The Simple & Profound Symbolism of Everyday Life : Spirit Animals & Guides : the Meaning of Flowers: Life of a Modern Day Shaman
Insights from nature and the corresponding elements to life itself.....
A visit from a Rattlesnake, a Praying Mantis, and a Rainbow
In the shamanic belief everything is alive and carries with it a message of power and wisdom. When our paths cross with a wild animal or insect, it is understood that the Animal is a Spirit Guide with a message or a bit of wisdom for us, or medicine to help with integration of a "power" or energy that it represents.
The Rattlesnake that shook its rattles as it crossed our path, I was slow at getting my camera out as I recovered from the shock of hearing those warning rattles, and it was moving pretty fast! Snake is a symbol of rebirth and transformation, as a positive symbol, snakes represent healing, knowledge, and the tranformational experience of shedding of one's skin "casting off the old self".
Any living creature can serve as a spirit guide, wild animals, reptiles, insects, or sea creatures, though it is understood that only wild animals are Spirit Guides, not domesticated animals as they are already in service to us.
Plants and trees also serve as Spirit Guides and have significant wisdom and medicine for us in our everyday lives.
The day after my birthday my Mother and I went on a Sunday drive. I did not know what the day would have in store for us, and the many significant and powerful messages we would receive during our seemingly simple Sunday drive in the country.
When we begin to slow down and simplify our lives, and rid ourselves of all the programing that keep us stuck in anger over our past, or fear of our future, and the seemingly never ending emotional cycles of unhappiness & dissatisfaction, life opens itself to a great beautiful expansiveness.
This is when synchronicity becomes the norm. Where flow is the natural state of being.
When we really get down to what our joyful priorities are that truly make us happy, there is this wonderful simplicity, and all life seems to have significance and meaning.
It is with this simplicity, that the inner content of our being becomes the "force" that we wield to make our way in the world.
When the effort of trying to "make" something occur in our lives disappears, the true nature our life and our gifts are allowed to blossom.
You begin to have an open dialogue with all life around you. It is as if all things are communicating with you, supporting you, guiding you on your way. This is when animal guides and their symbolic meanings and messages can have an abundance of wisdom to share with us about the significance of our everyday life experience.
“Life must blossom like a flower opening itself to the Divine.”
After running into the Rattlesnake on the trail, we took the long scenic drive home and stopped at a roadside farm stand to buy some organic tomatoes. A Praying Mantis greeted us there.
It is said that the Praying Mantis is the oldest symbol of God, there are many stories of the Mantis in oral histories of African Bushman and they were said to represent the infinite and the divine in the small, "Greatness is not measured in size, but by worth." The Greeks named the "mantis", which means "seer" or prophet and associated them with oracles. The Praying Mantis shows the way and Mantis medicine is about the creative process of becoming. In the Arabic and Turkish cultures a Mantis points pilgrims to Mecca, the holiest site in the Islamic world. In France, it's believed that if you are lost the Mantis points the way home.
Praying Mantis is often seen when major internal and external life changes are taking place. There is a God like quality to Praying Mantis as she is the master of herself, and only moves in the direction of what is for her highest good.
"I hold my front legs in the position of prayer. When I am focused on having something, these same front legs grasp it and hold it securely. That is part of my mystique. Whatever I focus my attention on becomes mine…and then the twist is that I become it, as well.
The process of becoming your true self breaks down the illusion that any of us are separate from each other, because the more you individuate, the more you release the perimeters that keep you separate from the rest of life.
How would you treat me if you knew I was you? Can you see how transformed, life on this garden planet would be? Can you dream the possibilities?"
Red Zinnias: Spiritual Flower Meaning: Lasting Affection or Physical Endurance
On our way home.... after the Rattlesnake adrenaline, the Praying Mantis greeting, and experiencing the beauty and expansiveness of the mountain vistas. There was a rainbow to shine us home....
