Writing Down Your Soul’s mythical owl icon gets a name

Posted: May 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Icon, My Soul Pages, Owl, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
The Owl’s name is….
 
Last week, I invited you to submit names for the sweet, mysterious owl who graces the cover of the brand new companion journal to Writing Down Your Soul–My Soul Pages.
 
 
 
Soul writers have waited two years for this special journal to hold their conversations with their divine Voice. I imagine most of us would have been content with any image, but when this mythical owl landed on My Soul Pages, he transformed what was just a cover to a mystical experience with a deeply meaningful icon.
 
 
If you missed the story of the owl and the icon, I created a “Meet the Owl” page on the website.
 
 
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Within ten minutes of sending that newsletter, my inbox was bubbling over. Forty of you looked deeply into the owl’s eyes and sent me the name you found there.
 
Sometimes you gave me a meaning, sometimes you just sent what you heard. Here are a few to give you a sense of the diversity.
 
Eli = my God
Majiah
Serena
Metamorphosis
Horace = keeper of the hours
Lucia = light
Nichodemus
Winston
Balthazar = one of the 3 wise men
Ora = pray (in latin)
Veritas = truth
 
Most names were singletons. Except for these three, which were mentioned 3 or 4 times each:
 
Whoo
Sophia = divine wisdom
Sol or Solomon
 
I didn’t enter the contest, but the very first time I picked up a pen to say thank you for this owl, Whoo came out. It seemed to me that the owl’s role is to constantly ask us whoo are you, whoo are you becoming, whoo are you afraid of, whoo are you at the soul level…, so I felt a little partial to Whoo.
 
But it wasn’t my choice. It was Michael’s. This is how I give out all the scholarships for my courses. I write the name of everyone who asks for a scholarship on a little slip of paper, bless each one, and take a little bucket of names to St Michael’s Shrine in Tarpon Springs. That’s what I did today.
 
Before I drew a name, I had a chat on the page with the Voice. I asked, “What are the gifts of the owl?” Here they are:
  • presence–the owl is completely and fully present
  • welcome–the owl always welcomes us with this greeting: “Beloved, I am here for you.”
  • listen–the owl listens with ears we cannot see
  • absorb–the owl takes our story so we can be free of it
  • cleanses and clears–as the owl absorbs our story, a new clean fresh space opens up inside us for something new
  • transmute–the owl transmutes our understanding and our experiences to a new level
  • asks–the owl asks us to remember and see who we truly are
  • respond–the owl always responds, we are never alone
  • lift–the owls lifts us and moves us toward our wholeness
  • sees–the owl sees the way, sees the story, sees the boulders, sees the light within the boulders, the owl sees it all; the ows sees us as the angels see us: whole and holy divine sparks of life

These gifts poured quickly onto the page. As they were ending, a “letter” arrived. I think it’s for you:

“Dear One, dear Beloved Writer,

A name is a fun thing, a place to put your mind for a moment, but my name is One, is All, is Love Eternal.
I am the eye into the light, a way, a path, a knowing.
I am a symbol of Who you are becoming.

You come to me. You call me and I am here.
Your witness. Your ear. You listen with one ear.
I listen with another. I hear God.

With one eye I see out and with one eye I see in.
Both are necessary.
You are here in this place, this space, this beautiful earth.
You are living your story. You came with a story.
You are walking your story, and you will someday
relinquish this story.

In between, come and share it with me.
I hear you and I hear goodness, I hear beauty, I hear joy.
I see you and I see limitless potential.
I see you as Michael sees you, as Spirit sees you–
so you can recognize yourself,
if will only look through my eyes.

Come see. Come see who you really are.”
 

Well, by the time that flowed onto the page, I was a little pool of jello. Anything I was worried about before I entered Michael’s was gone, gone, gone, and I was ready to reach in my little metal bucket and pull a name. Yes, the Owl had said his name was One, All, Love Eternal, but I’d promised to pick a name…

But life with Michael is always a hoot. (Pun intended.) I reached in and pulled out TWO strips of paper entwined in each other so tightly, I had to work to separate them.

When I got them open, I laughed. There were two names;

Sophia–the name for the feminine face of divine wisdom and
Sol-Solomon–revered as the wisest man who ever lived.

Our owl has a sense of humor! He/She wants us to know that it is indeed all things, a complete whole, and it really is a vehicle to wisdom.

Several people suggested these names, but the names on the two slips that came out of the bucket are:

Sophia–Susan Heffron Hajec in Michigan 
Sol–Karen Loucks in Indiana

Would you please both send me your physical addresses and I’ll send you a signed copy of My Soul Pages. I’ll also send you the 50-minute teaching video, Seven Steps to Get Into Theta.

If that weren’t enough mystical joy for one day, we’re opening the Sacred Circle for Your Soul Wants Five Things in a few hours! Whew!

To get your own copy of My Soul Pages with Sophia/Sol on the cover, either visit The Store or click here for Amazon. The journal will be in your favorite store any day. Call and ask them to order it for you.

Then, let us all know what the owl has to say to you!

My Soul Pages has a mysterious OWL on the cover

Posted: May 5, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Animal messengers, Icon, My Soul Pages, Owl, Writing Down Your Soul | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment
My Soul Pages, the matching journal for Writing Down Your Soul arrived–with a stunning owl on the cover. This is not an accident. It’s not an accident that it’s an animal or an owl in particular. And it’s no accident that this owl is more than an owl; it’s an icon.
 
