Deer
We were driving through a wooded area in Pennsylvania. I was about eight years old. We had to stop the car and pull over, because my brother had to find an outhouse. Quickly. When he got out, I scrambled out and walked a bit further down the path. Away from the people. And, there I saw her! A beautiful deer, about my size. I opened my eyes and looked into hers. I poured all the love I had within me toward her, and I slowly walked toward her. She wasn't frightened, and neither was I. She let me touch her -- and as I gently lifted my hand from her soft fur, I felt a bond of protection and I felt loved.
Suddenly, other people appeared, and the deer fled.
Some fifteen years later, I was staying at a cabin in the Wallowa Mountains with friends. In the morning, several deer appeared -- so close -- and again, I was filled with joy at their presence, feeding them from my cupped hands.
This has happened numerous times in my life. About a month ago, I drove to Estacada to visit a friend, and a deer appeared by the side of the road. While at her home, I saw a hummingbird -- the first one I had ever seen.
It didn't surprise me, just a few days later, to learn from a local shaman what my totems are. She is a physician by profession, a shaman by calling. She went on her quest for me, and without any hints from me, revealed that my totems are the deer and the hummingbird.
ANIMAL OMENS by Victoria Hunt arrived within days. It's a beautiful little lavendar book with Victoria's stories of her experiences with creatures from the Ant to the Woodpecker, as well as the spiritual meaning of each animal.
I was so enraptured with the idea of the deer as my totem, that, a few days later, I prayed as I drove on a slightly wooded highway to see a deer. It was a road I traveled at least eight times a month, and had never seen a deer. As soon as the prayer left my lips, I saw a deer. Dead by the side of the road. Before I could even cry out, just yards away, pulled over on the other side of the two-lane highway, there was a forest-green jeep, the hood crunched, steam pouring out, a woman running around to the rear of the vehicle, phone in hand. And there was another deer, motionless, lying in the same position as the other deer, on the shoulder of the road. "I meant live deer," I cried, "Alive!"
I called the shaman in a panic, but she eased my fears -- I hadn't caused the death of the deer.
A few days later, on a road near my home that I must travel sixty times a month -- where I have never seen a deer, I was thinking about that experience, and I tried again, "Please let me see a live deer."
Later that day, on a return trip, a deer bolted from the most unlikely place, right past me, just in front of my car...close enough to enjoy her beauty, far enough away to not threaten her. Joy surged through my body -- and relief.
I opened up ANIMAL OMENS to DEER -- "DEER is about listening from the heart with patience and love, being who you innately are." This, I reflected, is what my author interviews are all about.
Next to HUMMINGBIRD. Victoria Hunt says hummingbirds are all about the joy of living. She says if you see a hummingbird, "she wants you to share and spread her beauty in the world. You can help her by carrying her gift of joy with you as you go about your everyday life." It is this joy I feel when I write my daily book blogs, sharing with you what I have learned from authors and from life.
Suddenly, other people appeared, and the deer fled.
Some fifteen years later, I was staying at a cabin in the Wallowa Mountains with friends. In the morning, several deer appeared -- so close -- and again, I was filled with joy at their presence, feeding them from my cupped hands.
This has happened numerous times in my life. About a month ago, I drove to Estacada to visit a friend, and a deer appeared by the side of the road. While at her home, I saw a hummingbird -- the first one I had ever seen.
It didn't surprise me, just a few days later, to learn from a local shaman what my totems are. She is a physician by profession, a shaman by calling. She went on her quest for me, and without any hints from me, revealed that my totems are the deer and the hummingbird.
ANIMAL OMENS by Victoria Hunt arrived within days. It's a beautiful little lavendar book with Victoria's stories of her experiences with creatures from the Ant to the Woodpecker, as well as the spiritual meaning of each animal.
I was so enraptured with the idea of the deer as my totem, that, a few days later, I prayed as I drove on a slightly wooded highway to see a deer. It was a road I traveled at least eight times a month, and had never seen a deer. As soon as the prayer left my lips, I saw a deer. Dead by the side of the road. Before I could even cry out, just yards away, pulled over on the other side of the two-lane highway, there was a forest-green jeep, the hood crunched, steam pouring out, a woman running around to the rear of the vehicle, phone in hand. And there was another deer, motionless, lying in the same position as the other deer, on the shoulder of the road. "I meant live deer," I cried, "Alive!"
I called the shaman in a panic, but she eased my fears -- I hadn't caused the death of the deer.
A few days later, on a road near my home that I must travel sixty times a month -- where I have never seen a deer, I was thinking about that experience, and I tried again, "Please let me see a live deer."
Later that day, on a return trip, a deer bolted from the most unlikely place, right past me, just in front of my car...close enough to enjoy her beauty, far enough away to not threaten her. Joy surged through my body -- and relief.
I opened up ANIMAL OMENS to DEER -- "DEER is about listening from the heart with patience and love, being who you innately are." This, I reflected, is what my author interviews are all about.
Next to HUMMINGBIRD. Victoria Hunt says hummingbirds are all about the joy of living. She says if you see a hummingbird, "she wants you to share and spread her beauty in the world. You can help her by carrying her gift of joy with you as you go about your everyday life." It is this joy I feel when I write my daily book blogs, sharing with you what I have learned from authors and from life.
Labels: ANIMAL OMENS, books, deer, hummingbird, shaman, totems, Victoria Hunt
posted by Diana Page Jordan @ 8:47 PM
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