Animal Medicine #18

We cannot deny that the peacock is a magnificent bird.  He patrols his home territory, making a fine display of that wonderful and amazing tail.  He is king of his realm and takes pride in displaying his crown of eye-filled feathers. 

The ‘eyes’ on his tail represent, for us, our Third Eye psychic abilities and our connection to our inner self, but it is the peahen – the female – that is symbolic of the sacred qualities of our Soul.

We humans, have a habit of focusing on the obvious.  The stuff that can’t be missed once we have seen it.  Sometimes this is good, sometimes not so good.  Especially when Ego gets involved.  Like the peacock’s tailfeathers, Ego has an important role to play in our survival, but sometimes it gets just too pushy.  It wants to fluff itself out and strut its stuff for all the world to see.

The peahen, in comparison, can appear drab.  She doesn’t have the wonderful flashy tail, she doesn’t shout quite so loudly, but that doesn’t mean that she can be overlooked.  She is still regal, and very definitely knows that she is important in her world.  She is inquisitive, docile, and will not instigate an attack, yet she is also very confident that if threatened, her scream will alert others of danger. 

Peahen tells us that it is the internal work that is the most important.  The work we do within our Self towards gaining understanding of who we are.  She tells us that working towards a deeper understanding of Self, of working consciously towards understanding which of our quirks are holding us back or enabling misunderstandings, is essential internal work for all who want to continue to grow on their spiritual journey.

She tells us to love your Self – quirks and all – and don’t let insecurity stop you achieving your dreams. 

You are not your tail feathers.  It is the inner you that makes you worthy, not that which you show to the world.