This cover is a mystery–a sweet divine mystery. Let me tell you the story, because this owl is not here just for me; he’s here for you, too. And his message is huge.

I first learned about animal messengers in a “Women’s Spiritual Empowerment” workshop with Charlotte Starfire in 1992. She taught us what she learned from Sun Bear, the great Native American teacher: animals have healing
messages or “medicine” for humans. All we have to do is notice the animal and ask for its teaching. After she explained this idea, Charlotte led us on a meditation to a favorite outdoor place. For me that was a forest. Then, Charlotte said, “Look. Your messenger is here.” Instantly a fox came out from behind a tree. Huh? A fox? I’d never seen a fox in my life. 
 
When the meditation ended, Charlotte introduced us to the Medicine Cards and Animal Speak to learn more about our messengers. Fox, it turns out, is a master at protecting her children. Fox became my teacher and her loving guidance helped me protect my son during the divorce. I began to notice foxes everywhere. I saw fox art and fox statues and even real fox tails. And just in case I doubted she was with me, foxes ran across the road in front of me three times. Bless you, fox.
 
I’ve been hyper sensitive to animal messengers ever since. My osprey showed up the day I knew I had to leave my marriage with the critical message “fear not.” Grasshopper–giant leap forward–was my companion last summer. (When Your Soul Wants Five Things came through in January, I finally understood her message.) In Costa Rica, a vulture landed on the ground and walked around me until I told him I understood his message of forgiveness. The moment I said thank you, he flew off. Gwynn Kelley was beside me when it happened and once she got over the shock, she realized vulture had a message for her, too.
 
So it’s no accident that the matching journal for Writing Down Your Soul has an owl on the cover. Of all the animal messengers, owl is the perfect symbol and protector of deep soul writing. Here are a few insights about owl from Medicine Cards and Animal Speak.
  • represents clairvoyance
  • sits in the East, the place of illumination
  • can see in the dark
  • sees into the soul
  • sits on Athena’s shoulder whispering truth
  • symbol of higher wisdom
  • aids in seeing the whole–not half–truths
  • brings messages in dreams
  • helps befriend the darkness within
  • eliminates anything unhealthy
  • has superb vision, detects subtle movement
  • yellow eyes symbolize the light of the sun, shining even in the dark of the night
  • flexible neck aids in becoming more flexible

Our owl is a mythical interpretation of a barred owl. The barred owl is a master vocalist. And what are we doing in deep soul writing? Why, activating the Voice! Here’s the barred owl’s stunning song.

If My Soul Pages had a regular owl on the cover, that would be amazing enough. But our owl is so much more. He is an icon–an icon that came in direct response to a deep soul writing request.

Last June, I was in Portland for several events and stayed with my brother Larry. When he went to work, I poked around his living room for something new to read. I found two books on icons. Larry is deeply attracted to the earliest othodox religions and has lots of icons on his walls. I read two books on icons and learned that icons are instruments of prayer. To help you go deep, the eyes of an icon do not match. One eye looks at you and one gazes inward or upward to draw you to the divine. 

I stared at the examples in the book. Sure enough, the eyes did not match. Here’s a famous one of Christ from the 6th century. Even in the tiny space of this newsletter, you can’t miss the unusual unmatched eyes.

I closed the icon book, picked up a pen and wrote, “Dear God, I want an icon!” (I thought I was asking for an icon for my office wall Luckily, Spirits thinks bigger than I do.) 

Two weeks later, Jan Johnson, the president of Conari Press sent an email with an attachment of My Soul Page’s cover. I said a little prayer that I’d like it, opened it, and saw the owl for the first time. My eyes when right to his eyes. They didn’t match! The cover is an icon! This owl is not only the symbol of wisdom, he is an instrument of Spirit, leading us out of ourselves and into divine dialogue. Could there be a more perfect symbol of writing down your soul? My hands rushed to my heart and I cried.

The first shipment of My Soul Pages arrived last Thursday. The first copy is on my altar, the second went to my son, and then I mailed copies to all the members of Your Soul Wants Five Things. On Sunday, I brought one to yoga to give to Charlotte Starfire to thank her for introducing me to animal messengers so many years ago. As I handed it to her, the women in class stood around exclaiming: “Oh! I saw that the moment I walked in. I felt compelled to look at it, walk up to it, and touch it. What is that!”

If I’d had ten copies with me that night, they’d all be in new homes right now. Our owl radiates so much loving energy from both his wise owl-self and his holy icon-self. He is a double-blessing. I keep him on a stand next to my computer where he gazes at me all day long.

I feel our owl needs a name. I named my osprey guardian, Gabriel and love talking to Gabriel by name. But I don’t feel I should be the one to name our owl. He’s here for all of us.

So, I welcome you to sit with the owl, stare at his eyes, read about him in Animal Speak and Medicine Cards and other resources. Deep soul write about him. (I say “him,” but you may feel feminine energy.) Ask the owl what message it has for you.

And if you hear a name, please send it to me. I’ll put all the names in my little metal bucket and take them to Michael’s shrine next Wednesday, May 11, and ask Archangel Michael to pick our owl’s name. The person who submits Michael’s choice will receive a signed copy of My Soul Pages and the Seven Steps to Get Into Theta video.

What did the Owl tell you?