to ask yourself what song you have been singing. Are there sour notes echoing within your life? Where are they coming from? You may find that those things you say more lovingly will be felt more lovingly. Those things you say more sharply will cut more deeply. What you say is going to have a much greater impact, as the canary awakens the power of sound, music, and voice in you.

Canaries usually reflect an awakening and stimulation of the throat and heart centers of the body. This gives increased ability to feel and to express feelings. Learning to use your voice to bring sunshine into the lives of others will be part of the process.

Canaries used to be taken into coal mines to detect gases. They were so sensitive that if there were gases present, they would soon die. Again, this reflects connections to heightened sensitivity of the throat and heart centers or chakras of the body. It also can reflect that you will need to be careful as to the kind of atmosphere you create with your words, as well as what you expose yourself to in others.

Fresh air is essential to the song of the canary, and it will become increasing so for you as well. Observe the atmospheres you expose yourself to. With time and practice you will find your life begins to take on new tones, and the sour notes are eliminated.

CARDINAL

KEYNOTE: Renewed Vitality through Recognizing Self-Importance

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round (often with a rhythm of 12-hours, days, months, years)

The Cardinal

The cardinal’s presence reflects a time to renew our vitality. It reflects lessons in developing and accepting a new sense of our own true self-importance.

Most people have no trouble recognizing these redbirds. They also are part of the finch family, and a general study of finches is beneficial for those with this totem. Unlike many other birds, they are usually year-round residents, and their influence and the archetypal energies associated with them can be accessed all year long. They remind us that regardless of the time of day or year, we always have opportunity to renew our own vitality and recognize the importance of our own life roles.

The cardinal has a loud and clear whistle. Whistles are often reminders to listen closely-to pay attention to what is blowing on the winds. In the case of the cardinal, the female joins in on the whistling, which is unusual among birds. This reflects that we should be listening to the inner voice (the feminine) more closely for our own health and well-being. Since most female birds usually are quiet and camouflaged, a cardinal totem almost always reflects a need to assert the feminine aspects of creativity and intuition more strongly.

All cardinals are beneficial and friendly. They eat many weed seeds and injurious insects. The seventeen-year locust (cicada) is one of these. Cardinals can reflect a need to be more careful about your diet, that what you are eating may be injurious to yourself and affecting your overall vitality.

Cardinals lay three to four eggs, and they hatch in about twelve days. This, along with it being a 12-month resident, reflects the rhythm of twelve that is going to become more prominent within your own life.

The male cardinal makes a good parent, and often shares with the female the task of egg incubation. The male, though, will always feed the female while she is in the nest, and the baby cardinals as well. Although the male normally has the brighter color, when it shares the task of incubation, its colors remain much the same as the females, all for the sake of camouflage. This often reflects lessons associated with responsibility and the recognition of the importance of the task at hand.

The males usually have a bright head, although their coloring will often be duller on the back and wings. The bright-colored crest is a warning to rivals, while the duller colors can help shield it.

These birds are named for the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, with their bright red robes. If it is your totem, it may reflect past-life connections with the church, or even a reviving of more traditional religious beliefs, regardless of denomination.

Cardinals brighten the environment. They catch the eye and add color to our lives. When they appear as a totem, they do so to remind us to become like them. Add color to your life, and remember that everything you do is of importance.

CATBIRD

KEYNOTE: Language and Communication

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Early Summer

This dark, slate-gray bird with the black cap is named because of the catlike sound it makes. This bird is a talented and tireless singer with the capability of making a variety of sounds. Its ability along this line, especially in its catlike mewing, hints at a facility with foreign languages.

Those to whom the catbird appears as a totem will find that some new form of communication is going to be learned. This may have to do with the actual learning of another language, although a facility with foreign languages is usually what mockingbirds can teach most effectively. The catbird may simply reflect being able to read people more easily.

The catbird is a bit of a busybody. Its presence should caution you to be extra careful about what you say and to whom. Things will have a greater potential of being made public or being distorted. Its presence can hint at others being overly inquisitive about your own affairs or that you are being so about others. The catbird usually has two broods in its season. It is also a migratory bird. Its presence can indicate a brief but very fertile period in your life while it is within your environment.

The presence of a catbird as a totem indicates you will be encountering a wider range of people than you are normally in contact with. The catbird usually takes up residence in the vicinity of humans and their homes. With the catbird as a totem, look for new people coming into your life that will teach you lessons in your ability to communicate.

CHICKADEE

KEYNOTE: Cheerful and Truthful Expression

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

The chickadee is part of the titmouse family. “Tit” is a folksy 14th-century English name for anything little. The “mouse” part of titmouse comes from “mose,” a general name that was applied to any small, dull-colored bird in that same period. It is known for its cheery call, and to many people its mating song is the first true sign of spring.

The chickadee usually has a black cap on its head. Many birds have caps, and this has great significance. Anything associated with the head has applications to the thinking process, higher mind, and higher perceptions. Black is associated with mystery, the feminine, and the great womb of life. As to the color of the cap, it reflects that the chickadee can help you with the uncovering of mysteries of the mind. It can awaken understanding and higher truth. It can help you to perceive more clearly in the dark.

To the Cherokee Indians, the chickadee is the bird of truth. It helps us to pinpoint truth and knowledge. One tale speaks of a witch by the name of Spearfinger who terrorized the entire tribe. She would wait in hiding to kill any passer-by. After killing them, she would stab the liver of the individual with her spearfinger and eat it. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the witch as she was made mostly of stone. Then a chickadee landed on her, showing the tribe warriors exactly where she was vulnerable to attack.

Chickadees usually travel in groups, reflecting a cheerful sociableness about them. For such a small bird, it is also fearless, with no qualms of taking on larger birds that may threaten it.

There are seven kinds of chickadees and this is most significant to those with this totem. Seven has an ancient mysticism associated with it throughout the world. It is a sacred number. It is a symbol of the individual rising from the material plane of life, as depicted in the ancient image of the triangle (3) upon the square (4). It has association with the seven rays of power, the seven major planets, the seven bodies of the human being, and the seven chakra centers.

It is this last correspondence that is reflected most strongly with the chickadee. When the seven chakras or energy centers of humans are balanced, there is a greater realization of truth in the world around us. It also enables us to express the truth more joyfully within our life. Some people say, “The truth hurts.” Those who have a chickadee as a totem will learn to express the truth in a manner that heals, balances, and opens the perceptions. Truth is shared in a manner that adds cheer and joy to your own life and the lives of others.

CHICKEN

KEYNOTE: Fertility and Sacrifice

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round, Daybreak

The chicken is one of the first birds ever to be domesticated, and even though it is a domesticated bird, it still has a great deal of symbolism and significance to it. The word “chicken” comes from the Anglo-saxon word “cicen,” referring to a young domestic fowl. It is a descendent of pheasants or galliformes (fowl-shaped birds). Examining the significance of wild pheasants may provide even further insight.

Because of their egg-laying ability, chickens are always associated with fertility. The feathers of chickens were used to stuff bedding, the primary place of sexual activity. They have also been, throughout history, a common animal used in sacrificial rites. This explains only partially half of its keynote. Sacrifice has ties to the ancient mystery of sexuality. In the fertilization process, the male seed is sacrificed to impregnate the female egg. Because ejaculation occurs outside of the body, it has correspondences to an act of sacrifice. Even in Shakespearean times this was common knowledge. The word “die” in many of his plays had a slangy, punnish double meaning that corresponded to orgasm or ejaculation. This was known to the common folk audiences of that time.

Forms of divination surrounded the use of eggs and chickens. It was considered unlucky if a hen laid an even number of eggs. Eggs laid on Good Friday were an assurance of fertility in all areas of your life. Deities were invoked through the simple act of throwing grains to chickens. If the chickens were listless in their eating, then it indicated that the gods must be angry.

COCK

KEYNOTE: Sexuality, Watchfulness and Resurrection

CYCLE OF POWER: Daybreak

The cock or rooster has a long history of symbolism associated with it. Its primary symbolism is that of sexuality, because one rooster will fertilize and serve an entire brood of hens. Because of its early morning crowing, it is often considered a solar symbol. Every morning the sun resurrects itself, and the cock heralds this resurrection. It is because of this same activity that it is considered the enemy of ghosts and evil spirits which roam free at night and are bound during the day. Another reason for its association with resurrection is the old tale of how a cock heralded Christ’s birth.

The cock is extremely vigilant in its activities with the hens in its yard. It is very active, moving often among them, and many believe that this is a reminder to be vigilant in keeping things of the spirit first. This was reflected in Biblical scripture when the cock crowed after Peter denied Jesus three times. This idea of spiritual vigilance was expanded upon in the 4th century as the belief arose that a cock would sing out when Judgment day arrived.

A cock as a totem may even reflect past lives associated with early Christianity, or it may even go back further to ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, the cock is associated with a story of love between Ares and Aphrodite. In this story Ares commissions Alektraon (cock) to keep watch over Aphrodite. It was also a symbol for Cadmillu in the Samothracian mysteries.

To the early gnostics, the cock was a major form of the god Abraxas. Abraxas was lithe rooster-headed god with serpent feet, in whom light and darkness are both united and transcended.”22 The cock will always be a totem of great power and mystery. It has ties to the ancient past and clues to your own powers in the future.

The rooster is also one of the twelve signs of the zodiac in traditional Chinese Astrology. It is a sign of enthusiasm and humor. Roosters are considered very eccentric and colorful, but they do have a direct approach to life. If the rooster is your totem, it may be telling you the same thing, or it may have shown up to teach you how to be more direct. A rooster can stimulate a new sense of optimism, and it will help you to come to terms with your own wonderful eccentricities.

COWBIRD

KEYNOTE: Parent and Child Relationships

CYCLE OF POWER: No Specific Period

The cowbird is one of the smallest of blackbirds, but it is not entirely black. It is black with a rich brown head. This combination of colors can serve as a reminder to keep ourselves grounded and take care of responsibilities.

The cowbird is often thought of as a cruel bird because it has a habit of depositing its eggs in the nests of another bird. Its favorite victims are warblers, sparrows, and robins. It then departs, leaving the egg to be hatched and reared by the real owner of the nest. The cowbird hatchling will usually be the biggest bird in the nest and soon overwhelms the others; therefore it is often reared at the cost of the whole brood.

This activity has great significance for those with this totem. It can reflect a time of resolving old childhood issues of abandonment. It can reflect a time of renewed opportunity for new parenthood. The appearance of the cowbird can also reflect that you may be doting on or interfering too much in the lives of your children. They may also reflect that you are not paying enough attention- or enough of the proper attention. If cowbirds are making themselves known to you, examine the expression of balanced responsibility in parent and child relationships.

I have also encountered a number of adopted individuals who have had cowbirds show up as totems about the time they begin the search for their biological parents. Cowbirds can help in resolving many issues surrounding adoption.

CRANE

KEYNOTE: Longevity and Creation through Focus

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round-During Daylight

The crane was a powerful symbol to the ancient Chinese. It is a symbol of justice and longevity, and it is one of many solar symbols. The crane is a bird of the waters, and so is one that will often help teach you how to express your own feminine energies.

The whooping crane, since the early part of this century, has been a symbol of the wildlife conservation movement. At one point, due to overhunting, they almost became extinct. If the crane has shown up in your life as a totem, it could very well reflect that you are about to recover what had almost become extinct within you.

Most photos of cranes only reveal the adult birds. This is partly due to the fact that the young are very scarce and also because the parents are highly secretive in rearing their vulnerable young. This can reflect a new sense of protectiveness, or even a need for secrecy in regard to something new you have given birth to or are about to give birth to.

Although the crane lays two eggs but usually only raises one, it will also reflect the importance of not dividing your attention-especially in rearing your children, be they your actual children or symbolic children, as in the case of special projects. Women who have cranes as totems do better to stay at home with the children rather than to divide their time between work and motherhood. If this is impossible, as is often the case in today’s world, the crane can teach you how best to accomplish both.

The crane can also provide possible clues to past life experiences. “In China it is ‘The patriarch of the Feathered Tribe’ and in Japan it is ‘Honorable Lord Crane’. It is usually depicted with the sun and the pine trees in oriental art. In direct contrast, in Celtic mythology, it is sacred to the king of the underworld and heralds war and death.”23

One of the most remarkable aspects of this bird is its loud whooping sound. Its haunting tone is reminiscent of a primal celebration over birth. The crane can teach you how to celebrate your creative resources and keep them alive, regardless of the conditions in which they are manifest, both by simply having the proper focus in your life.

CROW

KEYNOTE: The Secret Magic of Creation is Calling

CYCLE OF POWER: All Day-All Year

My grandfather once told me that the crow was the smartest of all birds. What’s more, it even knew it was the smartest of birds and enjoyed it to the fullest. In fact, it was so smart that it chose to stay a crow, rather than move on to some other area of evolution. It has a unique ability to outwit most birds, animals, and even humans at times, and they make for themselves a wonderful living. It can be thought of as another being who felt it was better to rule in hell than serve in heaven. Crows seem to have mastered it well.

Crows intrigue us and they aggravate us. They and their other family member, the raven, have a great mysticism and mythology about them. There are actually five species of crows, one of which is the raven. Because they are of the same family (the only real difference being in size) it would be beneficial for those with crow as a totem to also study the qualities and mystical aspects of the raven.

The first noticeable characteristic about this bird is its striking black color. Sometimes it will have hints of deep blue and purple on the feathers as well. Black is the color of creation. It is the womb out of which the new is born. It is also the color of the night. Black is the maternal color and thus the black night gives birth to a new day. Although the crow is a diurnal or daytime bird, it reminds us that magic and creation are potentials very much alive during the day. The crow, because of its color, was a common symbol in medieval alchemy. It represented “nigredo,” the initial state of substance-unformed but full of potential.

In Roman mythology raven and crows used to be as white as swans. In fact a white crow watched over Apollo’s pregnant lover at Delphos. One day the crow brought bad news to Apollo and was turned black.

This connection to watchfulness is still strong today. Crows always have a sentinel posted. They build their nests high in the treetops so that they can see the entire area in which they are living and feeding. Occasionally crows have been seen attacking and killing one of their own. There arose an old belief that the crow being attacked was a sentinel who failed. It may also be a reminder of what can happen if we are not watching for magic and creation every day.

Watchfulness warns other crows and other animals of intruders and threats-human and animal. They have been observed raising a ruckus when hunters are around, warning deer and other birds. They recognize possible dangers and they always post lookouts when feeding-their most vulnerable time. This ability to warn is connected to the crow’s second, most-noticeable characteristic- its voice. The crow is actually a member of the songbird family because of its voice box structure. Although few think of the crow as a songbird, there have been many claims (unsubstantiated) over the years that when it is alone, it will sing in a soft musical voice.

Crows have a complex language. They have a remarkable voice range, but they actually do not sing. They can caw in many different ways, each with its own meaning. Learning to understand the language of crows is something we all can do with practice. Although it has a tongue, it does not use the tongue to make any sounds. Pliny once wrote that if the tongue of a crow were split, it would learn to speak like humans. This, of course, was not true. All that would happen is that the crow bleeds to death. The cawing out of the crow should remind us that magic and creation are cawing out to us every day.

The great horned owl is probably the most deadly enemy of the crow. If an owl comes into the area of a crow it will mob the owl and chase it off. Crows know that if the owl discovers its nests, the night could bring death. Many crows have lost their life to the silent night hunts of owls.

The crow has great intelligence. It is adaptable to its environment. It will eat almost anything. Part of their ability to survive is their being omnivorous. They have a unique ability to communicate with each other and to work together. Their ability for watching and their intelligence has given them a reputation for thievery. They will rob food from other birds or whatever source is around including human food supplies.

Crows and all corvines are easily imprinted with the image of their keeper. Those who have had crows as pets have found them extremely trainable, with an ability to count and develop a complex communication with their owner. And yet in the wild, even though they are constantly seen and heard, it is hard to get near them. Again I have found that it reflects for most people little awareness or realization of the magic necessary to create or recreate their life.

The courtship and mating procedures also reflect much about the crow’s association with magic. The male crow sets out to make itself as handsome as possible, and it is during this time that its voice takes on a singing quality. (Love makes the whole world sing.) The male and female build the nest together. The nest is built high up for protection and it is kept very clean. Even young crows do not foul their own nest. A little meditation on this will reveal much about health, home and respect.

Crows have a great mythology about them. This can reflect not only past-life connections to those times and cultures but it also reflects some of the archetypal forces that it can connect with us. As with many animals, crows also have been known to predict tornadoes, rain, and other changes in weather by the way they fly. Working with crows can help you to see how the winds are going to blow into your life and how to adjust your own life flights. Crows have long been considered magical, and my grandfather once told me how even finding a dead crow was a sign of good luck.

We have spoken of crows and their link to Greek/Roman mythology, but they have appeared in others as well. In China a three-legged sun crow was worshiped. It was a symbol of solitude. To the Athapaskan Indians of Alaska, a crow (in the form of raven) was the creator of the world. To the Celts, the crow was also associated with creation. In Biblical lore, the prophet Elijah was fed by ravens and crows while hiding in the wilderness. In the Norse tradition, the god Odin had two ravens who were his messengers.

Wherever crows are, there is magic. They are symbols of creation and spiritual strength. They remind us to look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life. They are messengers calling to us about the creation and magic that is alive within our world everyday and available to us.

CUCKOO

KEYNOTE: Heralding of New Fate

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

In every European language, the name of this bird was chosen because of the sound it makes. Its call is the spring mating song of the male. As you will see, its song has always been associated with a heralding of new fate.

On yet another level, its song indicates that you should hone your listening skills. There will be things unsaid by those around you that, if you listen, you will learn about them. Listen to what is not being said. Trust your hearing.

The cuckoo is a relative of the road runner, and you may wish to study it to find even more connections to your own life. A study of the colors of the cuckoo that has come into your life will also provide insight into the role or the new fate about to unfold. Usually it is the color of the bill that stands out most strongly. The bill is usually either yellow or black. It reflects how your own communications should be. If it is a black-billed cuckoo, you may want to be extra cautious about what you say and to whom. If it is a yellow, it may reflect a time of sharing knowledge that is about to approach.

The cuckoo no longer builds its own nest. In Europe, the cuckoo acts much like the cowbird in that it will lay its eggs in the nests of other birds. It will usually choose a nest with eggs that match its own in color. The American cuckoo does not do this. Anytime a cuckoo shows up, though, it will reflect a change in home or family. Something new will be heralded within that environment.

The cuckoo is one of the few birds that will touch the fuzzy /hairy caterpillar. It is not bothered by the outer covering. For those with this totem, this reflects opportunity to develop the ability to assimilate that which could not before. It can reflect less sensitivity to others, and an increased ability to get beneath the surface. It reflects opportunities to experience the real person-regardless of outer appearances.

The cuckoo will also eat the very destructive tent caterpillars. It thus can often reflect lessons associated with eliminating what has been eating at us, so that we can experience new life. It can reflect a time of eliminating the negative in our life, again heralding a new spring-if only symbolically.

The cuckoo is a slow and deliberate bird. It has a gracefully curved bill and a unique arrangement of toes on its feet. It has two toes in front and two in back. It provides balance and stability. Together these qualities reflect a need not to look for the quick and the easy. It reflects a new spring arising, but to move with its energies slowly and deliberately. The cuckoo is a bird that can teach us how to allow the flow of life and all of its rhythms to unfold easily and gracefully. It teaches how not to suffer in our growth. By approaching life slowly and deliberately, everything unfolds in the time, manner, and means most beneficial for us.

The cuckoo has long been a symbol of new fate and conditions within the lives of humans. Most of the old beliefs center around its song and when it is heard. It was considered good luck to have money on you when its first call of the spring is heard. It is still believed by many that if you make a wish on its song it will be fulfilled. Whatever you are doing when you first hear its song, you should do frequently throughout the year for good luck. The call was considered a sign that activity would be beneficial to you. For single people, the number of calls or notes would often indicate the number of years the person would be unmarried or have to wait to be married.

If the cuckoo sound came from the right, it could reflect good luck, but if it came from the left, many believed it indicated an ill fate. Even today, especially in Europe, many believe you can predict rain accurately by its call. At one time it was even called the “rain crow.”

In Sweden, the direction from which it was heard would reflect specifically the kind of fate that would likely ensue. If the cuckoo was heard in the north, it would indicate sorrow. If heard in the East, it would reflect consolation. If it came from the south, death, and from the west, good luck.

Usually if a bird or animal has this much folklore and mythology about it, it is worth examining. It usually reflects dynamic archetypal energies, that even if not fully understood, are definitely felt. Working with the cuckoo can help you to use it and its song to help you understand what new fate is coming into your life. It is a bird that can teach the gift of intuitive heraldry.

DOVES

KEYNOTE: Feminine Energies of Peace, Maternity, and Prophecy

CYCLE OF POWER: Dawn and Dusk

The dove has a tremendous wealth of lore and legend surrounding it. Most of it centers around all of the traditional feminine and mother symbols. In the Greek tradition, Aphrodite was born from an egg brooded by a dove. The Oracles of Dodona which Alexander sought were founded by a dove. To the Slavs, the soul would become a dove at death. To the alchemist, it was a symbol of sublimation. To the Christians, it is a symbol of peace, while to early pagans it was a symbol for the yoni or female sexual organs. It has been associated with female sexuality through such goddesses as Astarte and Isis. Because of its association with many goddesses, it was considered the embodiment of the maternal instinct. “The name dove has been given to oracles and to prophets . .. The prophet sent to Ninevah as God’s messenger was called Jonah or the Dove ...”24

To the Pueblo Indians it was also honored. Its feathers were often worn and used in prayer sticks. The mournful song of the dove was considered an invocation to water and an indication to men where the water could be found. (Again we have the ancient symbol for the maternal in the connection to water.) Its song would signify waterholes or springs to which the dove must return at dusk to drink.

The song of the dove speaks to all who hear it. Its mournful tones stir the emotions, the internal waters. During the summers, as a child, I loved being up before others had arisen. I remember stepping out the front door, the morning sun soft, and from the woods surrounding the house would come the sweet-sad song of the mourning dove. It always seemed to stir a sense of promise.

The dove is actually a smaller copy of the now-extinct passenger pigeon. A study of its qualities will help you in understanding the significance of the dove in your own life.

The dove is also a ground feeder, reflective of keeping contact with Mother Earth and the creative possibilities of the feminine energies on earth. Its diet is mostly seeds, but it will eat stones that accumulate in the gizzard to help with digestion. Those with a dove as a totem will find it beneficial that they eat bulk to aid their own digestive and creative processes.

The brood of the dove consists of two eggs. Two is a traditional number for the feminine and creative energies. A study of numerology, as applied to doves, will add even more insight for you.

The dove’s song is its most distinctive characteristic. The voice of the dove is the rain song. Out of its mourning, it invokes new waters of life. Its song should remind us that no matter what our life conditions, new waters and new life are still possible. The Earth is a female planet, and this should remind us that creation and new birth is available to all of us upon it. The mourning dove helps us to remember that.

Although its song is heard throughout the day, it seems more distinct at dawn and dusk. These are the “Between Times”-a time in which there is a thinning of the veils between the physical and the spiritual, the past and the future. The dove can help you to use these times to see the creation process active within your own life.

The song of this totem tells you to mourn what has passed, but awaken to the promise of the future. It is a bird of prophecy and can help you to see what you can give birth to in your life.

DUCKS

KEYNOTE: Emotional Comfort and Protection

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Summer

The duck is probably the most common waterfowl. Because of its connection to water, it is linked to the feminine energies, the astral plane, and to the emotional state of humans. Water is necessary for all life on earth. Nothing can live without it. Ducks can remind us to drink of the waters of life as well as to nurture our own emotional natures.

All breeds of ducks swim. Some can dive as deep as 100 feet. Others eat by dipping under the water, reminding us we can find sustenance in our emotions. All ducks live near or on the water, except the wood duck. On land they do not move as well. For those with a duck as a totem it may reflect an inability to feel comfortable with most people in your life. It may reflect a need to find comfort in your own element and with those of life mind and spirit. Ducks can remind us that we are going to have such an opportunity.

Ducks have played important roles in other countries and cultures, and this may reflect past-life connections. The Egyptians were the first to domesticate ducks. The Chinese pioneered the art of duck raising. These are but two simple examples that could be explored.

The colors of the duck can help you in determining specifically the role it will play in your life. Most ducks are a variety of colors, ranging from white to the rich blue-green iridescence of mallards and wood ducks.

The Wood Duck

Wood ducks are unique among all ducks in that they can climb trees and actually will live in them. As with all ducks though, they can help us connect with the archetypal energies that can help us develop a greater sense of emotional comfort and protection in our lives.

The mallard is one of the most prolific ducks. It is probably good that it is so because it is also one of the most widely hunted. They can be very amiable and display a wide variety of emotions. They are also easily imprinted. For several years I participated in an adopt-a-duck program run by the Dayton Museum of Natural History every Easter. The mallards would be raised until old enough to be released into the wild to help repopulate certain areas.

They would follow me around the house and yard. I was, to all purposes, their father and mother. They have a great ability to show affection, and they are very community oriented. They like having others around. They will also return to wherever they feel safe and comfortable. Ducks can sometimes remind us to return to those parts of ourself or those activities that we feel safe and comfortable in as well.

During the summer, most male mallards go through an “eclipse” phase-a period in which they are flightless. During this time, they wear the drab plumage of the female for extra protection in the rearing of the young. Even the young take to the water easily, and it reminds us not to close off our emotional sides. We should be as willing to explore our emotions as every other aspect of our life.

The wood duck is also a colored wild duck. It has an iridescence to its feathers that reflects a kind of spirituality that will open up to you as you begin to come into your own element. Wood ducks all perch in trees to some extent, and they have toes on their webbed feet to help them in climbing. The wood ducks nest in hollow branches and large woodpecker-type holes above and away from the water.

How the young get out of the nest and into the water is difficult to say, although it is generally accepted that ducklings can and do jump down from the trees alone. Wood ducks, in general, have many intriguing habits-more than can be covered in this work. As you study them, you will find ways of applying their habits to your own life.

All ducks have a grace upon water, and as a totem they can help you to handle your own emotions with greater grace and comfort. They serve to teach you how to maneuver through various waters of life. Many psychologist and therapists could do no better than to have a duck as a totem to assist them in helping others move through their emotional tangles.

EAGLES

KEYNOTE: Illumination of Spirit, Healing, and Creation

CYCLE OF POWER: All Seasons and during Daylight

The eagle is one of the greatest and most admired birds of prey. It has served as inspiration to many societies. Their ability to soar and hunt amazes and thrills those who are witness. Eagles, in fact, are so good at getting food they spend very little time hunting. The fact that they are good at feeding themselves from the land and still soar to great heights in the sky reflects much about the hidden significance of the eagle who comes as a totem. They will teach a balance of being of the Earth but not in it.

Every society which has had contact with eagles has developed a mythology and/ or mysticism about them. In the ancient Aztec tradition, the chief god told the people to settle at a place where they find an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake. This place would become Mexico City.

The eagle was sacred to Zeus, who often changed into the form of an eagle to help himself control thunder and lightning. The Sumerians worshiped an eagle god, and the Hittites used a doubleheaded eagle as a symbolic emblem so they would never be surprised. The eagle has also been associated with Jupiter, and it was a strong emblem for the Roman Empire. In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the eagle is a symbol for the vowel “A”; and also a symbol for the soul, the spirit, and the warmth of life. In early Christian mysticism, the eagle was a symbol of resurrection.

The Thunderbird, to the Native Americans, is most often depicted in the form of an eagle. This was the great spirit who controlled lightning and rain, punishment and reward. To the Plains Cree all eagles had mystical power, and these powers could be shared by anyone who possessed part of the bird.

To the Pueblo Indians the eagle was a bird of the sky with the ability to spiral upward until it passed through a hole in the sky to the home of the sun. It was associated with all the energies of the sun-physical and spiritual. The Pueblo Indians honored six directions-north, south, east, west, zenith (above), and nadir (below). The eagle was the symbol of the zenith because of its ability to soar to great heights. From these heights it could survey all four directions. They became symbols of greater sight and perception.

To the Hopis, the golden and the bald eagles were the greatest of all the birds of the sky, but these are the only two eagles that live upon our continent. Some groups of Hopis also included the red-tailed hawk as an eagle, referring to it as the Red Eagle.

There are 59 species of eagle, and they are often divided into one of four categories: (1) Fish and Sea eagles, (2) Snake eagles, (3) Harpy or Giant Forested Eagles and (4) Booted Eagles; but there is always a great deal of variety within these four groups. When it comes to coloring and feather patterns, every eagle is unique and beautiful in its own way.

The Bald Eagle

Long a symbol of spiritual power and illumination, eagles inspire people of all societies. Their energy is healing and aids in creation.

Fish and sea eagles are those who live primarily upon a diet from the sea (fishes, etc.). Upon the North American continent, the bald eagle is part of this category. Those who have a bald eagle as a totem need to look at the symbolic associations of water. Water and fish are often symbolic of the psychic aspects of life and the creative energies. Water is also an area that separates land from the heavens. Thus a bird of the water, such as a fish or sea eagle, reflects an awakening ability or need to learn to walk between worlds.

Water is the creative source of life, and living near natural water sources may be important to the health of those who have a bald eagle as a totem. An eagle hunting in the waters must be able to penetrate the waters, grasp what it requires and then rise out of them. All this reflects increased ability and need to learn to work with emotions, psychism, and all aspects of spirituality with greater control. It reflects teachings about true mediatorship being able to enter and exit the more ethereal realms at will.

Snake eagles often have crests of feathers upon their head. Their toes are short and strong to enable them to grasp and hold onto wiggling snakes. Those who have a snake eagle as a totem would do well to study the section on snakes within this text. The snake eagles swallow the snakes whole, reflecting the swallowing and digesting of higher wisdom-the serpent knowledge.

The Harpy Eagles are the largest and most powerful. None of these are found upon our continent. They have huge claws that can be used for grabbing larger prey, including deer. An examination of the particular food preference of the individual harpy eagle will provide further insight.

The other type of eagle found upon this continent is the golden eagle. It is part of the Booted Eagle group. Booted eagles, in general, usually have a majestic mantle of feathers on their head and neck, and their legs have a heavy covering of feathers so that they look as if they are wearing boots.

The two that are most important to those upon this continent are the bald eagle and the golden. The bald eagle is larger than the golden, but it cannot fly as high nor is it considered as graceful. The bald eagle is often a symbol of the feminine, while the golden symbolizes the masculine. The white feathers of the bald eagle especially are often treasured as they are links to Grandmother Medicinetremendous wisdom, healing, and creation.

The feathers of eagles are sacred to the Native Americans, and since the eagle is protected by the United States government, it is a felony for anyone to possess such who is not of Native American blood. The feathers, though, are used in powerful healing ceremonies (cleansing the aura) and even for shapeshifting. White and black tipped feathers were often used on the masks of the Pueblo Indians to give the appearance of white and black clouds. Again we see the ancient connection to the mysteries of the sky and all of its phenomena.

Both the bald and the golden eagle have come to symbolize heroic nobility and divine spirit. These eagles are the messengers from heaven and are the embodiment of the spirit of the sun.

They are also symbols of the rediscovery of the inner child. There once was a belief that as old age approached, the eagle’s eye would grow dim, and the eagle would then fly so near the sun that it would become scorched. It would then seek out a pure water source and dip itself three times into the clear water and its youth would be destroyed.

This reflects much from a mystical point of view. It hints of resurrection, but it also hints of alchemy. The fire of the sun and the clear water are opposite elements brought into harmony in a manner that elicits a change. It reflects several needs for those with an eagle totem:

1. There must be involvement with creativity. Three is the number of new birth and creativity.

2. A willingness to experience extremes in a controlled condition and thus facilitate the alchemical process within your life.

3. A willingness to use your passions to purify (flying into the sun) and to use your abilities even if it means being scorched a little.

4. A willingness to seek out the true emotional aspects of oneself and immerse yourself within them, and by doing so rediscover the lost child and awaken a higher sense of purity, passion, creativity, healing, and spirituality.

An examination of the individual characteristics and behaviors of the eagle will reveal even more of the medicine and power attunement will bring to you.

The feet of the eagle have four toes. Four is a traditional symbol for keeping oneself grounded and laying a solid foundation for oneself. Even with the eagle’s magnificent ability to fly, it stays connected to the earth. The talons of the eagle are meant to grasp and to hunt. This reflects the need to stay connected to grasp and utilize the things of the earth. Without an ability to grasp powerfully and utilize what it grasps, it will not survive.

The sharp beak is designed to cut, tear, and crush. Eagle has strong jaw muscles. The jaw is important to digestion and speech with humans, but there is a difference with eagles. Although vocally the eagle is weak, its jaws are one of its most powerful muscles. For those with eagle totems, it will be important to know when to speak, how much, and how strongly. It will be important to remember that unless this is controlled, it will be very easy to inadvertently hurt someone with words (cutting, tearing, and crushing).

For those with eagle totems, new vision will open. This vision will be far reaching to the past, within the present and to the future as well. The eyes of the eagle are set closer to the front of the head, and they have a 3-D or binocular vision, just like humans. They can see forward and sideways, and their vision is eight times greater than humans. Meditation on the number 8, especially its figure (or the symbol of infinity) will reveal much about the kind of vision that eagle can awaken.

The ears of the eagle are not visible, but it hears very well. It can hunt as much by ear as by sight. To those to whom eagle comes, the ability to hear-spiritually and physically-will also increase. Many eagles mate for life. The male will collect the material for the nests, but the female will be the architect. These roles should be considered by anyone working with eagle medicine. The nests are always large and built high up for safety. Although the roles in the construction of the nests are separate, the task of feeding the young is shared by both, teaching the lesson of cooperative responsibility.

The mating ritual of the bald eagle is one of its most mystical and intriguing aspects. A powerful form of sky dancing occurs. The birds soar, loop, and plunge into deep dives. At a certain point, they grab each other’s feet and lock talons, rolling and falling, until the mating is completed. Then they separate and soar upwards to repeat the process over and over again. This reflects some of the mystical joy, danger, excitement, and power of the sexual energy experienced by those with eagle medicine. It can open them to new heights and thrills.

The eagle is a true predator, and as with all predators, it helps to keep the world in balance. Predators capture the weak and the sick, helping to keep the natural world healthy by preventing the spread of disease. This healing role is one that will awaken in many forms for those working with eagle totems.

They have a powerful sense of energy conservation in their hunting. They will often perch and wait, biding their time through joyful soaring and aerial acrobatics- all the time using their great vision to let them know when to take flight and capture their prey. This sense of confident energy conservation will be necessary for those with eagle medicine to develop.

They also are opportunists, and they will let other birds do the hunting for them, often stealing the food from other birds or predators. Whenever eagle flies into one’s life, opportunities (even those thought long lost) always arise. Those with eagle totems must learn to see their opportunities and snatch them as they arise.

Eagles don’t always swoop down to kill. They have tremendous control over their powerful wings and they can glide slowly and silently down so that the prey does not hear them coming. They are also known to be able to stop their movement and just hover in the air for brief moments to make the strike more accurate. A new sense of timing and movement will begin to develop with those of eagle totems. You will learn to swoop, to soar, to dive, and to hover-to use the winds within your life and your own developing wings to ride them to your own benefit.

Large eagles don’t just kill with their beaks or talons. Some can hit their prey with great force-this alone being enough to stun or kill their prey. A bald eagle can strike with twice the force of a rifle bullet.25 This reflects the primal force inherent and easily awakened in those with eagle medicine.

Eagles are symbols of great power, a power that goes beyond their actual size. An average bald eagle will weigh 8-10 pounds, about two pounds less than the average house cat.

To align oneself with eagle medicine is to take on the responsibility and the power of becoming so much more than you now appear to be. From a karmic aspect, it reflects that the events will now fly faster, and the repercussions for everything you think, do or say (or fail to think do or say)-positive and negative- will be both stronger and quicker. To accept the eagle as a totem is to accept a powerful new dimension to life, and a heightened responsibility for your spiritual growth. But only through doing so do you learn how to move between worlds, touch all life with healing, and become the mediator and the bearer of new creative force within the world.

FINCH

KEYNOTE: Energy of Variety and Multiplicity

CYCLE OF POWER: Varies according to the Species

The finch is one of the most abundant types of birds in North America. A finch that becomes a totem will always increase opportunities to experience a variety of activities. Everything is going to be amplified. The specific species of finch is important to determine for the greatest understanding of its role in your life.

There are over 300 kinds of finches. Some of these are described specifically in this dictionary; others you will have to examine for yourself. This great number of varieties does reflect an ability to multiply and intermingle with a wide variety of environments and people. If a finch has flown into your life look for new kinds of experiences and encounters with people from all walks of life.

Pay particular attention to the color of the finch. Do not go solely by the name. The purple finch usually has little or no purple at all. The color is more of an old rose. Study the location of the finch and where it originated if possible. Folklore of that area may reveal much. For example, the thistle finch was a legendary bird of happiness to the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Finches have a wonderful ability to sing. Some have even been trained to sing like canaries. Again this reflects a generally increase and variety of potentials that are likely to unfold within your life. Anytime a finch arrives, life is going to become more active.

FLICKER

KEYNOTE: New Rhythm of Growth and Healing Love

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer (especially around the Summer Solstice)

The flicker is a member of the woodpecker family. A study of woodpeckers and their characteristics in general will add to your own insight. 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 Chippewa medicine man Sun Bear speaks of the flicker as the totem for the Strong Sun Moon in Medicine Wheel astrology. This corresponds to the period between June 21 to July 22, or the sign of Cancer in traditional astrology. To the Native Americans it is an especially courageous bird.26

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. This reflects that latent talents and intuition are going to be activated to a greater degree. It usually reflects, especially when it is a red shafted flicker, that the stimulation of the latent talents is going to be a catalyst for major creative changes in your life. Your physical and material life is going to change. When it is a yellow-shafted flicker, the changes will occur more in your own perception than in the outer world.

The black crescent is also significant, more so because it is over the breast area. The moon is a symbol of sensitivity and emotions. The black color of the moon often reflects the phase known as the New Moon. The flicker thus symbolizes a new sensitivity of the heart that is about to be awakened. This will stimulate new healing energies, and it can reflect that you will experience emotions more intensely.

The woodpecker has ties to Roman Mythology as well. The Roman god Picus, with whom Circe fell in love, refused to accept the sun as a father-in-law. Because of this Circe turned him into a woodpecker. Meditating and studying this tale, as well as some of the Native American tales of the flicker, will provide insight into the role it will play in your life.

The name of the flicker actually comes from one of the sounds it makes. It can make a variety of sounds, and during the mating season it displays great musical talents. Of course, the drumming it makes is also tied to the mysteries of music and rhythm, and anyone with a flicker as a totem should begin to study the use of percussion instruments. Drums and rattles are inexpensive and can even be easily made. They are powerful tools for healing and for inducing altered states of consciousness.

Flickers and other woodpeckers are the master drummers. They can link you to any other rhythm in the world. They can help teach you to align with the heartbeat of the planet or the heartbeat of other animals. Its drumming is a reminder of the natural rhythms of the universe and that when we are not in synchronicity with them, things do not work for us.

The flicker is the most numerous member of the woodpecker family. They live in a variety of woods and other environments across the country. They build their nests in holes and they are very particular about the cleanliness of the home. They make excellent parents, both sharing in the responsibility. This is especially important as flicker babies are very demanding.

The flicker has a stout, sharp bill with which it does its drumming on trees in a search for insects and other food. It has a long tongue, giving it an ability to extract nutrition from the holes it creates with the bill. The mouth and any part of it is the beginning point for digestion and nurturing-through food or words. This reflects the role a flicker can play in your life.

The flicker also has two toes in front and two toes in back on its feet. This is different from most birds, but this balance also reflects their ability to maintain balance on the side of trees. It facilitates their climbing ability. For those with this totem, it can reflect a new balance coming into your life, regardless of the conditions. Anytime there is balance, there is greater health.

To the Pueblo peoples and other Native Americans, the feathers were considered religious articles. A red feather on a prayer stick usually reflected war against some enemy-physical or spiritual. When the feathers were worn in the hair, it indicated the individual was a member of the medicine society. The same energy that can be used for war can also be used for healing. This is what flicker teaches.

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.

GOLDFINCH

KEYNOTE: Awakening to the Nature Spirits

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer Solstice and Summer Season

The gold finch is named for its summer costume of shiny yellow feathers on its body. It also has black wings and a black cap on its head. This color combination is very symbolic.

Black and yellow are the colors of the archangel Auriel. These colors in meditation and ritual are used to invoke that aspect of this being that oversees the activity of nature spirits-the fairies, elves, and devas. The high point of activity of nature is during the summer, its highest point being at the solstice itself.

The presence of goldfinches usually indicates an awakening to the activities of those beings that are normally relegated to the realm of fiction. Goldfinch can help you to deepen your perceptions so that you can begin to see and experience the activities of the nature spirits yourself. This deepening of perceptions is reflected in the black cap-awakening to that which is normally hidden from view.

Goldfinches are usually permanent residents, and in those areas where they are found, you can also find the fairies and the elves. Goldfinches like border areas and young brush growth found at edges and borders. Edges and borders are intersections where there are natural doorways to that other realm of life.

Even their nesting habits reflects this link to the border areas, the ‘Tween Places. They build their nests in a fork on an outer branch high in a tree. It is usually made of thistledown. Thistle has a long association with nature spirits and the healing aspects of animals. Blessed thistle was once used to invoke the god Pan. Thistle has been a symbol of endurance. It is through endurance and persistence that we can open to the Realm of Faerie once more. Goldfinches are birds that can help us connect with those nature spirits that can show us how to heal animals—wild and domestic.

