Pheasant’s Wisdom

Picture of ring-necked pheasant from http://talkaboutwildlife.ca

 It was winter, and I was walking with my dog along the Bow River.  We could hear Pheasant crowing, but could not see him.  Then, as we walked down a gravel path, he jumped up on an old log and crowed at us.  My dog was frantic to chase him.  Generally, Pheasant is not that happy to show himself.  This was a treat for me.  I wondered why he would jump out that way.  I pondered his behaviour.  

Pheasant had called attention to himself by both being loud and by jumping up on the log.  He was acknowledging his truth, and telling me to acknowledge my truth.  By example, Pheasant was showing that one needs to get up and speak what they know, regardless of who is around and regardless of what they may think.  This action is one of leadership, of having credentials that speak of “walking your talk”.

Pheasants have a difficult time during the winter gathering food and sheltering from the cold.  Their diet during summer consists of insects and green plants.  In winter, their diet includes waste grain, weed seeds and fruit of such locally-growing shrubs as rose and buckbrush. By standing up so tall, Pheasant was saying that one needs to take the good with the bad, and to learn and to grow from the lessons.  When things are not going well (and we had a cold winter and lots of snow this year in Calgary), it is okay to lay low, and to be cautious.  One must act with discernment as they walk through life.  

Pheasant’s final message is about environment.  Even though we could hear him, we could not see him.  This is the message of “learn how to blend with your environment and use that environment to your advantage”.  Then, when we did see him, he was up off the ground.  He says that one must be grounded to walk in the world, however, at times, one must go up higher to see the bigger picture. 

Blessings,

Judy

How Can You Know Another?

How often has someone told you how you feel or think?  It happens to me all the time. People tell me that I am a healer when typically I think of myself as a Shaman.  

I am reminded of the story I read about an artist.  She said that she always introduced herself as an artist.  One day one of her friends said to her, “You can’t introduce yourself as an artist.  You are an art teacher.  You need to introduce yourself as an art teacher.”  The artist’s response was along the lines of, “what right do you have to tell me who I am or how I should introduce myself.  No one has the right to determine another’s life!”

Again, the Universe working in her mysterious manner, gave me the teaching to go with the story that I read.  I would like to share that story with you because it is so profound.

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Picture of a trout jumping for flies 

 

 

 

 

             

Knowing Fish – A Zen Teaching

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."

"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."

"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"

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Blessings,

Judy 

Octopus

A while ago, I watched the beautiful Oscar winning movie, “My Octopus Teacher”.  It was a documentary but had everything in it - relationships, fear, overcoming obstacles, and sacrifice.

Picture of Octopus from Wikipedia

The Octopus has received a lot of attention over the last several decades.  The Beatles made the Octopus a legendary figure in their song “Octopus’s Garden”.  We often refer to our family as “the octopus that we can never escape”.  A new expression via Drew Barrymore is “I wish I were an octopus so I could hug ten people at a time!”  Octopus is part of our speech and our culture. 

Octopus is given its name, in part from its eight legs or tentacles.  As eight is the number of infinity, Octopus has a connection to the heavens and to Great Spirit, even though Octopus lives at the bottom of the ocean.  Their home is a small cave, or pile of rocks that it can fit into, along the sea floor. Here Octopus hides and waits for prey.  What makes this animal so unusual is that it has no bones in its body, so it is able to squeeze into small spaces.  One can say that Octopus is the ultimate example of flexibility.

When Octopus is spread out, its tentacles are like the spokes in a wheel, or like an eight point star. It represents nothing and everything.  The suction cups on their tentacles allow Octopus to grab on to and to hold tightly.  As Octopus has a short life span of one to five years, it seems that these suction cups may represent getting a hold on life.

What is your relationship to Octopus?

Blessings,

Judy