Topic: Hummingbird

[Nichi]

Great footage of Allen's Hummingbird

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[Nichi]

Hummingbird, Power Animal, Messenger of Joy

Unknown Author

Hummingbirds gifts include the ability to heal by using light as a laser from mouth, endurance over long journeys, ability to fly into small places to heal, joy, happiness, love, timelessness,

The hummingbird brings special messages for us. It is a teacher of joy, and their lessons are many.

Hummingbird is the smallest of all birds. It is the only creature able to stop dead in its tracks whilst travelling at full speed. It is also unique in that it is able to fly backward and sideways, and can also hover, go forward, up or down.

The hummingbird also possesses an unusual hovering pattern, and is able to move its wings in a figure of eight pattern, a symbol for infinity. This holds a message for us - often we find ourselves stuck in time, regretting or longing for the past, or hoping that the future will bring better things, building castles in the sky. We are shown how to view the past and then let go, rather than be continuously caught up in it, we learn how to appreciate that the past creates are future, and that even at the time some lessons were harsh and hurtful ones, we wouldn’t be who we are without these lessons today. We need the past to create the future, but mustn’t dwell in it, yet we may reflect on it bur not in a bitter cant-let-go manner. If we become the observer of our lives by moving back a step, our lives will be viewed differently.

Hummingbird teaches us to go beyond time and to see that what happened in the past and what may happen in the future is not nearly as important as what is occurring now. Remember to hover in the moment, and to appreciate its sweetness. Drink deeply of the nectar of life.

As well as living off small insects, the hummingbird lives on nectar and it is always searching for the sweetness of life. With its long tongue it is able to get past the often tough and bitter outer layer only to discover the sweetness below. Flowers and plants love the hummingbird - as it sucks the nectar from the flower it pollinates. Because of this, many cultures link the hummingbird to the healing properties of flowers and herbs. In many traditions, hummingbird feathers have been revered for their almost magical qualities. It is said that the hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can, and its presence brings joy to the observer.

The vibrating hum of this birds wings and their lightness seem to symbolise the subtle energetic healing which essences can provide. Their physical lightness is a powerful reminder for us to lighten up. When weighed down with worries, our spirits cannot soar. The hummingbird further deepens this message with its rainbow-iridescent feathers which have caused some species to be named after precious stones, such as the ruby-throated species.

People with this power animal, adapt easily to whatever situation they come into, and make the most of their new circumstances.

Also, they could never become addicted to any artificial stimulants, for they find joy in their own heart, and are happy and find even more joy in spreading joy, love and beauty to all around them. They also have the ability of taking their inner joy into new and different surroundings. They have a knack for seeing the good in people, and aren’t put off by a gruff or hard front, as they know that below this surface goodness and beauty reside.

They may also be naturals at working with flowers, perhaps growing them to share with others, or using flower essences for healing such as aromatherapy. If this is your guide, you have high energy and a spirit that must be free. If you become caged, restricted, your wonderful, free, loving energy suffers great depressions and feelings of uselessness.
http://www.shamanicjourney.com/article/6165/hummingbird-power-animal-messenger-of-joy

[Nichi]

Is The Hummingbird Your Totem Animal?

Unknown Author

Sometimes an animal or a bird will mysteriously come into our life and begin to haunt our consciousness. The image of that animal becomes associated with our sense of who we are and where our values come from.

Certain species in the Americas have done this in particularly powerful ways: These include the wolf, the raven, coyote, the jaguar, the quetzal, and the eagle.

The hummingbird also is a common totem animal. Many people develop a mysterious bond with this tiny creature.

In many traditional cultures of the western world the hummingbird has powerful religious and spiritual significance.  In the high Andes of South America, for example, the hummingbird is taken to be a symbol of resurrection. This is because each hummer becomes lifeless and seems to die on cold nights, but it comes back to life again when the miraculous sunrise brings warmth.