Goldfinches are rarely silent. This in itself is a reminder that Nature is speaking to us constantly and that we should learn to listen and communicate with it from all levels. It reflects that the nature spirits are around us at all times.

In the winter, the male loses its black cap, and the bright yellow turns to an olive yellow. This also reflects the connection of goldfinch to the world of the nature spirits. In the winter, they withdraw, working more within the earth, rather than in the outward expressions which are more evident in the spring and summer. It does not mean they are not there, but rather that they may not be as easily perceived.

The goldfinch also has an undulating (an up and down movement) flight pattern. This rhythm and pattern can be used in visualization to help loosen the subtle energies of the aura and facilitate leaving the body. The wave pattern also reflects the ability of a goldfinch to lead us to the inner and to the outer realms, from the human to the Faerie, from the physical to the spiritual.

GOOSE

KEYNOTE: The Call of the Quest and Travels to Legendary Places

CYCLE OF POWER: Autumn (For snow geese-Winter Solstice and Full Moons)

The goose is a bird with an ancient mythology and a mixture of symbolism. It was a sacred bird in Rome’s temple of Juno. The snow goose is also associated with Boreas, the North Wind in Greek mythology. The snow goose is also the totem for the winter solstice in the Native American medicine wheel.

Most people have heard of the legendary Mother Goose whose stories and rhymes were designed to quiet children. Myths, fairy tales, and other stories capture the imagination of children and adults alike. The goose is thus a totem reflecting a stimulation of the childhood thrill and belief in stories and legendary places. The story(s) we most loved in childhood often reflect the life quest we have come to take upon us in this lifetime. That is why it resonated with us so strongly. Going back and rereading the one or two stories you most loved will often help you to see the patterns in your life.

These stories either reflected an imprint for this life or they may have even imprinted you with certain seed ideas. This is reflected in the early life of a gosling. A baby goose is imprinted usually by the first moving thing it sees.

The goose can also be a totem to aid you in communication especially through the use of stories. Its feather for a long time was the standard writing instrument. Individuals wishing to write-be it stories or anything-can facilitate the process by working with the goose as a totem. It will stimulate the imagination and help move you through creative blocks. Writing with a goose quill pen will help this even more. Many arts and crafts shops can help you in finding or making your own quill pens.

Because its feathers are the most commonly used in making bedding, it is also a symbol of fertility and marital fidelity. To many people sleeping on bedding made of goose feathers will help insure both fertility and fidelity.

The breast bones of a roasted goose also had superstitions in relationship to the weather. If the bones were brown, it would indicate a mild winter. If they were white or bluish, they would indicate a severe winter.

Geese are related to ducks and swans. They are more terrestrial than ducks, and they are vegetarians. To those to whom the goose comes as a totem, it may well reflect a need for more vegetables in the diet, and maybe even becoming vegetarian for a while.

Geese mate for life and they both share in the raising of the young. The fact that they mate for life often reflects again that innate belief that there is one special person for us in the world. This has ties to many of the fairy tales that we are often imprinted with as well.

There are eight species of geese in North America. This is very symbolic in that the number eight is so similar to the symbol for infinity. It reflects an ability to move forward or backward. It reflects movement, and in the case of the goose, a call to the spiritual quest.

This is further exemplified by its migration patterns and behaviors. Their leaving in the autumn stirs our imagination and makes us want to search out new worlds and dimensions. Their incessant honking seems to be calling us to follow them on the great spiritual quest. Their return is a harbinger of spring second only to the robin. It speaks of the fulfilled promises that great quests bring.

The goose epitomizes the mystery of migration. They constantly shift formation, creating wind drafts and easier flights for those behind them in the formation. This reminds us that as anyone individual makes his or her quest, it becomes easier for others to do so as well. They never fly directly behind one another. Each goose’s view is unobstructed, reminding us that we should not undertake any quest in life without having a full view of what it entails. In this way the journey is facilitated for others.

The V-formation is very symbolic in itself. It reflects by its shape an opening to new possibilities. It is like an arrowhead, pointing to new directions and new possibilities, and with one end open, it also reflects an openness to new ideas. The “v” as a letter comes from the Hebrew “vau” meaning “nail.” This formation usually indicates we are about to affix ourselves to a new path. It is a letter and symbol that reflects great fertility that should be acted upon if growth is desired.

The Canada Goose is the most abundant in North America. It has a powerful voice and great strength in migration. The snow goose is predominantly white with black wing tips. Both species have a very keen vision. For anyone with a goose as a totem, greater vision, physical and spiritual, will occur.

As mentioned, the male and female mate for life. Both share in the raising of the young, alternating staying with the nest. Goslings are very quiet, especially in the first part of life, and then they learn to break free. A goose as a totem can reflect that you are about to break free of old childhood restraints and begin to come into your own. Anytime the goose comes in as a totem, you can expect to have the imagination stirred toward new travels to distant places-whether in the body or in the mind.

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 are very sociable birds as well. It is not unusual to find people that are in the midst of unbalanced emotional states constantly narrating and rehashing the conditions in every social situation. It can be therapeutic to speak of problems, but many social occasions do nothing but aggravate the conditions and feelings surrounding them. Again it can reflect we may be talking about things too much and not doing something about them.

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 best 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.27

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.

GROSBEAK

KEYNOTE: Healing of the Family Heart

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Summer

The rose-breasted grosbeak is a wonderful little bird. It has on its chest a rose-colored triangle that looks like a bleeding heart. This totem can help teach us to heal all of the old wounds and hurts of family origin.

The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

This beautiful little bird can teach us much about proper family relationships. It can help us in healing family hurts and restoring family love.

A grosbeak has a beautiful melodious voice. This is significant. A melody is formed by a relationship between notes. A single note does not make a melody. The grosbeak can help us to see our family relationships as a true melody-each note separate but part of a larger whole. They can help us to see how our family has affected many of our life patterns.

Grosbeaks are good to their family. The male is an affectionate mate and a good parent. It takes time sitting on the eggs. It is a good provider. The grosbeak awakens a new pride and nobleness in the parenting process.

The grosbeak is a migratory bird, and it winters in Central and South America. For those to whom the grosbeak comes as a totem, you may wish to explore the possibilities of past lives associated with this part of the world. They will probably be lives in which your present family also played a significant role. It can help you in seeing family patterns that you have brought over into your present life, along with your present family members.

GROUSE

KEYNOTE: Sacred Dancing and Drumming

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

The grouse is a pheasant-like bird of field and brush. It is an extremely hardy bird. During cold weather its toes will sprout a fringe to help it walk about in the snow.

Dancing and drumming are both powerful ways in their own right to invoke energies. When combined, they create opportunities to be drawn into higher states of consciousness. Movement is a part of life. Rhythmic movement creates life. All human activity is a kind of dance and ritual. The grouse is a dynamic symbol of this.

Religious and sacred dance has been a functional part of every society throughout the world. Shamans and priests used drumming and dance to induce trance states. Circle dances imitated the path of the sun, and chain and spiral dances were used to link the male and female energies. True sacred dance is very ancient; it is an outer expression of an inner spirit.

Sacred dance and drumming was a means of transcending humanity. The dancer can gain control over normally automatic responses by evoking emotions and energies, and then channeling them through the dance. In this manner, transcendence over these lower energies could be achieved. This is what grouse can teach.

My first encounter with a grouse dance occurred four to five years ago in Superior National Forest. I came over a rise and a grouse stepped out of the woods into the middle of the road. There it began to perform its spiral movement. As I moved closer, it continued its dance, carrying it back off the road toward the brush along the tree line. It was an amazing performance. Since then in my travels I have had a number of other encounters, and they always remind me not to force my movements, but to follow the natural rhythm and spiral of life.

The two most common forms of grouse are the ruffed and the sage. The ruffed grouse is called such because of a ruff of black feathers about the neck and shoulders. This is very symbolic. The neck and shoulder area is the point of connection between the head and trunk, the upper and lower. It is the bridge between the two. All bridges enable a crossing over and an opening to new realms.

The ruffed grouse reflects that working with new rhythms and new movement will be beneficial to opening a new flow of energy into your life. Dance and drumming would become wonderful tools to open new realms for you. This doesn’t mean you have to go out and take dance lessons, but simply practice and develop your freeform expressions. You will be surprised at the changes in your own energy. See yourself dancing into new patterns and realms within your life.

If the grouse has come into your life use the dance. Focus on something you want to change, manifest, or desire, and create your own movements that reflect it. Perform it to some drum music. Then watch how quickly the energy begins to flow for you. If performed with the right intention, you will see results in less than a week.

The sage grouse is the largest of the American grouse. It is a very territorial animal with a lavish display of its great air sacs, spiked tail, and a flaring mane of stiff, white feathers. It has its own dance to create its sacred space. One way of looking at territoriality is from the view of sacred space.

Dancing a circle is an act of creation. It is the marking off of sacred space. When a circle dance is performed, the individual creates a sacred space within the mind-a place between the worlds, a point in which the worlds intersect. The creation and marking off of a circle in Wiccan beliefs is often referred to as raising a cone of power. The circling creates a vortex of energy that is amplified by the will of the participants and the ritual instruments of the participants. When a grouse displays itself and moves in its circular pattern it is marking off its sacred space.

To those to whom grouse comes there should be a marking off of sacred space in your life. Make sure there are territories and areas you do not allow others. This enables your own natural rhythms and movements to create for you without too much outside influence.

For a long time there was confusion on how the grouse accomplished its muffled drumming in the spring. Today ornithologists know that it is created with rapidly beating wings. The grouse wings beat the air. They set the drumming vibration in motion, setting its power loose on the winds.

Grouse are protective parents. If its young are threatened, the mother will rush at you with feathers ruffed, or it may feign an injury to lead the predator away from the young. Hidden within this act is the ability to perform as is needed, to change the rhythm for appearances.

A whirring flight sound is often associated with the grouse, along with pheasants and other similar species. Often a grouse will use this take-off as if to indicate it has no fear. In reality it is most likely a warning to others in the area. The grouse does have an ability to fly softly if it chooses. Rhythm does not have to be audible to be effective. If grouse has come into your life, expect new rhythms and new teachings on dancing and drumming your life to new dimensions.

GULLS (HERRING/SEA)

KEYNOTE: Responsible Behavior and Communication

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

Gulls are wonderful birds. Most people, especially in seashore resort areas, have a tendency to look upon them as pests. In their communities, away from human contact, their behavior is much different.

Sea gulls-or herring gulls as they are rightly called-are actually shore birds, and they seldom venture far from land. Shorelines are Places of great mystery and magic. It is a place neither of land nor of the sea; it is between the two. It is one of those regions often associated with fairy contact. Because of this, gulls can help teach how to open communication with the Faerie Realm of life-especially the water sprites and spirits.

This idea is further reinforced by the fact that the gull is associated with the element of water, as well as the air. It is a bird which can combine the gifts of swimming and flying. It is very buoyant in the water. It knows how to work in both kingdoms; it knows the behaviors appropriate to both. This reflects the ability to teach you how to behave and work in other dimensions than that which is normal.

The appearance of a gull usually indicates lessons or abilities in proper behavior, courtesy, and communication. It may reflect you need the lessons, or that you may become the teacher of such. It may also reflect new learning in the subtleties of communication.

Gulls have developed an intricate code of behavior. They have developed a regular signal code for all of their ritual activities. They use a combination of calls and gestures. Because of this they can teach you how to read people more effectively. They can help you to understand the subtleties of communication-what is not being ostensibly expressed. They can help you to read between the lines and understand the body language of others. They hold knowledge of the techniques of psychological communication.

Gulls also help to keep the beaches and shores clean. They are ecological birds. Their appearance as a totem may reflect opportunities to work on ecology in general or to work on cleaning up the shore areas of your own life.

The young are fussy eaters. They have to be stimulated to eat, and the color red is their eating stimulus. Adult mother gulls have a red spot on their beak. The baby gulls know that only by poking at it will they get something to eat. This process reflects many subtle lessons. It has ties to proper eating behaviors, stimulation of diet (physical and otherwise), and more. Meditation on this will elicit some wonderful insight into your own life patterns and stimuli.

HAWKS

KEYNOTE: Visionary Power and Guardianship

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Fall Equinoxes-New Moon

Hawks are one of the most intriguing and mystical of the birds of prey. They are the messengers, the protectors, and the visionaries of the air. Hawks and owls have the keenest eyes of all raptors.

Hawks vary in size, appearance, and environments. There are so many different species that it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart. There are marsh hawks, forest hawks, sea hawks, and prairie hawks. The environment in which your hawk is found will tell you much about how its energies are likely to manifest within your life.

Even when people cannot tell one hawk from another, they can recognize it is a member of the hawk family. All hawks are impressive and stir the imagination. Their hunting ability, their eyesight, and their powerful flights and other behaviors are dynamic symbols.

In most raptors, the colors of the male and female of the same species are very similar. It is almost always the female who is larger though. This has much to do with the fact that the mother guards the nest. Many hawks mate for life, the red-tailed hawk being one example. The length of time that mated birds stay together is often determined by the number of seasons they spend raising the young.

An examination of the specific species of hawk and its behaviors will reveal much. For example, an osprey is sometimes referred to as a “fish hawk,” based upon its primary diet. This magnificent bird is often mistaken for an eagle because of its nearly all white head, but it is the only large hawk that is clear white underneath. It is most numerous in coastal regions, as if its white breast reflects the white foam of the waters in which it hunts. Other examples are the Cooper’s hawk, the goshawk and the sharp-shinned hawk who feed frequently on other birds. Although they eat rodents and such, most of their food is feathered. This reflects the old idea that what you eat, you become.

We do not have the space to explore all the characteristics of every hawk, but we will examine one species more closely. That species is the most numerous member of the hawk family, the red-tailed. It is named for the distinctive coloring on its tail feathers. Only the mature red-tails have this coloring. The immature also have lighter colored eyes, distinguishing them from their more mature relatives.

The red tail is very symbolic. It has ties to the kundalini, the seat of the primal life force. In the human body it is associated with the base chakra, located at the base of the spine the coccyx or tail bone. Those who have a red-tailed hawk as a totem will be working with the kundalini. It can also reflect that this bird becomes a totem in your life only after the kundalini has been activated. It can also reflect that the childhood visions are becoming empowered and fulfilled. It may pop up as a totem at that point in your life where you begin to move toward your soul purpose more dynamically.

The red-tailed hawk is a member of the buteo family or the group of soaring hawks. The ability to soar and glide upon the currents is part of what hawk can teach. Although it is a part of this species, it is most often seen perched on treetops and utility posts, using its phenomenal eyesight to locate prey. It teaches how to fly to great heights while still keeping your feet on the ground.

Hawks are occasionally harassed and attacked by smaller birds. This is very significant for those of you who have a hawk as a totem. It indicates that there are likely to be attacks by people who won’t understand you or the varied and different uses of your creative energy. They may attack your ability to soar.

The red-tailed hawk is usually a permanent resident in an area, although occasionally it may migrate. This permanency reflects that as a totem, this hawk will be with you permanently once it shows up.

Although incorrectly called a “chicken hawk,” the red-tail feeds mostly on rabbits, rodents, and snakes. It has an adaptable diet which has helped it to survive. The red-tail was often accused of and shot for killing chickens when in reality it was one of the bird hawks, such as a cooper’s hawk.

It is generally accepted that red-tails mate for life. Both the male and female help care for the young. Two to three eggs are laid in the spring. They vigorously defend their nests against any intruders. They cling to their home territories for years. And they can live up to 14 years in the wild.

The Red-Tailed Hawk

This powerful bird can awaken visionary power and lead you to your life purpose. It is the messenger bird, and wherever it shows up, pay attention. There is a message coming.

This “14” is significant. The 14th card in the tarot deck is the card for Temperance. This is the card that represents the teaching of higher expressions of psychism and vision. It can be used in the development of astral projection-new flights out of the body. It has ties to the activation of your vital energies (kundalini), and the bold expression of it. It is tied to the archetypal forces that teach beauty and harmony in moderation. It holds the keys to higher levels of consciousness.

Rising to a higher level can bring a rapid development of the psychic energies. The red-tailed hawk helps us in balancing and using those senses appropriately. It teaches the balance necessary to discover our true purpose in life. If you have a red-tailed hawk as a totem, meditation on the 14th tarot card will help you to see how this hawk will lead you to use your creative energy in manifesting your soul purpose.

The red of the red-tail reflects a greater intensity of energy at play within your life. It reflects an intensity of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual forces. This bird is the catalyst, stimulating hope and new ideas. It reflects a need to be open to the new or shows you ways that you may help teach others to be open to the new.

To the Pueblo, the red-tailed hawk was known as red eagle. Its feathers and energies were used in healing ceremonies and for bringing the rains and waters necessary for life. To the Ojibwa, the red-tailed hawk represented leadership, deliberation, and foresight. “Hawk is akin to Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Hawk medicine teaches you to be observant ... Life is sending you signals.”9 The red-tail can spread its wings to a great width, and it can teach you to use your creative energies in the same way. It can extend the vision of your life.

The beak and the talons are always commented upon by observers. They are the most striking features of any hawk, especially the red-tail. It is a fearless bird. It will even take on poisonous snakes. It has a scaled leg to help protect it against poisonous bites, and immediately upon grasping its snake prey, it tears off the head. On one of my trips to Colorado, while traveling through Kansas, I was fortunate enough to see a red-tail swoop down upon a snake. Within seconds it had taken flight again, cutting across my path. I could see the head of the snake dangling by just a few threads of skin. It happened so quickly, that by the time I realized exactly what I had observed, the red-tail had disappeared.

Because of the strong energy (the intensified life-force) activated by this totem, an individuals with it must be careful in how they express themselves. There will unfold within you the ability to tear off the heads of any snakes in your life, or anyone or anything seen as an enemy. Your comments and actions will be like the hawk’s beak and talons-strong and powerful, but with a capability to tear and/ or kill.

The feathering of the red-tail actually has two phases. Both of these are significant to anyone with this totem. Its feathering is a little lighter during the summer and darker during the winter. The lighter is often symbolic of more joyful and sociable kinds of energies. The darker phases can reflect a time to be alone or to withdraw a little. The red-tail and its color phases also help us to guard against blazing so brightly and intensely that we get burnt out.

The sky is the realm of the hawk. Through its flight it communicates with humans and with the great creator spirit. It awakens our vision and inspires us to a creative life purpose.

HERON

KEYNOTE: Aggressive Self-Determination and Self-Reliance

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

There are many variations of herons, including bitterns and egrets. Storks and cranes should not be confused with them. Herons are part of a group of birds called “waders.” It is a bird of the marshlands and shallow waters. All waders have similar physical characteristics-long, thin legs, long necks, and sharp bills. These physical characteristics are important to understand for those who have a heron as a totem.

Legs enable animals and people to move about on the earth. They are symbols of balance, and they represent an ability to progress and evolve. Also the longer the legs, the deeper the water the heron will feed in. The deeper life can be explored. The long thin legs of the heron reflect that you don’t need great massive pillars to remain stable, but you must be able to stand on your own. This is especially significant for those with a totem of the great blue heron, as it is a lone hunter.

When it feeds, it stands in the water, reflecting a connection to the earth while implying the exploration of other dimensions on the earth (water element). It is important for anyone with a heron totem to explore various activities and dimensions of earth life. On the surface, this may seem a form of dabbling, but those with heron totems are wonderfully successful at being the traditional “jack of all trades.”

This ability enables them to follow their own path. Most people will never be able to live the way heron people do. It is not a structured way, and does not seem to have a stability and security to it. It is, though, just a matter of perspective. There is security in heron medicine, for it gives the ability to do a variety of tasks. If one way doesn’t work, then another will. This heron people seem to inherently know.

Heron do not seem to need a lot of people in their life, nor do they feel pressure to “keep up with the Joneses” or be traditional in their life roles. The only time they gather in colonies is during the breeding season. They stand out in their uniqueness, and they know how to snatch and take advantage of things and events that the average person would not even bother with.

The great blue heron is considered the king of the marsh, although the shorteared owl has been known to readjust a heron’s viewpoint. It is the tallest of the herons, and when it flies, its head is folded back in a flat S-shaped loop. This reflects the innate wisdom of being able to maneuver through life and control its life circumstances. It reflects a need for those with this totem to follow their own innate wisdom and path of self-determination. You know what is best for you and should follow it, rather than the promptings of others.

The great blue heron in flight is powerful, and its legs and head are held in a straight line. It uses a slow stalking stride when hunting. When it spies a fish, it spears its prey with its sharp beak and with quick speed. Again it reflects an aggressive movement toward opportunities that present themselves.

