Flying Squirrels & Letting Go

Ted Andrews who wrote "Animal Speak" and many other great reads is one of my heroes. I learned so much from that book and a few others he wrote that I automatically pay attention to the animals that I encounter in my daily life as a sign from spirit.

Last night we had an unexpected visitor that our cat "Sivee" (meaning grey in Ukrainian) brought to us just as we sat down to dinner. We had the back door open because the temperature has finally dropped in Florida. It was an injured flying squirrel. Seeing no visible injuries or blood on it, my husband took it outside, hoping that it would regain some strength and return to the trees. Later my daughter Maya and I checked on it only to find that it had died. So innocent and humble it was. Immediately, we were angry at our cat. Calling him out on it, he only stared back at us and disappeared for the rest of the night. I'm hoping that Sivee found it injured instead of making the kill himself. I guess I'll give him the benefit of doubt this time, since it's the first creature he has brought home to us.

So what does this mean? Here are some squirrel attributes.

Squirrels are often observed scrounging about for food and digging holes in the earth and storing nuts and other food sources for later times. Their keen sense of smell will enable them to find their stored caches even if they do forget where they buried their nuts.  Flying squirrels, do not really fly. Their skin stretches and enables it to glide from tree to ground or tree to tree. It is nocturnal. It strongly dislikes being disturbed during the day. Owls are usually the flying squirrel's chief predators.

I ask myself; 1. Are you too active? 2. Not active enough? 3. Are you not planning at all for the future, distant or near? 4. Are you becoming too erratic--running to and fro and not accomplishing anything? 5. Do you need to learn how to save and ration on any level--including time, money, energy, etc.? 6. Are you afraid you will never have enough? 7. Are you getting too hung up on collecting and accumulating? 8. Are you gathering and not giving?

I qualify for "yes" to over half of these questions. Squirrels can teach us balance within the circle of gathering and giving out. If we are doing too much of one or the other, squirrel may appear to help us. Squirrels are the masters at preparing but they also are reminders that in our quest for our goals, we should always make time to socialize and play. Work and play go hand-in-hand, or the work will create problems and become more difficult and less fruitful.

So like a squirrel, for the last few months I have been dividing my time and energy on several different projects or jobs, hoping that one or two of them would bring more abundance into our lives. While all have brought money, my time, energy and temper are stretched thin. So the message is clear to focus on the areas where the nuts are bigger or more plentiful. In a nut shell it's time to pare down those projects that attack my time and energy and yield little reward.

Things to consider when working with the squirrel totem:

You are preparing for the future by storing up time, resources, and energy; resting during unproductive times. You are moving to a higher level of consciousness to avoid harassment. Sometimes its appearance means changes or the approach of adversaries. Warning, wisdom, change, trust, discovery, truth, balance, harmony. Use as a spiritual watch-dog to warn you of danger on any level.

What animals have you encountered lately?

Whale Song

This past week I received a vision for a woman who's totem was "Whale" which I had not personally encountered before during a reading. I definitely saw a Ballen whale, the ones without teeth. They strain sea water through bony plates, feeding on the plankton or sea life within it. Also, the whale was a humpback which are noted for their beautiful song. These characteristics were telling the woman to look to her inner depths and express herself  more through song, poetry and words. She should also look at her diet and perhaps change it to reflect fresher or more local foods.

Whales use a form of sonar or echo-location. People with this totem are good at using energy vibrations to determine where people are "coming from." Sometimes people with this totem are very creative but must re-anchor themselves in the world, they must breach, breathe out of the water. Whale is a large and beautiful beast, creative and practical, it travel deep oceans but also surfaces to the air for breath. Duality and balance in both worlds.

Native cultures saw the whale as a gift form the Great Spirit. It allowed them to survive in a harsh climate. They used every part of the whale to live and gave thanks to the Great Spirit for it gift.

Whale symbolize;

• communication
• music
• emotional sensitivity
• creativity

When whale appears to you it is time to examine the use (or lack of use) of your own creatively. Are you tuning into the sounds and frequencies around you so that you can navigate life better? Are you awakening to new creative depths and resurfacing to daily life with a new breathe?