 

In MEDICINE CARDS: THE DISCOVERY OF POWER THROUGH THE WAYS OF ANIMALS, Jamie Sams and David Carson say that, for many people, the hummingbird is the creature that opens the heart.

When we assume hummingbird consciousness, our life becomes a wonderland of sensuous delights. We live for beauty, delighting in flowers, aromas, fine mist, and delicate tastes.

When it becomes our totem, the hummingbird teaches us to laugh and enjoy the creation, to appreciate the magic of being alive, and the truth of beauty.

Hummingbirds awaken us to the beauty of the present moment. As they dance the four quarters of embodied exisence, they bring us medicine to solve the riddle of duality. They also awaken us to the medicinal properties of plants.

In ANIMAL SPEAK, Ted Andrews says hummingbirds teach us how to draw the life essence from flowers. "They can teach us how to use flowers to heal and win hearts in love."

Hummingbirds teach us fierce independence. They teach us to fight in a way where no one really gets hurt. They teach us simple courage. Andrews says the twittering, vibrating sounds of the hummingbirds bring us an internal masage that restores health and balance.

Hummingbirds also inspire us to protect the environment and to preserve old traditions that are in danger of being lost. When Native American ways were being destroyed by the expanding Euro-American culture, the Ghost-Shirt religion was established to try to bring back the animals and old ways through dancing. The leader of the dance was a hummingbird.

Certainly hummingbird magic is available to all who live in the New World. There is something inside the soul of all of us that wants to soar through sunbeams, then dance midair in a delicate mist, then take a simple bath on a leaf.

There is something in our souls that wants to hover at beautiful moments in our lives, making them freeze in time. There is something in us that wants to fly backwards and savor once more the beautiful past.

Some of us are just hummingbird people.
http://www.hummingbirdworld.com/h/totem.htm

[Nichi]

Sections of this were previously posted...


Native American Mythology

Hummingbirds are found only in the western hemisphere, so they are absent from the traditional fairy tales, legends, and myths of European and African Americans. There is, however, a rich supply of stories about these tiny birds in Native American mythology.

A Mayan legend says the hummingbird is actually the sun in disguise, and he is trying to court a beautiful woman, who is the moon.

Another Mayan legend says the first two hummingbirds were created from the small feather scraps left over from the construction of other birds. The god who made the hummers was so pleased he had an elaborate wedding ceremony for them. First butterflies marked out a room, then flower petals fell on the ground to make a carpet; spiders spun webs to make a bridal pathway, then the sun sent down rays which caused the tiny groom to glow with dazzling reds and greens. The wedding guests noticed that whenever he turned away from the sun, he became drab again like the original gray feathers from which he was made.

A third Mayan legend speaks of a hummingbird piercing the the tongue of ancient kings.  When the blood was poured on sacred scrolls and burned, divine ancestors appeared in the smoke.

 

A Mojave legend tells of a primordial time when people lived in an underground world of darkness. They send a hummingbird up to look for light. High above them the little bird found a twisted path to the sunlit upper world where people now live.

There is a legend from the Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation of Puerto Rico about a young woman and a young man, who were from rival tribes. Like Romeo and Juliet, they fell in love, precipitating the intense criticism of their family and friends. Nevertheless, the two of them found a way to escape both time and culture. One became a hummingbird and the other a red flower.  The Taino Indians also take the hummingbird to be a sacred pollinator, whose mission is to bring an abundance of new life.

To the Chayma people of Trinidad, hummers are dead ancestors, so there is a taboo against harming them.  An extinct Caribbean tribe called the Arawacs thought it was Hummingbird who brought tobacco.  They called him the Doctor Bird.

In a Navajo legend a hummer was sent up to see what is above the blue sky. It turns out to be absolutely nothing.

