Musings, Human Design, Spirituality

The Awakening Owl

You may be wondering why my logo is that of an owl.

The simplest answer is because of my Origin Story, where I was in the midst of a Dark Night of the Soul and saw a giant owl on the side of the road! At first, as it was hunched over, I thought it was a groundhog or some other large critter, until it TURNED and LOOKED right at me. Honestly, I was so shocked that it was an owl that I nearly swerved the car and was so relieved that I didn’t! Then, when under a week later I heard what sounded like a red tailed hawk caw at 11p I knew that owl was trying to get my attention.

Of late, I have had other friends around town, those who are definitely of the woo-woo curious persuasion, have also been experiencing sightings. My owl seems to be getting around!

So, too, have people been having more and more experiences of awakening.

In truth - and in support of reality - the barred owl population here in Oregon is considered invasive as they are not considered native to this area of the country and are aggressively pushing the Northern Spotted Owl to extinction. The barred owl population is so vast, in fact, that just this past week, despite controversy, the state approved the culling of up to 350 barred owls from the Elliott State Research Forest over the coming year. While I will not comment on this controversy, I will merely say this: so, too, have “the systems in place” been attempting more and more to squelch the concept of “awakening”. But I digress…

What is “awakening”, anyhow? Well, it sounds exactly like the verb it is: the act of coming out of an unconscious state. In the spiritual sense, it is the process by which the journey of spiritual exploration begins to unfold, expand, and enlighten. The word journey here truly is the most appropriate, as the pathway through this unfolding is long, meandering, and life-long. No matter what kind of person you are, and no matter what you believe from a religious doctrine perspective, you have, at some point in your life, encountered the reckonings, realizations, and speculations of your beliefs. Some people walk away from spirituality, instead opting for living as a human and believing you will simply die, your mind and your personality ceasing to exist as soon as your heart and brain stops functioning. Good night. Others have walked a spiritual pathway since they were the youngest of ages, sitting at the foot of their adults, learning the stories of their beliefs, their ancestral lineages, and/or their nature of Being inside of this vessel that is of the human persuasion at this time and in this incarnation of embodiment. But most people likely came into their full awakening over the span of years, “trying on” various aspects of mindfulness, daily astrology, or a tarot reading before declaring an awakening occurred. It is not uncommon to steep oneself into the fantastical and revelatory before being forced to refocus back into the realities of life in the here and now, and/or needing to set aside their newfound beliefs due to pressures from family, from faith leaders, from anger or emotional disruption in systems that may have failed them in some way. Stepping away from an awakened life for grounded, tangible Earth-based experiences does not make that a wrong decision - it merely means that spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment is there for you when you return.

It is to this majority of folks that tend to experience an “awakening” at some point that this post is meant to support!

In my particular case, I grew up with a terribly immersive imagination where I connected with the earth more than I ever did sitting in a church pew (although I did that too). Raised Catholic, I was baptized and had my first holy communion; however, we walked away from the local parish when the Priest spent an entire sermon lecturing the congregation on how low the coffers were, and how much more money was desired - complete with handouts depicting the church’s expenses and donation expectations from all parishioners. My Dad walked out of church that day, saying “F that!” We never really made it back after that. Although I would go back from time to time: sleeping over at a friend’s house on a Saturday night also required me to attend services the next morning, or half-hearted attempts to attend CCD classes, or going to the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass because it was beautiful with all of the candles but we were happier sitting meditation-style during prayers. Our Girl Scout meetings were also held weekly at the local Methodist church, and I tried for one summer to befriend the “cool kids” at the Baptist Church, because they would have really awesome youth group gatherings: game nights, outings to go white water rafting, and unique opportunities to openly discuss religion before homeroom. But when the Pastor randomly ended up on our front porch to “indoctrinate” the family during dinner one evening, enraging my parents to a level I didn’t quite understand at the time, I quickly stopped being allowed to attend.

By the time I was 16, The Craft had been released and I found that the idea of being a witch was much more aligned to my personality than a stuffy, old church ever was, anyhow. Then, reading my first Scott Cunningham book sealed the deal, and I have proclaimed Paganism ever since… Ok, with a mix of Wiccan, the run-of-the-mill “kitchen witch” where I simply limited any ritual practice to “love and magic infusions” into the meals I cooked, and subscribing to more Buddhist practices as I aged out of the mysticism of my youth. I had come and gone from attempts at “practicing” any spiritual habits for a wide range and variety of reasons over the years, unable to narrow my focus, align with the idea of any coven, or felt comfortable performing rituals. Truth was, some of what I witnessed was ridiculous, some was outright terrifying, and mostly there were traumas occurring in my life that rendered the idea of an outwardly facing spiritual practice to not be “helpful”.

I have come to recently accept, however, that this was just all part of MY journey to now.

Because despite all of the ebbs and flows of life, I was always still quietly listening to the Universe. I knew there were no such thing as coincidences, I just wasn’t always paying attention. Life was too busy happening all around me to notice! But when I would slow down long enough to get an intuitive “knowing” - I always listened. And, because these were few and far between - but hugely impactful to major happenings in my life, these “knowings” would continue to rattle, disrupt, or even scare me. But I kept listening, despite being inconsistent in practice of anything substantially spiritual. And I kept allowing everyday realities to pull my emotions in unhelpful ways, which ultimately landed me in yet-another traumatic experience, spiraling downward into the deep, dark corners of my own existence yet again.

But the key point is this: awakening is permanent.

There are many, many ways into a spiritual path and even more types of awakening that can occur. For some, an awakening can occur through a violent, traumatic narrative, such as near death experiences, or NDEs. For others, a sudden shock, chaos, and disruption to normal life can throw many into what is now commonly referred to as a Dark Night of the Soul. In both of these examples, the awakening is fast, because suffering physical and emotional pain draws invisible thresholds that are crossed through opening the floodgates of awakening. Awakening can also take a more meandering path though, too, such as when being dragged out of a favorite dream. In fact, dreams, and especially ones that seem all too real to ignore, is a common awakening method. Another common example is that of mindfulness practices, where intuitive pings, transmissions from “voices’, receiving “downloads”, or your “gut feelings” that can no longer be denied are given true merit.

Guess what? They all count!

For me, I could no longer hit the snooze button on my fully awakening to what is coming next. In fact, my dabbling all of these years was actually laying quite the foundation! First, I needed to be in the right PLACE and SPACE: now residing in Oregon, after moving across the country twice, allowed me to collect my parents and my husband, aligning our futures under the protective, magical forests of the Pacific Northwest. Then, I needed to fully triangulate my Life Purpose - a tango I have been dancing around since before Covid, but I truly didn’t know to what degree my Life Purpose actually included all of the things that I loved: spirituality, helping others, and being a gigantic nerd! I needed to step into my role as a steward for guiding others through their awakening journey, a bridge from the past and into the future.

The Universe was adamant this time.

And then the owl appeared… Followed by my discovering Human Design.

It was a clarion call.

Last night, The Cricket sang a steady, mid-October song outside my window. This lone cricket, enjoying the last warm night for such an elaborate tune is a blessing that says “it is time. Your divine timing is now.” And then, out of one of my Oracle decks, I pulled this one card: Integrate. What you seek has been given. Rest to process these upgrades. And so I did. I fell asleep to the tune of the last song of summer, crossing the threshold during a waning moon, void of course between Virgo and Libra, the two signs of the changing of the equinoxes, when Persephone must return to the Underworld.

It is time to me to be a guide.

It is time for you to awaken.