Category: 2024

Animal Power #30

It’s not totally surprising really, because everything happens in cycles.  We can experience heartache, pain, and despair but we know that if we can just hang on for a while longer, then we will cycle around to joy, and love, and laughter.

Cicada are the personification of these life cycles.  They are all about personal change, renewal, rebirth, transformation.  They are symbolic of the changes that happen in our lives and the lessons we can learn as we move through our lives.

Unlike moths or butterflies, Cicadas don’t have a pupae stage – they don’t ever go into a cocoon.  They emerge as nymphs from eggs which their mother has placed in holes drilled into branches high in a tree, and they are about the size and colour of a grain of rice.

These little nymphs walk to the edge of their branch and then drop off – like a grain of rice falling from the top of a tall tree – and when they hit the ground they have an urge to get themselves underground as fast as possible.  They burrow deep under the roots of the tree and build themselves a little chamber – a safe place to spend the next 17 years!  17 years all alone in a hole in the ground.

This period of being alone in a dark place in the ground, away from sunlight, other beings, and life even, is a reminder for me of the times we all experience, when we find ourselves in a hard and difficult place.  It might be that we have reached that point in our life cycle where we are experiencing all kinds of hardship.  Maybe we have lost our job; our home; our life partner.  Perhaps a goal we have been striving towards for years, has failed and we don’t know where to turn to next.  It could be that we are facing illness, trauma, it could be that we are carrying the black dog on our backs.

We don’t know how Cicada spends those 17 years in that dark hole in the ground, but I like to think that they use the time constructively.  When we are in a dark place we have a choice that the cicada is denied – we can choose to leave.  We can choose to poke a stick through the darkness and let in some sunlight.  We can recognise that we are not alone, and we can choose to use that time constructively.  We can be brave and hold out a hand.  Maybe someone will recognise where you are and grab hold of you, help you to emerge.  Maybe your reaching hand will grasp hold of someone else who needs support too, and you can help each other.

After 17 years living all alone in the darkness, the cicada nymphs – billions of them – emerge all at the same time and they have one very strong urge – to climb high up the tree and there to shed their nymph shell casing.  Then, they have to wait a few days for their new skin to harden before they are able to fly.  Many cicadas don’t make it, but there are still billions left who do and, we pretty much all know the mating song of the males!  Within three weeks of coming out of the earth, there is a massive mating frenzy, eggs are laid and just six weeks after their first emergence, all the cicadas have all disappeared.  Their life work is done.

So what does this mean for humans?  Firstly we are being reminded that if things get difficult we have the ability to recognise that we need to make changes in ourselves.  We need to look at where we are in our life with open honesty as to our part in how we arrived at where we are, and to do it without pulling any punches.  We have the ability to see our way forward – even if it only the first couple of steps.  We have the choice to reach out and ask for help and we don’t need to cocoon ourselves away to achieve those changes.  We have the ability to make the changes as quickly and effectively as possible. 

Cicadas remind us of the cycles of life, and the importance of each stage of life, including the hard times.  They are reminding us that each stage of life has its own lessons to learn, its own experiences that will shape us into the individuals we are meant to be.  It is a reminder that the important lessons in life are often camouflaged until we are forced to face them. 

Spending time alone isn’t ever wasted time.  Or rather, it doesn’t have to be.  It is a time of opportunity for introspection, of discovery, of growth and of the development of the knowledge and strength needed for the next stage in your life journey.  This time alone is symbolic of the Past – of all that has brought us here to this point in linear time.  It is a time to clear the past, to effect a transformation that allows us, finally, to emerge and to live our lives in full knowledge of the true purpose of our current lifetime experience.  

Animal Medicine #27

My childhood passion was ballet.  My sister was the one who was (and still is) into horses, and, somewhat warily, I got to know her horses – who were mainly rescued from abusive situations.  I saw them bloom under her care and I saw that the love she gave to them was returned to her ten-fold.  When my daughter became interested in horses, I decided that it would be a good idea for us both to have lessons in riding and caring for these amazingly empathic beings.  I only had a few lessons – I have a fear of heights and I was too far up in the air for my comfort.  I also couldn’t find the brake or the gears!!  My sister despaired, and my daughter’s riding lessons continued without me as an active participant!

These amazing creatures, who so obviously understand love and devotion, have been around for something like 50 million years, although at that time they did look a bit different and were only about 50cm tall.  Modern horse appeared about 4.5 million years ago and, very strangely, a lack of fossils show that they totally disappeared from the American continent about 10,000 years ago, only returning with the Spanish explorers in the early 16^th century.  No-one knows what happened.

There are so many words that you can apply to horse energy:  noble, majestic, confident, heroic, beautiful, willing, spirit-filled…  Simply making a list of these is enough to lift your spirits.

If you feel that you are trapped into a situation, or bearing too many weighty demands on your time and energy, think of horse energy to get you through.  They are excellent at sharing the load; can jump over barriers and they can run like the wind. 

Think of horse, and think of Freedom!