There are lots of conversations about Familiar Pets and Witches. Lots of questions about how a Witch would use the power of a Familiar and all that fun stuff that new Witches want to know about. I’ve had some strange experiences with a few of my pets in my life but not all of them. Just because they are a pet doesn’t necessarily make them a Familiar. For me, my familiar is a familiar Spirit and I’ve been strangely connected to a couple of my pets. I connect way better to people though.
…And that is what brings me to this conversation about the Strength Card and The Cockatoo.
I woke this morning with stories in my head about this and that. I know my weakness is to tell my crappy stories with a point but when they come up, I have to tell them in whatever form I can. So, with this type of morning, I usually have to write it out and my mind made a connection for me and I thought someone else might benefit too.
As I was sitting with my Boyfriend in the morning drinking my hot cup of Chicory, the cockatoo was out with us during our morning family conversation. In the morning, we love to spend time talking about our dreams we can remember and whatever comes to mind. My boyfriend pets the cockatoo as we chat in the morning. She is a lot like having a little kid around.
As we were reminiscing about the fun times and happy memories, my boyfriend was petting the bird. I realized how much that bird and I are alike. Is it because she is a creature of the air and I’m an air sign? Maybe it’s because she’s a cockatoo and I’m a Gemini. I’m not sure but I totally began to relate to this cockatoo. As I watched her and my boyfriend interact, I watched her persistently nudge her way into his lap where she could nestle into his abdomen while he rubs her cheeks which is one of her favorite types of petting. He didn’t really want her on his lap but she ended up there anyway.
I thought to myself, “This is the example of how the Strength Card works”. I realized that this beautiful and crazy cockatoo had a message for me. She has something to teach me. I have something to learn from this bird. She may not be my familiar but she is definitely a totem animal here in my life with a lesson that if I apply it correctly can take me places in my life that I’ve only dreamed about.
The strength card isn’t about physical strength. It is more depictive of the power of persuasion. I’ve been getting this card in Tarot readings and couldn’t quite imagine what it would look like in real life to see this type of strength play out, so, I couldn’t quite figure out how to use this type of strength. How the hell am I supposed to execute this behavior that I don’t really understand? In our modern way of life, I’ve realized that the power of persuasion is actually the power to influence. That little bird has such an influence over my boyfriend that although he protested what she wanted, she persuaded him to allow her to sit on his lap, nestled into his stomach for cuddles and a cheek massage.
She didn’t get all bitchy which is what I tend to do. She didn’t yell at him to get her way. She didn’t bite him or otherwise bully him into submission. She simply, lovingly nudged him and pushed her way to her desire and encouraged him to pet her the way she wanted to be petted. It was so gentle and caring. Not at all overbearing or mean. Although she can be quite intimidating like the bird in the video below… and she can definitely chew us a new hole for being gone too long, she can still influence her environment to get what she wants and influence everyone around her to WANT to do it for her because she is so danged cute…
What is the lesson in this that I learned from our crazy cockatoo? Well, I’m a freaking Gemini, I don’t have to be a bitchface to get people to cooperate. I can use my adorable side to persuade others and fight the instinct from my serious side to be forceful and pushy. There is a difference between being forceful and pushy and influential and persuasive.
It tells me that I am creating my own resistance with my natural urge to force things along. The Universe works in its own time and to try to force things along will only create resistance. If I simply encourage things to move along and keep going in its own time, all things will work out just the way it’s supposed to be.
Why was my mind open to this message? Well, I’ve been working on self-development and I read my runes and some oracles and the season it is when I’m writing this is the Autumnal Equinox and for me, this season represents change. I understand the messages that come to us will come to us in ways that we can understand them. That’s why it’s so frustrating for many experienced witches when someone posts, “I found a black feather on my doorstep, what does that mean?”. It means something specific for you that others may not understand because the message is for you, not them. But once you figure out the message and you learn from it, that’s when you say this happened and this is what I’ve learned.
The best question to ask in this instance would be something like, “How do I learn to interpret my own messages the universe, my deity, or the angles (or whatever you work with) is sending”. I often speak of the magic in the mundane. There is so much information in our environment around us that all we have to do is ask the questions and be open to receive the answers.
Lately, I’ve been making demands of the universe in regards to a project I’m working on. With this project, I’m like, “I can’t do this unless I have this or that”. As long as I don’t ask for money, I get it by the next day. Strange as hell but no surprise. My last message from the runes was to take my focus off my goals and start listening to the universe for direction. I did just that and realized I was going in the wrong order of things.
I became open to receiving the messages all around me in the mundane and this is one of the lessons I’ve connected today that actually is connected with all the messages saying the same thing to me.
Don’t disregard the value in your environment and everything that surrounds you. The mundane is full of resources, all you have to do is recognize them.
I am thankful for this lesson I learned from this very special bird we have in our family.
May you find peace everywhere you look,
