Each month author Lucy Harmer dedicates her journal entries to the theme of “transformative and inspirational living” – finding the fun, magic and laughter in everyday occurrences! She explores ideas, thoughts and quotes from her two books, Discovering Your Spirit Animal and Shamanic Astrology.
May 2010
Dragons, dogs and chickens!
Animal medicine from around the world
© Copyright 2010 Lucy Harmer
I’ve just returned from an amazing trip to Japan. It was lovely to spend time with some very good friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. I really enjoyed walking amongst the cherry blossom and it was exciting seeing new places and discovering new things. My favorite place was the “philosophers walk” in Kyoto. It was over a mile long walk along a canal with cherry trees blooming every couple of feet. I felt so refreshed and alive! I even had the opportunity to meet some new spirit animals, like the Komodo Dragon.
In shamanic practice, it is often said that the most powerful plants for healing, or the most powerful animals that can help guide you are the ones that you find on your doorstep. Have a look around you – which plants and animals thrive in your natural habitat? Those plants and animals all bring benefit to the people in that particular place; they give their “medicine” freely.
In the modern world, medicine is considered to be the science of restoring and preserving health by treating illness with therapies and drugs. Shamans have a completely different idea of medicine because they don’t seek only to cure the symptoms of an illness; they also seek to re-establish the balance and harmony within the body, mind and spirit of a person by working on the principle causes of the imbalance.
Animals and plants give their medicine by transmitting their qualities, strengths and the energy of their spirit to re-balance a person’s soul. They help people to re-establish a connection with the spirit world and with nature. Often when people get a pet, they go through a period of adjustment which can bring huge transformation in their lives. I have heard of situations of great tension and conflict within families that has been transformed after the family have bought a dog as a pet. The dog brings the medicine of loyalty, trust and great team spirit.
One of my good friends recently told me a story that demonstrates how powerful animal medicine can be. She told me about a friend of hers who had been suffering for about a year with ill health, culminating in several hospital visits. Doctors had instructed this friend to rest in order to build her strength back up following surgery. During the time of her recuperation, her husband and children bought some chickens, which they built a hen house for in the garden.
During the day, this friend would spend much of her time in her lounge, reading or watching television. She began to notice that an interesting thing happened every time she started to worry or think too much about her illness. Whenever her thoughts got heavy, she would hear a tap, tap, tapping on the window. And every time she looked up, there was a chicken – perched on the windowsill, looking directly at her and tapping on the window pane with its beak! After this had happened a few times, she got up and went to the back door. All four chickens were standing there, as if they were waiting for her.
What she did next surprised even herself. She got a chair, made a cup of tea and went to sit outside in the sunshine with the chickens. They pecked away quite happily around her, but every time she began to worry, one of them would come and peck her foot, as if to say “come and be with us – stop having those silly thoughts!”
The friend that told me this story told me that she had noticed a great change in her friend during this time. She had become a lot calmer, quieter and more gentle with herself; she was nurturing and taking great care of her well being in a way that she had never done previously. Her health was returning. They joked that it was down to the chickens!
Both Rooster and Hen have great powers of observation. Hens, in particular, are about being vigilant; nothing escapes their notice. The medicine of Rooster and Hen heralds times of change, new birth and renewed energy. Their medicine infuses life with a renewed sense of generosity and purpose.
My book Discovering Your Spirit Animal has an index of fifty-two spirit animals where you can discover the messages different animals show us when they appear in our lives. It also describes their particular medicine, the gifts they bring. Take a look around you and see which animals and plants are in your environment. This month, see if you can discover the medicine they are bringing you.
Love and blessings,
Lucy
Discovering Your Spirit Animal is available for purchase directly through NorthAtlanticBooks.com, as well as major book stores and online retailers.
CLICK HERE to learn more about courses, seminars and workshops offered by Lucy Harmer.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Shamanic Astrology.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Discovering Your Spirit Animal.
To be great is to be misunderstood.