The green heron is actually more of a slate blue, and it has orange legs which are distinctive. This color combination reflects an innate balance at living life in its own unique style. It flies silently, and is most often seen in flight at night and at dusk. Like all herons, it is a marsh bird.

There are distinctive seasonal changes in the color of this bird. The irises of the eyes will turn from yellowish to bright orange, as will the legs. Meditation on this color will provide a lot of insight as to its role in your life.

HUMMINGBIRD

KEYNOTE: Tireless Joy and the Nectar of Life

CYCLE OF POWER: Daytime

The hummingbird may be the smallest of birds, but it is also the most fascinating. Anyone who has ever seen this tiny bird is filled with a sense of wonder and joy. Its name comes from the vibration of its wings as it flies or hovers. We have all heard how good it is to whistle while we work, but humming is much more effective. It creates an internal massage, restoring health and balance. This the hummingbird reminds us to do. It reminds us to find joy in what we do and to sing it out.

There are over 300 species of hummingbirds.28 This is very significant. In the Hebrew alphabet, the letter “shin” is given the numerical value of 300. This has associations with fire and relationships, the past and the future. As we will see later, this is even reflected in the wing movement of the hummingbird. It has the ability to move its wings in a figure 8 pattern-a symbol for infinity and links to the past and future and the laws of cause and effect.

Hummingbirds have long bills and tongues that enable them to extract nectar from flowers. In fact, they could not live without flowers, and many flowers could not live without pollination by hummingbirds. Again this reflects the mysteries of cause and effect that the hummingbird can teach so that you can extract your own nectar.

Hummingbirds have knowledge of how to use flowers for healing. This includes their fragrance, their color, and herbal qualities as well. They can teach you how to draw the life essence from them and create your own medicines-as in the case of Bach flower remedies and other flower elixirs. They can teach you how to use flowers to heal and win hearts in love.

The hummingbird is the most skillful flyer of all birds. It can hover in the air. It can fly backward, forward and sideways. In fact, it cannot walk; it flies everywhere. It reminds us that if we truly enjoy what we are doing, we become light as a feather, and life is rich with nectar.

The hummingbird can reach high speed at its take off. It can also stop immediately in flight from a high speed. It is such a skillful flyer and is not afraid of any predator. Hummingbirds have even been known to chase off eagles.

No other bird can fly backwards. This reflects the hummingbird’s ability to explore the past and to draw from it the nectars of joy. The hummingbird can help you to find joy and sweetness in any situation. Its swiftness is always a reminder to grab joy while you can-as quickly as you can.

Because of its iridescent colors, the hummingbird has been named for jewels and glittering stones—i.e., the ruby-throated hummingbird. It has also come to be associated with the Faerie Realm. One species has been called the wood-nymph hummingbird and another the purple-crowned fairy.

The iridescent colors have also caused it to be associated with rain. More specifically, it is associated often with the rainbow of promise that follows the rain. To the Pueblo Indians, the hummingbird’s rainbow coloring, its great strength in flying, and its hovering about flowers, has associated it with various ritual practices. Prayer sticks and ceremonies were used to bring the rain and to help with endurance.29

Hummingbirds are big eaters, and most of their food is comprised of the nectars (sugars) of flowers, although they will also eat tiny insects. The hummingbird may eat 50-60 meals a day. Because of its small size and its high degree of activity, it loses body heat quickly, so it must digest food quickly. Individuals with hummingbird totems should watch their own sugar levels. Are you getting too much or too little? Are you hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic? Are you not getting enough sweetness in your life? Are you not savoring the sweet things of life?

Hummingbirds are very playful. Even when bathing-and they bathe often-they play in the water. They also seem to fight with each other, although no one seems to get hurt. Now scientists pretty much agree that these are only mock fights for exercise and fun.

Hummingbirds are fiercely independent. Except when mating, they like to be alone and free, seeming to revel in that freedom. During the mating ritual, the male does anything he can to gain the attention and affection of the female. If the female chooses to mate, she returns the attention, otherwise she just flies off.

Mother hummingbirds are hard workers. This is necessary, for they receive no help from their mate. She will usually lay two eggs, again very symbolic. Two is the number of the inner self, the feminine to which we must give birth and expression to find our own joy.

Hummingbirds are master architects. They build their homes with great care and design. Some are very intricate, but each is unique to itself. If the hummingbird has taken up residence in you, you may wish to redecorate. It may be telling you to do something to create joy in the home.

Hummingbirds can also hibernate overnight. The body temperature will lower, its feathers will ruffle up as insulation and it will assume a state of torpidity. It will appear to have died on its perch. This is done to prevent exhausting the energy supplies necessary for it to live-while allowing it to rest. For those with the hummingbird as a totem, it is important to get regular and deep sleep and rest. It will be necessary so that you do not burn yourself out.

The ruby-throated hummingbird is a wonder of migration. Every winter it makes an amazing journey. For several days it will eat and eat, storing up food and energy in its tiny body. Then it will fly for days and days to get to a warm climate. Some have been known to make a journey of 2500 miles or more, from Alaska to Central America. Scientists still are unsure how it is able to store up enough energy to accomplish such a journey.

But it does, and because of it the hummingbird is a symbol for accomplishing that which seems impossible. It will teach you how to find the miracle of joyful living from your own life circumstances.

KESTREL

KEYNOTE: Mental Speed, Agility and Grace

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The kestrel is the most common member of the falcon family found in the United States. Among American birds of prey, only the great horned owl is as widely distributed. It is also the smallest member of the falcon family. The peregrine and gyrfalcon are larger and faster, but they are also endangered. Efforts to help the peregrine recover are just beginning to succeed.

Falcons have an ancient history and an aura of mystery in regard to their speed and grace in hunting. Falconry has survived for thousands of years and is still practiced today. If the kestrel or any other member of the falcon family has come into your life as a totem, you may want to explore past-life connections. Falconry was practiced in China as long ago as 2000 B.C.30 Kings handled eagles, and falconry found great popularity in medieval Europe and Scandinavia. The Vikings often used falcons and birds of prey for hunting.

The American kestrel is sometimes called the “sparrow hawk,” although this is really a misnomer. While most falcons do live on feathered prey, the kestrel will feed primarily on grasshoppers, beetles, mice, and other small rodents. It does occasionally take smaller birds as prey, and some people credit the kestrel with keeping the population of house sparrows down, but it has never been truly verified. It is an excellent hunter, with eyes that can detect the movement of a beetle at a great distance. It usually hunts from a perch. It will move from one vantage point to another, watching and listening.

The kestrel will usually plunge down upon its prey from a perch, or hover above it about twenty feet up before the plunge. This is unique among birds of prey, but also among most birds. Few birds can actually hover in their flying. For those with a kestrel as a totem, this is very significant. It allows the movement to be performed with great speed and precision. It gives the kestrel a gracefulness. It implies the ability to stop and use the flight to its fullest advantage.

The American Kestrel

This amazing falcon has a unique ability to hover in flight over its prey. Its speed and gracefulness can awaken, within those who have it as a totem, a quick and agile mind.

The kestrel teaches control of speed and movement. It teaches patience. The kestrel is often a symbol for recognizing opportunities and acting upon them at only the correct moment. It teaches speed and accuracy of action. Most falcons use the flight and the plunge to kill their prey, striking it hard. The kestrel and any falcon can teach us to know when to act but to fully commit to our actions for the greatest success.

The kestrel is found in both the country and the city. Those in the city often find their food in the mice around garbage areas or around open, grassy areas where larger insects can be found. I often see kestrels sitting upon power and phone lines along the major streets or highways, studying the grassy areas below them. The kestrel will nest and winter in the city, making it a year-round totem. The kestrel prefers open grass areas for hunting, but it always does its hunting from a perch. It is not unusual for individuals with kestrels as totems to want to always sit or be placed in a position where they have a wide vision of everything around them.

All flying falcons are usually detected by their long wings, their swift flight, and their narrow tails. The shape of the wings is usually broad at the base and then swept back, tapering to points. As mentioned, they kill with speed and hard strikes while in flight.

The male kestrel usually has a bluish wing and plain, reddish feathers on the tail. The females usually have a barring on their wings and it takes more of a rust or reddish color. Both the male and female have black facial feathers, swept back like sideburns.

Its overall head shape is squarish, indicating a solidity and control of the thinking process and the element of air. It is this feature which usually distinguishes them from other birds perched on wires. They are also usually perched alone.

The kestrel is a bird that can stimulate a quick, graceful and agile mind. It will teach you how to use your mental faculties more effectively and more patiently to capture what you most need and desire.

KINGFISHER

KEYNOTE: New Warmth, Sunshine, Prosperity, and Love

CYCLE OF POWER: Winter Solstice and Season

In Greek mythology there is a legend of a woman by the name of Halcyone and her husband Ceyx. Shortly after their wedding, Ceyx had to make a voyage. A storm arose during the voyage, and Ceyx was drowned. Everyday that he was gone, Halcyone walked the shores of the beaches, longing for her husband. After several months, the body of her husband washed ashore.

Halcyone was so filled with grief that she threw herself into the ocean. The gods were moved by her love and grief, and she and her husband were turned into kingfishers. They rose out of the ocean and flew off happily into the blue skies. It was declared that the seas would be calm and the sun would shine for seven days before and seven days after the shortest day of the year. This time came to be known as the halcyon days. Today, all sunlit days upon the water are considered halcyon days.

The kingfisher is a long-time symbol of peace and prosperity. It has many legends and superstitions about it. Most originate in ancient Greece from the above myth. The body of the kingfisher if dried-could ward off thunderbolts and storms. If hung in a closet, it would keep moths away-keeping things as fresh as the love found within the tale.

The kingfisher is a beautiful bird with a dull, blue-gray feathering with a white underside, in America. In other parts of the world, most kingfishers are bright blue and greens. An old legend tells how all kingfishers used to be a dull gray. When Noah released it from the ark, it flew toward the sun and the blue sky. As it rose up toward the sun, it was burnt and changed into a brighter new color.

Blue is a color often associated with the planet Jupiter in astrology, the planet of abundance. The kingfisher is the promise of abundance-of new warmth, prosperity, and love about to unfold within your life. It also has a dark crest reflecting an abundance often associated with royalty.

The coloring of the kingfisher is unique among most birds. The female of the species has more color than the male. Some people attribute this to the legend of Halcyone and how her greater love touched the gods and restored the life of her husband. It can reflect that as we bring out a self-sacrificing love and manifest it, it will bring new life to us and those closest to us.

The kingfisher is different from other birds in yet another way. Kingfishers build their nests in holes in the banks along water, or as near to water as possible. Sometimes they tunnel into the bank as much as ten feet. They lay five to eight eggs, usually at the inner end of the tunnel. Usually by the time the babies come out of the tunnel, they are ready to make a life for themselves. Parents with totems have a knack for teaching their children how to enjoy life, but also how to prosper at life as well.

Individuals with kingfishers as a totem need to be close to the water, preferably as far north as possible. The kingfisher prefers northern climates. (You may wish to examine the kingfisher in relationship to the symbolism of the direction North as we discussed earlier in the book.) It will go as far north as it can, as long as there are open water sources in which it can hunt.

The kingfisher is a bold bird that fishes for its living. It is often seen flying along ponds, streams, and rivers. It will dive headlong into the water for small fish. Its ability to draw life out of the waters to feed itself reflects the kingfisher’s ability to stimulate new opportunities for prosperity. Often it requires that you dive headlong into some activity, but it usually proves to be very beneficial.

If a kingfisher has come to you, prepare yourself to dive into something new. Have you been avoiding the new? Have you been afraid to take the plunge? Are you needing new warmth? Don’t worry. If a kingfisher is around, you won’t drown. In fact, you will find that, as a result, you will have new sunshine and prosperity unfolding within your life.

LOON

KEYNOTE: Lucid Dreaming and Re-awakening of Old Hopes, Wishes and Dreams

CYCLE OF POWER: Dusk and Dawn

The loon is an unusual bird. Even when compared to other water birds, it stands out as unique. It is the best swimmer of all birds in North America, and it may even be a better swimmer than the penguin.

The loon is always around water. Water, of course, is the ancient symbol for the astral plane, dreams, and other levels of consciousness. Many myths and stories symbolize a move to a new state of consciousness by describing trips across the seas.

Though it is awkward and clumsy on land, it is a powerful swimmer. Its wings steer, and its feet act like a diver’s fins. The loon can swim underwater up to five minutes. Loons can dive deeper and swim faster than any other birds. They are like miniature submarines.

Unlike most birds whose bones are filled with air, the loon’s are solid. To sink and dive, the loon empties its lungs. It retains enough air to sustain itself. It is this ability which enables it to escape many predators and to be such a masterful swimmer. Many trance-like states require an adjustment of the breathing, often slowing down to a slow, barely perceptible rhythm. The loon can teach this so that it is easier to enter into varying degrees of consciousness-while maintaining control.

This ability also reflects the potential for an individual to become more conscious in the dream state. Lucid dreaming is when you become aware in your dream that you are dreaming. Then you can change the dream scenario. Lucid dreaming is only a half step away from fully conscious out-of-body experiences. Anytime the loon shows up as a totem, it is calling to you to pay attention to your dreams. It indicates that they will be of greater importance, along with becoming more vibrant and colorful. The haunting call of the loon may also be telling you that all of those hopes, wishes, and dreams that you have tucked to the back of the heart are about to come to the surface. The loon may be signalling you not to compromise them again, or you may truly find yourself haunted.

The loon will teach new states of consciousness. It will also help you to deepen those you have already awakened. Because it lives close to the water-at the shore line-it can teach you to use these various states of consciousness to open to new dimensions and other life forms-such as those found within the Faerie realm of life. The call of the loon can be an invitation to enter the Faerie realm. It is likened to the distant call of the sirens.

To most people, the call of the loon is its most distinguishing feature . It is haunting and touches the soul in a primal way. The loon is actually very talkative, and it has a whole repertory of calls-each different in sound and meaning. One of its calls is similar to the sound of a wolf howl. One is like a trilling laugh. It will often use the call to distract predators away from the nest. To many outdoors people, the loon call is the true call of the wild. It stirs the primal embers within all who hear it-no matter how long those embers have lain cool. It is as if the sound is calling forth all that we have ignored or shoved to the back of the closet in our minds.

The loon is also a good flyer, but unlike other birds it cannot take off from land. It will run across the water to build up lift. Again this reflects its ability to use altered states of consciousness through greater expression of the will force.

On land, the loon can not walk or waddle very well, and an individual with a loon totem often finds that he/she is only truly comfortable in one-or maybe two-environments. Such people are often not comfortable in the traditional behaviors and social mores of the times. They also have a hard time landing, and so the loon that comes to you as a totem may be coming because it may help you to learn how to become more comfortable in different environments.

For those with the loon as a totem, the imagination and dreaming abilities (while awake or asleep) are powerful. Images and visions will always be very lifelike, and the individual may have difficulty separating the real from the unreal. This the loon can help us to do. If you are one of those who has a loon totem, you must ask yourself some questions. Are you looking at something through rose-colored glasses? Are you allowing your imagination to run away with you? Are you not allowing your imagination and dream life to work for you? Is it calling to you to distract you from that which could create problems?

Many superstitions have arisen concerning the loon. To the Norwegians, its eerie call is the sound of the spirit of one who is drowning or soon will. Many northern Indian tribes believed its call signaled that rain was coming or even caused the rain. To the Algonquin Indians the loon is the messenger of Glooskap, a superhuman hero. In Siberia it was believed that when it took to the air, it was escorting the soul of the dead to heaven. One Eskimo story of the loon speaks of how it was not always a bird. Once two men were fishing, but only one man was catching the fish. The man who had caught nothing all day knocked the other man out and stole his fish. He then proceeded to cut out the tongue of the second man so he could not tell others. He was then pushed out of the boat into the sea. As he wailed in pain, the Great Spirit heard him, and turned him into a loon. Many believe that the eerie cry of the loon is the spirit of this man crying out for justice.

All of these reflect the mystery of this bird. Its haunting and eerie call, its iridescent colors, and its wonderful ability to swim are all reminders of the possibilities that open to us through learning to shift into altered states of consciousness. The loon awakens the imagination, and it reminds us that we are never given a hope, wish, or dream without also being given opportunities to make them a reality. And the only thing that can shatter that possibility is compromise. The loon can lead you back to your greatest dreams and imaginings.

MAGPIE

KEYNOTE: The Proper Use of Intelligence, Familiars, and Occult Knowledge

CYCLE OF POWER: Winter and Summer

The magpie is a cousin to the crow. It is a large bird with a glistening black head. Magpies are curious and somewhat impudent, and they have a reputation for stealing anything they can carry off. This reflects their skill at using whatever they can find. The magpie as a totem can help you to use whatever metaphysical or occult knowledge that you do have-no matter how incomplete it may be. The only thing that you must be careful of is that of thinking and acting as if it will do more for you than it can.

Many consider the magpie the most intelligent member of its family of crows. They have great intelligence, adaptability, and social organization. It is found most predominantly in the northwest, and a study of the directions will help you to define its specific role in your life.

They are scavengers and opportunists, reflecting their great intelligence. Because of this, they can teach you to use what is at hand or they may reflect a “dabbling” pattern in your life. They can help you to advance your knowledge or your life. Their appearance most often reflects opportunities for advancement through proper use of intelligence.

The magpie has often been considered unlucky or lucky depending upon the times and the quantities in which they are seen. One reason for this mixed response to the magpie comes from an old story of how it was the only bird which refused to enter the inside of Noah’s ark, preferring to perch on the roof.

From this story and the magpie’s own home construction comes an old idea that if a magpie perches on the roof of a house, the house will never come down. Magpies make their nests of mud and twigs. The nests are usually large, and often they are anchored in the forks of a tree or in a thorn bush. This makes the homes strong, and it also links the magpie to being able to open up an individual to new realms as simply and quickly as possible. (Thorn bushes often guard doorways to the spirit and fairy realm. Forked branches are intersections between worlds—again a doorway.) These homes are usually along a watercourse, and they can be used winter and summer.

Their homes are often messy, and this can be a warning not to look for quick and easy methods of attainment through occult knowledge. Their homes usually have a roof and are entered in through the sides. A magpie as a totem usually indicates that you are going to encounter the spirit realm and the metaphysical world in a different manner. You will enter into it and experience it in a way different from most-and often it is in an unusual manner.

The Scots had a fortune-telling rhyme about the number of magpies you might meet while out walking:

One’s sorrow, two’s mirth,

Three’s a wedding, four’s a birth.

Five’s a Christening, six a dearth,

Seven’s heaven, eight is hell,

And nine’s the devil his ain sel’.31

A similar kind of association has been passed on in the United States in the folk tradition. One magpie is unlucky and can indicate anger. Two is merriment and marriage, like the “mirth” in the Scot’s rhyme. Three magpies indicates a successful journey. (Weddings can be a journey.) Four magpies indicate good news, and five company or parties.

The magpie has an association with witchcraft. It was once believed that magpies were the familiars of witches and magicians. They were spirits in animal form. Part of this belief comes from their intelligence and their keen observation of human activity. It also, I’m sure, has connections to their thievery-as witches and magicians were not often looked upon kindly.

Its intelligence and wily character makes it an interesting totem, but one not easily controlled. It is a bird with a will of its own. It does have knowledge of how to use animals as familiars. It can also teach how to use occult knowledge for quick effects. Part of the problem with this bird as a totem is that the knowledge is usually incomplete. You may gain what you desire from the use of the knowledge, but it may come in an obtuse or unusual way. It may have other repercussions that you may not have considered.

If magpie has shown up in your life, you need to ask yourself some serious questions? Do you have knowledge and are not using it? Are you employing whatever skills you have to get what you most need? Are you using your knowledge and skills inappropriately? Magpie can help you to define these answers. It can help you to learn to use occult knowledge in responsible but effective ways. The magpie will show you what you can do for your life with just a little occult knowledge.

MARTIN

KEYNOTE: Good Luck and Community Peace

CYCLE OF POWER: Late Spring and Summer

The martin is the largest of the swallows, and you may want to study swallows in general to help you define the role the martin will play within your life.

The color of the martin is most significant. Of these, the purple martin is the most outstanding and the most familiar. Its color has caused it to be associated with the divine. Its color and its aerial ability have caused it to be called God’s bow and arrow. The mart~ is a good-luck bird. It has long been considered fortunate to any home where it ‘nests, lays its eggs, and rears its young.

In more primitive times, dried gourds were hung out as homes for the martins. They take naturally to community life. Many martin birdhouses, made by humans, look like huge apartment complexes. They are at peace with others in the complex and get along well with all

When the martin arrives as a totem, look for a positive change in your fortune. It is a bird that brings peaceful living energies with it. It can help solve many of the problems associated with community life. It is a wonderful totem to meditate upon whenever you move into a new environment and community. It will help you to make the move positive. It will help make your integration into the new neighborhood more enjoyable.

