The beauty of summer

Tree Spirits

Sunrise and the tree spirits smile as their branches reach out to touch the morning rays of golden light.

Relax, breathe & connect with the heart of the Earth Mother.

Newts

Amphibians ( toads, frogs, salamanders, and newts) survive in two worlds, water and land. In the animal spirit kingdom they serve as the bridge between the earth and water elements. They begin their life journey from a lake, pond, or muddy puddle. Amphibians have the ability to breathe underwater and must be near a water source to survive and procreate. Food sources for them are primarily found in the water. Anyone with an amphibian as a totem has access to ancient truths. Change or metamorphosis is taking place or soon to take place whenever an amphibian totem shows up.

http://healing.about.com

Orbs At the River

Frog Medicine

quick-list for animal symbolism of the frog includes:

Luck
Purity
Rebirth
Renewal
Fertility
Healing
Metamorphosis
Transitions
Dreaming
Intermediary

As a Celtic symbol meaning, the Celts believed it represented curative or healing powers because of its connection with water and cleansing rains. More Western and European views focus on the Frog's three stages of development (egg, tadpole, fully formed amphibian) to symbolize resurrection and spiritual evolution. For these same reasons it is also a common Christian symbol for the holy trinity and resurrection. It is often seen in Christian art to express this symbolism.

In Egypt we see the Frog-headed Heket who is an Egyptian goddess of birth(ing).

In China the Frog is an emblem of Yin energy and thought of as good luck. Feng Shui practices recommend putting an image of a Frog in the east window of your home to encourage child birth and/or happy family life.

Frog energy is also considered to be a link between the living and the dead. An interesting ancient Asian custom was to place a jade frog in the mouth of the deceased to insure his/her spirit would pass safely into the spirit world. This custom was believed to allow the spirit of the deceased to speak more clearly to loved ones still living.

Frogs are also good luck symbols in Japan - especially for travelers. Images or charms were worn during long voyages to assure safety (particularly across water).

Ancient Hindus viewed the animal symbolism of frogs on a more cosmic levels, as they believe Frogs projected the world into orbit in space.


Frog is mysterious and frog energy is a great energy for working magic at night. Frog energy also teaches us about the secrets and mysteries of the land. If you spend time in meditation with frog and its spirit, frog may over time choose to let you know of the magic and spirits in the land around you. Frog teaches us about the magic in water, and water magic. Water is healing - Water teaches us how to flow from place to place and how to navigate obstacles, symbolically it has been associated with our deeper subconscious, dreams and emotional states. Frog can be a great animal to contact when we are trying to better understand ourselves.

When frog hops into your life, it indicates that it is a great time to work with your emotions and your dreams. Frog asks us not to repress the emotional aspect of ourselves, but to strengthen and validate it. It has its own source of magic for us.

We each have a unique voice and a unique way of expressing ourselves. Even if we are not remotely 'creative,' we still create in how we dress ourselves, how we talk to others and the way we live our lives. Frog shows us that we are able to make a strong connection with this unique voice and be proud of it.

frog spirits respond to drumming, or to chanting. Frog energy may not talk to you in your own language, and may be quite 'quiet,' almost like a guide who is in the background, but if you choose to voluntarily connect with this creature, you will find that its wisdom is boundless

Frog energy teaches us the importance of learning how to work with the spirits of the land around us. Create an honest, deliberate relationship with the land, even if it is just an awareness of a connection,it can be a very profound and respectful act. Try it some time, frog energy will help you.
















Info, whatsyoursign, wildspeak

Angel Day, June 2011 - The Ark Angel Boat - Taggs Island, Hampton Ct.

Once again the magic of Taggs Island and Angel Day flowed beautifully. The sunshine, the wildlife, the river, the swans, the Arkangel boat with its fantastic energy. An amazing walk around the island. Stories shared, Intuitive angel card readings, the always very lovely rose petal ceremony. Another blessed day to be alive, to breathe and to share in the loving company of friends in an incredibly magical setting.

Angel Day Magic

Solstice sunset

Touching moments

Open your heart to love and see the beauty in every single living thing.

