Tag: Totems

The Moon

~ EmpwrdDstny ~ 4 Comments

The Lunar vibes have been coming on quite strong lately, most notably over the recent long holiday weekend when a potent Cancer New Moon arrived early Monday morning. Note the interesting correlation with the New Moon also falling on Mo(o)nday; a day of the week energetically ruled by the Moon. Feeling especially introspective on the 4th, I decided to go for a walk along a wooded trail encircling the reservoir to do some reflection and to quietly commune with nature.

I was most of the way around the loop when I passed over a wooden footbridge that spanned a rocky little creek – the water level had fallen considerably due to a recent dry spell, so instead of a babbling brook the water poured sluggishly over the rocks and collected into miniature pools. Small islands of rock and mud lay exposed by the thirsty creek bed, and I felt a pull to leave the path and do a little exploring along its bottom. Swatting away a pestilent cloud of buzzing mosquitos, I began hopping from rock to rock, occasionally finding footing in a muddy sandbar as I peered with curiosity into the tiny lagoons to see what I could see.

The first couple held nothing of interest save a small contingent of water skaters doing their bug-like Jesus thang atop the overgrown puddles; the high surface tension of the water combining with their ultra-light bodies and four perfectly balanced legs to keep them miraculously high and dry. The third puddle contained what I believe was a juvenile trout about 5 inches long – some primal hunter-gatherer instinct must have surfaced within me, because I was immediately compelled to see if I could catch it by hand. I began moving some small rocks in the pool to box him in, plunging my hands into the cold water and emerging triumphantly with fish in hand. I took a good look at him and then set him back into the water, moving the rocks back where I had found them to allow him to swim freely once again. As I was moving the rocks, I noticed a rather large pincer in the water sans its owner – there must be crayfish in here, I thought excitedly!

Downstream I went, making my way over to one of the larger pools and would you look at who I found just hanging out in the water!

©EmpoweredDestiny.com 2016. All rights reserved.
©EmpoweredDestiny.com 2016. All rights reserved.
Image courtesy of the RWS Tarot.
Image courtesy of the RWS Tarot.

He was SO COOL! I picked him up by the rear to avoid being on the business end of his impressive and no doubt mighty claws, and was absolutely delighted that he elected to reveal himself to me! Pondering the significance of Crawfish Medicine, my mind’s eye suddenly conjured up this image:

Such perfect symbolism for such Lunar-flavored astro, no? The Moon in tarot can often be a reminder that even the most domesticated creature cannot be fully divorced from wild roots – the Call of the Wild resides in each of us; it’s just a matter of how well we listen.

07/06/2016

Planetary Archetypes In Nature

~ EmpwrdDstny ~ Leave a comment
Photo by Jason Quinn: "Cedar Waxing August 14, 2014 Newfoundland, PA"
Photo by Jason Quinn: “Cedar Waxing August 14, 2014 Newfoundland, PA”

Just this morning I had a little visitor outside my window – much to my delight, a lovely Cedar Waxwing was sitting in my Rhododendron, gathering the bush’s flowers with its beak!  Yes, it was quite the sight to behold….I was wondering why on earth it would be picking flowers…?  Was this some weird nest-festooning thing it liked to do, like the bowerbirds of Australia?  Were there bees or other insects inside the flower gathering pollen/nectar, and the bird was using the blossom like a net in order to catch its prey?  What exactly was the deal with this?

Referencing my handy Audubon Society field guide on birds (yes, I *am* a nature nerd if you haven’t figured that out by this point in the story, LOL), I found out some cool facts about my little buddy:

Waxwings are apparently super-social creatures, usually hanging out in large flocks.  They have a habit of lining up in a tree or bush and passing berries to one another in a chain, so they seem to enjoy sharing and are “polite” enough to feed their friends before stuffing their own beaks with berry goodness.

Hmmmm..interesting behavior for a bird – loves companionship, seems to have a penchant for flowers, and likes to share?  I’d say this bird has some very Venusian energy going on!  It was pretty cool to see an animal’s energy resonate so strongly with a planet’s.  My shamanic healer friend, Deana, once told me that she and I both do similar work as we both deal with archetypes – mine are the heavenly kind (the planets), hers are the earthly manifestations (animals/totems).  Something clicked when she told me that – I’ve never looked at animals the same way since.  Now I pay attention whenever I have an interesting animal encounter and look at the “energy” (read: message) the critter in question carries, much in the same way I see the planets expressing their energies in everyday life and decode the memos they send out. It’s all symbolic & the signs are there – whether we read them through the planets or the animals, it’s all the same.  It’s all energy.

08/07/2014