On Eagle Spirit
I am an immigrant to the lands I live and work on. It is my honor to live here in safety and freedom. A way of life that so many in this world do not experience; some never do, others only experience this in waves between war, famine, and illness. These vast lands where I currently live and work are the traditional lands of the Ute and Arapaho Nations and the Oceti Ŝakowiŋ, the Seven Council Fires.
These lands are home to ancient lore and laws that are deeply connected to the Earth, the elements, and the animal spirits. The Eagle is one of these spirits. It’s hard to not fall to your knees when in their presence. Bald Eagles, such as the one pictured here, roost not far from my home. They are extraordinary. Regal. Mystical. They are mesmerizing. Eagle represents friendship, love, bravery, and honor and is the North American spirit counterpart to the Condor of South America.
This is a challenging time in a year of marked change. The United States is undertaking an awakening and given this, I have been praying to Eagle spirit and asking that its divine blessings are bestowed upon the hearts of the humans who call these lands of beauty home.
I pray for the ancestors and the children of its fierce, wise, and beautiful first peoples and its immigrants - those who came by force, those who came by need, and those who came by choice. I pray that friendship, love, bravery, and honor fill the hearts of humanity and that we look not at the masses and the confusion but at the persons. Each pair of eyes. Each smile. Each heart. Beyond the corrupted and constricted flock-mind that I witness gripping the humans at this time, I pray that Eagle - great wisdom keeper - finds its way into each home and I ask that it offers us its spirit feathers of friendship and love to remind us of where we come from and who we are.
We are kin.
I pray that the humans can fly as Eagle does, soaring above the Earth far away from the noise, and that by taking a moment to experience clear sight, sound, and air we can all return to Earth peacefully, landing gently with a little more space inside. More compassion. More patience. More possibility for coming together in service of each other and the divine wonder that is our beloved Earth. I pray to the great Eagle spirit and ask for its blessings upon the hearts of humanity. May Eagle comfort us, guide us, fill us with love, forgiveness, hope, and stillness.
How do you resource yourself? When things are challenging, when you disagree with those around you, when you feel pain and dissonance? Do you seek to abuse or harm ‘other’ to soothe the waves crashing within you? Do you turn towards elders - human and non-human, to ask for their guidance? Do you seek healers to companion and support you? In all my years of committed inner healing work two primary themes have emerged. One, that in healing my nervous systems and tending deeply to the trauma of my past I reclaimed my agency over my inner world. No one else takes up valuable mind/heart space without my express permission and I can achieve this because my body/nervous systems feel safe. It is a lifelong pursuit - that of sovereignty - and with additional energetic and spiritual support (mostly provided by nature herself) I can feel clear, grounded, and non-activated by the world around me. Which leads me to number two. Forgiveness. When I understood that forgiveness = freedom from burden/constriction of the past, it was a revelation. It does not mean I stay in unhealthy patterns/relationships. It does mean I release the hold it has over me and make choices from a space of compassion, again in service of my own sovereignty.
Every human on this wheel of healing needs space and time (and likely support) in releasing and reclaiming. The beauty of our web is that we can - with loving intention - support and be supported in turn. The requirement in honoring the wheel is that we each claim ourselves. If we relinquish our sovereign agency to others - that is if we give over our power to others - we will ever remain indebted and bound to them. Be they partners, teachers, families, leaders, governments, etc. Claiming our inner world is a sacred act of resistance and offers us an opportunity to deeply respect each other - as kin - and to honor each being for the sacred blessing that they are, and the divine journey they’re undertaking. Each heart. Every single one.
Let’s remember the Eagle. Let’s remember beauty. For all on this Earth, human and other-than-human, I pray for healing and I humbly invite you to join me.
With love on the continuum,
h. x
Eagle Poem
- Joy Hargo (Poet Laureate of the USA and member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.