Unearthing the Sacred

One of the ways I hone my intuition is by paying attention to the animals that come across my field of vision. In most every culture, animals, when they come into your life represent something you need to work on, something you’re bringing into your awareness, or a foretelling of things to come. Butterflies are mentioned consistently at the passing of loved ones (I was blessed to see little blue butterflies after the passing of my brother with one even resting on my finger at my brother’s graveside.) Bats represent a transitional time in your life. A preying mantis showing up brings good luck (one somehow got into my home a month ago.) The more unusual the encounter, the more you need to pay attention.

Crows have always represented a time of great reflection, change, and awareness in my life. Sometimes, I’ve had crows periodically lining the route I was on, telling me I was on the right path. In great numbers, there’s something afoot. Usually this implies that I need to end that which has been causing me extreme stress (and as soon as I make the change, they disappear.) On a few occasions, they were warning of problems within my paternal family.

The day of my brother’s death, three vultures were sitting on or beside a fence post at the base of my driveway at the time of his crash. As I approached, one took flight. In the car were two other people, my nephew and great-niece, who survived.

If you have great affinity with nature, this might be worth your time to look into. Ted Andrews has one of the best books on this subject, befittingly named Animal Speak. There’s many resources on the internet too, just input “animal totems.”

Are you one who finds insights from the animals that show up? Does a certain animal, bird, or insect reveal itself consistently at certain points in your life? Is there a running theme? If the odd animal has shown up in your life, do some research on its characteristics, the historical significance of it, and figure out how it applies to your life in the Now. What can it teach you about your presence in this world? Are there other methods you use to hone your intuition?

Please feel free to comment below about your encounters and don’t forget to be awesome!