MEADOWLARK

KEYNOTE: Cheerful Journey Inward

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer

The meadowlark is actually a blackbird. It has a bright yellow breast, usually with a black crescent across it. It is a bird that usually indicates that you are about to experience a cheerful journey into the inner you. Many of its behaviors reflect the inward journey and movement often associated with self-discovery. This can be discovery of the intuition, the imagination, of innate abilities, and even of the Faerie Realm or various other possibilities.

The colors and markings themselves reflect this aspect. The black and yellow are traditional colors associated with the archangel Auriel, who oversees the summer season and the activity of the nature realm. The crescent is reflective of lunar significances- the moon long being associated with the inner self.

Its behaviors and activities also reflect the inner journey. It builds a dome-shaped nest, or it uses depressions in the ground in which it lays its eggs. The shapes indicate a drawing in. The bird rarely leaves the ground (staying close to the self) except when disturbed or when perching to sing. Unlike most birds, it walks when feeding upon the ground, rather than hopping. This reflects a comfortableness with the inner environment, which the earth is in relation to the air.

So what of the cheerfulness? Well, the meadowlark has a cheery song. It also sings as it flies-not like most birds which sing only when perched. It also lives in open meadows, and meadows are places of positive growth and fertility.

The meadowlark also has an unusual flight. It flies with very stiff wings and a fluttering motion. It alternately sails and flaps, giving it the appearance of a playful flight.

To the ancient alchemists, the lark was a symbol of sublimation. According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, sublimation is the “act of diverting energy from its immediate goal to one of a higher social, moral or aesthetic nature or use ... the act of making nobler or purer.”32 The meadowlark teaches us to find joy in going within ourselves. It helps us to find ways to sing within our life conditions by helping us recognize that every individual event is part of a greater journey. It can teach you that the joy of the quest is not in reaching the destination but rather in the journey itself.

MOCKINGBIRD

KEYNOTE: Finding Your Sacred Song (Soul Purpose) and Recognition of Your Innate Abilities

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round-Day and Night

The mockingbird is famous in song and story. It is a traditional symbol of the South, and anyone who has a mockingbird for a totem should study the symbolism of this direction. It is a plain woodland bird, but has a magnificent song.

In spite of its plain appearance, the beauty of the mockingbird is recognized by all. This beauty lies in its song. It has one of the best singing voices of all birds, equal to that of the nightingale. It also has a talent for mimicry. Mockingbirds can imitate other birds, cats, and even dogs. Some mockingbirds have a repertory of over 30 songs and calls of other birds. Impressionist comedians, such as Rich Little, have to have a mockingbird as one of their totems.

Mockingbirds will live close to humans because they are not afraid. They also like company, reflecting the idea that songs should be shared. They sing throughout the entire year, and will even sing while flying, which is rare among birds. They have also been known to sing by moonlight.

The mockingbird can teach you about the power of song and voice. It can help you to learn new languages and sing them just as naturally as one born to them. Anytime the mockingbird shows up as a totem, it is a time to learn to sing out your talents. Regardless of how others may see you, expect people to notice your actions-not your appearance.

The mockingbird can help you to realize your inner talents and sing them forth. It can help you to find your own sacred song in life. By singing that sacred song, you will find your life more rewarding and more significant. Most people, even if they know their inner sacred song (life purpose), are afraid to act upon it. The mockingbird can assist with this.

The mockingbird is a courageous bird. During breeding season (the development of your inner song and abilities), it will attack cats and any other raiders. It tolerates no impudence. It fiercely defends its nest. It takes the fight to the intruder, confident in its abilities.

Unlike many birds, the mockingbird may lay eggs two to three times a year. This reflects that opportunities to follow the inner song are never lost. They always come back around.

The mockingbird is the master of languages-spoken and unspoken, sung and unsung. It can read the language of the body and teach this ability to you. It can teach the secrets of all communication so that you can become more successful in life. This is reflected in the manner in which it finds its own food.

On its shoulders are prominent white patches. As it walks along, it occasionally opens its wings, flashing the white patches. They reflect the sunlight, alarming insects in the area. When they react, the mockingbird sees them and snatches them for dinner.

This ability to subtly stimulate responses in others is part of what the mockingbird can teach you. It can help you to flush out injurious insects around you in your life and see where and who they are. The mockingbird will help you to recognize the subtle clues that others may miss. You hear the true song of others.

Whenever the mockingbird arrives, look for opportunities to sing forth your own song. Follow your own path. Learn to take what you can and apply your own creative imagination and intuition to it so that you sing it forth in the manner and tone that is most harmonious for you and your life.

NUTHATCH

KEYNOTE: Grounding of Faith and Higher Wisdom

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

This small bird is one of many that may seem insignificant, but which, when examined, have unique characteristics. It is a bird that reflects the need to stay grounded and apply the spiritual energies you invoke within your everyday life.

This is most reflected through the fact that it descends down a tree head first. This reflects the need to learn to bring down the Tree of Life the wisdom and apply it within the natural world. The spiritual realm is not a realm in which all of our troubles are dissolved into some blinding light. The true path to realization is learning to manifest the spiritual within the physical. This is what the nuthatch teaches.

A number of psychics and healers I have encountered over the years could use the nuthatch as a totem. They become so lost in the spiritual and “ethereal” realms that they have difficulty in the real world. They are out of touch and often unhealthy. They ignore the physical while they focus on the spiritual. They forget that we are physical, and we must give it as much care and attention as we do the spiritual.

As we learn to release our preconceptions about the spiritual and physical realms, we begin to see the world from a different perspective. For anyone with a nuthatch as a totem, it would be beneficial to meditate upon the Hanged Man card of the tarot deck. The figure is depicted upside down. The nuthatch teaches you to have faith in your abilities and to trust in what you have learned about applying spiritual rhythms and vibrations within the physical world.

This is further amplified by the fact that the nuthatch is the traveling companion to the woodpecker. As new rhythms are sounded out (woodpecker), the nuthatch works to bring them down out of the ethereal realms and ground them into physical life. Anyone with a nuthatch as a totem should also study the woodpecker, and vice versa.

The breast of the nuthatch is white. White in the heart is the white of faith and truth. The nuthatch can show you where the truth is and how to act upon it most effectively in faith. The nuthatch teaches us not to have blind faith. It teaches us that one who speaks the truth is not necessarily the Truth itself. It teaches us that one who points at the sun is not the sun. Rather it teaches proper strength and action through faith in yourself.

ORIOLE

KEYNOTE: The Weaving of New Sunshine

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer

This beautiful yellow / orange and black bird is considered the first sign of summer in many northern areas. Its clear, cheery song and bright colors are signs of new golden sunshine about to enter into your life. The name of this bird comes from the word aureolus which means “little golden one” in Latin. This reflects its keynote symbolism.

Whenever the oriole shows up, look for sunshine to show up within a two week period. This may occur in any area of your life. Doing prayers and meditations with the oriole in connection to any project will help it to work out or move forward wonderfully within a two week period. All of this is because the eggs (usually 4 to 6) hatch in two weeks.

The male is usually always close to the female oriole. This has many connotations, especially in connection to new sunshine. Look for positive changes or even new sunshine in the area of relationships. It also reflects that the bird is a harbinger of positive energy, blessing unions.

As mentioned in conjunction with several other birds, the colors of orange/yellow and black are colors associated with the nature spirits in traditional metaphysics. Specifically, they are the colors of the archangel Auriel who oversees all nature spirit activity upon the planet. The oriole can open doorways to positive relationships with all members of the nature realm.

The presence of an oriole or its nest in your home environment often indicates that the fairies and elves have drawn close or even moved into your home. The oriole weaves its nest from plant fibers to form a hanging nest, suspended from forked branches. The suspension reflects its ability to help you suspend time and space and reconnect with the inner sunshine of your soul. Forks and intersections are always places in which realms and dimensions intersect, creating doorways.

The oriole is a weaver. Its nests are intricately woven, and it reflects an increasing ability to weave your life along new lines-ones that bring greater joy. Earlier in the text, I mentioned a prayer stick that is effective for working with orioles. The prayer stick is forked, and one fork is painted black and the other is painted orange. It is a powerful tool to construct when you are starting any new endeavor and project.

The oriole will help you to weave new sunshine into any area of life you desire. It will help you to rediscover your own inner child and a renewed sense of joy in life.

OSTRICH

KEYNOTE: Becoming Grounded

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

If you find yourself becoming a little flaky and flighty, if friends and others are accusing you of being out of touch, then it could be beneficial to work with ostrich medicine. The ostrich is the largest bird, but unlike most, it cannot fly. This is very symbolic.

Remember that flight has to do with opening to new wisdom. Birds are symbols of connecting with the more ethereal realms of life and with higher knowledge. A bird that cannot fly can still connect us with these same energies. It also helps us in using them within the physical life. The ostrich is a bird that can help you to take new knowledge out of that ethereal mental realm and apply it practically.

The ostrich can still help us link to those realms and prevent us from getting lost in them. This is reflected in its long neck and legs, its height giving us a link. The symbolism of the neck and the legs should be explored as well. In my forthcoming book The Healer’s Manual, I discuss the symbolism and metaphysical correspondences of the major parts of the body-human or animal.

The ostrich is very fast moving on land with great strength in its feet. Its kicking ability is its defense, and it can kill with its feet. The feet is how humans stay connected to the earth, again reflecting the idea of staying grounded. If an ostrich shows up as a totem, ask yourself some pertinent questions. Are you not staying grounded? Are you afraid to use your knowledge and fly to new heights and realms? Are you using your knowledge to move forward? Are you not using your knowledge? Are you getting becoming flighty, or are others around you becoming so?

There is an old myth that says when an ostrich is frightened or scared it buries its head in the sand, refusing to see or acknowledge what is going on. This really does not apply. The ostrich does not bury its head. It will lower its head as a protective gesture. Because of its height, this makes itself and its eggs less visible. Maybe if an ostrich assumes this posture with you, you might want to consider being more protective of yourself and less visible. Make sure you are not placing yourself in a vulnerable position.

The ostrich is often seen walking among zebras and antelope. The animals stir up insects and other food for the ostrich. They both serve to warn each other of predators as well. If you have an ostrich as a totem, it would be beneficial to study the zebra and antelope as well, as they are often companion animals.

The ostrich has a healthy appetite-reflecting an appetite for greater knowledge. They often swallow stones to help assist in the digestive process. This is very significant. Any bird that does this usually indicates a need for you to assimilate knowledge before acting on it. It has to be digested and assimilated or you are likely to become flighty and use it inappropriately. The ostrich is a bird that can help us in assimilating new knowledge and in staying grounded as we open to it as well.

OWL

KEYNOTE: The Mystery of Magic, Omens, Silent Wisdom, and Vision in the Night.

CYCLE OF POWER: Nocturnal-Year-round

No bird has as much myth and mystery surrounding it than the owl. Most perceptions of it are confused. It is not unusual to get contrary opinions of the owl. It has an ancient aura of mystery about it. Part of this is because it is a nocturnal bird, and night time has always seemed mysterious to humans. The owl is a symbol of the feminine, the moon, and the night. It has been called a cat with wings. It has been worshiped as an idol and hated as the reincarnation of the devil. It has been believed to have great healing powers, both in North America and on other continents. Because of its association with the moon, it has ties to fertility and seduction, for the moon is the arouser of men and owl. The owl is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom.

To the ancient Greeks, the owl was associated with the goddess Athena, and it was a symbol of higher wisdom. It was the guardian of the Acropolis. To the early Christian Gnostics, it is associated with Lilith, the first wife of Adam who refused to be submissive to him. To the Pawnee, it was a symbol of protection. To the Ojibwa, it was a symbol of evil and death. To the Pueblo, it was associated with the Skeleton Man, the god of death, but who was also a spirit of fertility. “Owl medicine is symbolically associated with clairvoyance, astral projection and magic, both black and white.”33

Many superstitions and beliefs have come to be associated with it. Owls have been thought of as the reincarnation of the dead. In Wales, the owl has come to be associated with fertility. If heard near a pregnant girl, it indicates an easy birth.34 The most predominant is that of the owl being able to extract secrets. It was believed in ancient Rome that to place a feather or part of an owl on a sleeping person would enable you to discover his/her secrets. This is all tied to one of its keynotes, especially when we look at its acute vision and hearing.

The owl is a bird of the night, and the night has long been a symbol of the darkness within-the place in which humans hide their secrets. The owl has great vision and hearing. They can adjust in an instant from a telescopic to a microscopic focus. The pupils respond in a fraction of a second to very minute changes in light intensity. The owl’s eyes are specially adapted to detect subtle movements. They also have extra light-sensitive cones and rods in the retina to help with this.

The Mystery of Owls

The great horned owl and the screech owls are two of the most common. Both have the tufts of feathers that look like ears, but are not. These ears that are not ears have made them symbolic of being able to hear what is not being said. The barn owl is sometimes called the ghost owl because of its color and its silent flight. It is an old symbol of spirit and ghostly contact. The short-eared owl is one of the most gifted and courageous flyers among birds of prey—able to out-fly even the harrier hawk. The barred owl is the champion vocalist among owls. While great horned owls are majestic, aloof and dangerous, barred owls are quite harmless, though they may try to look menacing.

The yellow coloring of the eyes is very symbolic. It makes the eyes much more expressive, but it hints of the light of the sun, alive in the dark of the night. The sun lives through the owl at night. Meditation on this alone will reveal much about the magic of the owl within your life. Contrary to popular belief, the owl can see very well during the daylight. It is just more effective and more acute at night.

Even in the darkest night, with its acute eyesight an owl can pinpoint the exact location of its prey. Its hearing is just as keen as its eyesight. The ears of the owl are asymmetrical, and one ear is usually larger than the other. They are also located in different positions on the head. This enables it to sort out the auditory signals it picks up, facilitating it being able to locate its prey more easily.

The barn owl can locate its prey as easily or even easier with its ears than its eyes. It will swivel its head and rock back and forth to pinpoint noises of prey with great accuracy. It will also make period clicks as a form of echo location.

One who works with owl medicine will be able to see and hear what others try to hide. You will hear what is not being said, and you will see what is hidden or in the shadows. You can detect and pinpoint the subtleties. This can make others uncomfortable because they will not be able to deceive you about their motives or actions. Owl people have a unique ability to see into the darkness of others’ souls and life. This is very scary to most people. This vision and hearing capabilities has metaphysical links to the gifts of clairvoyance and clairaudience as well.

The owl, as a bird of the night, can teach all of the secrets of the night. These secrets involve everything that transpires when the Sun is gone. Owls are the eyes of the night, and they see what is not in the open. They have secret knowledge that they can share. Their medicine can extract secrets.

There are over 100 species of owls, and they have always had an intimate link to humans. Wherever humans live, so do rodents the primary food of owls. Because of this, owls live wherever humans live. The unfortunate part is that many hunters and farmers kill owls frequently, believing cats will do better with rodent control. Nothing is further from the truth. A barn owl can kill ten times the amount of mice than a cat in a single night and more if there are young to be fed.

Like humans, they blink by closing the upper eyelids, giving them a human expression which has added to the mysticism of owls. Unlike humans though, their eyes cannot move. Their neck is flexible, giving them a wide range of peripheral vision. They cannot turn their heads completely around, but they do move it so quickly that it gives that appearance. The symbolism of the neck and its flexibility should be meditated upon for those with owl medicine. If your neck is stiff and inflexible, you are hindering your perceptions to a great degree. Neck massages would be very beneficial for anyone working with owl totems.

The owl, like hawks and other birds of prey, has a third eyelid. This nictitating eyelid moves from side to side. It cleanses the eye, clearing its vision. Again this symbolizes so much about new vision opening to you. It often reflects that you were born very perceptive-with a vision of others that you mayor may not have recognized or acknowledged. Often those with an owl as a power totem have a unique ability for seeing into the eyes and souls of others. Often these perceptions are discarded as wild imaginings or with such phrases as “Why in the world would I think that about this person?” These kinds of imaginings, positive and negative, should be trusted.

The mating habits of owls follow similar patterns to other birds. The male will often increase its hooting and dance to get the attention of the female. Many owls like living alone and only come together to breed. So the female, especially of the great horned species, only mates when she truly trusts the male. Some owls mate for life, such as the barn owl. Others mate and stay together only until the owlettes leave the nest.

Many owls do not build nests. They will lay eggs in the forks of trees or use abandoned nests of other birds. Because they often have unusual nesting procedures, it is not uncommon to find owlettes and fledglings at the base of trees where they have fallen. Many people pick them up, believing them to be abandoned. This is rarely so. If left alone, the mother will take care of them.

Usually only the female will brood, but the male will keep the mates and the owlettes in a steady supply of mice. A male feeding the female and her brood can kill dozens of mice or its equivalent in a single night. This attests to the great hunting ability and rodent control that an owl can bring to an environment.

Owls fly silently. The front edge of the wing has a fringe that silences the flight. Most owls have wings that are great for the size of the owl. This also enables the owl to fly slowly and smoothly, facilitating its silent hunt. This silence is something that all with an owl totem should practice. Keep silent and go about your business. This will bring you the greatest success.

Some owls are endangered. This is partly due to destruction of habitat and partly due to unthinking hunting. The spotted owl is an example of an owl in danger because of loss of habitat. The barn owl is threatened or endangered in many states. This is due predominantly to hunting and the perception of owls as pests.

Much study has been done on owls in regards to their prey. This is possible predominantly due to “owl pellets.” An owl will usually swallow its prey whole and head first. The parts of the prey that are indigestible (bones, fur, teeth, claws, and such) are then regurgitated in the form of pellets. This is a very symbolic act in which much significance can be found . In the swallowing of the prey head first, the owl takes into itself the wisdom and energy of the prey. The regurgitation reflects its ability to eliminate those aspects that are unbeneficial and unhealthy for it.

It is important to study the individual characteristics of each species of owl, as well as those for all owls in general. This will help you to define exactly how the owl is going to affect you and your life. In the context of this book, we are only going to examine six particular owls, but this will be enough to provide you with an idea as to how best to relate your owl totem to your individual life.

Some owls have a balancing raptor. The owl is lunar and nocturnal, while some raptors are diurnal and solar. Owls and some hawks will share the same territory, one hunting and using it by day, and the other by night. They don’t necessarily get along, but they do tolerate each other in varying degrees. These can be seen as balancing medicines, and rituals and meditations can be used with the owl and its solar equivalent. They can be used to balance the male and female.

One example is using owl and hawk feathers together as part of a dream bundle to help stimulate lucid dreaming. For example, a red-tailed hawk feather tied between two great horned owl feathers and hung over the bed may help you assert your will over the dream state. This can be used to develop astral projection or just for conscious control of the dream scenario during sleep.

The most common examples of owls and their daytime hawk equivalents are found in the chart below:

OWL		HAWK
(Lunar /Nighttime)		(Solar /Daytime)
Great Horned Owls	=	Red-Tailed Hawks
Barred Owls	=	Red-Shouldered Hawks
Screech Owls	=	Kestrels
Short-Eared Owls	=	Harrier Hawks
Snowy Owls	=	White Phase Gyrfalcons

The first owl we will examine is the great horned owl. This is the most ferocious and the most successful predator in the owl family in America. It is powerful and swift. It can easily snap the neck of a woodchuck. It will not hesitate to take whatever prey presents itself. The great horned owl will even take on all other birds of prey. Most are in awe of its formidable talons and strong beak.

The red-tailed hawk is most often considered the solar or daytime equivalent to the lunar and nocturnal great horned. This is because they may nest in the same tract of land. This does not mean they get along though. In fact great horneds will harass red-tails to the degree that if the opportunity presents itself the hawk will try to eliminate the owl. Truly only the golden eagle is the one raptor unafraid and unintimidated by it.

This ferocity has enabled the owl to survive and adapt to constantly changing environments. It attacks life with a fervor. Unfortunately, this same ferocity has interfered with the reintroduction of the peregrine falcon into its former habitats. In the peregrine’s absence, the great horned owl has taken up residence and will not share either its habitat or its food sources.

To many the hooting of the great horned owl, especially strong and frequent during mating, is a harbinger of spring. Its favorite habitat is in dense wooded areas of hardwoods and conifers. But it can live almost anywhere there is a food source.

The favorite food of the great horned is the skunk, and anyone with this owl as a totem should also study the significance of the skunk. This owl does not have a great sense of smell, which is probably why it is the skunk’s most fearsome predator. It would also be good to study crows as they will often gang up and mob owls in their environment. Crows know that if the owl finds their home during the day, it is likely to visit at night when the crows can neither see nor hear it approach.

The tufts on the top of its head are not its ears. They are simply tufts of feathers. The ears are located lower in the head, and as with all owls are extremely acute. They can hear as well or better than they see.

Next is the common barn owl. This owl has a heart shaped facial disc which is unique among owls. This reflects the ability to link the heart and the mind. It is part of what this owl teaches. It also has darker eyes. It has a golden buff feathering on top, and white feathering beneath.

