Coming into the Light!

I had a very interesting Imbolc day.  I had been sick earlier in the week and took 2 days off from teaching.  Thursday found me back on the highway early in the morning as the sun was coming up.  I have a habit of watching the road for downed birds, specifically owls and hawks.  I have already been given two owls in this manner by the nature spirits.  I know it may sound gruesome but it isn't.  The first owl was given to me a couple of years ago.  While going down the highway with a friend, I spotted a brown lump with a wing sticking up.  We screeched to a halt and backed up.  Up until this time I had just been a collector of bones, clean bones, well aged and usually from deer.  I collect them for art inspiration.  However, this event was different.  I knew it was a full carcass before stopping.  When I ran up to the bird I saw that it was an owl.  I was amazed and suprised and I had the strong knowing that I was to take it.  So we proceeded home eventually and I knew I was to keep the wings so I got out the plant clippers and pretended it was no different than chopping a dead chicken for dinner and I severed the wings.  The rest of the owl I buried with a bit of ceremony.  That was the first owl whose dried wings I still have.  The second owl happened in a similar fashion.  I was driving along the same highway, saw the wing waving at me, stopped and knew it was meant for me to take.  This time I clipped the wings and tail.  I wanted the claws but was too squimish.  Later, a woman that I met who was very involved in Native American spirituality, told me I should have taken the claws also, then I would have had the power of the owl. The owl's wings are pictured above.   This second owl, a Barred Owl, was then put into a cedar tree in the woods on Winter Solstice a year ago with much ceremony to commerate its passing.

So yesterday, on Imbolc, I was driving down the same highway and I saw an owl but it was dark and there were a lot of cars and the bird was in the middle of the road so I knew it was not meant to be.  Further along though, I spotted a hawk on the side of the road, few cars and the sun was further up. I had been asking the spirits for a hawk!!  I turned around and grabbed it quickly and put it in my car.  If you do this, you do NOT want anyone to catch you.  Having a hawk or owl in your possesion is illegal even if it is roadkill because they are protected birds.  When I got home, I removed the wings, the red tail AND the claws (see picture above).  It is really difficult to clip parts off of these beautiful birds but I know that its spirit has long flown and if left on the side of the highway it would just be trampled endlessly.  I believe the hawk would prefer to have some of its beauty preserved.  Afterwards, I took the body into the woods nearby and placed it in the fork of a tree and offered some tobacco to the spirits.  In the picture you can see that I have stretched the wings out on a board and clipped the ends to the board.  If you don't, the wings will contract as the flesh dries and you will not be able to open them back out---put them how you want them before they dry.  I am going to pack them in borax for awhile to aid the drying process and kill mites.  I also put my wings in the freezer several times a year for a day or two to kill off any mites---feathers seem to attract mites.

I find it very symbolic that I was given the hawk on Imbolc.  Imbolc is a holiday that calls in the light after the winter darkness.  The hawk in Native American beliefs is a sun bird, its opposite is the owl, a night bird.  For me the owl was a similar energy to the goddess Kali, an energy that takes you into dark places.  The past several years I have experienced many dark places with passing of my parents, two friends, other family members and beloved pets.  I have also cleared out many dark places within myself.  The owl energy has been appropriate.  Now I have been given a hawk on Imbolc.  I am taking that as a powerful sign that I am entering a new brighter era, for awhile at least, and I am looking forward to learning more from the hawk spirits. Happy Imbolc!  Blessed Be!