Turtle Medicine – Move From Surviving to Thriving

Turtle is one of the most ancient symbols of the Great Goddess, the primordial power of the divine feminine as expressed through our beloved Mother Earth. Our Native relatives know North America as Turtle Island reflecting a belief that we’re all riding around on the back of a giant mother turtle who saved humanity from drowning in a great flood.  

During this time of Great Awakening, the shift from the 7th to the 8th Fires, Turtle is a powerful reminder of the cycles of nature, the rhythm of the seasons and the movement of planets. She carries energy from the elements of earth, water, and air, and her plastron (under belly shell) has thirteen sections that reflect the 13 cycles of the moon. Turtle reminds us that each of these has great impact on our lives so we must learn the medicine of the cosmos.

Our Mother Earth wants every single one of her children to move from a place of survival to thriving as we walk into the New Earth Times, and she sends many teachers and helpers to help us with this transition. Turtle comes to us during this time of limbo to remind us that slow and steady is a much better pace than bouncing all around and exhausting ourselves like rabbit. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?

It’s a timely lesson because many Patriots and Starseeds are feeling upset and impatient with the pace of the disclosure we’re seeing unfold. This is because people are primed and ready for a “BIG ARREST!” with little understanding of the way military intelligence works and little knowledge about who the truly big fish are who are being removed from power.

While the battle for the narrative rages on outside, Grandmother Turtle reminds us that the Ancestors and the Great Spirit are always with us, waiting for a talk and offering us their medicine and wisdom. This week of Turtle during the year of the Great Mother Bear reminds us that many of us are still in  for a long haul year of healing and introspection. There is still much to recover, examine and process. Many plans to be made.

Turtle reminds us to trust divine timing – which is almost always much, much slower than we’d like it to be. Trust is key

People who have been repeatedly disappointed in life have a difficult time waiting for results, walking out the process of long projects if results aren’t happening immediately. And this is because trust has been broken in our lives at a very early age.

Because we have moved far away from our traditional values over the past 50 years, most of the western world is now living in a time where we have been trained to need instant gratification for our every desire and craving and to believe we are victims and oppressed if we don’t get what we want when we want it.

This worldview is based in the sense of entitlement being pushed through advertising, the media and entertainment industry puppets. It is reinforced in schools that give “participation” awards and lower the standards for everyone to appease the latest knee-jerk cultural fad.

This sense of entitlement based on the idea of oppression is tough to accept when we consider how much better off even the poorest of North Americans are than most of the rest of the world.

And the tragedy is that this imbalance is created in us when we are very young because this is the point most of us lost what is most important – the constant and strong love of parents. Love and strong families have been replaced by materialism, fancy cars, vacations, the latest video game or iPhone and an infinite number of crutches that lead to addictions and keep us from living free.

This is because the basic level of trust that we are loved, protected, and provided for during our journeys here on earth was damaged when we were very young.

Materialism and the need for instant gratification, having what we want when we want it, infantilizes us and makes our happiness dependent on circumstances out of our control.

It sets us up for depression, anxiety and other spiritual, mental, and emotional maladies because real life doesn’t meet our every command – even if we’re billionaires. 

But they don’t tell us that when we come down here to planet Earth. We’re apparently expected to learn the rules of this game as we go along our merry journeys, and those of us who have been around for awhile have learned we’re living in a rigged system that has disappointment hardwired into its operating system.

There’s a reason “survival of the fittest” is a thing on this planet – which is a training ground for evolution superheroes.

Unfortunately, most of us seem to have missed the “How to beat the rigged Earth system” class in our Pre-Earth Incarnation training sessions. And because we grew up in families filled with people who were also victims of this system, most of us didn’t have anyone to teach us the truth.

So we reach a point, after many years and many disappointments where we are so tired of the unhappy endings and the disconnects. The loss of dreams because of misunderstandings or lack of support. And it becomes more and more difficult to find the inspiration to try again. Because the idea of another lost hope is just too much to accept.

This is the point of survival. Of just existing while life passes by outside. And Turtle reminds us that when we reach a point like this, it’s okay to unplug and roll with it. It is never a good idea to make decisions from a place of emotion – especially dark ones.  Sometimes it’s necessary to sit in the darkness of the cave to see what comes up from the depths of our souls.