For more information on Patricia Carroll's work visit; http://www.ascentaspirations.ca/patsbio.htm

Dragonfly Encounter

I have a friend that had some amazing encounters with dragonfly in the last couple of months. The first one happened while she was travelling. She opened up her wallet to pay for something and a beautiful dragonfly flew out of it from seemingly nowhere! The second was while she was visiting her gallery at night. A dragonfly had lost its way inside the gallery and was flying around madly trying to find its way out. In doing so, it flew right up to my friends face and kissed her on the lips! So what could these encounters mean?

Dragonflies (as well as butterflies) signify transformation from one level of knowledge to another, physically, spiritually or mentally. Dragonflies in their early stages are known as Nymphs and spend most of their lives in the water. It takes two years for a nymph to transform into an adult. This can reflect the number of years it will take to make this personal change or transformation. As an adult they fly through the air in swift flight. They transform from a water creature to an air creature. Through that transformation they show that conquering water and sky is possible by one small creature, that nothing is impossible with belief in self. Dragonfly asks us  to release ideas of powerlessness, limitation or fear.

Dragonflies come in many different colors. For most dragonflies, colors are caused almost the same way rainbows are formed. Structures in their shells scatter and refract light, making them look iridescent. As they age, they may pass through several color changes. This ability to refract light has caused dragonfly to be associated with magic and mysticism – including color magic. Dragonfly may be telling you to work with color to transform your life. To attract love, focus on reds or violets. Green helps with creativity and new beginnings. To feel more in the now or moment, focus on yellow. To feel more connected to the universe use all shades of blues and indigo.

In the Native American tradition, dragonflies represent the souls of the dead. This may be the best explanation for my friend, as she is going through personal trials with her parents, one having cancer and the other, Alzheimer's disease. Perhaps her mother's slowly fleeting spirit is telling her to (paint) work in love, light and color - quickly!

In the words of Ted Andrews; "Dragonfly can help you see through your illusions and allow your own light to shine through. They bring the brightness of transformation and the wonder of a colorful new vision."

Take time to check out Cindy Anderson's work. She is a dragonfly person and has enjoyed painting them for a few years now!

Cindy's Website; http://www.cindyanderson.com/

You can purchase a print here; http://www.etsy.com/listing/85799618/blue-moon-print

Spider Totem

A "totem" is an object representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, reminding them of their mythic past or impending future.

Signs of animals in everyday life can clue us into what we need to glean from the world and universe around us. They show us through 'what they are', behaviour and traits that can help us in our everyday human struggle. It is said if we try to take on some of the totem's traits it will help us grow in the physical and spiritual world. A friend of mine asked recently what "Spider" meant. She had been bitten by a couple of different spiders recently and was seeing them frequently in her environment.

Spiders are very delicate creatures that play an important role in the myths and lore of many people's as the teacher of balance between the past and future, the physical and spiritual. The web they weave is symbolic of time interlacing, past, present and future. The spider can move anywhere in the web and can physically move her web or home anywhere, thus she is able to move anywhere in space and time. She calls us to use our creativity and weave our own dreams into reality. She asks, how are we designing the most effective life? To my friend she is saying "Pay attention!" nothing dies, everything is accessible to you through the web.

To the Native Americans, Spider is Grandmother, she who sits at the great galactic center and is the link to the past and future. She is the female force of all creation who joins all nations, all tribes, all galactic families, and all realities together, in her web. During dream time we remove part of our consciousness from physical reality and venture off through 'her' web experiencing that which we cannot understand with our physical consciousness. The Native American "dream catcher" is part of the spider mythology.

In India it's associated with Maya, the weaver of illusions. The term Maya comes from the Sanskrit root “Ma” which means no form or limit. The term Maya describes the illusory nature of appearances or illusion. The Spider’s association with Maya brings about the understanding that not all things are as they appear to be.

The Internet is a modern manifestation of the Web symbol.  We are able to gather information from all corners of the globe, from the past and present, valid information and not so valid information. The "web" helps show us what Spider Woman is. 

Spiders have eight eyes and all have eight legs. The number eight is also a symbol of infinity  (an eight turned on its side). Also, the vibrational frequency indicates the meaning of number eight involves cycles, passage of time, and evolution.

Other spider symbolic meanings;

• Cunning
• Progressive
• Female
• Cyclical
• Rebirth
• Death
• Crafty
• Resourceful
• Creation
• Protection
• Fate