I heard the owls last night as I drifted off to sleep. I felt as if they were lulling me to sleep. I slipped into a deep slumber, only to awaken shortly after midnight, when I heard them once again. Last night the owls were my close companions, as they are from time to time. My rest was peaceful and sweet, and I woke up before dawn for sadhana and was full of gratitude and joy. Gone was the too oft troubled blanket of heavy doom that has greeted me so many other mornings. I felt rested and ready to face whatever the day might bring – a sweet spot to find oneself in, right?
Great Horned Owls grace this land in numbers and have for many years. We are blessed indeed by their presence here all year long. While my spirited friend the hummingbird winters in Mexico searching for, and no doubt finding, bountiful drops of nectar, the owls remain and watch over all of us. I rarely see these owls, and even then it will be almost hidden in a tree, or perhaps I will catch a glimpse of one on the wing through the woods, more of a moving shadow really – such soft swift silent flight. We have the Barn Owl in these parts as well. The habitat here is well suited to their needs. Once in a long while I will spot a Snowy Owl, but I believe we are a bit south for them to be here en force like the other two more common birds. Whatever the species, the owl has always been an elusive but ever-present being in my world. I consider it to be one of my totems.
It is interesting to me that I most often come across these birds at night, especially as I lay my head down on the pillow. They come in when I am in that in-between-worlds place, between awake and asleep. In a place of floating neutrality. A place where I can see clearly without even knowing I am looking at anything at all. Owl medicine surely brings illumination and wisdom – the kind that is innate, known so profoundly that its truth is felt deep in the bones.
On another note, my sister Christine shared with me an image of a rose in full bloom in her magical garden, which we affectionately (and accurately I believe) call Fernwood Findhorn. There has been snow and sub-freezing temps there, but the roses seem to be oblivious to all such things. What’s up in your neck of the woods?
#ReportFromTheBack40 #Squirrelrun #OwlMedicine #FernwoodFindhorn #kippinitreal
