Message from the Great Blue Heron

While driving down a main road yesterday, we spotted something surprising in an open field: a great blue heron slowly stalking lunch.

There were a couple of unusual things about this particular sighting: seeing a heron so far away from the water (although the field may have been a little marshy after the rain), and seeing one so close to so much traffic.

As we sat at the red light, we watched the heron take step after deliberate step, never taking his eyes off of his goal.

Great Blue Heron is a messenger of the spirit world. Some connect the heron with the ancient Egyptian benu bird, which represented the ba, or manifestation of the soul of Ra, the sun god (making it particularly fitting that we saw it only days after the Winter Solstice).

The message Heron brought to me yesterday was clear:

"Be patient while stalking your prey."

Prey in this case means anything I have set my sights on. What is my goal? What am I seeking?

Stalking is an action word. This is not about sitting and waiting, but about moving forward, slowly and deliberately.

I hope the heron caught his lunch, and I know that I too will catch my prey if I follow his example.

Spiraling Back to Center

It has been quite a while since I've posted to this blog. The mundane world has consumed me for a while, but I am beginning my journey back to center.

The Lady of Mystery has been with me while I've walked in the shadows, and there were times that I neglected to see her there. This isn't the first time we've danced this dance; She is the mysterious one, the shadowy one, the one who waits. I dance away from the center and get distracted and lose myself, and misidentify what it is I have lost. She waits until I'm off balance and then gives me a little shove that sends me spiraling back to myself.

This year's passage from Samhain to Yule has been one of releasing for me. Releasing of that which no longer serves me, of that which is toxic to me, but has been with me for so long that I ache to part with it.