A hawk, perhaps a sharp shinned, perched on a power line in the biting cold of this Sierra Nevada winter morning....the morning of the last day of the calendar year. Suddenly, a huge form winged in and hovered, suspended in the air with wings outstretched for a timeless time...it was huge. Majestic is a word that immediately permeated my being.
Here was power, the power of the skies, the winds, and the storm. Here was the power of the sky fire, the lightning. Could this be connected to the Thunderbird? Sacred transformer, spirit journeyer, beloved of the sun god of the skies, I honor you. Are you calling to me?
My breathing stopped...even my heart skipped a beat. Was this happening? Could this be a golden eagle? It dwarfed the hawk, and landed as if it was the natural ruler of all it surveyed...all it could reach by wing. The whole world its home, the eagle flies in these desert mountains, among the clouds, above the sage brush and the ancient stones, bones of our Mother Earth, Gaia, Pachamama, sacred ground.
As soon as I could, I ran to the oracle to identify this visitation. It could also have been a juvenile Bald Eagle. But I knew in my guts that it wasn't. It was Golden Eagle. When I realized the truth, my whole being felt light, and I fairly vibrated around on my way. I went out into the purifying cold and hiked to a spot with a beautiful view of the Carson Valley. I offered the song of my flute in gratitude.
Eagle soars above, ruler of the skies. Eagle can signal us to find or acknowledge our path. Eagle can inspire us to heights previously unimagined. Eagle, spirit of the Upper World, beloved of the Sun, bringer of the bliss of illumination and enlightenment.
These are some words about its medicine, but keep in mind that the lessons of our spirit guides are individual much of the time. No written source can tell you the message coming from a totem at a given time. Meditation, prayer, and dreams reveal its meaning, often over time.
Many solar gods are equated with this symbol, giving the eagle associations with the lifting of depression or a more conscious awareness.
Lofty ambitions that require great skill to achieve.
An alternative lightning emblem. In ancient Greece, people placed eagles on temple rooftops to protect the building from lightning, as they felt this creature controlled the fire from the sky.
Eagles are commanding presences. Whether they want to or not, they attract attention. Those with this animal personality have strong leadership skills and take swift action when it is needed.
Among ancient Mediterranean people, the eagle was associated with the sun god, fire, and lightning. Zeus, the father of the classical gods, took the form of an eagle when he carried his young lover Ganymede to Mt. Olympus.
For the Romans, this bird became a kind of totem for the emperor, who was thought to reincarnate as an eagle. Alternatively, this may also symbolize traditionally masculine characteristics like pride and fierceness developing.
The eagle became a popular symbol of power among the Germanic people because the great bird was representative of Wodan, the ruler of the gods.
Because the eagel could appear to fly so close to the sun, the Medicine priests of all the tribes regarded the large bird as a very special messenger of the Great Mystery.
In India, the Vedic tradition also portrays the eagle as a messenger of divinity and as the bearer of soma, the favorite drink of the Vedi gods, from Indra.
The eagle was the totemic form of Prometheus, who "stole" fire from heaven, like the eastern fire-lightning-sun hero, man, or angel embodied in the Garuda bird. Garuda flew to the mountain of paradise to steal the gods' secret of immortality. Later, he assumed the golden body of the sun. American Indians had a similar hero, the thunderbird or lightning bird.
If the eagle has appeared to you in your dreams or visions and revealed itself as your totem animal, you may expect to receive renewed strength of body, mind, and spirit. At the same time, you will find your meditations becoming more profound and your visions more prophetic in content. If you maintain a harmonious and balanced lifestyle, you will feel a stronger connection with the Great Mystery than ever before in your spiritual pilgrimage on earth.
Just as the eagle can soar high above the earth and rise above its companions and its competitors, you must guard against the powerful eagle vibrations causing you to withdraw from your family and friends and grow aloof from your community. If you listen carefully to your spirit helper, it will instruct you in the sacred responsibility of sharing your prophetic insights with others and show you how to become the most effective kind of spiritual teacher.
This new year, it is a year of power, both on a global scale and a personal one for me. One of the first teachings I got from this visitation was to trust what I am becoming, and to fly a new path. Yes. I hear you, Great One. I hear you, Eagle. Let us journey together and see what lies beyond the misty mountains. What is in the West, where the Sun goes down?
What will be in this new year? What will you create? What heights will you scale? What will you hunt?
Let the blessings flow into us all like the golden light of the Sun, and may you be blessed by the wingbeats of the Golden Eagle. Ho, Ruler of the Skies! Ho, fire of the Sun! Ho, ruler of the storm! Ho, spirit lightning!
I welcome you, light of the Sun! The Long Nights are ending and the New Year has begun!
Blessed be. Naho! Namaste. OM shanti!
