Turtle/Tortoise Medicine
by Felina Lune Kavi
“Try to be like the turtle—at ease in your own shell.” –
Bill Copeland
Keywords:
Mother Earth Energy, Ancient Wisdom, Healing, Protection, Psychic
Shielding, Grounding, Stability, Dependability, Practical Expression of
Creativity, Productivity, Steady Effort, Cautiousness, Deliberateness,
Patience, Planning, Determination, Stubbornness, Self-Reliance, Completion,
Peace, Luck, Longevity, Endurance, Opportunism, Adaptability, Listening,
Non-violent Defense, Emotional Strength, Long Cycles of Transformation, Balance,
Sacred Breath, Grace Under Pressure, Navigation, Going Within, Connection with
the Center, Doorways to New Dimensions
In Native American folklore, North America is referred to as
‘Turtle Island’. Turtle is said to
have carried the weight of this land on her back and is known as the
Peace-Maker. In Hindu and Chinese
cultures, Turtle is also known as carrying Mother Earth and holding the world
in balance. Those with this totem
have a strong connection to the Earth as well as to water. They carry a sense of ‘home’ with them
wherever they go and appreciate our planet and all life upon it. They have a strong connection to their
own center and learn from Turtle to live in balance with our planet, giving as much
back as we receive. They try to strive
for harmony with all things and try to keep the peace in their relationships.
Turtle is a shore creature, living between land and
water. As shore areas are
associated with doorways to other dimensions and realms, Turtle helps us to
navigate between worlds. The
females of the aquatic varieties journey out of the water to bury their eggs in
the sand, which is symbolic of creative ideas being brought from the collective
unconscious and being ‘planted’ in the conscious realm to manifest in a
deliberate and practical manner.
Turtles lay many eggs, with only a few surviving the first trek through
the sand and into the water.
People
with this totem may feel ‘pregnant’ with multiple creative ideas…but with the
wisdom to discern the best survivors and bring one or two of them to completion
at a time. In this way, they
become very productive people…seeing many projects to completion throughout
their lifetimes with the ability to apply patient focus at a steady pace. Just
as baby turtles rely on themselves immediately after hatching, Turtle teaches
self-reliance and emotional strength to endure the struggles of the journeys
ahead of us. People with this
totem learn to be their own protectors, as well as to rely on Mother Earth to
provide for them what they need outside of themselves.
Because of their long life expectancy and their slow
metabolism, turtles are associated with longevity and ancient wisdom. Turtles and Tortoises are very slow
animals on land (though aquatic turtles, with their webbed feet or flippers, and
more stream-lined shells, are faster and more agile in water). Those with Turtle as a totem are
usually healthy, live long lives, and work through things slowly and
methodically. They inherently
understand that they have all the time in the world and don’t need to rush
through life to make the most of it.
Turtle medicine teaches new perceptions about time and our relationship
to it. People with this totem learn
not to push things, though they are determined to see things through to
completion and develop the patience to go the long haul with their
endeavors. Though they are
peaceful people, they can be quite stubborn, and they may also give a ‘warning
snap’ when pushed too far.
When turtles molt, they only slough off a little bit of skin
at a time. Their process of
transformation, both in the evolutionary sense as well as individually, is very
slow. The first known turtles
lived around 220 million years ago and their shell, which has remained a remarkably
stable body plan, is thought to have evolved from bony extensions of their
backbones and broad ribs that expanded and grew together to completion…offering
protection throughout every stage of its evolution, even when the shell was not
complete. Because of their
evolution, turtles are also symbols of endurance and stability. In Feng Shui, turtles and tortoises are
often used as symbols in the career/journey sector of the home as well as in
the prosperity sector to encourage steady growth in both areas of the lives of
the inhabitants.
Turtles breathe less often than humans and eat and drink
very little in comparison.
Teachers of Qi-Gong breathing techniques use the turtle as a symbol to
teach their students the sacredness of breath. Even in kung-fu stories, heroes
escape danger using ‘turtle breathing’ to play dead. Turtles do not take more than they need, and they teach us
to appreciate all life has to offer…stopping to ‘smell the roses’ from time to
time and understanding that the race is already won. Slow and steady finds the clearest path…directing us toward
our goal with planning and determination.
Turtles have excellent hearing, and teach clairaudience and
how to listen well to those around us.
People with this totem are also good listeners and are the type of
people that others seek out when they need someone they can trust to confide in
and listen to them. Because of
their ability to really listen to what others want to say to them, they also
tend to have the ability to hear what is not being said at the same time. They can detect subtleties of the voice
that can clue them in on who people really are. Sometimes they may learn more about a person than that
person knows about themselves.
When feeling threatened or uncomfortable in their
surroundings, Turtle will withdraw into its shell. Their medicine offers a similar protection from some of the
harshness of the outside world and people with this totem often have a rich
inner life in which they make time to withdraw and recharge. Often, they need
to take this time to develop ideas, coming out of their shell again when those
ideas are ready to be expressed and manifested.
Also, if a turtle is flipped onto its back, it can flip
upright again by using its strong neck and head to right itself. Those with this totem learn to use
their head and knowledge to right themselves when they are feeling like their
world is turned upside down.
Turtle medicine teaches the necessity of grounding yourself
and being one with the earth. Through
planning, steady effort, and patience, those with this totem can be very
productive in achieving goals throughout their lives. They are also very adaptable people in many types of
surroundings and they are skilled at waiting for the best opportunities to
arise before taking action. Turtle
medicine helps to navigate the world with deliberate and cautious steps, always
directing us toward peace and prosperity.
Turtle reminds us that all that we need is in Mother
Earth. She will care for us,
protect us, and nurture us as long as we do the same for her. To do this, we must slow down and
appreciate all that we have been given on this planet while taking measured
steps to ensure that we are giving back.
Turtle urges us to realize that we are all connected. Just as it cannot separate from its
shell, neither can we live separately from the Earth or what we do to her. Turtle shares the wisdom that how we
treat our planet is how we treat ourselves…so we must take care of her as she
takes care of us.
If Turtle is one of your totems, these and many other
lessons will be prevalent in your life.
Turtle will encourage you to refine your mastery of this medicine. If you see a turtle, but it is not one
of your totems, respect it as a messenger for that time. You may need its medicine for what is
happening then or what is coming up in the near future. With the wisdom Turtle brings, you may
want to ask yourself if things are getting too hectic and you need to slow your
pace and breathe. It could be that
you need to ground yourself or go within to come up with new ideas and
solutions. Turtle is a patient
creature teacher. Its medicine, when applied over long periods of time,
gives us the ability to make our dreams come true through steady effort and
always walk the peaceful path, honoring the life within all things.
No comments:
Post a Comment