The past three months or maybe more have brought a persistent Magpie into my life.
She (or he) comes periodically every day and throws herself against various windows around the house. She started by attacking the window most prominent, in the kitchen, which is where I spend a lot of time. First she would appear to perform this ritual in the early afternoon when I would be most likely be preparing dinner, but in recent days she has been committing virtual suicide many times a day in a variety of places.
The insistent flying into the window is behaviour said to be caused by adolescent magpies seeing themselves in the reflection of a window attempting to fend off any competition. However having always been claircognizant ( being tuned into signs and symbols that occur in nature and elsewhere), I knew that this bird was bringing more than her natural behaviour into my perception and experience.
Over the months if I am not in the kitchen this bird will fly into the window of the room that I am in at any given time. The frequency and ferocity has increased as though she is really trying to get my attention for an urgent purpose to the point where on some mornings she pecks at the bedroom window even when the curtains are closed and the reflection from the window not so apparent.
Today I finally sat down and spent a good 20 minutes 'asking" her and my unseens her purpose. This is what came up.
In Shamanic terms birds represent freedom and Spirit so I sensed that perhaps I was not fully letting my Spirit 'in'. Magpies are also the communicators of the Spirit realm so I was possibly not communicating my own truth with enough courage or conviction.
As the June Solstice arrives on the 21st, astrologically and cosmically it is a time to really let go of any thing that is not aligned with your Source Self. It is a time where we are being asked to bring to resolution and make conscious any old habits of mind, body and spirit that do not vibrate with the life path and experience you and therefore the collective
want to experience.
As we shift from the energies of Gemini (the communicator, conduit, master of the abstract and facilitator of new stories) into the new nurturing container of Cancer where all new life is mothered and given shelter we have the profound opportunity to bring new ways of Be-ingness to ourselves and our Global experience.
Cancer is the womb; the creator. What ever you put in that womb will be nurtured. Put more of what we already have in the world in there and the more it will multiply. Use the Gemini traits of embarking on a new journey, daring to be maverick and having the courage to communicate these changes with a little bit of "spirit" or cheekiness and Cancer will grow for you a whole new experience.
It's really a time to jettison any ideas or deeply conditioned processes that will hinder y(OUR) expansion. If you have self derogatory thoughts about your body, your gender, your worth, your work, your interface with any aspect of your existence
now is the time to release it
for good.
All apparent or hidden energies of duality must be released. All elements of opposition integrated.
Magpies are considered the light in the darkness. My interpretation of this sign that has been forcefully pushing its pesky way into my life in recent weeks is, that NOW is the time to cut all cords that tie us to anything that does not build peace, abundance and well being. Now is the time to really fully release all that is not resonant with Source Self.
As we leave the previously pervasive ideology of duality behind it is interesting that the Magpie with it's colouring, symbolises their ability to live in the black and the white; it's like they know how to live within the dark and the light simultaneously understanding the benefits of contrast yet disallowing the darkness to be their primary guide.
They tend to collect and hoard 'shiny" things, again a symbol of how we need to continually work consciously to gather within us thoughts and a perspective that focuses on the beauty and magnificence of this physical experience.
The Magpie totem also encourages us to use whatever understanding we
already have; the treasures that we are.
Instead of aiming for perfection before we begin the process of letting go of old, unhealthy (after the Solstice, frankly unworkable) notions it's more productive to just start moving gently towards new and desired patterns.
For example if it's your physical well being that is a the top of your list instead of embarking on a boot camp, commissioning the juicer and pushing, punishing yourself into good health it's ok to take the low road of say just adding a green salad to your plate of pizza or taking a 10 minute walk for a few weeks until you build up that sense of enjoyment and empowerment that small changes bring.
The quick or ardent fix is out because with every thought or action that is focused on this dramatic approach to change, there is an accompanying sub-text that is basically saying 'I'm not good enough or what I am doing is not good enough so I have to work really hard at revising that."
Wholeness does not come from highlighting the 'holes."
We cannot change ourselves, our world or our experiences of life by viewing what we are or where we are from a place of underscoring deficit. A poor man cannot make himself rich by focusing on what he is lacking, a country cannot change its situation by discussing its problems, nor a child become confident by a teacher telling him where he is failing.
The move from Gemini into Cancer that the June Solstice marks, means that we have a window of opportunity to use the Gemini traits of adaptability and communication to facilitate these small but powerful changes in our lives. Magpies are known for their opportunistic natures often teasing more predatory birds such as eagles to show their prowess. They have a daredevil nature often swooping in on the unsuspecting. I don't know how many times my 'tower" has been 'buzzed' by a cheeky Magpie as I hang the washing!
If we are to BE-come more of OUR- Selves, if we are to co- create a collective experience that eradicates the difficulties, horrors and injustices of our history and current time, if we are to bring more health, abundance and well being into all of our experience we are now at a time personally, collectively and well aligned cosmically to take some risks, to behave like the daredevil magical magpie.
Now is the moment where we can bring true resolution to tired, untenable issues that have held us back as individuals and as a species. It's a clear sign from the uprisings in Turkey and Brazil during the build up towards the June Solstice that we can and must take these opportunities to bring change; dare to be different and take risks.
Here we have a portal to unhook from the pervasive paradigm to put ourselves on the line so we can all grow. The timing is perfect to leave our history behind and carve out new, more sustainable, more equable and frankly just happier, easier times.
Magpies draw on their resourceful almost eclectic way of living to survive. Our success depends on using this wide and varied way of being; it is now counting on us to have the courage to literally "wing" it. The rules that we have lived by thus far are all obsolete.
Magpies are not creatures who stay in the safety of a nest or gather around them secure structures to survive such as Bowerbirds do. Instead they dare to go get what they need and are much more 'in your face' birds, metaphorically calling us to do the same.
This next few days is the pivot point that we can avail of to be compassionate with ourselves and others around hidden or apparent fears and inadequacies. We need not confront them head on as has been the previously ascribed methodology. This shift can be made easily and quickly instead by being gentle and respectful in sync with the frequency of love and peace we all deeply crave.
It's time to reconcile the dualities of our conditioned nature; to resolve any lingering emotional and spiritual oppositions. Its useful to pay attention to your dreams and hunches and then have the courage to 'go' with the messages they provide. Your steps will not falter if you focus on things that you as an individual value. As you listen to your heart your heart will naturally open to the dissonant cries of others and your compassion and ability to act upon it will grow.
Selfishness automatically leads to Selflessness. Can you feel the relief in this statement? Sit with it an allow it to grow, allow yourself to blossom back into the seed of Source that you know you are. If you feel the relief you know that you are ready to be a harbinger of change. If you still feel uncomfortable with the idea of Selfishness leading to Selflessness you have been given the gift of knowing that you still have some work to do with aligning with your god-self.
My Magpie's insistent and often grating cries have been screaming at me (and now at you!) She has been calling me to make that final step and really "wake" up, live consciously in absolute awareness. She has me walking fully the uncharted territory of truly leaving all dregs of victimhood behind to deliberately create with the support of Uni-versal forces, the life and experience that I know
We are meant to have.
The Magpie cries:
"
Let go of the old and bring on the new! Dare you!"
PS:
As I began to write this the incessant flying into windows stopped and at some point my magical Magpie came to rest on the window sill of my study. She stayed there for about half an hour flitting from the sill to the Passion Fruit Vine on the opposite boundary wall every so often. She pecked at the window once or twice as if wanting to get my attention, fixed me with her beady eyed glare and then flew away. I wonder if she will return.
