Totem Tuesday: Hummingbird Medicine
By Felina Lune Kavi
“Like the hummingbird, we
have the capacity to experience great love, bliss, healing and nourishment when
we drink from the nectar that is available in our love relationships. Yet that flower is also delicate; like
our hearts and the hearts of the ones we love. So it is important to go gently, carefully, and precisely to
the heart of the flower…
In the end, it is actually
your own heart you are drinking from.”
-Yollana Shore
Keywords: Infinite Joy,
Illumination, Resurrection, Making the Impossible Possible, Sensual Pleasure,
Finding the Sweetness in Life, Finding the Goodness in Others, Efficiency,
Memory, Being Present in the Moment, Solar Energy, Service to Spirit, Essence
of Beauty, Love in Right Relationship, Lightness of Being, Endurance,
Timelessness, Sound Healing, Healing with Flowers and Herbs, Quick Response, Adaptability,
Coexistence, Playfulness, Free Spirit
Hummingbird (Specifically
the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird) is my totem on my Right. In this direction, it is connected with
the Divine Masculine within me…very much the Peaceful Warrior of my Mars
Retrograde in Libra. Though
hummingbirds can get territorial when food sources are low, they usually only
do minimal feather damage to each other in battle. They will defend what is theirs...but they are lovers, not fighters. Mostly, they are concerned with vibrant displays of
courtship and finding enough sustenance to live another day. So if you see bickering, jousting
hummingbirds…plant more of the flowers that they like, or hang feeders in
different parts of your yard.
With well over 300 known
species of Hummingbirds, their evolution has coordinated with plants by
evolving their bill shape to the shape of specific flowers. This is why, in places like the Andes,
140 different species of hummingbirds can coexist. This is one reason why they teach adaptability. Another reason is that they can move
swiftly in all directions and even come to a full stop, hovering in
flight. Their visual processing is
so advanced that it allows them to sense all movements around them very
quickly, and move accordingly to avoid collisions while speeding along.
People with Hummingbird medicine learn
to develop a similar sense of heightened awareness and adaptability, avoiding
dangerous situations but also dealing with sudden changes with quick responses
and strategies for overcoming obstacles in their path. Hummingbird teaches successful
coexistence among diverse groups by finding your own unique expression and
medicine that contributes to the whole.
Among the smallest of birds
(the smallest being the Bee Hummingbird), Hummingbirds have a spirit that is much
larger than their bodies. For
example, their courtship dives, which produce a specific sound from vibrating
tail feathers in some species, is the highest speed relative to body length for
any vertebrate (twice the diving speed of peregrine falcons in pursuit of
prey).
Like songbirds and parrots,
they also have the mental capacity for language learning (mimicry)…but their
brain is larger in comparison to body size than any other bird. Their hippocampus is up to five times
larger than a songbird’s.
Hummingbirds have excellent memory. They can remember where every flower in their territory is
and how long it takes to refill with nectar after they have fed. They also remember, year to year, where
each feeder is…both at home and along their migratory path. They learn which people fill the
feeders and which ones don’t.
By
remembering their food source and the last time they visited it, they can plan
with precision and visit hundreds of flowers each day to sustain their high
metabolism. This is known as
episodic memory and was previously considered exclusive to humans. People with this totem medicine often
have excellent memories as well, or at least keep track of things well by
writing them down. They are
efficient enough to be able to enjoy their lives and be present in each moment.
There are so many things
about Hummingbirds that seem impossible at first glance. And yet, they show us that even what we
may perceive as impossible is, in fact, quite possible when you live in right
relationship with your surroundings.
Some see Hummingbird as a symbol of resurrection. Because they go into a hibernation-like
state at night, called torpor, but are revived during the day…it appears as if
they die each night and are reborn each day. During torpor, their metabolic rate drops to 1/15th
of what it is during the day while they are foraging.
We often observe hummingbirds flitting about from flower to
flower, but they are actually only in flight about 15% of the time. Often, they are perched…conserving
their energy. People with this
medicine also learn when it is best to act and when it is best to be still and
observe. They will vary between
sociability and introverted times of recharge, adapting between these states
fluidly. And if someone challenges
their dreams as impossible, they will prove playfully that anything is
possible.
Hummingbird flaps its wings
over 100 beats per second and does so in a figure-eight pattern. This pattern connects it to infinity
and timelessness.
Though
Hummingbird remembers the past and has the visionary ability to recognize the
future…this bird is a teacher of how to enjoy each moment in the present,
giving and receiving in right relationship, and drinking deeply from the
sweetness of life. Hummingbird is
a free spirit who illuminates where our unique medicine is and how we can use
it in service to Spirit as well as in interconnected ways with all of Mother
Earth’s creations.
If Hummingbird is one of
your totems, these and many other lessons will be prevalent in your life. Hummingbird will encourage you to
refine your mastery of this medicine.
If you see a hummingbird, 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. Hummingbird may be
contacting you to teach you how to lighten up and resurrect the joy in your
life. Or it may come to remind you
that what appears to be impossible is actually possible. However Hummingbird chooses to share
its medicine, it is an inspiring creature teacher who will show us how to go
straight to the heart of each matter and extract the essence of beauty and
pleasure from life, even in chaotic times.
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