The common barn owl has a variety of names. When seen at night from below it has a ghostly appearance due to its white feathering. It is this aspect which has earned it the name of ghost owl. It is an owl whose medicine can connect you to old haunts and spirits of properties and homes that may still be lingering about. Its medicine can be used to help develop mediumship and spirit contact.

The barn owl is the master hunter. Many farmers have shot barn owls and tried to replace them with cats. Unfortunately, the farmers often do not realize that “one pair of nesting barn owls can eliminate more mice per night than ten cats put together.”35

It is the barn owl’s hearing ability which makes it stand out as a hunter. In fact, a large portion of the barn owl’s brain is devoted to sorting out the auditory signals that it picks up. It has the ability to use echo location, a kind of sonar in locating prey. For those with this bird as a totem, the ability to hear the inner voice and even spirit (clairaudience) will definitely begin to develop.

Barn owls are inventive opportunists. They are adaptable and will take their food wherever they can find it. Their most common prey is the mouse, and those with barn owl medicine should study the qualities of the mouse as well.

Another marvelous owl is the barred. They are master vocalists and they have charming personalities. They are large and round, with dark eyes. They have a barred marking on their feathers, especially crosswise on the upper chest. It is almost as if this barring is an outer signal that it has much of its ferocity in check.

The barred owl is often found in dense deciduous forests and swamps. Because of loss of environment, it has invaded the haunts of the spotted owl. In the owl kingdom, the larger will also hunt the smaller. Since the spotted owl is smaller, it is somewhat threatened, even though many believe the spotted owl is just a close relative. Both share a love for the primeval forests.

The daytime equivalent of the barred owl is the red-shouldered hawk. These two share the same territory amicably-unlike the great horned and the red-tailed hawk. Both the barred owl and the red-shouldered hawk are at home in moist woodlands. They even share the same nesting space on occasion.

The barred owl has a benign nature, and this is what is most outstanding about it. Although they may try to appear threatening, they are harmless. It is a great actor and can put on quite a show. Many believe its vocal performances are designed to put other animals and people off. It reflects the ability of this owl to teach us how to use the voice for greater effects.

Screech owls are much smaller than those we have discussed so far. Like the great horned, they have tufts of feathers on their head that look like ears. They are usually reddish or gray in color and they are only 6-10 inches tall.

Contrary to their name, screech owls do not really screech. Their sounds are more like a soft whinny. During mating season, the male and female screech owls will sing duets. The males have a lower pitch. If the young are threatened, this is when the “screech” is usually heard.

In spite of their small size, the courage and ferocity of the screech owl is often compared to that of the great horned. It is thought by many to be a miniature of the great horned in this aspect.

The daytime equivalent of the screech owl is the kestrel. They both share the same territory. They both have a fondness for woodland borders and the use of tree holes for nesting. They both have a fondness for crickets and mice.

Screech owls are excellent hunters. They also occasionally use cooperative hunting. This ability to cooperate to survive is part of what the screech owl can teach. It can show you how to be a fierce individual with an ability to cooperate with others-maintaining that individuality throughout.

The short-eared owl is one of the few owls that will hunt day or night. This in itself reflects that its medicine is powerful day and night. It is also unique in that it will meticulously build its home. It will also migrate. The markings on it are flame-like, reflecting its scientific name (Asio flammeus). This fiery aspect is reflected in its personality.

Earlier in the book I spoke of how the short-eared owl has a unique ability to show up overnight wherever there is an eruption of field mice populations. This sixth sense, of being in opportune places at opportune times, is what this owl can teach.

This owl is courageous and playful. While crows can mob and chase off hawks and other owls, the short-eared will turn the tables on its assailants. The crows often become the victims when they try the mobbing with short-eared owls. Though small, they are strong and fast-and they have no fears. And they shouldn’t. Few birds can compare to them in aerial ability. Even the great blue heron, who thinks it is the king of the marshes, has fallen to the short-eared owl on more than one occasion.36

Even its counterpart, the harrier hawk (the most agile of hawks) cannot outfly it. These two though will often share the same territory and have mock “dogfights.” This owl and this hawk nest close to each other and rarely do they ever fight.

The short-eared owl is a versatile and curious bird. Its abilities are second to none, and it has no fear. It reflects a blending of fire and air. They have a stimulating effect upon all energies. They stir passion for life and fire the inspiration. They awaken the imagination.

The last example I will use is that of the magnificent snowy owl. It is larger than the great horned, but it is most noted for its white coloring. It is found in the open tundra of the arctic, but it will migrate as far south as is necessary to find food.

Most owls hunt by night, but like the short-eared owl, the snowy is at home both night and day. It can hunt in full sunlight or total darkness. It has the unique ability to open and close its iris to adjust to whatever light intensities (or lack of) there may be.

The snowy owl hunts predominantly by sitting and waiting. They seem to hunt lazily and often appear to be resting. This is far from true. They conserve their energy, and they are continually observant, going into action when the opportunity presents itself. This sense of timing is part of what the snowy owl can teach.

Its primary prey are lemmings and arctic hares. These should be studied by anyone with this bird as a totem. It will usually eat its weight in food everyday, and like the short-eared owl, it has a knack for moving to areas where food supplies will more likely be found. It seems to instinctually detect possible famine periods and thus is able to move at the opportune times and return as well. This kind of prophetic instinct is part of what this bird can teach. It has the power of prophecy and spirit.

When the snowy moves into a new area, it does not proclaim its presence. It enters quietly and goes about its own business. This is part of what makes it successful. It can teach us this same ability. When it walks, its talons are withdrawn into its well-padded feet. Again this reflects its ability to be non-threatening in spite of its power and ability. It accomplishes its tasks with timing and skill, not through intimidation. True strength is gentle and this is what the snowy teaches.

This is a very skillful bird at the game of survival. Even the young can sprint, swim, and even play dead if it is necessary, assuming an almost torpid state. This bird seems to embody the strength and power of the great horned, while having the temperament of the barred. And on top of it all it has the skill, courage, and

talents of the short-eared.

PARROT

KEYNOTE: Sunshine and Color Healing

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The parrot is a bird of the sun. Its bright colors and sunshine aspect are what gives it its magic. Its feathers can be used in prayer sticks for powerful healing rites and to invoke the energies of the sun at any time of the year.

In the Pueblo tradition, it is a bird associated with the gathering of salt. The places where salt was found were considered a gift of the sun. Since the parrot was to the Pueblo a bird of the sun, there is the correspondence. Parrots come in a variety of colors. Anyone with a parrot as a totem should do some study of colors and their effects. The parrot is a wonderful teacher of the power of light and colors.

Some parrots have been taught to mimic humans. Because of this ability, the parrot has been considered a link between the human kingdom and the bird kingdom. Parrots, in this sense, could be likened to ambassadors, diplomats, and interpreters for the bird realm. They have a magic that will enable you to understand others more effectively. They can help you awaken a sense of diplomacy.

PEACOCK

KEYNOTE: Resurrection and Wise Vision (Watchfulness)

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Autumn

The peacock is a bird which has stirred much lore and myth in every society. This bird with its beautiful plumage fascinates all who encounter it. As with many birds, the male has the brighter feathers and is more ostentatious. The peahen is no less magnificent in its own right. It is a protective and powerful bird.

Probably the peacock’s two most outstanding features are the feathers and its eerie and raucous calls. The call has a kind of laughter quality to it, as if the peacock is a reminder to laugh at life. One story I have heard in connection to its vocalizations is tied to the appearance of its feet. The peacock has ugly feet, and there is a story that it screeches every time it catches sight of them.

For anyone with a peacock as a totem, an examination of the mysticism and symbolism of feet should be examined. The feet are our support system; they are at the foundation of our structure. They enable us to move and to be upright. What are the feet of the peacock saying about you and your life? An examination and use of foot reflexology is beneficial to study for anyone with a peacock as a totem.

The feathers have been used for ritual and for decorative purposes. The colors and patterns of its feathers reveal why such mysticism has arisen in connection with the peacock. The blue-green iridescence creates a sense of awe. The bluish-green tint has often been associated with royalty. The “eyes” within the feathering have often been associated with greater vision and wisdom.

This idea of watchfulness is found in Greek Mythology. Argus, a watchman for the goddess Hera, had a hundred eyes. When he fell asleep during his duty and was killed, Hera placed his eyes in the peacock-her favorite bird.

Of all birds, the peacock most resembles the traditional descriptions of the phoenix. The phoenix is the legendary bird of resurrection that is sacrificed in the fires of life and then rises from the flames out of its own ashes. The peacock, as a reflection of the phoenix, has touched many societies. In Chinese mythology the plumage is a blending of five colors that have a sweet harmony of sound.

In Egypt it was linked to the worship of the sun god, Amon-Ra. Even in Christianity it was a symbol of the death and resurrection of Jesus. In Egypt, the peacock was associated with the all seeing eye of Horus. To the Hindus, it was associated with Hindra, the god of thunder who became a peacock to escape the demon Ravana, thus being endowed with 100 eyes in the feathers.

The peacock was often considered sacred in that it destroyed poisonous snakes. In Egypt it held a position second only to the ibis in this category. Because of its many eyes, it has been associated with wisdom and vision-heightened watchfulness. It has also been associated with immortality. Partly this is due to its similar appearance to depictions of the phoenix. This idea also arises from an old belief that its flesh would not putrefy.

An examination of these and other myths associated with this bird may reveal possible past-life connections for those with this totem. It will shed insight into the role it will play in your life. The lore associated with the peacock is closely tied to its characteristics and behaviors, and it will help you see how other societies were able to draw connections and make correspondences.

PELICAN

KEYNOTE: Renewed Buoyancy and Unselfishness

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

There are two species of pelican in the United States-the white and the brown. Both have the recognizable pouch and long bill. Contrary to what many believe, and as is often depicted in cartoons, they use this to scoop fish and not store them. Some reflection on that may reveal some insight into your own personal activities. Are you trying to store what shouldn’t be stored? Are you not using or digesting what you have? Both types of pelicans embody the keynote, along with other aspects that were once considered very magical and powerful. An old story tells of how the pelican wounded its own breast and fed its young on the blood. This explains the image of self-sacrifice often associated with it, and has come to be a very Christian correspondence.

The brown pelican often nests in bushes (mangrove thickets). By avoiding nesting competition with their neighbors, pelicans make room for more of their kind. Again this reflects a kind of unselfishness. This is further reinforced by the fact that they will often employ teamwork in fishing. This is especially true of the white pelican. The groups descend and drive the fish into the shallow areas.

Despite their size, they are very light and buoyant. They can float like a schooner. The brown pelican is often observed flying solo and then suddenly plummeting into the water. It then pops up to the surface. It has this ability because of a system of air sacs under the skin that make it unsinkable.

Symbolically, this hints at being able to be buoyant and to rest on top in spite of the heaviness of life circumstances. The pelican teaches that no matter how difficult life becomes, no matter how much you plunge-you can pop to the surface. The pelican holds the knowledge of how to rise above life’s trials. This same idea is hinted at in regard to an old belief that pelicans once lived on the desert, in which they fed upon serpents.

Pelicans, in spite of their lightness, sometimes have a difficult time taking off from the water. Still they do manage, and again we can see the correspondence to freeing oneself from that which would weigh you down. The water is a symbol of emotions, and emotions often weigh us down. The pelican teaches how not to be overcome by them.

PENGUIN

KEYNOTE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The penguin is a bird that doesn’t fly. Its wings, though, do serve a purpose when it is in the water. The penguin is an excellent swimmer, and its movement in the water is as fluid and smooth as the flight of other birds. The wings serve as fins, helping the penguin to propel itself and steer in the water.

The penguin can literally jump out of the water, landing on its feet. It can leap five to six feet. This act, and its association with water, is very symbolic. The water is the astral plane of life, the dream dimension. The ability to maneuver so freely reflects an awakening of dream consciousness. For anyone who has a penguin show up as a totem, you can expect to experience lucid dreams. When you become aware in the course of the dream that you are dreaming, you can change the dream. As you change the dream state, you also change those same energies that are playing upon you in your waking life as well.

The leap from the water to land on its feet reflects the ability to leave the body. The penguin teaches how to consciously go out of the body. Out of body experiences (OBE’s) are still one of the most fascinating areas of mysticism. This captures the imagination. The penguin is the expert at slipping in and out of the body-in full consciousness.

The behaviors and activities of penguins can reflect other energies operating in your life as well. The males of the emperor penguin family participate in the care and protection of the eggs. Emperor penguins do not build nests. When the egg is laid, the father puts it on its feet to prevent the egg from freezing to the ice. The father does not leave it alone for two months, until it hatches. The feathers of the father penguin cover it. He barely moves and doesn’t eat until it hatches. At that point the mother penguin takes over the rearing.

This is also very symbolic. Remember that water is associated with the feminine, birth-giving energies. The emperor penguin reflects a greater assertion and expression of that within your life. For those who have a male emperor penguin as a totem, there will very likely be a two-month period in which you nurture, protect and help hatch your creative energies. The fact that the male has such a strong position in a traditionally feminine role, reflects greater awakening in dreams, altered states and creation.

PHEASANT

KEYNOTE: Family Fertility and Sexuality

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

Anyone with a pheasant as a totem would do well to also study the grouse and the chicken. Though of the same family, there are differences. The pheasant needs grasslands and grain fields, hedges and brush to survive in the wild. These environments should be studied by those with this totem.

Originally pheasants came from Greece, near the area of the Phasis River, from which we get the name pheasant. There they ran wild in the kingdom of Colchis. Today, some pheasants are wild as in the grouse or the quail which are distantly related. Others-most to be exact-are domesticated. Because of this, the pheasant is most often linked to the energies of family fertility and sexuality.

Most pheasants have splendid tail plumes. Tail plumes have long been associated with sexuality and the greater expression of it. The colors and kinds of feathers can provide even greater insight, as the feathering and types of pheasants varies greatly. A ringnecked pheasant, for example, multiplies in domestication successfully. The ringed markings on its neck reflect that fertility and growth within its family-a spiraling outward. Another example could be the badger feathers found on pheasants. These feathers have the appearance of striped, tapered markings similar to the badger. Anyone with a pheasant totem that has badger feathers would do well to study the characteristics of the badger itself.

The colors reflect much, and most pheasants have a variety of colors and feathers which should be examined. They all can reflect different aspects of the energies the pheasant symbolize for you. Pheasants are good teachers in how to set romantic moods through the warmth of colors.

PIGEON

KEYNOTE: Return to the Love and Security of Home

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The pigeon is an unusual bird. Although most people think of it as a pest in the city environment, it has very unique characteristics. It is also tied to very gentle and loving archetypal energies.

Today the word “dove” and “pigeon” are used interchangeably. Although there is a difference, the two species are related. It would be wise for anyone with a pigeon as a totem to study the characteristics of the dove as well.

The pigeon has a long history associated with the home and with fertility. The real name of Christopher Columbus was “Colombo” which is the Italian word for “pigeon.” Columbus helped discover a new home. The pigeon also has an extraordinary homing sense. It knows how to find its way back home, no matter how far it has gone.

It is because of this that they often are symbols for a time or a need to return to the security of home. Pigeons can teach us how to find our way back when we are lost. They help us to remember and find the love of home and homelife that we have either given up or lost. They are the only bird that can drink by sucking up water into their beaks. This reflects that ability to draw on the energies of home, no matter how distant.

They are reminders to us to remember that which has positively affected us from our early home life. Have we forgotten who we are? Are we falling into old patterns we vowed to remember and change? Have we forgotten our basic foundations, the heritage we have had passed on to us through home and family? This includes the morals, the behaviors, the attitudes, etc. Draw upon them and use them.

Because they breed rapidly and publicly, pigeons came to be sacred symbols for fertility gods and goddesses. They reflect the fertility of home and family that can occur when they are around. Pigeons will huddle together during a storm. If there are storms in your life, huddle with your family-biological or otherwise. There will be safety and security in that activity. Remember that pigeons remind us of the possibilities, real and ideal, associated with home and family.

QUAIL

KEYNOTE: Group Nourishment and Protection

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Autumn

The quail is a member of the chicken-shaped bird family known as the galliformes. This also includes, chickens, pheasants, grouse and such. In fact, quails have much the same habits as chickens. These should be examined as well, if a quail has flown into your life.

Because they are considered good eating, they have come to be associated with nourishment in many areas. Their frenzied mating antics though have also earned them a reputation for sexuality and fertility. In ancient Greece, they were considered a symbol of the return of spring.

The bob-white is a member of the quail family which speaks its name. This distinctive call has been associated with the mysticism of names. It is a bird which can help you to learn your soul name, the name that stays with you lifetime after lifetime. It has knowledge of the power of names and the naming process. Hearing the sound of the quail during the first week before or after the birth of a child can reflect you have chosen the most beneficial name for that child.

Quails live in groups called bevies. In cold weather, they will often nestle together to stay warm. They will often sit in a tight circle on the ground, tails together in the center, their heads facing the outer rim of the ring. They appear like the spokes in a wheel. This posture enables them to fly in all directions to confuse the predator when they are threatened.

The quail has a wonderful ability to easily spot danger. It takes off with a loud explosion. This startles the predator, distracting it and enabling them to escape. Quail can teach you to be mindful of dangers and how to explode to safety when threatened. It teaches how not to hesitate during times of crises.

RAVEN

KEYNOTE: Magic, Shapeshifting, and Creation

CYCLE OF POWER: Winter Solstice

The raven is one of those birds that has a tremendous amount of lore and mythology surrounding it, and it is often contradictory. It is a bird of birth and death, and it is a bird of mysticism and magic.

In the near East, the raven was considered unclean-because it is a scavenger. It is one of the foods listed as forbidden in the Bible. The raven is one of the birds that Noah sent out after the floods, but it did not return to the ark. On the other hand, also in Biblical lore is the tale of how a raven fed the prophet Elijah when hiding from King Ahab.

In Scandinavian lore, the raven played a significant role. The Norse god Odin had a pair of ravens who were his messengers. Their names were Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory). Odin was known to shapeshift as a raven himself. This reflects the idea of raven being a messenger of the great spiritual realm.

The raven has a long history of being an omen. During the Middle Ages the croak of the raven was believed to foretell a death or the outcome of a battle. It was even taught to the common folk in Christian communities that wicked priests became ravens when they died. Even today, some old timers tell how you can expect hot weather when a raven is seen facing a clouded sun.

The raven is a member of the corvids family, to which belong crows and magpies and other such birds. In truth, the only really significant difference between the crow and the raven is in size, the raven being much larger. It would be beneficial to study the information on the crow for anyone who has a raven as a totem. Much of the same information that applies to one, also applies to the other. It is simply a matter of degree. Rather than repeat that information here, I would like to give you some information not generally associated with the crow itself.

The raven has a wealth of myth and lore surrounding it. In many ways it is comparable to the coyote tales of the plains Indians, the Bushmen tales of the mantis and other societies in which an animal plays both a significant and yet con- fusing role. The coyote was both trickster and wise being-fool and wise one. This was true of the mantis in the tales of the Kalahari Bushmen.

In the Pacific Northwest, the raven has this same aura about him. In the Pacific Northwest, raven brought forth life and order. Raven stole the sunlight from one who would keep the world in darkness. Nothing could exist without raven. Raven is honored in art and on totem poles, reflecting the tales and mysticism that have developed around it.

With raven, human and animal spirits intermingle and become as one. This is reflected in its deep, rich shiny black. In blackness, everything mingles until drawn forth, out into the light. Because of this, raven can help you shapeshift your life or your being. Raven has the knowledge of how to become other animals and how to speak their languages.

Ravens are great at vocalizations, and they can be taught to speak. They incorporate and mimic the calls of other species. In the Northwest are tales of the Kwakiutl Indians who offered the afterbirth of male newborns to Raven so that when they grew up, they would understand their cries. Raven can teach you to understand the language of animals.

Ravens are playful, and they are excellent tool users. They will use stones and anything else that is available to help them crack nuts and such. They are birds not intimidated by others, and they are very fast and wary. Because of this, they are not easy prey for other animals or birds. This implies the ability to teach you how to stir the magic of life without fear. They are also known for their amorous behavior, reflecting the strong creative life force to which they have access.

This creative life force can be used to work the magic of spiritual laws upon the physical plane. It can be used to go into the void and stir the energies to manifest that which you most need. All this and more is what raven teaches. If raven has come into your life, expect magic. Somewhere in your life, magic is at play. Raven activates the energy of magic, linking it with your will and intention.

Raven speaks of the opportunity to become the magician and/or enchantress of your life. Each of us has a magician within, and it is Raven which can show us how to bring that part of us out of the dark into the light. Raven speaks of messages from the spirit realm that can shapeshift your life dramatically. Raven teaches how to take that which is unformed and give it the form you desire.

