Archive for the ‘Native American’ Category

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Totem: Turkey

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

I love living out in the country because I get to see and hear a large number of wild animals in my backyard.  Fox, ‘possums, deer, hawk, turtles and turkeys are just a few of my neighbors.

In the late summer and fall months, Tom Turkey toots his call trying to attract a mate.  And sometimes I am fortunate enough to see a group of turkey hens gathering in the back of my property, before gobbling and flying off into the low lying tree branches.

Shamanically, Turkey reflects our spirituality and honoring of Mother Earth’s bounty and is sometimes referred as an earth eagle. It represents all the many blessings that the earth brings to us and how to use them in a practical way.  When turkey walks into your life, you can usually expect a year of harvest.

Turkeys eat a diet of nuts and acorns that symbolize hidden wisdom and the seeding of new beginnings.  They also represent the energy of sharing by roosting together in the trees at night, and by sharing their nests with other females.

So this Thanksgiving, when you are sitting around the family table, give thanks to the humble turkey.  Not only for giving you life through it’s death, but by allowing you to share in it’s theme of abundance and prosperity.

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Hummingbird Totem

Monday, August 1st, 2011

I love sitting on my porch in the morning before the days heat sets in and communing with my garden and all the creatures who frequent it.  I particularly enjoy watching the hummingbirds forage my flowers for nectar with their little bodies darting around and hovering while they drink their fill.  As long as I’m still they don’t seem to mind me sitting and watching them.

The Hummingbird represents the sense of wonder and awe and show us how to sing out our joy as we go through our daily activities.  Like most flower visitors hummingbirds have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts, as many flowers would not be here if it were not for their friendly pollinators. The hummingbird can help you find the sweetness in any life situation.  However, if this totem has entered your life, you may want to check your sugar intake.

It’s multi-colored iridescent body is associated with  rainbows and the Fairy Realm.  Take a hint from your hummingbird totem and learn how to play and not take things too seriously.

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Native American Totem: Wren

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

I love the summer because it gives me a chance to beautify my deck, and feed the insect and hummingbird populations with my numerous potted, flowering plants and vegetables.   So a few weeks back I was elated when one of my geraniums became the home of a wren nest.

Wrens are birds that are bold yet resourceful.  In some traditions it is believed that the wren actually stole fire from the Gods.  Being adaptable it will build it’s nest in any convenient place, and to scare off predators they are known to build several dummy nests as well.

The Wren totem’s boldness and confidence comes through in their loud song, as well as, confronting larger birds or animals that come into their territory.

So if the Wren totem has come into your life, some good questions to reflect upon are whether you are using your resources wisely, or if you walk through life with enough confidence.  Are you forgetting to sing your song to the world?  Take a tip from our brother and sister Wren, and learn how to work with their medicine by using what is available in life to fulfill your needs.

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Totem: Cicada

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

By now most of us who live in the Southern States are in the throes of the thirteen year Cicada emergence.  Although many people I’ve talked about having the good fortune of hearing their soothing sound softly in the background, this has not been my experience.  For some reason they are extremely prolific where I live and I am forced to listen to their racket, that sounds like my neighbor’s car or house alarm going off, for 12+ hours a day.  Sometimes, even with the windows and doors closed and ear plugs donned in my ears, I can still hear them rattling my nervous system.  Thank goodness there is only 2-3 weeks left to their mating rituals!

Because of their long transformative life cycle, Cicadas have been recognized for thousands of years, in many world traditions as symbols for rebirth and immortality. In Ancient China, wealthy people would insert a carved jade cicada in their loved ones mouth before burial, believing it would help their passage to the next world. Having a 13-year life cycle, Cicadas are the longest living insects and therefore are symbols of longevity and eternal youth.  Because the number 13 can be seen as lucky or unlucky depending on your philosophy of life, the cicada can also remind us that everything is relative to our own point of view.

Mirroring their time spent underground, if you look beneath the surface in your life, the Circada totem can help to uncover hidden truths and secrets that have long been forgotten.

With it’s song the Cicada totem can teach you the art of Right Communication, or the balance of listening and speaking.  Cicada asks us if we are ready to transform our illusions into the light of truth and understanding.

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Totem: Butterfly

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

I love my garden in the spring!  So many pretty flowers blooming and when the azaleas begin to outshine the other plants, the return of the butterfly begins to mark this rite of passage.  This year I had the privilege of watching both yellow and blue butterflies drink their fill of nectar on my colorful bushes.

Shamanically, the butterfly totem represents transformation and the dance of joy.  Butterflies remind us that there is a natural flow to life and if we resist we can create difficulties for ourselves.  By showing us  their beautiful metamorphosis process they teach us that change ensures growth, and that life is truly magical.

The Butterflies light dance upon the flowers reminds us not to take life so seriously, and to awaken to a sense of joy.  So if the  Butterfly totem has come into your life, examine what needs changing, and how you can brighten your day.

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Groundhog Totem and Spring

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Thank goodness our Piedmont brother, the Groundhog, was wrong this year, when he predicted six more weeks of winter.  But I knew beforehand that spring was on it’s way.  That’s because I was paying attention to the early blooming garden flowers I have planted.  The crocuses were already coming up, and now I can see short, green stems of my daffodils as well.

