Recently one of my clients asked me how to tell the difference between a random strange happening and a sign/omen.
She had a cool story.
“I was on the phone with my husband and we were having an intense discussion about something that could change the course of our future. I walked outside to my garden and there was a huge red tailed hawk sitting on my garden fence just looking at me, about five feet away from me. I have never seen a hawk there before or again since. The hawk stared me down and didn’t move until the second we reached a decision and hung up the phone. Then the hawk flew away, but it left me a big feather.”
“How do I know it was a random, or if it was a sign? And if it was a sign, how do I tell what it means?”
This is a common question that most of us sensitives and intuitives have. You don’t have to be a professional psychic to experience the power of signs and omens; you just have to be tuned into noticing them.
We all have the capability to be intuitive; it’s part of our human experience. And gives us a competitive edge in life, if we follow it. More importantly, it is how our SOUL speaks to us, giving us important course corrections as we move through our lives. Up to us if we choose to listen or not. And you know what happens when you don’t, right?
Since intuition is soul stuff and comes through our feelings not our minds, it always appears in the form of symbols. I totally love the scene in the movie Bruce Almighty where Jim Carey is begging God for a sign and there are literally signs (Stop! Go Back!) falling off the back of the truck in front him, but he is not putting two and two together. I am sure God was shaking his head over that one, as no doubt our own souls do all the time too.
There is a definite art form in being able to interpret these kinds of symbols, and it’s difficult to logic them out. One must be adept at the art of interpreting symbolism and think the very best psychics not only get good hits, but they also are skilled and interpreting the language of symbols.
This is a very left brained activity and you can increase your ability to do it by practicing. Learning to interpret your dreams is a fabulous way to strengthen this skill as is any creative endeavor. I also recommend learning the use divination tools such as the Tarot cards. In fact my Tarot teacher never let me use a book to learn them, I had to learn by interpreting the symbols in the cards, as if each card was a dream.
There is both a universal symbol library and also our unique personal symbol library. Books about archetypes and dream symbolism can help us learn to decode the universal (at least to humans) library. Water often presents our emotions; books represent knowledge, things like that. These are also impacted by what culture and generation you belong to.
In our hawk example, I asked my client to look up the meaning of hawk in a reference book about the power animals. Hawks are the messengers according to the shamanic tradition. They show up to get us to pay attention to a message. When you see a hawk it’s like a big arrow pointing to something so you notice it.
But we also have a personal symbol library, which often takes precedence over the universal meaning. So I asked to her think about what a hawk meant to her. She said she thought she needed to pay extra attention to the conversation because the hawk was acting outside its normal behavior. In this case it meant to REALLY, REALLY pay attention and she might have otherwise glossed it over as not such a big deal, had the hawk not been there.
It could have been a casual off the cuff decision that turned out to have far reaching (and positive) consequences for her family, but for the presence of the hawk. So she really listened. She didn’t fluff it off or object without really thinking things through.
How do you tell when a hawk is just a hawk and when it’s the messenger? The simple answer is that you feel it. There is a significance, an energy about a real sign. It’s good to learn the signals that your body gives you in those moments. For me, signs are accompanied by a whole body shiver and a frisson of energy, like static in my hair. Look for how your body sends nudges you in those moments.
Look around and pay attention. Each of you will receive this powerful intuitive guidance in a unique way.
Some people get them in dreams, others are numbers people, seeing number sequences in clocks and license plates.
Maybe your signs come through the natural world; clouds, animals even the weather.
Perhaps you walk into the bookstore and a book falls off the shelf at your feet. Or messages come through songs on the radio and how they play on your phone when you shuffle your music.
I notice what people say to me and if I hear the same thing from three different people within a week, I always pay attention.
Someone else I know seems themes and messages on her Facebook feed and can tell which ones are random and which are a part of the pattern of the message.
How do them come to you and do you listen? And what happens when you don’t?
