Totem Tuesday: Condor Medicine

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Totem Tuesday:  Condor Medicine

By Felina Lune Kavi

“If you want to soar in the Heavens

You need Condors for Companions,

Not chickens trying to fly.

Both are birds but worlds apart.”

-Mirza Yawar Baig

Keywords:  clear vision, broadening perspective, insight, messenger between above and below, carrier of prayers, connection to Spirit, power, respect, healing, clearing heavy energies (hucha), emotional expression, survival against the odds, sensitive leadership, intuition, transmutation, knowing beyond feeling

In the United States, there is only one kind of Condor still alive (the California Condor).  This species has undergone a magnificent change in the past 30 years.  We were once down to just 22 of them, but efforts from people at the San Diego Zoo brought their numbers back up to around 400 currently.  For having none of them left in the wild, and now many more that are living outside of captivity, this is a remarkable example of what we humans can do when we take responsibility for harming our wildlife…we pool our resources together and revive what we almost lost.  

These efforts were not without naysayers.  Many thought we should just let them “die off with dignity”.  But this was not a natural die off that was happening.  Despite their long life span, they were dying at an alarming rate from poisons such as lead (from bullets in carcasses) and DDT as well as from electrocution from power lines.  Fortunately, with the efforts to breed them in captivity, train them to stay away from power lines, and clean up efforts with our environment…Condors are making a comeback here on the West Coast.

Condor Medicine holds within it the ability to survive despite the odds…and the ability to inspire the people of this world to care and come together to make heart-centered change.  People with this medicine may have also had to beat the odds stacked against them in their life, but have the ability to rise above it all and inspire others to make necessary change as well.

Condors are scavengers, feeding upon the carcasses of the dead.  They are like Mother Nature’s clean-up crew…but beyond that, they are transmuting death into the sustenance of life.  They symbolize nature’s balance.  

The indigenous tribes of South America know Condor (specifically the Andean Condor) as a powerful bird that eats away at hucha (heavy energies)…clearing it so that we, and Pachamama (Mother Earth), are not bogged down by what no longer serves us in life.  They have a vital role in the ecosystem of our planet.  

Those with this medicine find that their role on this planet is also important to the survival of our Earth.  They may find themselves gifted as psychopomps (soul guides) who help souls to cross over after the body dies.  They may even be skilled at death rites or work with those who are at the end of their lives, or act as grief counselors to those who have lost loved ones.  They inherently know that death is not an ending, but a transformation…and they honor it as a rite of passage.  Their medicine is in letting go of the old to make way for the new.

Condor and Eagle share many of the same qualities to their medicines…they share similar visionary abilities, higher perspectives, leadership qualities, and carry prayers and messages between above and below.  One of the main differences is that Condor medicine is more intuitive and emotional while Eagle medicine is more industrial and intellectual.  

Condors can show how they are feeling by changes in the color of the skin on their heads.  People with this medicine share a similar gift for emotional expression.  They make inspiring leaders and are sensitive to the feelings of those they work with. 

Another thing they have in common with the eagle is that, to the people of the Peruvian Andes, Condor is symbolic of the Thunderbird (while to indigenous tribes of North America, they connect the Eagle with the Thunderbird).  It is also a national symbol of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  Condors are the largest flying birds in the world with a wingspan of up to close to 11 feet.  Interestingly, though Condor Medicine is often associated with feminine (receptive) wisdom and Eagle medicine is associated with masculine (projective) wisdom…it is actually the male condor and the female eagle that are larger than their counterparts because of sexual dimorphism. 

Condor people are creators, not destroyers.  Though they can create new life from what has been destroyed (case in point, those amazing Condor people who helped to save the California Condor from the brink of extinction).  These are compassionate people who aim to work in harmony with the Earth and her creatures.  Condors don’t really build nests either, and prefer to use cracks in cliffs, boulders, and mountainsides to house their young…perhaps with just a few sticks placed around the eggs. Survival by living in harmony with the land is important to those with Condor Medicine.

If Condor is one of your totems, these and many other lessons will be prevalent in your life.  Condor will encourage you to refine your mastery of this medicine.  If you see a condor, 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.  Condor may be contacting you because you need to release something in your life that is no longer serving its original purpose, or you need to clear some heavy energies in order to move forward.  However Condor chooses to share its medicine, it will take you under its wing and teach you how to live more soulfully.