Rainbows in the meadow

Share in the wonder of it all and be a beacon of light.

Always, in so many ways, life is such a wonder and there is always so much to be grateful for.

Walking down the footpath with Mr.Heron

Beautiful Colours of Nature

The Beauty of the Swan

So blessed to have been able to spend some time with a family of swans today and to observe their feeding habits and how protective the adults are with their young. A powerful bird with many legends and folklore attached to it, this is just some of the information I've found on swans for your enjoyment.

Scots Gaelic: Eala
Irish: Ela
Welsh: Alarch
Breton: Alarc’h
Old Celtic: Alargh
Anglo Saxon: Swan

Swan Facts

Classification

Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Cygninae
Species: Whooper, Trumpeter, Tundra, Mute, Black-necked, Black, Berwick, and Coscoroba

A male swan is a cob; a female is a pen, and the young are called cygnets.

Description
Swans are the largest of the aquatic birds, closely related to the Goose. They are known for their grace and beauty and have long been considered “ornamental birds” which float on ponds in zoos, parks, and botanical gardens. Swans are long necked and web-footed. The most common swan, the Mute Swan, is a large, all white bird with a pink bill that ends in a black knob. The bill of a swan is so sensitive that it serves as an underwater feeler.

Swans have the longest neck of any bird, with 23-25 neck vertebrae. Swans have as many as 25,000 feathers. They are long-lived birds, and can live up to twenty years in the wild, and even fifty years in captivity!

Habitat

Swans prefer wetlands and land surrounded by water, where they build their nests on mounds. The Tundra swan builds its nest in the tundra wetlands, where they maintain a territory of one square mile and defend it from other swans. Swans prefer cooler environments and avoid extreme heat. The Tundra and Whooper nest all across northern America, the Arctic Islands and Northern Russia. The Black-necked and Coscoroba are found from Brazil southward. The Black Swan lives in Australia and New Zealand. The Mute Swan resides in Europe.

Diet and Feeding Habits

In the wild, swans feed on the starchy roots and tubers of aquatic plants. Their scissor- like bills have cutting edges that can tear at the underwater grasses. They can submerge from ten to twenty seconds at a time, and the Bewick Swans for up to thirty seconds. Due to the length of their long, sinewy necks, the birds can dip their heads by curving their necks into the water, and lay their chins flat on the bottom, continuously swallowing. For deeper waters, the swan will up-end itself to reach the bottom. Swans can also eat grains on the land, but must jerk its head backwards to shake foot into its gullet. Most species of swan are vegetarian, but the Mute Swan has been known to eat fish.

Swans have a gland just above their eyes that enables them to drink salt water. The gland removes salt from the water and concentrates it into a solution that is excreted from the nostrils, which the bird can shake its head to clear. In captivity, swans are fed wheat, barley, maize, lettuce, watercress, endive, cabbage, grass, and even biscuits and brown bread.

Migration

Swans migrate in winter, in flocks of twenty to forty birds. The cygnets travel in their parent’s flock for at least a year, in order to learn the route, where to feed, rest, etc. They have been clocked between 35-50 mph in the air, and prefer to fly at night. They can fly at heights of 28,000 feet, and travel over 2,000 miles, often over sea.

Diseases

Around half of the young birds who nest in the far North perish on their migration south because they are forced to leave before they are strong enough. Swans are also susceptible to fungal diseases, particularly aspergillosis, parasites, and viruses.

Folklore

Danish Tale

The Wild Swan, by Hans Christian Andersen: ( See Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories ).

The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Andersen. An awkward young cygnet, is called an ugly duckling by the other young waterfowl in the lake. Seeing his reflection in the watery surface, he can’t help but agree, and hangs his young head in shame. The other birds refuse to play with the pathetic creature, and he is left to himself. At last his mother finds him, and assures him that this phase will pass, and he will grow into the most beautiful bird of all - a magnificent snowy white swan. And as time passes, so he does.

This is a familiar tale for every child, reassuring them that beauty is from within, and not a matter of outward appearance. This healing tale has been told for over a century, to children who feel isolated, or that they don’t fit in, teaching them to look within to find their own inner beauty and radiate it. When their time comes, they will be transformed, and have the grace, beauty and eloquence of a majestic white swan.

