Animal Totems

As we walked around the artists community in St. George, we encountered the same road runner who had hung out with us at branch several more times. She even almost followed us into a jewelry store. I realized that seeing the Road Runner was probably more of a message than a coincidence, and looked up the spiritual meaning of the bird. They represented transition. Specifically, getting mentally prepared to act and then acting with speed. I had no idea how onpoint that message was for me in the moment.

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One of the places I lived in San Diego was a beautifully landscaped townhouse community. Flowers and Trees line the sidewalks, and there were little patches of grass for the dogs to relieve themselves. I took my dog out several times a day, and sometimes just took myself out for a walk around the grounds to get some additional sunshine and fresh air. One day I walked out and a jet black raven with a shiny black beak was sitting on the fence. Even though I've seen them here or there, they would typically fly off once I got to close. This one didn't even flinch. It sat there and stared at me was only three feet from me, which made me uncomfortable, because this was not a small bird. And, frankly, I wasn't particularly fond of ravens, as they always gave me the sort of creepy feeling. I walked past it. halfway around the complex, it appeared again, on a different fence in my path. Again, it was staring at me. This time, I stopped about six feet from it and asked why it was there. It just stayed there. It moved its feet around a bit, but did not fly off. I tried to connect with it telepathically since sometimes I can hear messages from animals. It didn't particularly say anything to me, except that I sensed its presence was the message. I have my phone with me so took a moment to plot out and look up the meaning of Raven. many possibilities came up. So I had to feel through each of them to discern which one was being given to me now. Most meanings gave some form of connection to the birds being spiritual messengers, or indicators of psychic powers. Specifically of seeing into the future. I was regularly going on spiritual pilgrimages. So it seemed as though this sighting may not be to deliver a spiritual message. Though, I still wasn't quite sure what I didn't want to stand at the same place for too long, so I kept walking. When I was almost back to my unit, the Raven again landed on a fence in front of me. If I had had any inclination to explain away the other two times, this third insistence that I pay attention could not be ignored. I assured the bird that once I was inside, I would investigate more meetings than journal and meditate on which most applied as soon as I telepathically communicated that the raven flew off. I felt relieved. My research revealed that ravens are very adaptable birds. They live in a multitude of climates any Pretty much anything they can scavenge. So one meaning of their showing up can be to be open and adaptable to new things. In addition, they can be signs of dramatic change, coming, and transformation. The theme of change and adaptability felt like they rang most true, though, I wasn't sure what I was meant to be open and adaptable to. Because while I was experiencing pretty frequent spiritual transformation, my life was grounded and harmonious. The next day, where it felt like it was just the next day, my spiritual teacher told me to move out of my place at the end of the next month, and to put all of my stuff in storage, and live based on divine guidance. Without the visitation from the Raven the previous day, or few days, which prepared me for receiving the challenge presented. I think I would have been much more resistant to the request. I really loved where I lived, and had planned on staying there for several years. The experience was life changing, though, as I discussed in the podcast episode titled trust trip.

Another animal totem message came when visiting my friend in St. George Utah, we decided to enjoy brunch at a lovely outdoor restaurant in the hills. They this location had two outdoor dining areas. One was underneath and Adobe structure to provide shade and coolness, and that one was full of diners. The other was off to the side next to a garden and had umbrellas. It was more sunny, but more quiet. And we were initially the only people who had chosen that area to dine in. After we'd eaten and we sat catching up and enjoying the beautiful day, I noticed a funny looking bird. I had not ever seen peeking through the tall grass at the far side of the area, as if it knew it had been spotted, it jumped through the grass onto the patio and started making its way toward us. My friend said that it was a road runner. She said she occasionally saw them in St. George. I stared at it. Noticing it did look like the roadrunner scene being chased by wily coyote and the Warner Brothers cartoons. I was intrigued to get to see one up close. This one trotted right up to our table, so close that I could touch it. I took my phone out. And it not just let me take photos was like it posed for them, giving me different angles and looks. I was tempted to reach out and pet it, though, knew that most birds would peck at you if you did. So I kept my hands to myself. The bird hung out next to our table until the waitress came and took our plates. Apparently, the bird was known of as Rosie and she liked table scraps. I was in St. George deciding whether it was somewhere I'd like to move. My friend had just moved there not too long ago, and I knew a few other people who live there as well. Additionally, there was a vibrant spiritual community and it helped pretty nice weather most of the year. As we walked around the artists community where the place we had brunch was we encountered Rosie the roadrunner several more times. She even almost followed us into a jewelry store. I realized that seeing her was probably more of a message than a coincidence at this point. And looked up Roadrunner meaning. I wasn't surprised to see that they represented transition, specifically getting mentally prepared to act, and then acting was speed. I had no idea how unplayed that message was for me in the moment. But two weeks later, my mom called me and she said she needed me to move her out of her home in Colorado before winter, which gave me only about six weeks to get everything in order. Never have I had to plan so much in such a short amount of time. Roadrunner knew Not all of the visitations I've had from birds have been foretelling positive events though. It was mom's moving day in Colorado. The movers are scheduled to arrive in about an hour. So I ran out to get cash at the bank to tip them and grab some bagels to feed them. My mom and the helper I'd recruited. I pulled up to the bank and in front of my car was a patch of green grass next to a tall evergreen tree. In the grass were two magpies. They were making a big fuss squawking and, and jumping around. I ignored them went into the bank, it did my business. When I came out, though, they were still there. I then drove over a half mile down the street and across it to the bagel place. As I went to get out of my car, I noticed there were two magpies engaging in the same squawking behavior as the others under a tree in the parking lot. My stomach turned. I knew they were giving me a message.

Before even going into the bagel place I searched online for their meaning to magpies foretold deceit, deception, illusion, and even possible fraud. This was not good. Not only wasn't the day that we were moving my mom out of the house, but it was the day the notary was coming over for us to sign mortgage papers on the new house. uneasily, I went inside and got a dozen bagels and some cream cheese. When I came out the magpies were still under the tree. Upon seeing me, they began their squawking again. I drove back to the house with a foreboding feeling. And as soon as I arrived there, it was mayhem. As I was greeted by the barking dog, my phone ringing as the notary called to say she was on her way. My friend asking me how he could help. And my mom saying the movers weren't there yet. They had said they were running late. So I dove into doing and had no time to process the message the magpies had been giving to me. If I had heeded their warning, I would have sent the movers away when they arrived, as there were multiple issues with them. Unfortunately, they arrived as soon as we had sat down with the notary. And so I wasn't available to engage with them. And understand that they were charging 50% More than they had quoted. And it got worse from there. They left my mom's house leaving stuff behind that we had no way to move without hiring an entirely new truck. Then they claimed their truck broke down. And when they arrived two days later to deliver, they were in a much smaller, different truck that did not contain all of her things. They were insistent that only a few items were left behind, and that they would be delivered in a few days. I knew this was incorrect. Because of the size difference in the tracks. Quite a bit had not been delivered. Days later, nothing had arrived yet. We began calling and calling and calling. And after two weeks, they finally dropped off a few more items. They claimed they had nothing else and had delivered everything. As we unpacked renew, the company has stolen quite a few antique items. They've gone through boxes and taken things. We also noticed they never delivered a kitchen appliance my mom had received as a gift and all of her bathroom boxes were missing. The company denied everything. And the credit card company was no help because some of the items had been delivered. Insurance required each missing item to be listed individually with their weight. And this would have taken countless hours. Even then they were only going to pay us a set amount for the weight of the items missing. Not the actual value of the items. I so wished I'd heeded the warning of those two magpies, as they were certainly correct about deception and fraud. Birds have been messengers around the transitions in the past few years, as they also showed up. When I came to look at the house I now live in. I drove into the neighborhood, it was the middle of the day, and there weren't any people around. But there were quail, literally everywhere. There were a bunch in the front yard. There were several sitting on my neighbor's roof. There were two adult quail leaving a whole bunch of little baby quails across the street was so adorable. I had not really seen quail before. And if I had, I'd certainly not seen that many.

Quail are all about family togetherness and harmony. They also can indicate grounding, since my mom would be living in this house with me, and it would be the first time I was buying rather than renting and about a decade, the quails present seemed very reassuring that this could be a good home for us. However, I did not learn until later that they also present when it's important to ask yourself the question is where you are heading really where you want to go. And they also represent the importance of considering your purpose and progress in your decisions. With a rush to find something with the right specifications. I did not ask these questions. Though, in hindsight, I wish I had, instead of focusing on family and grounding into a large home, and all the responsibilities of taking care of both a big property that needs some work, and an elderly parent, my calling or my purpose had been drawing me more into the public eye, which I imagined would include more travel to events, conferences and workshops to speak in network. While that's not impossible, given the situation I'm in right now, buying the house has definitely put a damper on it. And it's more challenging to make progress on my purpose. This experience with the quails has reminded me that when I see animals, especially those that aren't normally part of my environment, that I slow down enough to really delve into all the possible meanings, since they have shown up to give me assistance and making the best decisions. Well, all of the animal totems I've mentioned, and they stories delivered specific messages. The most frequent animal sighting for me, is the hummingbird. I have so many hummingbird stories, that I will do an episode in the future, just telling them thank you for tuning in. Next episode, I'll share my adventures with the spirits of Puerto Rico. Until then, remember that your spiritual journey is a supernatural adventure in and of itself. Enjoy the unfolding and embrace the unknown.