A Touch of Divinity delivered by Birds ...

I have a most unusual story to share. Actually, it shouldn’t be unusual, but I suppose it is for our everyday human mind; the one that often plays small, doubts and runs at a hundred miles an hour, leaving no space for grace.

Two weeks ago, I sat down on my yoga mat, about to start my practice, when I suddenly heard a crash. A bird had flown into our lounge glass-sliding door. I ran out to see if it was okay, as sometimes birds flying into a glass window are just stunned, need a few moments to catch their breath and then fly off again. Sadly, this beautiful Emerald spotted wood-dove had broken its neck and died a few moments later. I felt really devastated as I have a special love for birds. I’m by no means a birder; my connection with birds is somewhat different.

About ten years back, I bought a set a of bird cards by Jane Toerien and Joyce van Dobben http://www.birdcards.net/about-us/. Over the years, I have had the most amazing communication and insights through these bird cards. Sometimes, when I am feeling stuck, I search for guidance from them, by picking a card and reading the message. Other times, I get the messages delivered by a bird that arrives in my space, sometimes more than once over a couple of days, to ensure that I notice it. I then look up the particular bird in the cards to see what the message is that it carries and what it could mean for me at that time. It has been quite profound and I have, slowly over the years, learnt to trust and listen to those messages. However, when this bird smashed into our window and died, I felt really awful and didn’t want a bird to have to end its life in order to deliver its particular message to me. I was really thrown by it. I looked up the Dove card and the message was all about creating harmony when something is out of balance or alignment in one’s life; peace and hope for the future; that the sound of doves cooing has a natural harmonising effect on people and that people will naturally gravitate towards a place where Dove sound predominates, in order to unwind. It didn’t totally resonate with me, however, it all unfolded the next day.

Lots of change has been happening in our lives these past few months and most days we manage to work through the uncertainty and stress with the tools we have (meditation, yoga, forest walks, ocean swims, sunshine, essential oils, debriefing, kinesiology, coaching) but there have been a few days in the last three months where I have felt completely overwhelmed and it feels like a domino effect where it just starts up and hurtles away and I don’t know how to stop it. It is very foreign to me and I do believe that peri-menopausal hormones are at play for sure.

So this particular Wednesday was one of those days and by the afternoon, I did not know quite what to do with myself. Mark made me a cup of tea and I had such a strong urge to go and drink it in the forest on the estate where we live. The Emerald spotted wood dove has a particular call (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0z_NVhBHjs) and as I stepped onto the boardwalk, it was the first bird sound that I heard. I was overcome with emotion thinking about the dove from the day before. I slowly moved to a spot on the board walk, stood and quietly sipped my tea. A few moments later, a bird flew onto a branch about twenty metres from me and from where I was standing, it looked like an Emerald spotted wood dove and I wondered if it would make its call so that I could confirm this. That is exactly what it did! As I listened to it, I remembered the message from the bird card, in particular, how the sound of doves can have a natural harmonising effect on people. I was blown away, as in that moment the penny dropped and I got the message. All I need to do when I feel this off balance and spun out, is to take a three minute walk into our beautiful forest, be quiet, listen to the doves and unwind from the spinning, chaotic feelings that sometimes take hold. I came out of that forest in absolute awe.

When I relayed what had happened to my dear friend Angela Deutschmann, who introduced me to the cards, I also realised that as much as I see and hear doves all the time, I would never have looked to my bird cards for the message that the dove carries. So by smashing into our window, that beautiful dove delivered what I needed to hear. I was deeply moved and deeply grateful. I still however, felt awful about it dying and felt that that had been unnecessary; it could have just hit the window, been dazed and moved on.

A few days later, I looked to a bird card for some guidance around my mom who had been in hospital. I picked the turkey card, which I haven’t picked in years, and it is all about gratitude and

thanks-giving. Low and behold, the sentence, “Death is not an issue in the bird kingdom” stood out clear as a bell. Again, another direct message, which was also in line with some personal growth work I have been sitting with, around what it means to fully embrace both the human and divine aspects of ourselves.

In the synchronicity of it all, that same week, Joe Dispenza posted this: “When we master our emotions, we master our creations.” We have been working with this in our meditations, and I felt like I had been gifted with a personal tool by that beautiful dove on how to do just that. I am eternally grateful and no longer look at or hear a dove calling, in the same way.

Then, to take it to all to another level, that Sunday, I went on a walking meditation in another forest, with my special friend Donna, who is just as in love with birds and trees as I am. We went to our usual starting point; a bench by a little stream in a small clearing in the forest. We started the meditation with our eyes closed and hands on our hearts. When the initial introduction of the meditation was over, I opened my eyes and looked at Donna who quietly pointed at a branch about 2 metres away. There, sitting, looking at us, was a beautiful Emerald spotted wood dove. It lingered for a bit, flew down to the stream, drank some water and then casually flew off. I was speechless. For the next little while of our walking meditation, I was literally awestruck and in complete reverence of what had just happened. It felt deeply sacred.

One of my most beloved quotes, by Roald Dahl is, “Those who don’t believe in magic, will never find it,” and these synchronicities, these moments of sacredness in the sometimes crazy, messy and beautiful world we live in, provide me with such wonder, magic and joy. It’s about believing in them, making the time and space for them in our hearts and trusting deeply.

Here is a poem by Mary Oliver that expresses this all so beautifully...

The World I Live In

I have refused to live

locked in the orderly house of

reasons and proofs.

the world I live in and believe in is wider than that. And anyway,

whats wrong with Maybe?

You wouldn’t believe what once or twice I have seen. I’ll just

tell you this:

only if there are angels in your head will you

ever, possibly, see one.

Those angels to me are the beautiful birds that grace us with their magnificence everyday. How blessed are we?