I looked up and saw a miniature Native American chief in full dress walking on the edge of my deck.
Okay. Not. But, for a minute my imagination took me there. And what I really saw was almost as astonishing as what I imagined.
I have been reading the She Who Remembers book series by Linda Lay Shuler. She weaves an entrancing historical story about Native Americans.
I have been so engrossed in the series that when a pileated woodpecker decided to visit me in all its majesty, it fit right into the stories about these people who were bigger than life.
Del and I knew we had a family of pileated woodpeckers in our small woods. We heard them these last few years and caught glimpses of them once in awhile. But the day I looked up and saw a pileated woodpecker standing only about ten feet from me in all its beauty I felt as if I had been lifted into another reality.
I discovered that my most recurring visitor is a female. I have taken to bringing my lap top into the bedroom and working there because with the French doors wide open I can enjoy her company whenever she arrives.
Usually, she visits two or three times a day. I talk to her through the screens, asking her if she likes the suet, how is her family, and thanking her for the message that she is bringing. Because, of course, she, as all of nature, brings messages.
The day I didn’t see her, I was surprised how sad I felt. Her presence is so astonishing I have to keep telling myself she is real.
We have many varieties of birds in our yard. Every kind of woodpecker in our part of the country visits our feeders. Multiple couples of bluebirds, doves, hummingbirds, wrens, sparrows, and cardinals, and of course goldfinches, and all the other usual suspects live near us and visit daily. I love them all.
The bluebirds flitting through the air carry joy with them. The social chickadees scold me when the feeders are low, and fly right by my face to get to the seeds as I am putting them up. Hummingbirds are said to be a direct connection to the great spirit and are the harbinger of good.
But, a pileated woodpecker, as a guest! I remain overwhelmingly grateful for its presence.
So what is the message?
The book series I am reading and her visit meld together. “She Who Remembers” carries the message that women (and the woman within all of us) know what is true.
Womanhood listens to intuition and the still small voice within and acts from that awareness, bringing harmony and peace to every situation. And that awareness and understanding is passed on from generation to generation.
Or it is supposed to be. It is imperative for that awareness to be passed on. It needs to be taught and nurtured. We need to remember that we do remember. We are the “She Who Remembers.” Remember?
And my friend the woodpecker?
She is assuring me that I need to keep hammering away at my current project. She brings the message that success is at hand. She reminds me to keep listening for the heart beat of the earth. She and her families’ drumming on the trees can drum us into other dimensions. (Appropriate considering the book series I am writing.)
She reminds me that the five senses do not ever tell us the whole story. They only can report back a tiny window into the world. And that world is the one that we believe first, and then we see what we believe.
She reminds me that we can remember there is much more than meets the eyes, or ears. That false news has always been with us. Anything that is telling of separation and not our oneness can be drummed away. Illusion can dissolve. Because we who allow the feminine within to guide us, and take action from that guidance, can dissolve it.
She reminds me not to fight evil with evil, but with Truth. That darkness dissolves in the light.
She reminds me that beauty comes in multiple forms. That we all express the Divine’s perfection.
The hummingbird and the pileated woodpecker look entirely different. They have different habits. They have different needs. They dress completely differently. Like humanity.
But, as she reminds me, we are one, act that way.
More info on pileated woodpeckers:
Heartbeat of the earth
Spirit info
All About Birds
Free Daily Truths
BECA LEWIS coaches, teaches, writes blogs and books, plays with art, and is addicted to reading. She lives in Ohio with her husband and has kids and grandkids scattered across the country.
