Category: The Spiritual Realm

My Walk on the Wild Side

My walk on the wild side spanned the past eleven days, encompassing not one, but three walks. How am I defining wild? I’m referring to a natural state, untethered by conventional rules. However, it doesn’t mean unruly.

The Basis for This

I’ve always been a very spiritual person, whether sitting in church as a child, enthralled by the light streaming through the stained glass windows or walking alone in the forest. I have a deep, abiding belief in God and His plan for me. This belief extends to a network of spiritual guides, helpers, angels, and loved ones who are always with me. Intuitive thoughts guide my life and brought another loving soul my way recently, The Healing Hummingbird, Meredith Johnson. She performs shamanic and reiki healings. Furthermore, I was led to engage her to heal three aspects of my life.

The House First

How did I know the house needed healing? First, it felt heavy. Second, there were so many electrical disturbances during Zoom calls and even phone calls, I felt the house needed  clearing. Although Meredith normally used Zoom for this, we decided a phone call was more stable. I have an app, Otter.ai, which both records audio and creates a text file. With my iPhone on speaker in one hand, I carried my iPad with my other hand. Otter on the iPad recorded all the information and messages Meredith relayed to me from Spirit.

One concern was the numerous animal heads on walls. The bull elk communicated to Meredith that he felt crowded and needed a space just for him. Afterward, I moved all the stuff elsewhere. I feel calmer and Mr. Bull Elk looks happier to me.

Consequently, now the house feels calmer, my electronics are much more stable, and it even helped me talk to Wayne, my husband, about his feelings during his stressful recurrence of cancer.

The Dogs Came Next

My second walk on the wild side was the shamanic healing of our dogs. We have three; Daisy, Dynamite, and Sugar.

Daisy – the American Bulldog

Daisy, a young dog, arrived in Wayne’s Georgia hunting camp years before we married. Her rear right paw had been mangled in a trap. Of course, Wayne took her in. He was unsuccessful finding her owners and brought her home with the intention of finding a good home.. You know where the good home is – here.

Daisy – Before her Shamanic Healing

At the time, Wayne placed her in the dog kennel with Dubba, the male Brittany. Being a bulldog, Daisy is a physically powerful breed, not the best choice for an elderly household. But the most difficult trait was her barking, almost nonstop. Meredith found all her chakras were closed, except the throat chakra, hence the barking.

Daisy – This morning I had to wake her up!

Since her healing less than five days ago, the barking has all but stopped. Furthermore, she is much calmer in all ways.

Dynamite – the Beagle

Dynamite was bred to aid deer hunting. Before coming into our household, she had lived in a communal, raised, kennel with a pack of beagles. Her name alluded to her incredible stamina and tracking ability. Dynamite is sweet and loving, especially toward me, but she appears to be stubborn. In actuality, she had energetically stopped up her ears to protect them from all the noise in her young life. Also, she showed Meredith that she was trained with a stick and hand signals. Now I use hand signals to direct her. She responds more quickly to my requests and seems even more loving.

Sugar – the Brittany

Finally, we have Sugar, our three-year-old Brittany. Although I knew she and I are very close, I didn’t realize how close. When I’m away from the house, if I am distressed about something, Sugar can feel it, becoming anxious too. We have an energetic cord that binds us, which was mostly healthy, but there were some dark spots in the chord that made Sugar overly anxious. It was especially noticeable when I arrived home. She would emit a little cry as she ran circles around me. Now, she is calmer, happier, no longer crying when seeing me after I come home from grocery shopping.

My Healing

My walk on the wild side was so healing and informative, I’m going to write a separate blog about it. I invite you back here next Friday for the full story.

Continuing to Heal,
Dawn

Understanding Animal Symbolism

Three animals made themselves known to me this week, prompting me to share with you some information on understanding animal symbolism.

Basic Animal Symbolism Information

For me, signs from nature give me personal insight. They help me sit in the moment, look inward for meaning and ponder whether to adjust my behavior for my well being and the greater good.

Unless the animal is particularly special to me, I first look for recurrences of three, such as 3 individuals in a day or week, a bird call repeated exactly 3 times, or groups of three. Secondly, I look for something unusual. Is the butterfly fluttering all around me? Did the hummingbird stop during their flight to stare directly at me? Lastly, I notice situations that are repeated often like the call of a hawk that seems to vibrate in my body. Although I know she is stating her claim of territory to other hawks, she has chosen to do this precisely when I walk out to get the paper, even though it is at a different time each morning.

Finally, when writing or talking about specific animal symbolism, I use a singular capitalized noun. Looking at the catfish in the photo above, I refer to it as Catfish. I see this individual representing the collective soul of Catfish.

