When Hawk Speaks, I listen.
But first, I tell you how Hawk came to me.
A broken hawk wing landed on my door step, nearly on the door step. One early morning, I went out to the car to retrieve my shopping bags and by the rear car door, on the driveway, was a Red Tailed hawk wing.
I was stunned. Not one or two feathers. The entire wing. Slightly mangled at the shoulder but the feathers pristine. Incredible. I don’t believe this is a random occurrence though it is very unique.
I felt the winds of hawk spirit, as I picked them up.
When the hawk feathers landed, they spoke an ancient story. This story was of my ancestral peaks and valleys, undulations of my people, the ravages of time. Story of time. Hawk, after all, rides the wind of time. That is his story.
We all come from lands and people several layers deep. The layers contain transformations and condensations of our ancestral thoughts, habitual ways, spiritual cycles and emotional traverses through time. All of these span across the ‘lands’.
The lands are the layers. The fabric of life.
When Hawk feathers appear on my path, it is no random event. It is a part of my path, here and now. And, it has been this way for a long time.
Hawks have shown me the way, for decades. Hawks and owls. Owls came to me early in my twenties and the hawks started appearing in my thirties. Both of these sacred birds (sacred in indigenous cultures and sacred in the lands of my life), are exceptional at sharp and focused seeing. One time, in the mountains of Guanacaste, dog sitting the sweetest perrito, late evening, I heard a thud. It was a strange sound. I investigated and found an owl had hit the front door! She was bit stunned, resting on the door step. But that’s a story for another time.
A focus on life. Hawk eye view.
Hawks posses the ability to take in the expansive landscape of life. These sharp-seeing birds impart a depth of wisdom to anyone willing to stop, to hear, to see and receive their message.
A hawk ‘shoulder of feathers’ landed on my land.
These feathers appeared – as if out of nowhere. My question is: what happened to the hawk? Why now? Was he injured? What was eating at him, literally and figuratively? How often do shoulder’s of hawk feathers fall from the sky? This was my first time.
What do you do with hawk feathers?
Many birds are protected under national and provincial laws (in Canada) to protect their habitats, their population and to protect wildlife at large. To look up bird protection laws in Canada, you can read this concise summary at the Ontario Field Ornithologists site.
Sidetracked, by wildlife.
I attempted to complete an application for possession of this magnificent wing and the Ontario Wildlife service site was exceptionally slow. After three attempts to read through everything and find the right application form and submit the right information, I used up the greater part of 30 minutes. Enough already. Patience duly tested and practiced. Several days later, I resumed my application with easy enough success. Technology and energy are funny partners that way, don’t you think?
Find all kinds of applications for wildlife forms here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-natural-resources-work-centres
Hawk story told.
As I mentioned, hawks have flown about me everywhere I go. I may be driving to work and there he is. An impromptu Tai Chi class in High Park, don’t mind if I do – and there is Hawk watching us from a nearby branch. Gardening at the local food bank pollinator garden, I pause as a family of Hawks soar overhead. A mamma, papa and two juvenile hawks testing out their shrieks and screeches.
Do you have such a guardian spirit animal ‘by your side’ as well?
Any chance, do you have a guardian spirit animal that crashes your party, or at least your place of business, just to be seen and heart? Just to deliver his message?
One time, in my Apothecary shop, The Healing Muse, a hawk flew into my shop. I think he was chasing a pigeon through the tree canopies on the street and forgot to make a turn! He was panicked and startled to say the least (I really wanted to use the word apoplectic because I love that word, but it just doesn’t work, right?).
A moment of composure.
As he settled on the table top fan, on top of the cafe fridge, in the adjoining coffee shop, I needed to devise a plan. He contemplated his predicament. – birds contemplate, right? I strategized on how to remove a hawk from a small shop, with heigh ceilings!
No gloves, no leather covers, or blankets on site.
Sheer improvisation at work. I chose my old sweater, the only useful, practical item at hand as my wrangling device.
Story with a good ending.
No need to worry. This hawk tired himself out well and good, before I attempted his rescue. It flew numerous times between the coffee shop window and my apothecary window, not understanding the glass just wasn’t going anywhere. I waited. I watched. He did make quite the mess of my window display. Nature has a way of bursting into my life!
I slowly approached, with my sweater spread out between my hands. As I neared about five feet of him (he was watchful and tired, sitting on the window sill), I paused, took a breath and grasped his sides with as much care as my novice hawk-wrangler self could manage.
Swiftly into flight.
A few steps off to the side and into the open cafe doorway was freedom. Hawk and I both let out a sigh of relief, as I opened up the sweater and he flew across the street into the tree canopy.
Hawk speaks. Time to listen.
This hawk visit was exceptional and out of the ordinary. Also, it was timely. I sat back for a while and mused on the message he brought. His was a reminder to rise up and see the big picture, while keeping a keen eye on things.
My life was in transition and changes were coming. Like the coming season declares its arrival with a blowing wind, heavy rain or soaring temperatures, my hawk visitor swooped in to shriek the need to be watchful. Scan. Observe. Take stock of the place.
It was also the same week, a few days after, one my staff noted a few young kids about preteen age, were coming in and stealing crystals from my displays. One evening, we caught two of them red-handed. They come in to ask us questions and took turns distracting us.
When we told them to empty their pockets, they were full of crystals. I reamed them out. I told them I wanted their jackets, since I liked their jackets. They stared at me wide eyed. Not understanding. (Kindness isn’t always nice, but that’s another story)
I continued.
I said, that if they felt they could take things they wanted, so could I. They looked confused. After some talking to, I observed their faces shift from false bravado to worry. Good. I asked them what their parents would say when they got home without their jackets.
At this point, I may have been quite loud.
They didn’t know what to say. Good. I explained to them their actions were a karmic nightmare (ok I wasn’t that harsh, but I did talk about the karma of it all). They look panicked. Very Good. The life principle of ‘Do no harm’ is a necessary teaching.
Questions without answers, teach us about life.
Hawk taught me I needed to soar, overview and pay attention to everything better. This prepared me for the next stage in my life. I heed animal messages each time they enter my life. For all of them, I am deeply grateful.
But when hawk speaks, I stop and I listen. Do you listen?
watch a short video of the hawk in my shop here
