Power. Brought To You By The Number Eight
Last week, on one of those perfect summer mornings when the air is so clear it tastes like water, I was sitting on my deck with my eyes closed, soaking in the early morning peace. Waves murmured on the shore below, and the whistle-chitter of thrushes echoed from tree to tree.
Then the skin on my scalp prickled and my eyes flew open. No more than thirty feet away, eight golden eagles flew by, silent and powerful, skimming the treetops from west to east. Startled, I wondered if I’d imagined them, their magnificent wings lit by the morning sun, their lovely, silent flight.
They turned around and wheeled over the bay from east to west, then headed east again, along the exact same flight path they’d followed before. Their nine-foot wings rippled through the air just yards away from where I sat, spellbound. They made no sound, just flew silently by in a ragged, heart-stopping line.
For a long moment, I forgot to breathe. All the hairs on my arms and along the back of my neck prickled, electrified.
One more time, the eight eagles circled around and flew past.
Then they disappeared over the treetops, into the clear blue sky.
There isn’t really a point to this story.
Just the beauty of these wild creatures, their flight, their freedom. Power. Joy in action.
All week, I’ve been breathing in these qualities. Finding them in myself. In my clients. Remembering, in my body, those great wings lit by the sun.
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Thank you for that amazing moment of grace which I get to share vicariously through your words.
Lynne
Lynne Tolk´s last blog post..What if we ARE the fruit of the tree?
I like the number 8! ;-)
Thank you for another post full of grace.
All the best!
deb
Deb Owen´s last blog post..blamers & complainers & the offended, oh my! (do you have a victim mentality?)
After reading your most recent wonderful post I was inspired to blog and share a similar amazing experience of my own. Thank you for your continued inspiration!
Love and blessings,
Joy
Joy Rigberg´s last blog post..The Joyful Hummingbird
Thank you, Hiro, for your inspiring story and soul-deep reminder. And, Joy, thank you for also bringing the hummingbird lessons on your own blog. Opening to these relationships with our “other-than-human” beings is a real place of reverence and strength in my life.
What a gift it is to be home in the Pacific Northwest with these walks (or flights!) with the eagles!
I have gradually attuned to them and have been amazed at the powerful sound of their arrival – hearing them sometimes before I see them as they come out of the forest and fly close overhead.
As I was driving one summer day, a bald eagle flew from the tall cedars on my right and coasted in front of my car at windshield level over the yellow line for half a mile or more. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Those powerful wings beat while the white tail fluttered and the head scanned side-to-side. The eagle’s rhythm in flight was hypnotic and soothing, shifting my preoccupation with worry. The eagle cleared THAT right up and made its exit to the left into another grove of cedars and Doulas firs. It truly moved me into clarity and heart-space.
Yes, the power and majesty and clarity of seeing are gifts from our encounters with the eagles. It is always moment of grace each time, for which I am grateful.
I know there’s kinship when someone writes of their experience with bald eagles. Eagles and eight together make the world just right.
I’m in Redmond, over the 520 bridge from Seattle, and there’s a pair of baldies that live near the bridge. Sometimes they fish from the lightpoles on the bridge. Can you imagine? Thousands of cars passing 40 feet from them (air quality?).
I always wonder how many people even see them. I do and the day never feels complete without being able to say hello to “my” birds!
Thank you for sharing your magical experience, Hiro!