A Crow, Two Turkeys, and a Parakeet

Messages from the dream realm...

From The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans

My brain is becoming backlogged with unwritten posts (I’m so sorry, Beech and Hemlock - you’re next, I promise!), and this one might seem a little disjointed, but hang in there with me.

It happened in the wee hours of January 20th. I’d forgotten but was reminded later that Pluto moved into Aquarius that day. Seems significant. At least to me!

First, I had a dream starring a Crow, two Turkeys, and a Parakeet.

I was living in an old apartment in a city somewhere. My friend in Barcelona had sent me a photo a while back of her window, and my dream seemed to reflect that same space.

In the dream, my neighbor and I shared a big window; he or she had put out a basket of bird seed, and there was a faucet with running water. The birds were having a feast.

I walked over to the window, picked up a handful of seeds, and offered it to the four birds. They all gently nibbled from my hand. I was ecstatic.

The Parakeet came and sat on my shoulder. I loved it, which is interesting because when I was a child (much like my fear of mice), I was intimidated by a beautiful green and blue Parakeet that I had as a pet.

Looking back, I could hardly call him a pet, and I certainly didn’t give him the best life. I was too afraid to take him out of his cage. :(

One morning, I lifted the cover and found him stone-cold, dead, lying on his back. Not my proudest animal-loving moment.

As if to reprimand me decades later, the Universe sent me a video this morning (via a friend) of a woman and her sweet little Sparrow, Happy, who she had rescued and now flies free in her home.

@happythesparrow via Instagram

There is no restraint and a sense of unbridled joy in their freedom. Parakeet teaches us about the value of having moments of release and liberation.

The Parakeet Spirit Animal teaches lessons of simple beauty and resources you sometimes overlook. A moment does not have to be big, to be meaningful. The small blossoming plant can be as amazing as a blossoming tree.

What is My Spirit Animal?

I have been obsessed with watching the birds this winter. They’ve been showing up in droves to nibble on the peanuts and seeds I scatter on my patio for them. It’s been medicine for my nervous system.

Lil Junco

Lots of Blue Jays and Juncos. Sometimes Sparrows and Chickadees. I didn’t realize that the Blue Jay is a member of the Crow family.

Speaking of Crow…

The other morning, when I was trying to decide which post to write, I looked out of my kitchen window, and there was a Crow sitting on the snowy rock wall below, staring straight at me.

Spiritually Strong, Creative, Watchful

The Crow has long been a symbol of magic. A Crow personality is drawn to the supernatural and has a gift for seeing the unseen, knowing the unknown. It is said that the Crow holds within its mind’s eye the three realities: past, present, and future. Crow energy is potent and should only be tapped into when the mind is clear. Those with Crow tendencies must balance their lives with a healthy diet, joyful friends, and regular self-study.

“The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook” by Kim Krans

I love Crows and hope that one day, the ones who visit my yard will come closer and get to know me better. Maybe deliver messages to my friends in faraway places.

My fellow Crow-loving friend, Owen Gibbs (@eadoncrow on Instagram), wrote this song, “Black Crow,” and said I could share it with you.

I wonder if I play Owen’s song outside, will the Crows come to visit?

I believe there is a very good reason that crows are found everywhere. Traditionally, they were symbolic of magic. They squawk and call out to everyone. This should remind you constantly that magic is around you at all times, just calling out for you to use it within your own life.

—Ted Andrews - ”Animal Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small”

And last but not least, were the two Turkeys in my dream.

I’m not surprised they showed up. I spent many hours last summer watching five of them come daily to visit. Well, they came to feast on my treats…

I love what Ted Andrews says about the Turkey:

The turkey is sometimes called the earth eagle. It has a long history of association with spirituality and the honoring of the Earth Mother.

—”Animal Speak”

When I tried to go back to sleep after writing down my dream, my brain started doing that thing where it wanted to write a post. And so I grabbed my notebook and began putting my thoughts on paper. They didn’t particularly seem related to a Crow, two Turkeys, or a Parakeet.

I heard the words, “My fire might be more introverted than yours.”

I have been in such a place of solitude this winter. Going deeper and deeper inside of myself. Spending hours on end in the woods. I’ve been true to my own words from the last newsletter I wrote - “In Defense of January.”

And yet, when I go online, read posts and comments, and check email or texts, I often feel my energy drain into a puddle on the floor.

I was going to write a whole post titled “Don’t Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater” in defense of the Internet. For all of its flaws and weirdness (especially now with the onslaught of AI), it has brought into my life some of the most beautiful conscious souls.

My life has changed because of these deep connections.

But, at the same time, I’m finding myself less and less tolerant of the aggressive energy that is flying about online.

Everyone has an agenda. Their agenda. We all have causes that we’re passionate about, and we want others to join us.

In 2020, I would describe myself as an introverted, empathic rebel. I quietly went about being true to myself and my beliefs by not wearing a mask. I wrote about it a bit - always conscious of trying to be respectful of the opinions of others.