What do Groundhogs know about Spring anyway? By themselves, not a whole lot, for our Groundhog Holiday is merely a watered down version of the Pagan cross-quarter day of Imbolc, celebrated on February 1st or 2nd, and representing the beginning of Spring.  This day is also midway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and was celebrated by the ancient Irish, and now by neo-pagans.  Looking at a groundhog’s shadow is a
19th century custom, brought to us by the Pennsylvania Germans via Europe, that apparently originated in antiquity with a bear.

In Shamanism, however, the Groundhog is a noble totem that symbolizes several qualities.  Because of its ability to dig and tunnel, people with this totem,  take on a nature of working deeply and slowly with an area of interest, that may reach fruition many months down the road.

Spending about half it’s life hibernating, anyone with this totem, will also be able to embrace the idea of death without dying,  work with dreamtime medicine, and explore altered states of consciousness.

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Spider Totems

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Spiders are critters you want in your garden, as they eat lot’s of insects that may be harmful to your plants.  If you mulch, that is, lay down a layer of straw to keep the soil moisture from evaporating, it will establish a good ground cover for spiders to live in.  In the past ten summers that my vegetable garden has flourished, I’ve seen a multitude of these wondrous beings scampering about.

Spiders have a real intelligence about them, that you usually don’t encounter with the everyday house variety.  However, if you have engaged a very large one up close, like I have, you’ll notice it right away.  In the mid ’90′s, I was dragging my heels, about shifting my lifestyle, to one of surrender.  So the Guardians of the Directions sent me a wake-up call, by enticing a huge spider to remind me of my destiny.  There is nothing like being buck naked in the shower, and having a three inch, blobby spider peering down at you from the shower rod, to remind you how vulnerable you really are.  “Ok”, I barked. “I get it.”   Promptly getting my bug jar, and placing him outside, I vowed to put my fears aside and to get on with, what I was being asked to do.

Spinning it’s silken web, spiders are often associated with fate or destiny.  Meditating on the central point of it’s spiral web, may help you to balance your past, present and future.  Are you focused and moving toward one goal, or are you scattering your energy?  Weaving it’s web, spiders can also be associated with awakening your creative sensibilities.  And in many myths, this creature is known as the guardian of ancient alphabets and languages, for the geometric patterns and angles created by the spider’s web, was considered the first true alphabet.

Spider medicine can also teach us how to walk the threads of life between life and death, waking and sleeping, and the physical and spiritual.

If spider has woven it’s path into your life, ask yourself if you are weaving your dreams in to reality.  Or are you using all of your creative opportunities?  Do you need to learn how to walk in balance in your life?

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Animal Totems: Brother Rabbit

Monday, January 10th, 2011

Winter is a time that you have to keep a special eye out for brother Rabbit.  Our friend has a bit of a problem with boundary issues, when he decides to chomp on our favorite perennials, or collard greens growing in the winter vegetable garden.  So make sure you protect your vulnerable plants with either a two-foot fence, or plastic cloches.

Traditionally, the Rabbit Totem sports several meanings.   The first deals with Rabbit’s ability to hop and jump, and then to prolifically reproduce.   People, who have this totem, may watch their endeavors leap forward to success and abundance.

Because Rabbit is scene mostly during the day’s twilight hours, he can sometimes lead you into the Faerie Realm.  This totem is also related to the moon, as young rabbits can survive on their own after only 28 days.  So, watch for a new 28-day cycle if Rabbit shows up in your life.

Although brother Rabbit is easy prey for hawks and other predators, he is also gifted in creating defensive, hiding places with back doors, so if Rabbit has hopped into your life, its a good idea to be prepared for unexpected possibilities.

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Praying Mantis: The Power of Stillness

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Fall is the time that you find Praying Mantis casings in your garden as you are preparing for your next growing season, when cleaning out weed debris that has accumulated during the summer months.  Their tan colored, slightly oval cocoons are easy to spot.  Simply leave them where they are, or move them to a safe place where they will winter, without being  disturbed.  Then in the spring and summer, you will be ensured of having some great insect predators in your garden, ridding you of all your unwanted critters.

One summer afternoon while watching a praying mantis    stalk, kill and eat a daddy long legs spider, I realized the infinite patience, and stealth of this meditative hunter.  In fact, the key to this insect totem is the power of stillness. We can learn from the praying mantis how to still our conscious minds and move inward, where we can draw from our spirituality, contemplation, meditation or dreams.

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Meeting Brother Squirrel

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Fall is here with its cool, crisp mornings and evenings, along with days filled with sunshine, without the clamminess of summer’s humidity and scorching temperatures.  Unfortunately, due to drought conditions of July and August, we in the Piedmont of North Carolina, will not see the usual brilliant, colored, leaves this season.   Instead they are either muted or crispy and brown.

It’s the time to change our potted summer, annuals to beautifully colored mums and pansies that welcome the cooler weather.  Praying Mantis climb on my window screens looking for a good place to build their cocoons, and squirrels hurriedly, scamper around digging up garden pots and earth, hiding nuts to find later in the winter months.

We all should take a hint from brother squirrel and examine the activity in our lives.  Are we too busy rushing around and going in circles?  Or not active enough?  Perhaps you need to learn to save your money, time or effort for another day.  Do you have issues with hoarding, without sharing with your friends and loved ones?

Squirrels can also teach us balance in work and play.  Although they are masters at preparing, squirrels also relax, let loose and play tag with their neighbors. So take heed if  you are working too much or too hard. Go out and socialize, have some fun and shift the energy.  You’ll find when you return to your project, you’ll feel refreshed and will be more productive.

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