| BLUE BIRD: TEACHER OF INEGRITY & BOLDNESS B is for bold L is for loud U is for Ubiquitous E is for eat! This feathered firecracker is the perfect power animal for Summer. He crashes every weekend picnic, and entertains gardeners all summer long. If Blue Jay is one of your totem animals, you are likely to be a loquacious chatterbox who uses communication skills and determination to achieve your goals. However, if you lacking luster, or wait around for others to change or take charge, call upon Blue Jay to teach you how to go after everything you want, RIGHT NOW! Blue Jay may not always get that particular bite of hamburger or early worm she is dive-bombing, but that doesn’t stop her from clamoring over to the next camp sight and tackling something else just as tasty (Metaphor alert: a worm stands for your next boyfriend, or job!) Blue Jays reign over the material world, but Native Americans have long honored them as highly enlightened beings. Blue is considered a royal and spiritual color, and a blue bird flying against a blue sky is the ultimate symbol of merging with the divine. This, combined with their communicative abilities also makes them a symbol for verbal integrity. Whenever we see a flash of their wings, we should ask ourselves, “Am I really expressing the truth at the center of my being?” To be out of integrity with others is to live a splintered life within, and vice versa. The fabled “Blue Bird of Happiness” results from a peacefulness that is only possible when we are consistently being true to self and others. Blue birds mate for life, and only humans who are brave enough to build a warm nest of Truth and shared purpose can do the same. This month, make an offering to Blue Jay: the one screeching outside your window, AND the one begging for food in your own soul. Then, go fly! -- Amy Katz |
| Roaring into the Year of the Tiger 2010 In 2010, over 1.3 billion Chinese (and millions more of us fascinated by animal symbolism) will celebrate the Year of The White Tiger. If you are wondering what Tiger has in store for you, imagine riding on the back of the largest feline on the planet, stalking your most elusive prey with fearlessness and wisdom, and achieving valor and respect as King or Queen of the forest. Tiger, like other large cats, symbolizes luck, leadership, courage, and strength. Tigers are unique in that they hunt alone. Their independence and self-sufficiency give them an aura of rebelliousness and mystery, and they show us that uniqueness, acceptance of self and inner resourcefulness can lead to great power. Yet, tigers are often willing to share their food with others, including strangers: a reminder that social responsibility and friendship is as important as our own survival. This year, while all seven billion of us will be striving for individual excellence, we will also be using our strength and experience to sustain others. Tigers are great swimmers and typically live in forests with thick vegetation, close to streams or rivers. The elements Water and Earth rule their nature: while they are associated with material success and comfort, they are also emotional and highly unpredictable. In Chinese astrology, there are five tiger types, each associated with a different element, and this year it is Metal. Metal is hard, sharp and unbending, unless heated by fire, the transformative element: then it may be bent into a tool, a weapon or a necessary instrument. Those who are more dogmatic in nature may find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place, unless they are willing to leap into the proverbial fire like the tiger and take courageous risks. The Metal Tiger is a mature creature who has achieved wisdom through experience. This year, celebrate all your past achievements and pounce on that which you desire most. Take comfort in the fact that Tiger is at the top of the food chain. Others will be awed by you because of your beauty, your striking gifts, or because they fear you. Take heart in the fact that you have earned your stripes in life; that loyalty and compassion will create a protective preserve around you, and that as King or Queen of the Forest, it is healthy for you to roar once in awhile and let others know you rule your own kingdom! Octopus: Teacher of Unique Talents When you are sunning yourself on the warm beach this month, or wishing you looked better in your bikini, consider the oddly shaped bulbous but wondrous and brilliant creature lurking below the surface of the ocean (and you!) Octopus does not lament that her head looks like the beak of a parrot, her boneless, invertebrate body is the shape of a rocket, her organs are squeezed into one sack (called a mantle), or that she has eight arms attached to her mouth. Rather, she uses her unique shapes, talents and attributes to attract, survive, defend and create. Octopus is brilliant and resourceful. She’ll hide in rocks, wrecks and even in glass jars or clam shells. To fish, she’ll cast her tentacle like a rod that has a little piece of flesh on it that looks like a worm. When a lobster or tuna bites, she’ll release a poison that stuns them, and can suck the meat of a mussel or clam right from its shell. When she becomes the prey, she can jet propel herself away, change her color to camouflage herself, squeeze into a crevice many times smaller than her body, use the thousands of suckers on her tentacles to push open tanks or traps to escape, and shoot a cloud of black ink behind her like a magician in a disappearance act. For those of us struggling to stay afloat in this dark economy or feeling vulnerable out in the open seas, Octopus reminds us to use our minds to think out of the box and our bodies to their fullest capacity. Because of their creativity, their propensity to live alone, change color, produce ink and to grow back any of their eight tentacles, Octopus is the perfect totem for the artist and writer. Because of her numinous nature and elusiveness, she inspires students of depth psychology and magical arts to look ever deeper into the Great Mysteries. When you dip your toes in the warming waters this month, wiggle them hello to Octopus, who might just be a few feet under the surface. All photos and articles copywrited by Amy Beth Katz. Please contact for permissions |
| POWER ANIMAL ARTICLES By AMY BETH KATZ, M.A. Also Visit Amy's blog: www.whatismypoweranimal.com |
Amy Katz, M.A., clairvoyant,
dreamtender, & writer of the upcoming
"Backyard Shaman" series, is available
for private Power Animal Readings &
mentorship via phone, email and
instant message: 805-428-9252. Fill
out this form to contact Amy within 24
hours:
dreamtender, & writer of the upcoming
"Backyard Shaman" series, is available
for private Power Animal Readings &
mentorship via phone, email and
instant message: 805-428-9252. Fill
out this form to contact Amy within 24
hours: