Bird signs

[Collinsportgirl]

Hi, I’m hoping someone can help me with this. I’m a firm believer in signs and I know these two events were definitely signs but no idea what the meaning behind each visitation means. The first was an appearance of a white peacock in my yard in April ( April 23) of last year. We had lived there 7 years and never or heard any peacocks in the area especially white ones, neither had any of our neighbors. The second was two turkeys in July ( July 7) of last year. I knew instinctively both events were something special but beyond that I have no idea who/what sent them or what symbolic significance only that I felt blessed in their presence. The first was shortly before I began spirit keeping and a few months after my mother passed away. I have photos but I don’t seem to be able to post them, any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. I apologize if this has been posted in the wrong section but I wasn’t sure where to put it.

[Lewk]

Hi, I’m hoping someone can help me with this. I’m a firm believer in signs and I know these two events were definitely signs but no idea what the meaning behind each visitation means. The first was an appearance of a white peacock in my yard in April ( April 23) of last year. We had lived there 7 years and never or heard any peacocks in the area especially white ones, neither had any of our neighbors. The second was two turkeys in July ( July 7) of last year. I knew instinctively both events were something special but beyond that I have no idea who/what sent them or what symbolic significance only that I felt blessed in their presence. The first was shortly before I began spirit keeping and a few months after my mother passed away. I have photos but I don’t seem to be able to post them, any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. I apologize if this has been posted in the wrong section but I wasn’t sure where to put it.

It's worth stressing I'm not portraying myself as an expert/know-it-all but, as you've asked for opinions, I'll do my best to give a useful one....but it is from my own perspective.

I usually say I think meaningful signs, omens, coincidences etc carry messages that are primarily meant for the person that receives them. The rest of us are only going to be able to speculate. And we'll speculate from our own perspectives, not yours, if you see what I mean.

So: what is your gut feeling about this?

The number 23 is seen by some people as special. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_enigma But I'm not sure that's what's going on here. April 23rd is St George's day, a public holiday in England. 7/7 is also the date of a terrorist atrocity in England. 7/7 as a date contains 2 x 7s. I can't easily make sense of this, nor of the types of bird you saw - although they do seem unusual appearances.

But...you can see what I was doing with those dates: trying to find a pattern. This is one ability humans have that enables them to be successful in the world - noticing and analysing patterns. From that, humans have learned to understand the way the world works, leading to modern science. And that is what we do: we see/look for patterns in almost everything.

In prehistoric times, shamanistic cultures probably sent their young adults out into the natural world on what we might nowadays call 'walkabout'. A quest to meet your spirit animal or find omens/signs. The signs seen would really have meaning mainly for the person who was doing the quest. Yet they may also have been coached by a shaman and told what certain things meant. If this happens - if a prior intention is set - then I think signs may conform to that and be readable by a spiritual mentor.

Robert Anton Wilson (he's referred to in that Wikipedia article) used to say that the Universe tends to respond to what our belief system is. This is a mind-boggingly elegant way of explaining how it is that people with competing beliefs (ie whose religions each claim that theirs is the only True one and all others are false) can each get Signs that 'prove' that they're following the right path.

In my opinion, the tendency for the Universe to work this way isn't too far removed from the Law of Attraction mechanism, or indeed the way Magic works in this Universe. (The Universe responds to the way we think about it / intention and so on.)

So, from my point of view - yes, we can get all kinds of weird and wonderful signs. They can be incredibly meaningful but they are also perfectly natural. It doesn't necessarily mean something spooky is going on.

So: those signs may mean something, anything or nothing but what significance do they hold for you?

[Collinsportgirl]

Thank you. It’s possible the peacock could be a sign from my mother or a sign from the goddess Hera but I have no idea about the turkeys. Neither date holds any significance for me.

[cairngorn]

I second Lewk. That was well-said.

Also maybe it was less of a sign with meaning. You said you felt blessed by their presence, maybe their presence itself was a blessing. Less of a mystery to figure out, more of someone saying "hey, look at these birds!" Could be a message or someone could have just been trying to make you smile.

[WaterSunFireRising]

Hi!
My mom recently gave me this book on animal symbolism. I've used it once and it seemed accurate when I used it, so here is the info for Peacock and Turkey (:

The book is "Animal Messengers: An A-Z Guide to Signs and Omens in the Natural World" by Regula Meyer. They actually used to have this book in the CH shop but it's gone now I think.

Also, have you tried looking up animal symbolism online or just reading about the animals and interpreting their symbolism for yourself? I agree with Lewk that it's a good practice to find out what each symbol means to you personally (:

There's universal symbolism which is that a specific symbol means basically the same thing to everyone. Then there's personal symbolism which is that a specific symbol will mean something to each person personally. One person might claim that a snake is a symbol of healing while another will claim that it's a symbol of deception. So that's why it's important to find out what symbols mean to us personally (: (Just to add to what Lewk was saying).

But here are the book's interpretations for your fancy:

[WaterSunFireRising]

Again, this is from the book, Animal Messengers: An A-Z Guide to Signs and Omens in the Natural World" by Regula Meyer:

Maybe those will be helpful (:

As for posting pictures in the forum I use https://imgur.com
Just make an account here (if you like) and click on "new post" to post a picture on imgur. Then once you've posted something click on your profile picture (it's the circle in the top right corner of the screen) and it will give you a drop down box and in there you'll see "Images". Click on "Images". This will take you to the posts you've made. Then click on your posted picture. When you do this you'll see a bunch of links on the right side of the screen. Copy the link that's labeled, "BBCode (message boards and forums)". This is the link that you'll post into the CH forum (: Come back to the CH forum and paste that link and that should do it (:

[Collinsportgirl]

Thanks:)