Birds of Prey ~ Spiritual Creatures

An unexpected surprise upon moving to Yokosuka are the birds.  Yes I know it’s coastal, it’s an island!  But, I am used to the Seagulls and Pigeons of California.

I was not expecting to see two of my favorite birds constantly in the sky above.

The Sea Hawk:  If you know me well you know I am a hawk girl.  To me there is nothing more beautiful than a hawk soaring above and in a previous life I imagine I was a falconer.  Training birds of prey to hunt for me and watching them soar, hunt and return.  The spiritual side of me honors the hawk as a free spirit, an intelligent, intuitive, skillful, patient and powerful messenger of the gods  A cunning survivor.  The following website gives a decent idea of what it is to have a hawk as a spirit animal:  http://www.spiritanimal.info/hawk-spirit-animal/

And there is the Crow:  A very prevalent bird in Japan which surprised me.  The Crow has an extensive spiritual meaning in different religious beliefs.  I am more inclined towards the Shamanistic way of the Crow:  http://www.shamanicjourney.com/article/6033/crow-power-animal-symbol-of-sacred-law-change  This idea of the crow fits well with that of the Japanese people and the sacred and respectful way in which they live.  It is a very fitting bird to find here.

These two powerful birds share the sky above and in between buildings on the Navy Base and sometimes fight for it.  The crow fights in packs helping each other, it’s an interesting sight.  Of course, they are birds so they are scavengers.  We are cautioned not to eat outside or leave food around, they will come for it and these are fierce birds, not like the numb-skull seagull.  People have been known to be attacked for food they have open.

A personal story:

My husband and I were walking one morning around a small hill (hills here are covered with trees and shrubbery) and coming around the curve we were halted by a bird squawking at us, quite loudly.  We looked up and to our right to find a Sea Hawk was sitting in a tree watching us and it was as if it stopped us for a reason.  I thought just to say good morning so we snapped a photo (waiting for the husband to download the photo from his phone to add here) and said our greeting, then continued on our way, more than a little amazed at what just happened.

Several hours later after we returned from our mandatory orientation training we found out that my husband’s grandmother passed away at just about the same time we were stopped by the beautiful hawk.  I like to think it was her saying farewell.

Every day I am blessed in being surrounded by these amazing birds.  They are in the sky above when I’m walking, flying in the space between our building and the adjacent hill where we live and I hear them often.  It’s like music to me.  Some times the majesty of the hawk brings moisture to my eyes and tightness to my throat.

These two amazing creatures are helping to inspire me to delve further into my spirituality and work on my spiritual renovation.  I use them as a daily reminder to live intentionally and truly use and appreciate all of my senses.