A few days after the winter solstice, a Turtle paid a visit to my Medicine Wheel in my backyard. One thing I know for sure is that everything that shows up in my life has a meaning.  There are no coincidences.  I have learned that when animals show up, they are there with a message. My job is to tune into what that message is.

There are two metaphysical concepts here that I am dealing with – the Medicine Wheel and Power Animals. A Medicine Wheel is a sacred circle of stones from Native American tradition where each stone represents a time of year, a direction or a spiritual principle.

The concept of Power Animals simply says that every animal has a power or medicine that it is willing to share with humans. When an animal shows up, it means in some way you called that animal in with your vibration because you needed the gift it had to offer.

 So by noticing that the turtle entered the wheel at the top which represents north, then moved through part of the wheel and departed at the stone that represents the west, I could decipher his message. 

 The North on the medicine wheel represents the time of winter.  With the winter solstice just having passed, the turtle had come to remind me that now is the time to start posting on my blog which I had put up on 11/11/11.

The north also represents the latter years of our lives when we have gathered wisdom from our life experience and now have an obligation to share it. Native tradition uses the terms of elder for a male and crone for a female to indicate respect for the wisdom gained with age.

Just as an aside, I want to point out that in recent years, women have begun to celebrate their age with a ceremony called a Croning. I had a Crone Ceremony when I turned 60. My female friends gathered to honor me. First, they crowned me with a Crone Crown (a wreath of flowers and herbs) then acknowledged me for the wisdom they saw in me. This wonderful tradition of women owning their age as they  get older, rather than hiding it, is bringing a new paradigm of respect to our Earth.

So as I am a Crone, turtle was saying share your wisdom with the public. Be a messenger for the new spirituality on the New Earth. I gleaned this message  from  three other stones he passed – the stone of communication, the stone of the spiritual messenger and finally the stone representing the public. Turtle departed in the west which represents taking responsibility for giving back the harvest to the Earth.

 

Turtle is one of the oldest symbols for Mother Earth, and reminds us to be mindful of the cycle of give and take and to give back to the Earth and other humans as Mother Earth has given to us.

Easily I could see that my soul had brought Turtle into my life to remind me of  my purpose and to prod me to get on with it. Interesting paradox there – a Turtle  came to PROD me. I am a natural teacher and communicator and delight in writing about all things metaphysical and other worldly…and in stretching people to consider new possibilities.

What coincidences or synchronicities have shown up in your life to give you a message or remind you of something you long to do??

Resources: If you want to explore these teachings in more depth, here are two good references Dancing With the Wheel, the Medicine Wheel Workbook by Sun Bear and for more on power animals the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson are excellent.