Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Tuesday's Twists & Turns

Spirit Animals as Guardians


Like many people I know, I have an abundance of memories of my childhood. And like many of those same people, those memories take on both the dark and light, some were good, some were great and others were not so good. Recently I have been having a visitor in my dreams, he comes to me on soft feet and I know no fear, for he has been sent as a guardian. In reality, he is the spirit form of my Dad's best friend, my Uncle from childhood and a very wise if sometimes foolish man.

When and how they met will always be a mystery to me, some say they met on the streets of Old Tucson when they both worked as stuntmen in the daily gunfight shows, I honestly cannot remember a time when he wasn't part of our family. He was wild, crazy, loved hard and hurt deeply. I tend to remember him as the jokester, the one who made sure everyone was laughing in every situation. If he couldn't get you to laugh at the situation, he made damn sure you laughed at him. Some of the stories they told were funnier than any I had ever heard before, and if you didn't know him, you wouldn't have believed even one minute of the tale he told.

Then one day he came to visit after being away for quite a long time and I knew without him saying a word he was a changed man. Yes, he still laughed and his smile was so much brighter, but hidden in those jokes he told, there was a new appreciation for everything around him. It's like he saw the world through new eyes and in a way he did. You see, he had spent a great deal of time with the Apache Indians in New Mexico and became part of the community when he was made blood brother to their Medicine Man or Shaman. With his newly found knowledge, he was more spiritual, gave you things to think about when he spoke and taught us some of the things he had learned.

He didn't tell us things that would betray the confidence he had gained within his new family, nor did he treat us any different. If you listened you were able to hear what he was saying without words and this is where I first understood I wasn't alone in my search for something other than the belief I had grown up in. He was instrumental in opening my Dad's eyes to the changes my daughter began to make in her life when she was about 13. He gave me validation to look beyond what was right in front of my eyes, to search beyond the fence line.

As with my parents, this Uncle of mine no longer walks the earth in his human form, he passed into the Spirit World where he has been greeted by his ancestors sometime in 2011. Now he visits me in his Spirit form as Wolf and is guiding me along my path, giving me direction with spirit connections and communications. I recently found out that many times in many Native American traditions the wolf is considered to be the highest spiritual teacher in the kingdom, even above the hawk and eagle. I also found Wolf will manifest into many different Spirit guides, from Totem or Familiar, Spirit Animal Messengers, to The Shadow Animal, just to give you a few examples.

Uncle has presented himself to me in the guise of a Shadow Wolf, I have lessons I have yet to learn and he will stay with me until I fully understand the things he is trying to teach me. Someone told me when the Shadow Wolf comes to you, it is usually when you are at the time of your greatest adversity and confusion. I believe this to be true for me. We are facing some enormous challenges in our home. And I have some things in my spiritual path that have been holding me back. I have begun to work on these and feel the touch of his gentle paw guiding me when I don't fully comprehend the lesson I need to learn.

Be patient Uncle, I am listening and I am learning ...