But, even doing this quietly took a huge toll on my health. It is not in my nature to be shouting from the rooftops.

There are a great many rooftop shouters these days online. Sometimes, I’m in awe of them. In their ability to dig for the truth, to banter back and forth, throwing opinions around - sometimes like daggers - but sometimes landing more gently.

An Ayurveda teacher once made the bold statement that it’s the Pitta people who rule the world. Those with a lot of fire in their constitution. In their bellies. Pitta people are generally highly intelligent and good at debating. At arguing. At remembering facts.

I don’t see too many Vata or Kapha types in the political arena.

Of course, this is an enormous generalization; we are all complex individuals. If I know someone’s astrology, that can be an ah-ha moment for me.

We all have the fire element in us - just to varying degrees - and hence the message I heard, “My fire might be more introverted than yours.”

My fire in 2020 probably seemed more like a flicker than a flame to many.

In the end, I can only speak for myself. I have noticed as I get older that, in many ways, I am returning to being like little empathic Barbara (or Barbie,) who could read the energy in a room like nobody’s business. I needed to find solitude, or I would feel anxious and exhausted without even moving a muscle.

This might surprise family members or friends who don’t see me like this at all. We can never truly know what another person is all about.

And so, while spending the winter immersed in Nature like never before - walking in the woods for hours on end almost daily, ignoring my computer and phone as much as possible - it would be easy for me to blame myself for not jumping into the fray of opinions and agendas. Into the atrocities happening in our world. Burying my head in the sand. Even though I do spend minimal time being aware of what's going on,

But, a funny thing happened instead. I started receiving messages from people thanking me for sharing about my quiet walks in the woods. My photos. That they felt peaceful. Especially if they live in a city and don’t have easy access to the Trees like I do.

Jennifer Pharr Davis via @tristate_in_oh_ky_hiking

In numerology, my life path number is 2. This is yet another piece of the puzzle. For me, learning about it was a huge validation.

People with this life path number are the peacemakers. The peacekeepers.

We want everyone to get along.

Anger can make us physically ill, and so we are masters at avoiding confrontation.

The reason I mention this is that I would love for those who are busy in convincing mode or arguing mode to consider that not everyone is the same. Their harsh or controlling comments can truly be hurtful to sensitive souls.

Don’t get me wrong. I love some firey people that I know or that I encounter online. I see their passion. Their fire. Their deep-seated need to see justice done and make this a better world.

Yesterday, I was writing this and closed my computer to go upstairs and meditate. I decided instead to pick up my drum and do a shamanic journey to the Lower World. I hoped to meet up with Crow, Turkey, and Parakeet to ask what the meaning of my dream was.

There they were, walking down the path in the forest. The Parakeet lept onto my right shoulder, Crow onto my left.

And without them even saying a word, the meaning of my dream came to me. These winged ones, so vastly different in so many ways, were drinking from the same water, eating seeds from the same basket. They take flight in the same air and walk on the same Earth. Just like we humans.

Bird Medicine.

It has been one of the many gifts I’ve received this January by shutting out the external noise and being in and observing Nature more intimately.

Earlier this week, while driving up to my house, I saw a chubby Mourning Dove on the driveway in front of me. I stopped. She walked (hopped) towards the car and just stood there for the longest time. Was it Clara??

Clara? Is that you??

Birds are the primary symbols for the Initiation of Air. This initiation reflects a period in which you begin to open to higher knowledge and wisdom, with an increased ability and opportunity to use it to raise yourself up. The Initiation of Air is the learning to open more fully to Divine ideas, ideas that link normal consciousness to the universal. It speaks of opportunity to develop and manifest the highest forms of intuition. If left undeveloped, it will manifest in lower forms of psychism. The Initiation of Air is the opening to realms beyond physical time and space.

Air is what separates Heaven and Earth. It is the realm of birds, who move easily between both. Air and birds are thus a link between your own spirituality and your physical consciousness.

Air in motion is a force. It is the wind. This wind and the ability to fly and soar upon it resides within the mind. Birds reflect the archetypal energies most actively playing upon the mind, while also reminding you to learn to ride those winds. They remind you that you can fly if you learn to use your own wings, your inspiration, creativity and your your intuition.

—Ted Andrews - “Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small

I’ve lost track of all the synchronicities that happened while writing this post. The day I started writing it, I sat down to take a break and looked over at my little side table, piled with books I’d been ignoring. There, on top of the pile, was this:

HOPE

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

—Emily Dickinson

On the morning of January 20th, after my dream, after taking notes for this post, I closed my eyes to meditate. It was only 4:00 A.M.

I saw an image flooding my third eye. It was a Snowflake. My friend, Amanda - one of those beautiful conscious souls who came to me via the Internet - had sent me this photo of a Snowflake that she had taken. Amanda knows Magic when she sees it, and she captures it perfectly through the lens of her camera and with her words.

Oh, the beauty that is Nature. The most powerful healer of all.

Much Love,
Barbara

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