Six of Branches and the Nine of Feathers

These beautiful Spirit Animal tarot cards have chosen to give us two birds in our reading this week. The first is an emerald green hummingbird, successfully gathering nectar by hovering effortlessly beside the flower. I have never been lucky enough to see this spectacular sight, but, I am aware that it is a rare treasure to witness such a beautiful scene. The second bird is a crow, who silently sits on the ground in the dead of night, with a moon shining down on him. Crows are incredibly intelligent birds who are often seen as a bad omen or a harbinger of death. When someone sees a hummingbird, their heart is filled with joy. Whereas the same bird loving person could see a crow and fill their heart with anxiety and fear. But they are both magnificent birds with their own unique qualities; it seems a shame that our mind judges what is good and bad so easily.

When I placed these cards together the birds seemed to be facing each other and I intuitively began thinking about the idea of it actually being one bird that was looking in a mirror. Imagine the hummingbird staring at reflection and not seeing the vibrant, gifted beautiful creature that we see but only seeing a dark, unhappy reflection of someone much bigger than they really are with no colour or lightness about them. 

And, of course, this works both ways as imagine the crow is now looking in the mirror and is aware of the whispering voice of the ghost-like girl sheltering under his wing telling him that he is not always liked or welcomed. But he is seeing beyond the unhelpful voice and proudly acknowledging his own gifts and talents, which manifest in the bright colours he sees; even though he is in a dark place he can see a light and cheerful version of himself.

Now let me ask you, when was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror? What was your conclusion? What did you see? Because I wouldn’t mind betting that every single one of us makes a comment or two in our own heads every time we look at our reflection. And I would be really interested to know the percentage of us that make kind, positive comments to ourselves – I suspect it would sadly be a number that is far too low. 

What if we didn’t do that? What if we all got up in the morning and found something kind and nurturing to say to our reflection? The kind of compliments that you would say to a friend to make them feel a bit better and make them see the wonderful person that you know they are.

If we were a little kinder to ourselves and gave out a few more compliments or acknowledged our unique talents then perhaps we would all start the day feeling amazing and beautiful and as light as a hummingbird. It is hard work carrying a ghostly voice around all day reminding you of all the reasons why you aren’t perfect, which is possibly why this crow we see is grounded and not soaring high in the sky.

Our mind or inner voice can be our greatest asset or our worst enemy, but, obviously, it lives in our own head! The message from this card combination this week is for you to decide which of those you would like it to be.

So, whilst the moon is hiding away from us and making the world a bit darker, it would seem we are being offered an opportunity to shine a little light in our lives. 

This week, why not try a simple exercise? Look in the mirror and say three nice things about yourself. It may feel silly, you may not want to say them out loud but give it a try. And then, the next day, do it again. And the next. And the next. Continue, until it feels normal to be kind, complimentary and nice to yourself. It may just give you the push you need to spread your wings and fly to exciting new heights. 

---