Do You See the Symbolism?

Yesterday I posted about a pair of deer that had visited my front yard. Shortly after, a friend reminded me of a story she had told me about deer showing up at a pivotal point in her life.  I was a bit stunned that in my initial response to the deer-inspired epiphany I had forgotten not only her amazing story, but also the several times deer have shown up in my life to offer a gentle nudge in the right direction. I am pretty into all this symbolism stuff, so it shocked me that I was able to gloss over the bigger picture of how clearly God/The Universe/Spirit speak to us. It reminded me that we must be looking for the messages in every moment if we really want to keep connected to our spirit, an essential component of health. I hear you sighing, “like I’m not busy enough? Now you want me to look for messages from God?” Fear not, the signs are actually easier to come by than you think, once your intention is in place, the symbols start to take shape and you see and feel them everywhere. Following are some helpers to get you started:

Animal Messengers

Shamanism delves deeply into the secret messages that animals can reveal. Just as in humans, every animal that crosses your path has its own traits which can give clues to what you need to know in that moment. For example, the hawk is considered to be a messenger. When you keep seeing hawks that is a pretty good sign that you need to be paying closer attention to your circumstances. That actually happened to me a few months ago when I was faced with a pretty big life decision. Hawks kept circling over my house and driving at my car. They didn’t stop until I finally made the difficult decision that I knew they were alerting me to. If you are in an office all day long you might not have much exposure to animal messengers. In that case, a set of Medicine Cards might do the trick. A set includes a colorful deck of over 50 cards along with a detailed guidebook that offers helpful guidance. Simply hold the cards in your right hand, ask the Universe a simple statement like, “What do I need to know today?” and pick a card with your left hand. The results are often astoundingly accurate and at the very least the process can be really fun.

Number Sequences or Patterns

As if yesterday’s deer sighting wasn’t enough to get my head spinning. I also received a link to Gabrielle Bernstein’s vlog entitled, “The Reason 11:11 Pops Up so Often.” [This vlog is no longer available.] It actually took my breath away, as so many seemingly astonishing events often do, because I had literally just been explaining to a friend the day before that when I see the numbers 11:11 on the clock I know it is a sign from Spirit that I am in flow. Even as I was saying it, I thought “this sounds crazy and I am not explaining it very well.” So, imagine what a relief it was to get Gabby’s message and additional clarity that I am not in fact the only crazy clock-watcher out there. Later that night just before turning in for the night the clock at my bedside caught my eye – 11:11. Then in the middle of the night I awoke from a deep sleep to see 3:33 (my personal favorite). Today I have also seen 11:11 and 1:11. Boy am I really in flow!

Music

I can’t get enough of music. And, these days there are so many free sources of this good mojo. I often stream music through www.spotify.com or just pull up an iTunes playlist. It never ceases to amaze me how a song that I have been listening to for years will take on a new meaning when I really hear its message. This doesn’t feel like a coincidence to me. I think music is a natural messenger. After all, there’s a very good reason that every religious institution includes music. One song that I happened upon recently that l find particularly inspiring is “This is Your Life” by Switchfoot. It is a haunting reminder that I must take charge of my life to be sure I am who I want to be, something that just happens to be on my mind a lot as of late.

Human Angels

There is no doubt that angels walk amongst us. If that is too woo woo for you, just keep an open mind to the fact that when someone says something that moves you it is not likely an accident. This became apparent to me when I vowed to start speaking my feelings freely. I realized that quite often what I said didn’t even seem to come from me, yet it elicited a strong reaction in the person I was talking too (i.e. “I can’t believe you just said that!”). When I witness this happening with other people I say they are “channeling” Spirit. You can call it whatever you want, but do try to be open to it, because anyone can deliver a message.

Symbols, signs or messages can appear literally anywhere, and when you start to look for them life becomes magical. You follow your GPS or search through Google every day, keeping an open mind to information from the Universe is really no different.

Are you with me? If so what is your sign? …