My Ani Tsiskwa (Bird Clan in the Cherokee language) teachers have been teaching me about the true (indigenous) meanings (messages and medicine) of individual birds.
I have finally realized that my Ani Tsiskwa teachers are using my curious mind, and my skill/gift as a researcher to guide me toward subjects to help me learn my way on the Red Path. They will whisper a subject to me like a type of plant or a bird’s name, or they will repeatedly show me pictures of the same topic to show me a pathway for study.
Last week, they introduced me to Mockingbird – so I learned about mockingbirds and some of their stories and medicine. For a very long time, (more than a year), they taught me about pigeon, crow, sparrow, hawk, and eagle, turkey, grackle, and cardinal.
This week, my Ani Tsiskwa teachers are guiding me to learn about Owl. They began by bringing images – photos, art, etc. – of owls to my attention every day – sometimes a few times a day. It seems my teachers are gaming the system because I’m getting some mind-blowing results in my cyberspace-searches.
Yesterday, I did a basic search on Native American Owl meaning – and literally the third result on the page was a link to an article about CHEROKEE beliefs about Owls (!!) in a non-indigenous SCIENCE publication.
Here is another article that explores Owl’s Spiritual messages and medicine:
The owl spirit animal is emblematic of a deep connection with wisdom and intuitive knowledge. If you have the owl as totem or power animal, you’re likely to have the ability to see what’s usually hidden to most. When the spirit of this animal guides you, you can see the true reality, beyond illusion and deceit. The owl also offers for those who have it a personal totem the inspiration and guidance necessary to deeply explore the unknown and the magic of life.
Owls are also called the Night Eagle – with the same powerful connection to Grandmother Moon that the Eagle has to Grandfather Sun.
I have begun to use my public Facebook page to share some of my discoveries about birds and bird medicine, and I am finding myself beginning to think about bringing all of my findings together in one place — like a book or website. For now, I’ll just create a new category here at Wise Woman Rising: Ani Tsiskwa: Bird Clan Teachings.
I hope you will visit again to see what the Ani Tsiskwa would like to tell us next.
And I hope you have a wonderful day.
Chi Miigwetch,
kandace, Toronto, 2018-01-24
Bird Clan Messenger 