The winter solstice and winter season is the time of greatest power for those with the raven as a totem. The solstice is the shortest day of the year. The sun shines the least on this day, thus it is the darkest. From that day forth, the light shines a little more each day. This is symbolic of the influence of raven. It teaches how to go into the dark and bring forth the light. With each trip in, we develop the ability to bring more light out. This is creation.

ROAD RUNNER

KEYNOTE: Mental Speed and Agility

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring and Summer

The road runner is a streaked bird, approximately two feet long. It has a crest upon its head, and as with any bird with such, it reflects an activation of the mental faculties. It lives in cactus and mesquite areas, and these should be studied by anyone who has this bird as its totem.

The road runner eats grasshoppers in large quantities. Again for those with this totem, the qualities and characteristics of this prey should be studied. It will provide further insight into the role the road runner will play in your life. (Refer to part four of this text.)

The road runner is actually a ground-dwelling cuckoo. It has adapted to life on the ground. It has almost lost the power of flight, but on rare occasions they do fly. Its greatest ability is that of running. It can run as fast as 18 miles per hour.

The road runner teaches mental agility and speed. Those with this totem will learn to think quickly and on their feet . The road runner will help you learn to shift your thought processes with speed and agility. Mentally, you will find it necessary and easier to stop, shift, and then run in another direction if necessary.

The tail of the road runner works like an air brake. It facilitates stops and shifts in the mental process. It also implies an activation of the kundalini in a manner that will enable you to manifest your thoughts. Instead of planning and never completing, there will occur increased opportunity to plan and set those plans in motion.

Individuals with the road runner as a totem are always thinking. It is sometimes hard to follow their train of thought, but if they can be slowed down, they can show you connections and stimulate ideas you had not thought possible. Their minds are always at work.

ROBIN

KEYNOTE: Spread of New Growth

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

Most commonly known as robin redbreast, this wonderful bird is a traditional herald of spring. Although robins often migrate, they do not always need to do so. Migration occurs due to lack of food and not to avoid colder weather as many believe. If the food supplies are beneficial, the robin will make its home year-round.

In spring, its song is often recognizable to all. In fact, few birds outdo the robin in overall distribution throughout North America. When a robin comes into your life, you can expect new growth to occur in a variety of areas of your life-not in just a single area.

There exists much myth and lore around the robin. The most common legend is that it obtained its red breast when it pulled a thorn from the bloodied crown on Christ’s head while on the cross. In the more superstitious tradition, the stealing of a robin’s egg was a means to court misfortune. Some believe that you should make a wish when you see the first robin of spring, before it flies off, or you will have no luck for the next year.

In spite of this lore, a study of the robin can reveal much of its true worth as a totem. Robins react to red. In males, it signals other males “to get out of my territory.” The red is, of course, connected to the kundalini. In the robin, it is more of a rust, as if it has been diluted with other colors. This, along with the fact that it covers the entire breast area, reflects its activation in a manner that will stimulate new growth in all areas of your life.

The song of the robin is a cheery, rolling trill. Part of its purpose is to help the robin establish its territory. Two males in the same area will puff up and sing with all their force. Fights between robins over territory are usually in song. Physical confrontations are more symbolic without injury. This is very significant for anyone with this bird as its totem. It reflects a need to sing your own song forth if you wish new growth. Any confrontations or hindrances are more show than actual threats, so go forward.

The robin lays a distinctive powder-blue egg. This is a color that is often used to activate the throat center in humans. This is a center associated with will force and creativity. The robin egg reflects the innate ability of those with this totem to assert the will force to create new growth in his/her life. When the robin comes to you it is to help you in this process. It may reflect you have been doing so inappropriately or ineffectually. Either way, the robin will show you how to do it successfully.

Both parents share in the feeding of the young-on the average of once every twelve minutes.37 This is necessary, as the young are born entirely without feathers. Still, the robin has energy to raise more than one brood a year. Again this reflects the activation of the creative life force, reflected within the red coloring. It is the heart of the robin that gives it this ability.

SPARROW

KEYNOTE: Awakening and Triumph of Common Nobility

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The sparrow has not always been considered the pest it is today. It is a perky, assertive bird that can hold its own against many forms of predation. The sparrow lives in all habitats. In the United States there were no natural checks upon it, and thus it multiplied at a fantastic rate.

The sparrow has its share of lore, as with many birds. One story tells of how it was the one bird present throughout the crucifixion of Christ, making it a symbol of triumph after long suffering. It was a symbol of household divinities in Britain; and during the Middle Ages, it was a symbol for the peasants and lower classes throughout Europe. Peasants, at this time, were often helpless under the power of overlords. Because of this, they loved to hear tales of how the insignificant sparrow triumphed over such powerful enemies as wolves, bears, and eagles-the traditional symbols of nobility and those who mistreated the peasants.

Its ability to multiply and assert itself in spite of predation reflects the idea that nobility of the common person is inherently strong. For those who have a sparrow as a totem, look about you. Are you allowing others to take your dignity? Have you forgotten your own self-worth? Have you begun to think that you would always be under the heel of some tyrant-human or social? The sparrow will show you how to survive. It will awaken within you a new sense of dignity and self-worth, helping you to triumph in spite of outer circumstances.

The song sparrow is very symbolic of this. It has three spots in the form of an inverted triangle on its throat and breast. There is a dark spot on each side of its throat and a heavy spot in the middle of the breast. This reflects a drawing down of energy to awaken the heart and the throat centers. It is the assertion of will to bring out the inherent dignity so it can sing forth in your life. This is what the sparrow can teach.

STARLING

KEYNOTE: Group Behavior and Etiquette

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

The starling is a very sociable bird. When not nesting they gather together to form immense flocks. They almost always travel together, and they feed in flocks. Because of this, starlings reveal lessons associated with group behavior and etiquette. They can teach you how to be more effective within groups, as well as show you how your behavior is inappropriate for group situations. Anything dealing with community or group behavior falls under the teachings of the starling-good or bad. An example of inappropriate group behavior is reflected in the mobbing that starlings often do to other birds. Robins, bluebirds, wrens, and even the kestrel have occasionally been mobbed and beaten up by starlings. Only the screech owl is too tough for such starling behaviors.

If starlings have shown up in your life, ask yourself some important questions. Are you feeling as if life is ganging up on you? Are you applying undo pressure on others? How has your etiquette been lately in group situations? It may even be a warning to watch out for possible misbehavior. If you have been feeling mobbed, you may want to study and meditate upon the screech owl to help you deter this in your life.

In spring the bill of the starling is yellow. This reflects a stronger energy in regard to vocal expression. You may want to watch what you say, as people will have a tendency to take it incorrectly or blow it up out of proportion. It is usually an indication that you may want to watch your sensitivity to other people’s words as well.

The starling has the ability to imitate dozens of birds. This reflects the lessons of community. For large numbers to live at peace in a community, there must be an ability to communicate in various languages. This is part of what the starling reflects. It is a symbol of being able to communicate more clearly (the yellow bill) with others in the flock.

STORK

KEYNOTE: Birth and Unspoken Communication

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round

The stork is one of the most ancient and powerful symbols of new birth. It was a symbol in China with significances similar to that of the crane. It was also a bird believed to be sacred to the Roman goddess Juno—the goddess of home, children, and family fidelity. The stork has also been associated with the early lore around Christianity. One such story that I heard as a child tells how the stork circled around the cross, offering sympathy and strength to Jesus.

The stork has even been considered a close relative of humanity In some fairy tales and legends, the stork is a bird that is capable of assuming human form at times. It has been said that when wounded it will weep human tears.

The stork is a wader; it has long legs that enable it to wade in shore areas and shallow waters. Such areas were often considered entrance ways to the Faerie Realm. It also reflects a connection to emotions and the creation symbology of water. Storks can help us to understand our emotions and how to enjoy the process of giving birth.

The stork is known for its dedication to its young. They are caring and very protective parents. This helps explain the connection between the stork and the Roman goddess Juno. Storks usually return to the same nests year after year, raising young from the same home nest.

This in itself can provide some insight into the stork’s role within your own life. Do you need to get back home-back to the basics? Are you showing enough care for the child within you? Have you lost touch with your family roots? Are you taking the time to nurture and care for those projects and activities you give birth to within your life?

It has always been considered good luck to see a stork or have one as a totem. They are symbols of a new birth in your life. They reflect that on some level you are going to find life renewed and opportunities to awaken a new sense of joy and promise. In traditional folklore, a stork flying over the house reflected that birth was on its way.

The stork has no real voice for communication. They do have intricate postures, gestures, and dances that they perform for various purposes. They will rattle their bills, strut, and flap every posture having significance. This links the stork to the ancient mysteries of sacred dance.

Dance is a means by which we can awaken primal forces and energies. It is a means of linking other dimensions with the physical. The stork holds the ancient knowledge of sacred dance, especially fertility dances. Stork as a totem can teach you how to awaken your own fertility in any area of your life through movement and activity-rather than through words. It can show you how to use rattles and drums to empower and assist the awakening of your own fertility and creativity.

The stork can show you where you need to focus your movements for greatest success, and it can show you where your rhythms are off and hindering your development. It can show you how to invoke greater energy through proper dance. The stork will teach you how energies are created by dance, but rather invoked and challenged through it. It will show you how to transcend present conditions through sacred dance and create an opportunity for new birth.

SWALLOW

KEYNOTE: Protection and Warmth for the Home and Proper Perspective

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer

The swallow is often considered a favored bird that heralds the arrival of summer. Swallows have a tendency to follow warm weather, and thus they were considered one of the surest signs of summer. On the other hand, I have heard it said that one swallow does not make a summer.

The swallow has its own legends and tales unique to it. One Indian legend tells how the swallow stole fire from the sun and brought it to the earth, carrying it on its tail feathers. It is because of this action that its tail feathers are now forked and spinelike. Because of this and because the swallow comes with warm weather, it is associated with the sun and fire.

The southeastern Indians hung hollow gourds for purple martins, a member of the swallow family. An examination of martins will provide some further insight into the specific symbolism of this species.

In the Middle Ages, a variety of beliefs were attributed to the swallow. Many believed that swallows knew of a magical stone or a magical herb (Celandine) that could restore eyesight. A study of celandine (lesser) may provide some further insight. In a Scandinavian legend, the swallow hovered over the cross and cried “cheer up” to Jesus.

A swallow nesting on a house would reflect protection and preservation from disaster, especially fire and storm. A swallow flying high was an indication the weather would be good. Flying closer to the ground indicated rain. A study of the swallow’s true characteristics and behaviors will help define its role and abilities as a totem.

The swallow is a small, insect-eating bird. Its bill is small, but the mouth opens amazingly wide. This hints at communications being more than what they appear. Are people saying things that actually have other meanings? Are we saying more than we realize? Do we need to listen more closely to what is being said and not be put off by who is saying it or how it comes out? It may even indicate that there is hidden wisdom in your own words or in the words of others.

The swallow feeds on many harmful insects. Swallows that nest near your home will help control pesky insects, reflecting a subtle protection of the home and the home environment. If a swallow shows up in your life, what does that say about the pesky insects within your life? Do you need to be more controlling of things in your life? Are there a lot of little irritations that are accumulating? Are you becoming too much of a “pesky insect” to others? Are you becoming too engrossed in the petty mundane activities of life and not moving on? Are others doing so? The swallow brings an energy that can help us with any aspect of this.

The swallow is a graceful flyer, and it actually spends little time on the ground. This is important for those with this totem to remember. Do not allow yourself to become too deeply enmeshed in the mundane. The swallow will often show up when you are allowing yourself to rehash old issues and problems and not move on. Its an indication you need some perspective.

The swallow has legs and feet that are small and weak. This reinforces the idea mentioned in the above paragraph. If a swallow has shown up, it may be telling you that you are weakest when trying to handle things from strictly a mundane perspective. Rise above it. Move beyond, so that you can gain a better perspective. You are weakest in solving problems when you do not distance yourself from them. A distance will help you to see clearly how to strengthen and protect yourself and others.

Objectivity is the key. By keeping your objectivity you will be able to easily protect the home and add greater warmth to your life and to the lives of those you touch. The swallow can help you to clean your environment of pests and create an energy of loving warmth in the home.

SWANS

KEYNOTE: Awakening the True Beauty and Power of the Self

CYCLE OF POWER: Winter

The swan is one of the most powerful and ancient of totems. This is reflected even in its name. It is one of the oldest names in the English language, and it has come down un-changed since Anglo Saxon times.

The swan is a stately aquatic bird with a long graceful neck and beautiful white plumage. It is the largest of all waterfowl. It feeds on soft water plants, and its bill is so sensitive that it serves as a feeler underwater. For those with this totem, the emotions will become more sensitive, and you will find yourself becoming more sensitive to the emotions of others as well.

The swan is usually pure white (except for the bills and feet). This makes it a solar symbol. There is a black swan (Australian) and it is more of a nocturnal symbol. It is also considered a symbol of something rare and/ or nonexistent.

The neck of the swan is long and graceful. It is one of the swan’s most distinguishing features. The neck is a bridge area between the head (higher realms) and the body (lower worlds). In the swan totem, as you begin to realize your own true beauty, you unfold the ability to bridge to new realms and new powers. This ability to awaken to the inner beauty and bridge it to the outer world is part of what swan medicine can teach. It can show how to see the inner beauty within yourself or in others, regardless of outer appearances. When we are capable of this, we become a magnet to others. This is reflected in the familiar story by Hans Christian Anderssen, “The Ugly Duckling.”

The swan is a cold-loving bird. They do not like the heat, and can stand the cold very well, as long as there is food. Those with this totem will find it easier to stand colder climates than warmer. Because of this, the swan also has ties to the direction of North, and its symbolism should be examined as well.

The kind of swan and its characteristics will have significance unique to themselves and to you. The largest of all swans is the trumpeter. It is named for its loud, far-carrying call. The whistling swan is our most common. The sound it makes is actually more of a whoop than a whistle. The mute swan, best known in America, is named for the belief that it loses its voice as it reaches maturity. It is not truly voiceless, but it does epitomize the idea of strength through silence.

Swans are powerful birds. They can break a man’s arms with the beat of their wings, and they have strong bites as well. They are also devoted parents and they mate for life, and some live as long as 80 years. They reflect the power and longevity that is possible as we awaken to the beauty and power within ourselves.

The swan is the totem of the child, the poet, the mystic, and the dreamer. Swans fill mythology and folklore, usually as traditional symbols of beauty and grace. Swans were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. They were depicted pulling the chariot of Apollo. Zeus took the shape of a swan to make love to Ledo, a mortal-reflecting the ability of a swan to link different worlds and dimensions.

The swan fills folklore and fairy tales. Many speak of young maidens who turn into swans by putting on the magic garment of a swan’s skin. If the skin were found, the beautiful maiden had to remain human and marry whoever found the skin, or do their bidding. The swan thus has come to be a link to the Faerie realm of life. Many of these tales involving swans ended tragically, hinting at the primal life-changing power of beauty when released freely. It hints of the control necessary to effectively work with such energy.

From Greece comes the mystery of the swan song. This belief taught that the swan sang its most beautiful song just before it died. The swan song has come to be synonymous with poetic fancy. The swan can teach the mysteries of song and poetry, for these touch the child and the beauty within.

SWIFT

KEYNOTE: Speed and Agility in the Great Quest—The Magic Elixir of Saliva

CYCLE OF POWER: Evening

The swift is a small bird with wings that are swept back and stiff. Its flying is quick, and as its name implies, very swift. Its tail is short and barely shows, reflecting a need not to drag one’s feet in any endeavor. If swifts have flown into your life, you should be asking yourself some questions. Are you not acting on opportunities when they present themselves? Are you or others around you hesitating too much? Are you trying to do things too quickly and losing control in the process?

The swift is a bird that can teach us how to respond to people and situations in life with speed and agility. It teaches us how to take advantage of any opportunity that arrives. The swift is most active in the evening, but it can be found feeding at almost any time of the day. This reflects its ability to assess and respond to opportunities with speed. The swift teaches us that hesitation can truly create loss of opportunity.

The swift makes a cup-shaped nest, glued with its own saliva. There is a tremendous mysticism around saliva and its uses for healing, and its connection to the primal fluids of life within you. The use of it as a gluing substance reflects the ability to draw on life energies and fluids for various purposes.

In tantrism and taoism there is a tremendous mysticism centered around saliva. The saliva of a sexually aroused woman is credited with great power, including healing and the charging of magical talismans. Saliva can be used as a “witness” for absent healing. A witness is anything which will psychically represent the person. It is a link to the person and their energy.

Saliva was considered a nectar in some eastern practices, nectar that could serve many functions. Physiologically, it cools the body and nurtures the system. The saliva of a woman is considered especially powerful-enough to heal and prolong life when taken while in an aroused state.

Kissing is often explored in tantric and Hindu love practices. Different kisses serve different functions. Anyone with the swift as a totem would do well to explore these as they involve the passing of saliva for specific purposes.

Kissing as a form of psychic protection is very ancient as well. The placing of a kiss (and the saliva) confers psychic energy and activates psychic centers. The saliva seals and protects areas of the body most susceptible to disharmony, and it helps to promote a wider distribution of love energy during sexual activity. This is reflected in the-energies of the swift, as it seals its nest with saliva.

The cup-shaped nest has significance for anyone with a swift totem. The cup is a symbol for the Holy Grail, the quest of which leads us to find our spiritual essence and how best to manifest it in this lifetime.

All cups are associated with the feminine energies. A cup holds and contains elixirs (saliva). It can be used to pour them out like the horn of plenty. The nest is a reminder to act upon your feminine energies swiftly and powerfully. Learn to draw forth your waters and bring to life the magic within. In this the swift will assist you.

SWISHER

KEYNOTE: Awakening to the Faerie Realm, Accomplishment—For the Sake of Accomplishment

CYCLE OF POWER: Dusk-Summer

This bird is often referred to as a nighthawk, but it is no hawk at all. It is a cousin to the whip-poor-will.38 It is a bird with a variegated plumage of white, black, and buff, reflecting that intersection of night and day that we call dusk.

Dusk is the time at which the swisher is most active. It is a time long associated with fairies, elves, and the awakening of spirits. The swisher is a bird of the “Tween Time,” and it is often seen as a transport or vehicle for those of the Faerie Realm.

The swisher is part of a group of birds that used to be called goatsuckers because of an age old belief that they sucked the milk of goats. This probably originated with the folk ideas of mischievous elves and fairies who helped themselves to milk from goats and cows on farms near their homes.

Many misbehaviors and misfortunes were attributed to elves and fairies when there was no rational explanation. The souring of milk, the disappearance of objects, and even the stealing of milk was attributed to them. Since swishers and other “goatsuckers” of European origin were active at dusk and night (the time of elf and fairy activity), they were considered the vehicles for those of the Faerie Realm.

The swisher has a short bill and a wide mouth. It hunts at dusk and it feeds on insects that are captured and eaten in flight. They are most conspicuous and active at dusk and at night. This reflects much about those who have a swisher as a totem. They will often find themselves so active that they seem to live on the run. It will be important for those who have a swisher come into their lives to pay attention to the ‘Tween Times-dawn, dusk, midnight, noon, all times that are neither one nor the other. These will be times of greatest inspiration and power. You will find yourself more effective in all of your activities.

Unlike other nightjars39 or goatsuckers, the swisher is more often seen than heard. Many people see them at night, but often don’t realize what they are seeing. Many see this again as a direct correspondence to fairies and elves, with them being around and not being noticed.

If a swisher has come into your life you may wish to examine aspects of your life activities. Are you feeling neglected? Are you neglecting or not honoring important others in your life? Are you trying to get attention when you should be focusing on just accomplishing your tasks? Are you or others around you forcing attention? Are you feeling caught in the middle and as if you are not accomplishing things? The swisher will teach you to do your life tasks,and to do them well just for the sake of doing them, rather than for extraneous attention. It will teach you that there is no need to blow your own horn. When you do your job well, others will do that for you.

The swisher builds no nest of its own. It lays its two eggs upon the bare ground. This in itself is highly significant. It needs no glamour. It sees the earth as its nest, and it brings forth creative life. The two eggs also have symbolic significance for those who wish to explore the numerological correspondence.

TURKEY

KEYNOTE: Shared Blessings and Harvest

CYCLE OF POWER: Autumn

The turkey is sometimes called the earth eagle. It has a long history of association with spirituality and the honoring of the Earth Mother. It is a symbol of all the blessings that the Earth contains, along with the ability to use them to their greatest advantage. The turkey can live to be twelve years old. Twelve is a significant number in that the earth revolves around the sun in twelve months, reflecting a tie between the turkey and the honoring life cycle of the Earth. Those who have a turkey as a totem can usually expect a year of harvest.

Turkeys are native birds to this continent, and they were even raised by the Aztecs and Mayans. Almost every part of the turkey had usefulness. They were used as food. Their feathers were used for decorations, and even their bones were used to make whistles.