Most of us have built up many disappointments in our lives beginning in the failures and embarrassments of childhood. If we haven’t been given the proper support, love and guidance growing up, these disappointments and the wounds they cause will build up in our hearts and souls and cause us problems in life.

Some people will become despondent and stop trying to make positive changes and just accept where they are. And, this is fine if it brings you peace.

But what if you feel that you’ve settled and aren’t living the life you want to be living? Aren’t creating the legacy you need to create for your children and family?

If that’s how you feel, you may recognize Turtle Medicine as a needed rest stop and a lesson in “how to be still.”

In the times of quiet, we can hear those questions  . . . What does it mean to go from surviving to thriving? How do we know when we’ve reached that point? What does success look like for me? Am I worthy of success? Why not me?

When we begin to take our healing seriously, to learn the sacred lessons and universal laws and begin putting them into practice, we awaken to the truth that past experience doesn’t define future results.

This one little piece of truth allows us to let go of the fear of disappointment and walk free. But it takes awhile to integrate this knowledge into the core of our beings.

One of the issues that I’m wrestling with right now is being easily discouraged, and this is a very powerful weapon my shadow uses against me to keep me from walking forward in a healthy, wealthy and happy way each day.

For many years, the fear that shaped my life had me living more like rabbit – fast start, exhaustion, lose the race – than turtle, whether it was in relationships, projects, business ideas,  or even day to day living. So I would have many false starts, hot burning fires that died quickly like comets instead of that long slow burn of a cozy fireplace we’re all yearning for.

It is a great gift to have ideas and to be able to put them on paper. But bringing our visions to life is usually more difficult than we expect it to be, and we’re often not prepared for that reality. It takes time to find the resources and the right people to help us turn our ideas and dreams into realities.  To seek and discover what will help us thrive.

What does thriving mean? How do we move our state of consciousness from “survivor” to one who is thriving? 

The first step is being aware of our thoughts so we can continue the work of changing our perceptions and core beliefs that aren’t serving us. Focus and getting clear on what our best life looks to us is a great place to start.

How many of us have ever sat ourselves down, turned off the computer and spent some time dreaming and envisioning the future that we want to create?

How often do you brainstorm about your own life rather than a work project?

Some of the questions I’m asking myself lately are:

• What makes you feel blessed?
• Are you happy where you are and if not completely, where would you like to be?
• What service can you offer in exchange for the money, goods and services needed for a prosperous life?
• What is your happily ever after?

We cannot find our heaven if we don’t know what we have to offer or what we’re looking for. That’s why Spiritual Teachers tell us to focus on our blessings rather than our miseries because it is in the blessings that our treasure lies. And when we focus on and give thanks for our blessings, they will multiply. 

I am sorry to tell Bird people and other flyers that there’s no magic bullet, no Bippity Boppity Boo for most things around this place.

Our Earth sign friends will tell us it’s facing the daily grind, doing the right thing again and again that leads us to our desired outcome. It is useless to sit with an attitude of doom and gloom and expect your life to turn around. And it’s ridiculous to think an occasional jolt of happy feet is going to turn us into Tigger if our default is Eeyore.

We have to do the daily work, the spiritual, mental, physical and emotional work in a positive and faithful way to see long-term results. This usually means doing it alone where we learn to have confidence in ourselves and our ability to meet life’s challenges.

Turtle reminds us that if we keep believing in ourselves and our vision, keep trying and doing our work,  then change will definitely come and our trail will move us along from the rough place of survival to the gentle spot of health and thriving.

Turtle reminds us to stay grounded when we’re feeling anxious, to remember to shield our energy and establish our boundaries as necessary – and that it’s perfectly okay to withdraw and go into our shells when we’re feeling overwhelmed or afraid, or when we just need to have time on our own.

While things may be moving at a Turtle’s pace from our earthly perspective, we must remain humble and always remember that far more is happening on our behalf than our physical senses can ever reveal.

Believe in this one truth and you will find the seed of trust that will help you begin again.

It is my honor to be your messenger.

Kandace Keithley is a writer and the publisher of Bird Clan Messenger, a descendant of Trail of Tears Cherokee people who teaches and shares Traditional wisdom and medicine. She lives in Toronto, ON, Canada.