Native American

In Navajo tradition, the Great White Swan can call up the Four Winds. The Great Spirit will use swans to work its will.

Australian

The aborigines saw the Black Swans as the wives of their All Father.

Japan

In Ainu folk tales, the swan was an angelic bird who lived in heaven. When the Ainu fought amongst themselves killing all but one boy, the Swan descended from heaven, transformed into a woman, and reared the boy to manhood. She then married him to preserve the Ainu race.

India

It was the swan that lay the Cosmic Egg on the waters, from which Brahma sprang. The Swan was the vehicle of Brahma’s wife, Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom, Education, and Music. In Hindu tradition, swans represent the perfect union, and the spirit of Brahma.

Greek

In Greek tradition, the Swan is the symbol of the Muses. The swan also has erotic connotations - Zeus seduced Leda in the form of a swan, and Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, had a swan-drawn chariot.

The swan, as a symbol of music, is also dedicated to Apollo, who was said to transform into a swan.

The constellation Cygnus, depicts a swan sailing down the Milky Way.

Serbia

The Vila, Serbian nymphs, take the shape of swans and serpents.

Norse

The Norse Valkyries often take the shape of swans and they fly, singing, through the air.

Russia

Swan Maidens were the subject of the Russian composer, Tchaikovsky’s ballet, “Swan Lake”.

Celtic Tradition

In Celtic tradition the Swan is associated with deities of healing waters and the sun. They are associated with music, love, purity and the soul. They are shape-shifters, can take human form, and have mastered the elements of water, earth and air. They can always be recognized by the gold or silver chain that hangs around their neck.

Among Druids, the Swan represents the soul, and is associated with the Festival of Samhain. The swan aids us in traveling to the Otherworld. Swans are also sacred to Bards, and their skin and feathers were used to make the tugen, the ceremonial Bardic Cloak.

Irish tales

Swans appear throughout Irish folklore. An Otherworldly bird, they are often the disguise of Fairy Women. At certain times of year, a swan maiden can transform herself back into a human, such as Summer Solstice, Beltaine or Samhain, when the veils between the worlds are thin.

The White Swans of the Wilderness were children of the Tuatha de Danaan, who settled Ireland, and became the sidhe after the invasion of the Milesians.

Native American tradition

According to Jamie Sams and David Carson, who collected Native American tales from elders in the Choctaw, Lakota, Seneca, Aztec, Yaqui, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Iroquois, and Mayan traditions, Swans represented “Grace”.

Swan tells Dragonfly in legend, “I learned to surrender my body to the power of Spirit and was taken to where the future lives. I saw many wonders high on Sacred Mountains and because of my faith and my acceptance I have been changed. I have learned to accept the state of grace.” Swan is the bird who may enter the Dreamtime and bring back knowledge and healing to the tribe. Swan medicine “teaches us to be at one with all planes of consciousness, and to trust in Great Spirit’s protection.” (Medicine Cards, pages 192-195)

Totem

The swan is a totem of beauty and grace. As in the story of the Ugly Duckling, it connotes inner beauty as well. If Swan is your totem animal, you are emotionally sensitive, and empathic towards the feelings of others, and you draw people to you. The pure white swan is a solar symbol, whereas the Australian Black Swan is a nocturnal symbol. The swan, with its long neck, acts as a bridge between the worlds, making it an oracular bird. Being a cool weather bird, its direction is North. Swans are excellent totems for children, those connected to the Fairy Realm, poets, bards, mystics, and dreamers. (Animal Speak, page 196)

Healing

The swan is master of the elements Earth, Air and Water, and is and excellent guide to the therapeutic powers of these elements. Many healers use a swan feather in smudging and healing ceremonies. A swan feather tied to an instrument such as a harp would be a powerful adjunct to music therapy.

Oracle

In the Medicine Cards, pulling the Swan card tells you to “pay attention to your hunches, gut knowledge, and female intuitive side.”

In Celtic lore, pulling the swan card can mean poetic inspiration from the Otherworld. It can also mean love and transformation or a soul level experience.

A beautiful Sunrise

Bees

Bees are brilliant beeings with highly developed brains and nervous systems connected to remarkable instincts.

Bees are sensitive to ultra-violet and polarized light, even on cloudy days. Bees do everything by the sun. Even so, the balance of solar and lunar energy in bees is intricate. They are intimately solar, and yet they are also deeply of the Cosmic Mother, the Divine Feminine. In this time when each of us must balance out the masculine or feminine with what is already the strongest, bees have integrated the two polarities into one. The solar embodies the masculine, initiating, questing energy while the feminine carries the lunar dark, receptive, knowing forces. Perhaps the bee totem is prominent now, as it is essential to join these equally in balance for personal and planetary illumination.

Some masters have been known to quiet their heartbeat and adjust their body temperatures when in an altered state. This skill is linked to the ancient initiations of mastering the body, mind and spirit. Those with this totem usually have strong past life ties connected to the ancient secrets of longevity.

All bees are productive. They remain focused in their activities and do not get distracted from their goal. Their legs are one of their most sensitive organs. A bee actually tastes through its legs and reminds us to slow down, smell the roses and taste the sweet nectar of life.

The bumblebee carries the power of service. They are important pollinators of many plants. As a bee lands upon one flower, collecting its nectar, pollen also attaches itself to the leg fibers. It is then transferred to other flowers, creating a fertilization process. Their movement from one plant to another symbolizes the interconnectedness of all living things. The bumblebee is a messenger that holds the secrets of life and service.

Totem for the day - Dove

The Dove Totem

The skies will never see a more peaceful and graceful creature than the Dove. This animal has been respected and revered throughout the ages by ancient and modern Indian tribes and their Shaman. These tribes who are so connected to the elements and the Earth understand the true influence these creatures’ posses. They are diplomatic, legendary animals that own many admirable virtues.

The Dove represents the feminine power of giving & prophecy The Dove shows and reveals the veils between the spiritual and physical worlds. The Dove shows up in many legends and lore. They were the totem of Aphrodite the Goddess of Love, and they bore the ambrosia from the Goddesses which kept Zeus immortal, they are the symbol of sexual passion in India. The flock of Doves called the “Seven Sisters” in Greece are thought to be the daughters of Aphrodite. Sophia, The Goddess of Wisdom, in the Mediterranean, is said to have descended upon animal vessels as the form of a Dove. In Mexico the Dove is seen as both a Love Goddess and a Madonna. The Hebrew’s see the Dove as a symbol of peace and purity.

It was the Dove which returned to Noah’s Ark to tell all aboard that land was found, in the Dove’s beak was an olive branch, which was the symbol of peace. It is believed that the Dove’s nature is so pure that even Satan himself cannont shape-shift into its form.

The Magnificent Dove Totem possesses the following virtues:
Love, gentleness, purity, sexual energy, intimate relationships, creativity, peace, family values, centered calmness, tranquility, support, assistance, powers of the feminine, friendship, .

Dove Animal Pearls are said to impart their particular magical virtues to their owner. Dove Pearls are characteristic of its host; they possess all the awesome characteristics that may be seen in the Dove itself; the peace and love of this animal is contained within the pearl waiting for its proper owner to bestow its inner magic to that unique and fortunate individual. For century’s shamans, priestesses, spiritualists and practitioners of the occult have used Dove animal pearls to transfer the powerful magical energy of the Dove to themselves and to others in need of this commanding animal magic.

Dove pearls are highly sought after by any wishing to absorb Dove like virtues into their lives and develop stronger mental abilities such as those embodied by this symbolic creature. The owner of a Dove pearl will see their lives, spiritual energy and mental clarity imbued with all of the virtues attributed to the “Peace Bringer” of the skies, the Dove.

The Dove animal totem is a strong spirit indeed and its magical properties are one of the most influential of all animal totems. Love, understanding, happiness and balance, peacefulness, and so much more can be integrated into the spirit of the possessor of this magical pearl and the Dove totem.