Do you remember when I shared a photo last week on my blog of the large goose feather I’d found? It was a little over a foot long. Well, that was last week Wednesday.
So today, one week later, and again on my morning walk, I didn’t find one goose feather, but four! They were all in a row and a few feet apart from one another. Another first for me finding this many feathers and as if they were all lined up just for me to discover.
So it’s true that this is a road where I often see geese passing from one side of the road where it is grassy fields (though the area is being developed into a subdivision), to the other side and down the hill to the man-made pond. But I find it interesting in all the years I’ve walked along the sidewalk nearby where the geese gather that this is a first for me to find this many feathers all in a row.
Did you know that geese have been around for over 12 million years? All that ancient wisdom I’ve had the opportunity to hold in my hands lately with the feathers I’ve found!
It is interesting to note that as I continued on my walk this morning now carrying the four feathers in my hand, my arms swinging on either side of me, I realized the wind moving through the feathers.
What would it be like to fly, I wondered? To be a bird high in the sky looking down at the earth. As I thought more about geese I thought about how they have such clear and firm boundaries. You really can’t get near one. They are also fiercely protective of their families.
They are quite adaptable and require little to no maintenance to survive. I find this intriguing as I think about the shifts we are making in the world. How so many of us had to adapt in one form or another the past eighteen months and in many ways we continue to adjust and reevaluate. Many of us asking ourselves, what do I really need to survive?
Finding four feathers piqued my interest in the symbology of the number four. Well, the number four happens to be the fourth astrological sign which is cancer. I am cancer and we are just about to enter into cancer season on June 22nd. Cancer is all about home, which fits me to a tee.
Four is also about having a firm foundation and structure in our lives. To me, that represents home also. Not just my physical space, but checking in with my inner home. How am I feeling there? Am I feeling grounded? If not, then it’s time to connect to the earth more.
I feel as if the four feathers were really a confirmation of all the things I have been doing to stay grounded and how I feel more grounded than I did last year. I’ve incorporated a few new self-care methods for myself over the last few months, as well as, how could we not have grown in some way with all we went through last year? I certainly have and this is what has helped me to feel more stable in many ways.
Growing a garden in the raised bed my husband John made for me has been a very grounding practice for me too. While also doing what I can to contribute to the earth in a positive way and take care of my family, which is John and myself. I’ve come to appreciate my physical home and my surrounding gardens even more than before – though I smile saying this as I’ve always loved home. But yet, I have another level of appreciation for it and that feels good.
So all this from the four feathers I discovered today and the large one I found last week. But this is how the universe speaks to us. It’s up to us to take the time and reflect and gather into our hearts what we need to understand and then move forward with more peace.
As I neared home from my walk it occurred to me how I’ve been wanting a smudging fan for a while now. It’s a fan used with something like burning sage to energetically cleanse and clear negativity. I’d looked at Etsy a few times in the past two years to see if one called to me, but hadn’t yet found one I liked. Perhaps if I stumble on just a few more feathers I can make one of my own. Now that would be really special.
XO
Barb
