Hawk Awakens: Akin To Mercury

Overview

As a power animal, Hawk "awakens" not only the memory, but also the elements and the kingdoms, and it teaches you to look. Hawk can help you to be more observant, and to see ways out of a difficult situation. It encourages you to examine life from a higher perspective so you can identify new opportunities, as well as hazards that might block your progress.

Hawk also encourages you to look more closely at your everyday life, and especially for "messages" that lie hidden in ordinary happenings. Messages of the spirit are often close at hand but obscured by the obvious.

Should you hear the shrill cry of the Hawk during your journey, it may be warning you to beware of an impending event that may force you off balance, or it may be a call to be bold and decisive at the arrival of an unexpected opportunity. In any event, Hawk encourages you to follow the dictates of the heart. Look more closely.

Hawk is akin to Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Hawk medicine teaches you to be observant, to look at your surroundings. Observe the obvious in everything that you do. Life is sending you signals.

Life in the initiation. If you pull the Hawk card, then right now a clue about the magic of life is being brought to you. This magic can imbue you with the power of overcome a currently stressful or difficult situation. The test is your ability to observe the nuances of power lurking nearby. Is power the talent you have and are not using? Are solutions always hard to find because you have lost the broader vision of Hawk? Or is the Great Spirit displaying a gift that you need only to receive? Have the colors of the morning inspired you to create? Of has the gloominess of a present situation left you earthbound, unable to hear the voice within the raindrops splashing on your window? Pay attention! You are only as powerful as your capacity to

What is called for here is an intuitive ability to discern the message carried with the cry of Hawk. The shrillness of Hawk's call pierces the state of awareness, and asks you to seek the truth.

The Ancients recognized this magnificent bird of prey as a messenger bringing tidings to their Earth Walk, the Good Red Road, from the world of the grandfathers and grandmothers who lived before them. If Hawk were to magically cry, it was a sign to beware or be aware. This could mark the coming of a warring tribe, the birth of a child, or the celebration of counting coup. Hawk's cry signalled the need for the beholder to heighten awareness and receive a message.

Hawk medicine is a totem that is filled with responsibility, because Hawk people see the overall view. Hawk is not like Mouse, who sees everything through a magnifying glass. Hawk medicine people are aware of omens, messages from the spirit, and the color of the calling card you gave them three months ago. No detail slips by them unnoticed.

If Hawk has circled and landed in your card spread, you are to be aware of signals in your life - so notice and receive them. Hawk may be teaching you to grab an opportunity which is coming your way. On the other hand, Hawk may be bringing you the message that you should circle over your life, and examine if from a higher perspective. From this vantage point you may be able to discern the hazards which bar you from freedom of flight. Remember: Hawk has a keen eye and a bold heart, for Hawk flies close to the light of Father Sun.

Contrary

Medicine Cards: Hawk 2

If you have drawn Hawk reversed, it may be because you something in your life has become too painful to feel, too unbelievable to hear, or too dark to see, it is time to examine the point at which you chose to let yourself become emotionally involved, and to no longer be the observer. When you allow your emotions to override your perceptions, the message from Hawk cannot penetrate the chaos and confusion. At this point, you are asked to be mindful of the honest observer's neutral position, which allows the message to be intuitively and clearly understood, without emotion coloring its true meaning.

Emotional coloring is a tendency of Hawk medicine people when they are off-balance. Their emotions cloud their vision and lead to a crash landing. The ego can clip the winds and leave Hawk grounded. Also, if Hawk believes that those who cannot fly the same way he/she does have weaker perceptions, then the winged messenger has not understood his or her own medicine.

Freedom of flight is a privilege, and being a messenger is an honor. The responsibility for delivery of the message is up to you. Take your flight and forget about interpreting the omen your own way. Let the receiver decide what the message means. After all, unless it was sent specifically for you, you would be tampering,

Hawk in the contrary position teaches you: (1) To open up to the powers of observation; (2) Not to tell others how to think or believe; (3) To take care of your own emotional baggage before you begin receiving omens, visions, or messages; (4) To remember that all gifts are equal in the eyes of the Great Spirit.

Honor all life forms and humans as messengers. Trust life’s messages and signals.

Source: Sams, Jamie and Carson, David. Medicine Cards (Santa Fe: Bear and Company, 1988).