The Magician - A Little Bird Told Me So...

After such a labouriously long Winter, the Spring is finally embracing us, albeit slowly. Some parts of the Maritimes had snow on the ground just this morning. Spring is a magical time when all seems right with the earth.

There are so many Hummingbirds this year, and I am absolutely enamored and enchanted by them, as they truly are magical creatures to me. If Hummingbirds could talk, what stories they would tell and teach us. Perhaps they would enlighten us about the inner guide they have to survive the journey, incredibly traveling thousands of miles, and what they went through to get here. Their tiny, almost miniscule body is remarkably strong, and these birds seem to have all the tools needed, with some assistance from the nectar of flowers, and from those of us that will provide sugar water in feeders, in order to help sustain their lives. Knowing inherently that she will need the flowers, and perhaps hoping and depending on the sugar water supplied by humans to keep her going, although she has no way of being certain. She simply trusts.



Having all the tools needed to support life is vital and important, but knowing also, that we are interdependent upon one another, upon on all of nature is essential to basic human survival. We also need a strong will and determination to survive and to thrive. It is a known fact if babies are not provided with their basic needs physically, and emotionally, they suffer and die from failure to thrive.

The Magician has all the tools set before him to use for himself, and to offer the Fool. The Magician although he is the inner guide, he is also the Trickster, and isn't always what he seems to be. He doesn't always provide for us, or for himself, all the right answers to our questions. Like us, he is born of light and darkness, in that he has both positive and negative attributes, and we have something to learn from both. Although the Magician urges us to decide, using discernment is where wisdom lies. This is the magic.

The Magician chooses what tools he will offer, just as the Fool has a choice to accept the tools offered. Things are not always as they appear. Like the Hummingbird, if we didn't know about the ability of this little bird, we would never have imagined something so small, would ever be capable of having such a strong will and determination.

We are all little birds in a big sky, not big birds in little sky. There is magic there to be found within ourselves, but not to be found independent from our environment and others that will help us to find that inner wisdom. It is up to us to accept what the inner guide offers, and we need to have the same will and determination found in that tiny magical Hummingbird.

Hummingbird - Catherine Meyers Photo

The video I have posted is of a rescued baby Hummingbird that this very kind fellow eventually released back into the wild, after nurturing the baby to health. That magical inner instinct kicked in upon release, and the bird came back to visit. It is a beautiful remarkable testament to the bonds between humans and  natures creatures that can happen based on trust and love. The sweetest thing ever, pure magic.

The Hierophant - The Hermit - The Way To Wisdom

In many decks the Hierophant is interpreted as the old order of traditional religious institutions often based on dogma and doctrine. This is not how the Hierophant is seen in the Mythic Tarot.
I relate this mythic figure to ancient wisdom and applying the spiritual teachings of those that can share these teachings with others, who are also searching for guidance.

The Hierophant and The Hermit I see in combination, as they both point the way to wisdom, that of the elder and to the cycle of life, passing on spiritual knowledge and inner wisdom, found through endurance, patience, grace and humility.

Having mentors, both philosophical and spiritual advisors, whether official or not, is so vital to us, especially in our world today where the family unit has been scaled down so much, it is practically non-existent. We have more people single, than married  in addition to an aging population.

Those coupled are having fewer and fewer children, if any at all. Baby Boomers, myself included, are single and childless. They are now endangered of becoming what has been referred to as, "Orphaned Elders" meaning, that, there is no one to advocate or look out for them when they are in need of help or care because they are living longer, without family, and alone. We all need to help one another regardless of our age and need to be prepared for this circumstance and situation.

Our western culture has lost it's sense of continuity, that once was basic to family life, that affirmed values, reflected in the care, concern and respect for our children and for our elders. Many ancient cultures understood this inherently. Unfortunately western society seems to have lost touch with these values. The young, elders and those marginalized, are  to often not regarded as valuable, or seem to be just another part of our  'disposable society.' perception and mentality

 I believe if this situation is not addressed individually or within our society, our culture is in serious jeopardy of losing it's identity, history and even humanity. However all is not hopeless. I believe in the power of the individual to make a difference by reaching out to one another in compassion, if not through immediate family, then through extended family. As human beings we are social creatures and we all have an interdependent relationship with one another and with all living things. We have so much to learn from history, and from those who have gone before, especially from our elders.

Elder - Graphite Pencil - Catherine Meyers

The Hermit - The Way To Wisdom

I love the Hermit card, as I have always had a thirst to understand spiritual matters. This is a card of strong healing, as a result of solitude, loneliness, patience, and from which comes, insight and understanding.

 Who is this Hermit? He is the ancient God Cronos, who's name means time. The Fool, the first Major Arcana card of the Tarot deck, has four moral lessons to learn, and the last of these, is the lesson of time within the cycle of life, and the lesson of mortality.

Deciding to move to the countryside, being in close contact with nature, has allowed me to focus my mind and heart. Through quite reflection, and the solitude of living alone has provided me with serenity amidst the storms of life.

Spending my childhood and early youth, and early adulthood in the city, I understand all that it has to offer. As an adult I came to the realization I was unhappy, and that I was the only person responsible for my own happiness. After asking myself, when was I the happiest in life, the answer came to me immediately. It was when I spent hours in the country. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to now live in rural Nova Scotia for twenty years.

Some folks don't understand why someone would want to live in the country. I understand why folks want to live in more urban city locations, but I know I would be very unhappy, and out of touch with that serenity and solace, that I had longed for since I was a child.

There is a deep part of my soul that has become the Hermit, and believe this is why I identify with this card so much.

 I think of the wise words that the late Robin Williams echos my thoughts and feelings about the Hermit.

  " I used to think the worst thing in life is to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." 

Canada Geese - The View From My Studio - Catherine Meyers Photography