They are used as spiritual symbols by shamans and priests, as royalty symbols for kings and chiefs, for ornamenting, healing symbols, or symbols of sacred power.
The Kingdom of Birds is the air that connects Paradise with Earth. It is the birds that move between them. They make the path between spirituality and matter. The moving air is the wind that symbolizes the movement and the ability to fly, on the wings of inspiration, intuition and creativity.
In all shapes, sizes, varieties, colors. they carry the energy of winged beings, soul flight, purification. They symbolize freedom, go beyond the limits and carry our prayers. It is as if we find our own wings. They bring power to those who know how to receive.
Native Americans use eagle and falcon in particular to cure disease, to enhance the power of the ceremony. Feathers and birds communicate the sacred language of the spirit, show us a higher purpose. The feathers of the Sacred Pipe are those of the Golden Eagle. Your feathers symbolize the Spiritual Sun
Birds can often be considered the symbols of the soul. Your flying skills reflect the ability within us to fly to new qualities, to bridge heaven and earth, to stimulate great flights of hope, inspiration and ideas.
I transcribe below Maril Crabtree's text from his Sacred Feathers Book:
”… I learned that in many ancient traditions the black feather is a sign of mystical wisdom, received in a spiritual initiation. Such feathers (from crows, for example) are often used by shamanic figures.
Throughout history, feathers have been presented as symbols for shamans and priests, as royalty symbols for kings and chiefs, as symbols of cur or as sacred symbols in cultures as ancient as the Egyptian, Asian, and Celtic ages. These cultures had the ability to communicate with nature in ways that were ignored or forgotten in our present age.
However, the penalties are more than historical. to many, they represent mystical signs, messages or opportunities. They are fragments of synchronicity in the miscellaneous fluid of universal meanings. Feathers arise in unexpected places as a guarantee of well-being, as a comforting sign of abundance in the universe, and as unmistakable messengers of hope and encouragement. Their ephemeral grace makes them perfect emissaries of spiritual and emotional freedom.
In recent years I have collected true stories of people whose lives have changed because of feathers: feathers as sacred messengers, as enlightenment drivers, as forerunners of inner truth, or as gentle reminders of the timing and abundance of the universe. These stories are powerful accounts of how feathers teach, guide, inspire us all. They offer real examples of how the universe speaks to us through a common but mystical object - a pity.
How does a feather — an inanimate object — speak to us? How can we receive messages from a part of a bird's wing? What is it about feathers - as opposed to coffee grounds or wildflowers - that qualifies them as precursors of universal truth?
We live in a holographic cosmos, where a part of the whole reflects that whole. When a feather leaves a bird and falls to the ground, it brings with it all the energy that bound it to the living being. From a cosmic perspective, the penalty also carries, as we bring with us, the universal energy that we name in various ways: "God," to "Spirit," "divine life force." Why not accept that the penalty falls into our lives to bring directly a message from this life force?
When, among hundreds of people, I see a pity in an unexpected place, I know it was addressed to me. Not all feathers are "special," nor are all stones or crystals. But the potential for the connection is there. I just need to listen from that open space inside me, which yearns to fly higher and higher. I just have to accept that, as one storyteller said, "there are simple, strange, real powers" that affect me.
Feathers are also universal symbolic meanings, recognized by tribes and world traditions. They tell us about flight, of freedom, of crossing boundaries, of placing oneself above all, of the need to let go and relax. In many cultures, feathers carry prayers to the gods and confer extraordinary powers in battle.
Most of all, feathers come as gifts. they come from the sky, the sea, the trees, the grass, and even - as these stories illustrate - from places never inhabited by birds. They come to us unexpectedly, but with a purpose. Your messages may be startling, comforting, or sudden, but they are always an opportunity to see - to find answers to questions we didn't even know we were asking.
What is a pity then? It is a part of the body of a bird and it is part of us. It exists in itself to serve its primary purpose in the cosmos. Just as when we carry inspiring messages to others while simply filling our lives, feathers bring these messages to us. They remind us that we walk in an overflowing world of meaning.
The Talking Feather
Anyone who watches birds in the wild notices that they smooth their feathers with their beaks. These straightening clean and rearrange the filaments of feathers. Birds usually straighten in two ways:
They give a bite of the feather base to its tip, pecking at each fiber.
* They make movements that form a zipper-like design.
Both movements are essential to clean and separate feathers everywhere.
* Understand what your pity is saying! *
* Handle your feather gently by making your own straightening form, this helps to distribute the natural oils from your hands to the feathers, aligning you with them and their energies.
Examine your filaments and gently run your fingers along as many of them as you can.
* Rub the feather filaments gently along its stem. Run the feather gently making drawings above the stem. You increase your sense of touch and start printing your energy up to pity. This will leverage you to pay more attention to it. Observe the patterns, the details, the colors.
Everything can have a meaning. Every aspect of the penalty is important