Hummingbird Shaman

Every time I travel I always think about the hummingbirds, planning out the days and filling the feeders as needed. This time the hummingbirds outdid me in only a few days time. I could not help but notice as I opened the blinds this morning that every drop of nectar in the three front window feeders was gone.

The good news was that I already had water heating for my morning PXP drink, something I do to give myself the best inner environment for both my writing and my counseling and life optimizing sessions I provide for others. I was happy to share my heated water, and my first task was to mix a new batch of sugar water for my winged friends. (Never add food coloring, it is harmful and unnecessary for both hummingbird and people alike.) As soon as the nectar was cool enough I brought inside the empty feeders, and remember thinking I had yet to see a hummingbird that morning. I hoped that I had not annihilated them through the earlier emptiness of the feeders.

I could not tell you how long it was before I looked outside again, my mind was so occupied with an overwhelming series of thoughts. This prior weekend had been spent examining how I would bring my voice and the messages such as this to more people. When I returned home I could not help but face the what stood in my way. I had uncovered one of my internal invisible walls, and allowed myself to feel alone in the middle of the moment.

It could have been a minute or maybe an hour, I guess it doesn’t matter. I walked by the window and noticed that the feeder was not currently in use. I wondered if the hummingbirds knew there was fresh nectar, even though I know they connect with me in ways that go far beyond a bottle of sugar water. Still in that moment I wanted so much a confirmation, a little feedback to tell me “everything is okay”.

As I looked beyond the feeders I saw a tiny figure on the cherry tree. The message came quickly and clearly. We do have consciousness and self awareness, and it is important that we turn within and look at ourselves. It is equally of value to question our thoughts and our actions, even test our ideas by sharing them with the world and seeing what comes back. When we turn within we don’t see the world, not at that moment, and for the moment we really are alone, but the world never goes away from us.

The hummingbird sitting in the tree was my sign that my old world did not go away even when I was building a new one. Our support does not disappear even when we think we’ve pulled off a disappearing act. When you are feeling alone you can open the blinds, take the time to look outside and see who or what is on your horizon. We have and can face our invisible walls, and can open our hearts to the invisible support in our lives.

Hummingbird Shaman Editor and Author Estee Taschereau offers clear, compassionate assistance to individuals who seek to understand their own path and abilities. Phone sessions are available in the US, as well as sessions via Skype

For those who have yet to see this amazing video, the nature channel has the most wonderful show on hummingbirds, giving great insight into the movement and life of the hummingbird. This video can be seen on PBS Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air.

This morning the hummingbirds are with me, even though I have yet to look out the window. An article I have written about hummingbird spirits has posted on the website Intuitive Meaning.

Spring is in the air, at least in this corner of the world, and the hummingbirds are preparing for expansion. Two males show tail feather fanned out, and make sounds you would not expect from such a little bird, all in an attempt to secure a place in the world of the female who sits calmly on her branch.

Today is a wonderful day, one worthy of a walk, and perhaps a hummingbird encounter. What might be said for these little spriits? “Walk with Wings, let every step along the way be filled with passion.”

On a more humorous note: I was gifted a nice purple feeder after the hummingbirds in that location refused to feed from it. Fine, I thought, so I brought it home. Cleaned and filled with fresh nectar the new feeder was soon in place. Once I saw a hummingbird feeding from it, once. It must be the color. I finally decided it was time to try again, so I purchased a bottle of red finger nail polish and proceeded to paint the flowers red. Plenty of time to dry and allow the chemicals to evaporate, and fresh feed, and again no show. I’ve even tried switching places of the preferred feeder and the new one. Perhaps as the springtime population grows I will give this new feeder another chance, or more precisely, maybe the hummingbirds will give it a chance.

Hummingbird Shaman Editor and Author Estee Taschereau offers clear, compassionate assistance to individuals who seek to understand their own path and abilities. Phone sessions are available in the US, as well as sessions via Skype.

I feel very fortunate that the hummingbirds stay home, close to my home, year round. We do not have severe winter conditions, but we do have times when its freezing, or times it snows. Those days may or may not have passed for this year. I focus only on this day, with its sunshine and spring-like conditions.

The hummingbirds have been active at the feeder, and I have seen many other birds that I do not regularly see. I take this as a reminder that the feeders be filled.

Such a great day cannot pass without a little time outside, so I brought the dog to the nearly creek for a walk. My last time at the creek I was greeted by a hummingbird, the first time I had seen one along that particular trail. Today I called out, but there was no familiar chattering sounds, and no hovering over the tree tops.

As I returned home I did here the frantic sounding voice I knew was a hummingbird. I looked all around but could not seen who was calling. Then I stepped back enough to see a hovering presence high in the air. As I spotted him he rose high into the sky, and dived quickly in a downward and forward curve directly toward me. He stopped again close to the area where I initially saw him, then repeated the entire process: Straight up, stop, and dive in an arc.

He repeated this act three times, but this time I noticed something different. There was a loud sound, much louder than any I had ever here a hummingbird make. I can only describe it as the type of sound I could expect from a hawk, a crisp, short tone. I had only recently learned that this sound was not created vocally, but by the fast diving action, somewhat like a “sonic boom”.

This day has been filled with so many great moments, but this simple experience will be the one I will remember.

Hummingbird Shaman Editor and Author Estee Taschereau offers clear, compassionate assistance to individuals who seek to understand their own path and abilities. Phone sessions are available in the US, as well as sessions via Skype. Visit IntuitiveMeaning.com for more articles on totem spirits and shamanism.

After returning from a busy conference this past weekend, and a day of travel, my focus today began as a day of resting. Awakening came well after the sunrise, and the day was surprisingly sunny. My first course of action was opening the shades and be a part of the light.

From there, where do I go? Where do I start today? This question is one that arises every day, but on this occasion it was a conscious one. Within a blink a bird pulled me away from my self-centered attention, and I turned to see what had so gracefully shifted my thoughts.

It was a thrasher, with his light speckled feathers, red patch on his crown and black chest. He landed on the primary branch of the small cherry tree that had been a resting place for the hummingbirds. His head turned to and fro, surveying his surroundings. I don’t often see the thrashers unless there is suet for them, and even then they flee if there is any movement around them.

The thrasher is in the woodpecker family, with a long beak used to gain access to insects deep within the rotting wood of a snag tree. The tapping is reminiscent of drumming, rhythmic and resonant. The motions move beyond what is on the surface, a place we should all venture towards.

I marveled at the coincidence between my thought, “Where do I begin”, and the appearance of the thrasher. Within a heartbeat or two one of my hummingbirds made his own appearance, and while he stayed clear of the thrasher, a bird that far outweighed him, he still took dominance, landing above the thrasher in a position that centered him within the tree.

Where do I begin? What better place than within. Do we actually listen to the beating of our own heart? Even if we treat this reference as symbolic we can still find intuitive or spiritual meaning.

I turn my head again to focus on the motion seen out the corner of my eye. The hummingbird returns to his feeder, followed by chickadees and sparrows in search of food. I’ve returned home to something I resonate with, and my day’s focus clearly includes reconnecting to my own purpose and direction. Where do I start today? With the beating of my own heart.

Estee Taschereau, Hummingbird Shaman, offers individual sessions by phone to clarify and clear your focus and find the beating of your own heart. For more articles on spirituality and metaphysical focus visit IntuitiveMeaning.com