TRANSITIONS: A Time of Increased Intuition and Spiritual Gifts PART II : Signs, Portents and Animal Messengers

The Great White Heron definitely caught my attention. After the ambulance rushed my mom to the emergency room at 3am, the next morning she was admitted. I decided to return home to shower and bring back some clothes for mom. Just as I was leaving the parking lot, the gleaming white giant flew over my car straight toward the hospital, so low the enormous wingspan looked like it wouldn’t clear the building. It was very odd also because locally I usually only see Blue Herons and much smaller egrets.

Courageously, I inquired “what is your message for me?” The ominous response came immediately: “I am coming to take her Home”. Nearly every day during the week my mom was hospitalized, very large birds appeared very close and behaved in unusual ways so I was certain to notice. Different birds, same message.

A few days later when I returned home from the hospital with my brother, two hawks were behaving so strangely that we both paused awhile to observe. My brother surmised they might have a nest, as they repeatedly flew over my house in a circle and landed again and again in the same dead pine tree. But there was no nest.

Dreading the answer, I once again asked the hawks for the message: “We are coming to take her Home”. I kept this to myself, hoping I may be misinterpreting. I even went so far as to think it could mean “home” to her house. But deep down I knew better.

Working as an energy healer and running an AIDS hospice, I have been present at more than my share of transitions, or physical deaths. And I have picked up quite a lot of subtle clues which until now I have not shared. When my mom left her body recently, I was keenly aware of the signs and portents I received, as I had experienced so many similar events.

Helps you to Prepare and Make Appropriate Decisions
Even though I did not like the message, the bird visitations were helping me to prepare and be more aware of what was happening. So when her doctor told me mom was well enough to “go home” after 3 days, I remembered the birds’ messages. I pleaded with him to reconsider as I feared she really was too sick to be alone. Gratefully the doctor agreed to keep her hospitalized another day, and overnight her health tanked. A few days later she transitioned.

Animals as Spirit Guides and Messengers
In Native American traditions, animals have “medicine” or gifts and teachings for us. Hawk is the “messenger of the gods” and often appears to get us to “observe, tune in and listen”.
This was not the first time I had encountered hawks and owls participating in the process of transition, for animals and humans alike. Many of my clients would share similar strange appearances while a loved one was very ill. For many days one kitty in Atlanta had several hawks holding vigil perched on lawn furniture right outside her favorite window. Another woman had multiple unusual owl appearances the entire time her cat was transitioning.

One hawk encounter was so dramatic it surprised even me. The day after one of my animal communication workshops a student called revealing a true horror show when she returned home. Her husband attempted to shoot her and gratefully she got away; however, he did succeed in killing himself!

At that exact moment, a large hawk swooped down to ground level and sped straight toward me! Only in the final two feet did he shoot skyward, narrowly avoiding crashing into my office window. In each case it seemed the birds were somehow involved in escorting the spirits to the other side.

The powerful and dramatic Presence and messages from the birds gave me and my clients a sense of peace and protection under some of the cruelest of circumstances. The birds unusual appearances truly supported us to let go of the physical form and feel more connection and greater trust in the ever-unfolding divine plan.