The Animals This Week

  1. Catfish
  2. Bald Eagle
  3. Caterpillar

How the Animals Are Unique

  • Catfish landed on my concrete driveway two feet from a busy two-lane road. It was alive, it’s body perfect, no perforations or damage indicated. Furthermore, it disappeared later without a trace.
  • Bald Eagle exhibited unusual behavior, hunting along the lakeshore 25 feet above the ground, weaving back and forth three times before flying off. Seems like she chose to hunt when I had the perfect vantage point. I was laying on my exercise mat, at the end of my workout, looking through the tall windows on my downstairs porch.
  • Caterpillar caught my attention with three different sized individuals browsing close together. As I videotaped their vastly different eating habits, the youngest one moved too close to the ‘teenager’. Most noteworthy, I witnessed a first for me – aggression in caterpillars.

What Meaning Do These Animals Have?

Using methods in the next section, I select the words that resonate with me. How? I can feel a change in my chest, face, or arms when I read the explanation. Also, I consider what is going on in my life right now. Then I wrote these thoughts in my journal.

  1. Catfish – “Know the power of words and going with the flow.” Make the best of the situation and trust your instincts. Discard what no longer serves you. Catfish indicates an opportunity for growth, emotional balance, and prosperity.
  2. Bald Eagle – Eagle is my Spirit Animal. Therefore I always notice it. She brings me encouragement to stay balanced. “Stay grounded, even when you are soaring high.”
  3. Caterpillar – Since this is the larvae of Butterfly, I receive a message of transformation and emerging. The aggressive behavior I observed reminds me to have strong boundaries around the influence of others.

Three Ways You Can Begin

  1. Open your heart
  2. Observe
  3. Research

For one week, start each day with a simple exercise. Open your heart by sitting in a quiet place, close your eyes and place your non-dominant hand over your heart. Take three slow breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your relaxed lips. This will start to open your heart, beginning your journey toward understanding animal symbolism through being in the moment.

Observation is key. Paying attention to nature and your surroundings begins the learning phase of observation. Practice by taking walks alone in your garden, your neighborhood, even while shopping. Solitude and putting away your phone are key to developing this skill.

As you begin to observe nature, everything will seem new or unusual. Primarily, I use two methods of research; Googling ‘spiritual meaning of catfish’, substituting the name of the current animal for catfish, or looking it up in my favorite reference book, Animal-Speak Pocket Guide by Ted Andrews.

Start Small Learning Observation

Observation is a learned skill. Or you may possess an innate ability of observation. If it is foreign to you, start with small steps. Sit in a quiet, well-lit place where you will not be disturbed. Begin by looking at your hands. Start with your thumb. Ask yourself questions about it, using all your senses. Does the nail have a half moon at the base? Touch the nail. Are there ridges? Are the ridges uniform? Is the skin furrowed at the joint? How many furrows do you see? What does it feel like to flex the this joint? Does the joint connected to the bone in the hand move too? Can you move only the thumb joint?

Asking questions is a great way to learn how to observe. Now you are starting on your path to understanding animal symbolism.

I invite you to share in the comments, your thoughts or experiences in observation or anything else this article has stirred up for you. And if you particularly like this article or others, please sign-up for my newsletter where I share much more about my life.

Loving through sharing,
Dawn

Life After Life – a Book Review

Although I knew my friend Kim Moore had written a book about mediumship. I had not purchased it. That is not like me. I purchase books a lot. Then Kim placed an unusual birthday post on her business Facebook page . She was giving away three parts of herself; her book Life After Life, an Everything House Blessing Kit, and a 30-minute reading. All she asked was a Facebook comment with your preference.

Choosing is Sometimes Difficult

Imagine this scene. You love ice cream and the corner drugstore is giving away samples of vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. They say you can have them all, but you must start with just one. Now you have to make a decision. How many people listen to their intuition? Would you?

I checked into my intuition and realized I really wanted to read her book. Conversely, authors have a little agreement with each other. If you receive a free book from your author friend, you naturally buy one too. I felt a little guilty, but I put my preference for the book in my comment and then forgot about it.

Where’s the Review Already!

The full title, Life After Life: A Guide to Connecting with  Your Loved Ones in the Spirit World, tells you a lot about the content. Kim explains all about mediums, grief and loss, spirits and connections, and common signs from our loved ones in spirit. She also shares the dialogue from an actual session.

Not sure what to say when the loved one of a friend passes on? There is a section with guidance on what to say or not say to Them. And Kim’s personal experiences are sprinkled throughout.

My favorite quote from the book:

”By sharing my stories, I hope to leave people with the knowledge that their loved ones in the the spirit world are still with them. Always remember, love never dies.”

There is so much comfort in this book for anyone in grief. And I know from personal experience that Kim’s words are true for me.

Parting Message

The love Kim exhibits for all, resonates on the pages of Life After Life. If you are at all curious, invest in a copy on Kim’s Website.

Oh, and I received my first copy as the winner of Kim’s birthday giveaway. Thank you, Kim!

Peace and Love,
Dawn

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