Turkeys have an intricate mythology among Native Americans. Turkey helped create the world, showing humans how to raise corn and fighting off evil spirits like the owl. Some stories teach how Indian sorcerers would turn themselves into turkeys and prowl around other villages.

The turkey is part of the chicken family, and the characteristics of it should be studied as well by anyone with a turkey as a totem. Some believe that the name for this bird came from the Hebrew name for peacock, “tukki.”

The turkey is one of the most adaptable birds. Although once threatened, it is now surviving strongly again in the wild. It greatest threat is the loss of habitat. Although they can adapt to most environments, their preference is for forested lands. The diet of the turkey is varied, but they can eat up to a pound of acorns a day. Nuts and acorns have often been associated with hidden wisdom and new seeds of growth. Animals and birds which feed on them often reflected that new nourishment, in the form of wisdom and/or growth, is likely to occur. The turkey has also been known to steal the food cache of squirrels.

The male turkey has a bright red, fleshy wattle, and a peculiar inflatable growth on the forehead. When limp it dangles along its beak like a loose antennae. It can swell, such as at those times when one male challenges another. This growth is very symbolic. It is linked to the ancient idea of the third eye, the inner vision often associated with the pituitary gland in more traditional metaphysics. The brow center or third eye is the center for higher vision, and is often considered the seat of the feminine energies within each of us. This reflects its tie to the Mother Earth and all of its feminine energies and possibilities.

The male will often keep several hens. The female must actually lie down in front of her chosen to get his attention. The hens will sometimes use a common nest for their eggs. This again hints at the concept of shared blessings, as does the way in which they protect themselves.

Many believe that the turkey cannot fly, but this is not so. The turkey is capable of quick take-offs and can fly up to 50 miles per hour for short distances. They also run well upon their stout legs. They also will perch in trees at night for safety, roosting together; and they will change their roosting nightly. They find a strength in numbers and thus reflect the energy of sharing.

VULTURE

KEYNOTE: Purification-Death and Rebirth-New Vision

CYCLE OF POWER: Year-round-Summer and Winter

In the earliest of times, the sun lived very close to the earth-so close in fact that life upon the earth was becoming unbearable. The animal world got together and decided to do something about it. They wanted to move the sun further away. The fox was the first to volunteer, and he grabbed the sun in his mouth and began to run to the heavens. After a short while, the sun became too hot, burning the fox’s mouth, and he stopped. To this day, the inside of the fox’s mouth is black.

The Turkey Vulture

This unique bird derives its name from the Latin vu/tur, and although it does not kill its own prey, it is considered a raptor and a predator. It has a magnificent wingspan and an ability to soar effortlessly for great lengths of time. It is one of the most misunderstood birds, and yet it was one of the most powerful and mystical in many societies.

Then the opossum volunteered. He wrapped his tail around the sun and began running toward the heavens. Before long though, the sun became too hot, burning his tail, and he had to stop. To this day the opossum has no hair upon its tail.

It was then that vulture stepped forward. Vulture was the most beautiful and powerful of birds. Upon its head was a beautiful mantle of rich feathering that all other birds envied. Knowing that the earth would burn up unless someone moved the sun, the vulture placed its head against it and began to fly to the heavens. With powerful strokes of its wings, it pushed and pushed the sun further and further up into the heavens. Though it could feel its crown feathers burning, the vulture continued until the sun was set at a safe distance in the sky away from the earth. Unfortunately, vulture lost its magnificent head of feathers for eternity.

The vulture is probably the most misunderstood and misaligned bird. People see them as gross and associate them only with death, but myths and tales abound that reflect the exact opposite. Even a brief examination of the variety of myths about it and a cursory look at its behaviors will reveal a truly wonderful creature.

In the Greek tradition, the vulture was considered to be a descendent of the griffin, a mythical creature usually depicted with a combination of animal characteristics. It was a symbol of heaven and earth, spirit and matter, good and evil, guardian and avenger. It was considered the avenger of the nature spirits. To the ancient Assyrians, the angel of death would come in the form of a griffin. It embodied the union between the falcon and its solar aspects and the feline aspects of the night-a reflection of never-ending vigilance. The vulture is thus a link to the griffin as a guardian to the mysteries of life and death and the road of salvation. For more information on the griffin, you may wish to consult the author’s earlier work, Enchantment of the Faerie Realm.

In Egypt the goddess of truth, Maat, is usually depicted carrying a vulture feather. In parts of Egypt the vulture was also a mother symbol, probably because it devours corpses, enabling other life to sustain itself. Often animals and birds represented a form of the divine power which would dispose of what could otherwise be dangerous to life and health. Life and death were both often mother symbols.

To the Pueblo Indians, it was a symbol of purification. Its medicine would restore harmony that had been broken. Its feathers were used in rituals for grounding after shapeshifting ceremonies, facilitating the return to the self. Turkey vulture assisted with such transitions. It was used to dispel evil, to break contact with the dead (as in channeling, shapeshifting or other forms of mediumship), to discharm objects and even to recover slain warriors.40

In folk beliefs, when turkey vulture comes back after the winter, there will be no more frost. Also the wearing of a feather of a black buzzard was thought to prevent rheumatism. They have also been associated wrongly with greed and heartlessness.

The vulture is a member of the raptor family, but unlike most raptors (hawks, owls, etc.), its weak feet and short talons make it unsuited for tearing and grasping. It relies on others to do the killing. Although their role as scavengers is often considered disgusting, it serves an extremely valuable and necessary function. It limits infections and bacteria from corpses that could otherwise spread to other animals who do not have the resistance. They serve to keep the environment clean and in balance. They prevent the spread of disease.

There are several varieties of vulture. Each has its own unique characteristics. All walk, stand and perch firmly and with dignity, a kind of unspoken confidence in themselves, regardless of their appearance.

The condor has the largest wingspan, and it is the world’s largest flying bird. The wingspan of the Andean condor can reach 12 feet; the California condor can reach nine feet. The king vulture of Mexico-Argentina will fly alone or in pairs, usually high and far away from others.

Most people in this country are familiar with two types-the black vulture and the more common turkey vulture. Often called buzzards, they are simply vultures. The black vulture is named for its color. Its scientific name, coragyps atratus, means “vulture dressed in black.” It usually is a solid black with a white spot at the end of each wing. The black vulture has a shorter tail and cannot soar as well as the turkey vulture. It spends more time on perches. It often nests in hollow logs.

The turkey vulture has a long tail and bi-colored wings. It is a creature of grace when in flight. Its scientific name, cathartes aura, means “golden purifier.” They will congregate on communal roosts at night, and at dawn, in the early morning sun, they will outstretch their wings to dry the dew, giving the appearance of honoring the rising sun.

Although homely in appearance when just standing, in flight these raptors are magnificent specimens. They soar with a grace and an ease that is thrilling. For those with this totem, it speaks of a coming time when you will be noticed more for what you do than for how you appear.

The vultures have a wonderful ability to see and use the thermals rising from the earth, giving them lift. Their ability to use the thermals is often likened to auric vision, the ability to see the subtle energy emanations from the body. We have all experienced thermals in our lives. When we have driven down a road on a hot summer day and see the heat rising off the surface, this is a thermal. To the human ground observer, these currents are only visible for a few feet above the concrete. The vulture can see them as they rise into the sky. When on the ground, the vultures cannot see or feel the thermals, but in the air they are sensitive to every aspect of the currents. If turkey vulture has come into your life, you will probably soon start to see auras and colors around people and things. If not, the vulture can help teach you.

The vulture is a patient hunter. It can soar for hours without flapping its wings. They are tremendous symbols of flight without power. They ride the thermals and windborne updrafts. They use air currents to interfere with the pull of gravity and allow themselves to fly. In essence, they do not need to expend much energy to oppose gravity. This is seen in the fact that their wings rarely move, reflecting that the power for flight does not come from them. They simply use what is available.

One of the mystical secrets believed to be held by the vulture is the ability to levitate. Levitation is the law of spirituality. Gravity is the impulse toward the material and mundane (physical). The vulture denies the material. Its ability to float, rise and soar has been seen as a symbol of movement away from the mundane. It is a symbol of the disintegration of physical holds. It is a symbol of distributing one’s energy so that gravity does not weigh and hold one down-be it the actual gravity of the earth or the gravity of mundane situations and experiences.

They can also fold their wings well above the horizontal level which is unique among raptors and most birds. It helps them in their soaring. When they do flap their huge wings, they provide a powerful thrust forward, and thus do not need to be used that frequently. This ability to use energy powerfully and efficiently is part of what vulture teaches.

Vultures are also noted for their keen eyesight. Some scientists believe they pass subtle messages visually from one bird to another, especially when a carcass is found. They can spot kills over many miles. Their eyes see eight times more sharply than human eyes.

One of its most powerful senses is the sense of smell. The turkey vulture has a highly developed sense of smell. They can find food simply by smelling it if necessary. The black vulture’s sense of smell is not quite as developed. The sense of smell has long been associated with higher forms of discrimination in metaphysical traditions. Turkey vulture can assist you in developing your own sense of smell that you can use effectively in all areas of your life. It will help you to decide whether or not something doesn’t quite smell right in your life. The sense of smell is also associated with aromatherapy, and for those with turkey vulture as a totem, this may be the most effective holistic health technique to develop or use on yourself.

The turkey vulture has a unique digestive system. When we examine the kinds of food it eats, it is no wonder. It has a resistance to botulism thousands of times higher than humans. The digestive tract contains chemicals that kill the virulent bacteria that is on the foods they eat.

It is not unusual for those with a vulture totem to have changes in their own digestive system occur. Foods that used to be enjoyed and have no side effects may become less compatible. On the other hand foods always thought of as incompatible may become compatible. Foods that you eat are going to have a more noticeable effect upon your energy system. Pay attention to how you feel physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually after eating various foods. You will soon discover which you may need to avoid and which you may need to increase.

When a turkey vulture comes in as a totem, there may also be changes in your eliminative processes. The turkey vulture is one of just a few animals that will eliminate over its own legs and feet. It will squirt excrement on itself. This is due partly to cleansing the feet and legs of bacteria that may have accumulated on them while the vulture was feeding on the carcass. The same antibacterial chemical in the digestive tract is found within the excrement, serving as a bactericide for the legs and feet.

This does not mean that those with a vulture totem are going to have problems with incontinence. Those with a vulture totem should make sure their own eliminative system is working properly and regularly. If your energy is down or you feel yourself coming down with a cold or such, check your bowel movements. They may need to be stimulated.

Another reason that the vulture does this is to cool off the legs and feet. This is something that is also healthy and beneficial for those with vulture totems, especially if they are having trouble handling the heat. Soak the feet in cool water, and you will find some wonderful and quick results.

The vulture actually keeps itself quite clean, and in the wild will bathe frequently. The featherless head enables the vulture to remain relatively clean as it dips its head into the entrails and carcasses. Had it feathers, bacteria would accumulate in them, thus the lack of feathers prevents infection. The sun’s rays also serve as a disinfectant for the head. Each morning it will face the sun with wings outstretched to warm its feathers and to cleanse itself of bacteria that may still remain. In this fashion the wings actually serve as mini solar collectors. The vulture has no real voice. It will force air out its bill and hiss. To some this reflects the lesson of acting rather than talking. To some it shows that vulture medicine has to do with performing rather than talking about performing.

Vultures usually lay their eggs on the bare ground. The young are extremely sensitive to interference. There is a long period of incubation in breeding and rearing a single chick, and thus the parent does not go far in search of food. The young do not leave the nest or fly until three months. For this reason there is the belief that it may take as much as three months before an individual begins to truly move past the death stage to rebirth, as is symbolized by the vulture.

In alchemy, the vulture was a symbol of sublimation, particularly because of its resemblance to the eagle. The vulture was considered a sign of confirmation of a new relationship between the volatile aspects of life and the fixed, the psychic energies and the cosmic forces. It was a promise that the suffering of the immediate was temporary and necessary for a higher purpose was at work, even if not understood at the time. It reflects that no matter how difficult the life conditions, rescue is as imminent in your life as was the rescue of Prometheus by Hercules.

WAXWING

KEYNOTE: Gentleness and Courtesy

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring-Summer

The waxwing is a beautiful and gentle bird of summer. It is a member of the cardinal family, and thus the cardinal should be studied as well. It is usually of a light chocolate color, with traces of pink or mauve and with a bright yellow band. It has a black chin and usually a black line running through the eyes, giving it the appearance of a mask. At the end of the wings is a patch of red that looks a bit like sealing wax.

A study of colors will provide some insight into the energies often associated with this bird. The mask-like appearance gives it an association with the art of mask making and ritual garb. Maskmaking is an ancient art, employed all over the world for ceremony, celebration, and magical practices. The waxwing has knowledge of how to use masks for fun and for healing, especially when combined with color healing.

Masks are tools for transformation, but most people fear change and transition. They believe it to be traumatic. The waxwing can show how change and transformation can occur as gently and easily as you desire. The waxwing shows how to use masks, head gear, and paint to create a doorway in the mind, a threshold that you can cross to new dimensions.

Like its relative the cardinal, the waxwing has a crest upon its head. This reflects an innate wisdom that it can awaken. It also has ties to ceremonial headgear and the use of it to shift consciousness.

The waxwing is actually a very gentle and polite bird. Waxwings are often known to pass food to each other. If a waxwing has come into your life, look at the gentleness you are experiencing or missing within your life. Are others extending to you the courtesy you deserve? Are you extending to them the courtesy they deserve? Do you need to start seeing yourself and others from a new perspective? Are you possibly not being gentle enough to yourself? The waxwing will show you how to awaken gentleness as a true virtue within your life.

WOODPECKER

KEYNOTE: The Power of Rhythm and Discrimination

CYCLE OF POWER: Summer

The woodpecker is one of those birds whose history is filled with myth and lore, much of it in connection with its most notable characteristics-the drumming. It is a relative of the flicker which was described earlier, and they share many of the same qualities and characteristics.

In the European folk tradition, the woodpecker was often considered a weather prophet, its drumming indicating forthcoming changes. It was even believed by some to be a thunderbird. In Babylonia, it was considered the ax of Ishtar and was associated with fertility. In the Greek tradition it occupied the throne of Zeus, considered sacred to this god of thunder. It was also considered the oracle of Mars, again because drumming was often used to accompany battles. The Romans also had a legend of the woodpecker. The powerful enchantress Circe fell in love with the woodland god Picus. When he rejected her love, she turned him into a woodpecker.

In the Native American tradition it is a bird connected to the heartbeat of the Earth itself. This drumming has many mystical connections, from new life rhythms to applications of shapeshifting. Many shamans learn to ride drumbeats into other dimensions.

There are, of course, different kinds of woodpeckers, each with their own unique qualities. Most are black and white, and some have red upon the head. The black and white reflects the need to see issues and aspects of life clearly. It reflects that things are fairly clear if we look closely.

The downy woodpecker is the smallest. It is also the most common and most friendly member of the woodpecker family. The pileated, found most often in forests, is the expert woodchopper. Often as big as a crow, it is the largest of the woodpeckers. It has the conspicuous red crest. The red-headed woodpecker is also very common. While most woodpeckers, particularly males, have some red on the head, the red-headed woodpecker has a red mantle of feathers that covers its head and neck.

The red found in the head area of any woodpecker reflects a stimulation of the mental activities and the head chakra centers. It reflects a stimulation and wakening of new mental faculties. This is even further symbolized by the pecking that is the trademark of this bird.

Woodpeckers peck holes in trees and wood to get at grubs and other insects. This digging in, especially with the head, reflects increasing analysis. Their bills are strong and sharply pointed, and their skulls are heavier, facilitating the hammering. Their sharp bill and its long barbed tongue can be likened to the art of discrimination.

If a woodpecker has drummed out a song for you, then you should ask yourself some specific questions. Are you looking at aspects of your life rationally? Are others around you not discriminating in their activities? Are you? Are you or others in your life just jumping into situations with little or no analysis?

Sometimes the woodpecker will show up just to stimulate new rhythms. Rhythm is a powerful means of affecting the physical energies. Sometimes it is easy to get so wrapped up in our daily mental and spiritual activities that we neglect the physical. This can be when the woodpecker shows up. It may also reflect a need to drum some new changes and rhythms into your life.

The woodpecker has strong hooked claws for firm holds upon a tree. Its tail feathers help to prop it upright. It also has a peculiar up and down flight. It will fly, coast down, fly and then coast down. It flies in a manner and rhythm unique to itself. All of this serves to emphasize the fact that it will become increasingly important for you to follow your own unique rhythms and flight. Do what works for you in the manner best for you. When woodpecker comes into your life, it indicates that the foundation is there. It is now safe to follow your own rhythms.

WREN

KEYNOTE: Resourcefulness and Boldness

CYCLE OF POWER: Spring

There are more than a dozen species of wren. It is a small, stocky bird that has often been cherished as much as the robin. It is usually brownish in color, and it will often cock its tail feathers up in the air. It seldom shows itself in the open.

Its feathers were considered fetishes against drowning, and it has usually been considered unlucky to kill one. In pagan traditions, wrens were considered sacred to the earth gods and goddesses. It has been thought a bird that stole fire from the sun and brought it to earth, giving it its short, cocked tail feathers. In medieval Europe it was considered the pet bird of the Virgin Mary, especially among the lower classes. This is probably due to the fact that most often the ruling classes were depicted in story and legend as eagles, hawks, bears-the greater birds and animals of prey.

The wren is a most resourceful and adaptable bird. It will build its nest in any convenient home. Usually their homes are built close to the ground or even upon the ground, especially in marshy areas. The male wrens do most of the building, and they will build several “dummy” nests as well as a true nest. Partly this is for protection, although some believe it is also to entice the female. Only after the dummy nests are built does the female settle in and have her brood. The male will sleep apart from the female and the young.

The wren is a bold and resourceful bird. One Native American tale speaks of a time when the wren tricked the boasting eagle into carrying it far into the heavens, until the eagle could go no higher. At that point the wren hopped off eagle’s back and flew beyond the clouds, laughing at how much higher it was flying than the eagle ever would.

The wren has the vocal power of a bird much larger. It will sing from daylight to dark, as if overflowing with confidence. It is also a bit of a spitfire, and it will not hesitate to confront any threatening bird or animal.

If wrens have come into your life, it is time to ask yourself some important questions. Are you using the resources available to you? Are others? Are you not displaying enough confidence? Are you so wrapped up in daily worries that you are forgetting to sing? Are you not staying grounded? Are you not seeing the forest because of the trees? Are you not attacking your life with enough gusto? Wren holds the medicine for using what is available, and it can teach you the most effective means to build within your own environment.

[contents]

20. Tyler, Hamilton A. Pueblo Birds and Myths (Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1979), p. 141.

21. You may consult my earlier text, Sacred Sounds-Transformations Through Music and Voice (Llewellyn Publications) for more information on this.

22. Hoeller, Stephan A. The Gnostic Jung (Wheaton: Theosophical Publishing House, 1982), p. 85.

23. Cooper, J. C. Symbolism-The Universal Language (Wellingborough: The Aquarian Press, 1982), p. 67.

24. From The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Hall, Manly P (Los Angeles: The Philosophical Research Society, Inc., 1977), LXXIX-XC.

25. Wexo, John Bonnett. Eagles-Zoo Books (San Diego: Wildlife Education, Ltd., 1988), p. 12.

26. Sun Bear and Wabun. The Medicine Wheel (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1980), pp. 71- 78.

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

28. Biel, Timothy. Zoobooks 2: Hummingbirds (San Diego: Wildlife Education, Ltd., 1987), p. 6.

29. Tyler, Hamilton A. Pueblo Birds and Myths (Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1991), pp. 98-104.

30. Mackenzie, John P. S. Birds of Prey (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1986), p. 13.

31. Limburg, Peter. What’s in the Names of Birds (New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, Inc., 1975), p. 4.

32. Stein, Jess. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Random House, 1970), p. 1415.

33. Sams, Jamie and Carson, David. Medicine Cards (Santa Fe: Bear & Company, 1988), p. 121.

34. de la Torre, Julio. Owls—Their Life and Behaviors (New York: Crown Publishers, 1990), p. 8.

35. de la Torre, Julio. Owls—Their Life and Behavior (New York: Crown Publishers, 1990), p. 26

36. Ibid, p. 178.

37. Clement, Roland. The Living World of Audubon (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, 1974), p. 224.

38. The whip-poor-will is the only bird known to hibernate. In the fall it creeps into crevices and holes in canyons, and literally turns itself off. It is also a close relative to the owl. It was often believed that if a whippoor-will landed upon your roof, someone would die. Many Europeans believed that the whip-poor-will would try and snatch the soul as it left the body.

39. The swisher is part of a family of birds called night jars. They were called this because their voices would “jar” the night. Birds with weird calls in the night were often thought to have supernatural powers or to be links to supernatural realms.

40. Tyler, Hamilton A. Pueblo Birds and Myths (Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1991), pp. 225-229.