In a Cherokee story, a medicine man turned himself into a hummingbird to retrieve lost tobacco plants.  In another Cherokee story, a woman is courted by both a hummingbird and a crane.  She first chooses the hummingbird for his good looks, but the crane convinces here that there should be a race around the world with the winner having her hand in marriage.  She agrees, thinking the hummingbird is bound to win because he flies so fast.  What she fails to take into account is that Crane can fly all night long, while Hummingbird is able to fly only during the day.   Crane wins, but she reneges on her promise, because he is so ugly.  The Creek Indians have a similar story.  In this version Crane wins because he flies in a straight line, while Hummingbird zigzags.

Hopi and Zuni legends tell of hummingbirds intervening on behalf of humans, convincing the gods to bring rain. Because of this, people from these tribes often paint hummingbirds on water jars.  The Hopi kachina for Hummingbird depicts him with green moccasins and a green mask.  He has an aqua body, and he is yellow on top of the head.  H is crowned with a ruff made of Douglas fir.

One of the Hopi stories is about a time of famine when a young boy and girl were left alone while their parents were searching for food. After the boy made a toy hummingbird, his sister threw it into the air.  It came to life and began to provide for them by bringing an ear of corn every day. Eventually, the hummingbird flew to the center of the earth where it pleaded with the god of fertility to restore the land.  Rain and green vegetation came, then the children's parents returned.

In a Pima legend a hummingbird acted like Noah's dove, bringing back a flower as proof the great flood was subsiding.

There is a legend from Mexico about a Taroscan Indian woman who was taught how to weave beautiful baskets by a grateful hummingbird to whom she had given sugar water during a drought. These baskets are now used in Day of the Dead Festivals.



An Apache legend tells of Wind Dancer, a young warrior, who was born deaf, but could sing magical, wordless songs that brought healing and good weather. He married Bright Rain, a beautiful, young woman whom he rescued when she was being attacked by a wolf.

Wind Dancer was killed during another errand of mercy. A bitter, death-bring winter ensued, but it suddenly and mysteriously ended after Bright Rain started taking solitary walks.

Tribal elders learned Wind Dancer had come back to her in the form of a hummingbird. He wore the same ceremonial costume and war paint he had worn as a man. In fields of spring flowers he would approach her and whisper his magical secrets in her ear. This brought her peace and joy.

 

The Pueblo Indians have hummingbird dances and use hummingbird feathers in rituals to bring rain.  Pueblo shamans use hummingbirds as couriers to send gifts to the Great Mother who lives beneath the earth.

To many of the Pueblo the hummingbird is a tobacco bird.  In one myth Hummingbird gets smoke from  Caterpillar, the guardian of the tobacco plant.  Hummingbird brings smoke to the shamans so they can purify the earth.

Some Pueblo Indians have a ritual for babies that are stillborn or die in the first few days of life.  Prayer sticks with hummingbird feathers are held before the sunrise on the winter solstice in a ceremony that hastens re-birth.

One Pueblo story tells of a demon who is blinded after losing a bet with the sun.  In anger he spews out hot lava.  The earth catches fire.  A hummingbird then saves the beautiful land of people and animals by  gathering clouds from the four directions.  Hummingbird  uses rain from these clouds to put out the flames.  This legend says the bright colors on a hummingbird's throat came after he fled through the rainbow in search of rain clouds.



In Central America, the Aztecs decorated their ceremonial cloaks with hummingbird feathers. The chieftains wore hummingbird earrings.   Aztec priests had staves decorated with hummingbird feathers.  They used these to suck evil out of people who had been cursed by sorcerers. 

An Aztec myth tells of a valiant warrior named Huitzil, who led them to a new homeland, then helped them defend it.  This famous hero's full name was Huitzilopochtli, which means "hummingbird from the left." The "left" is the deep south, the location of the spirit world. The woman who gave birth to Huitzil  was Coatlicul. She conceived him from a ball of feathers that fell from the sky.  Huitzil wore a helmet shaped like a giant hummingbird.

At a key moment in an important battle, Huitzil was killed. His body vanished and a green-backed hummingbird whirred up from the spot where he had fallen to inspire his followers to go on to victory. After Huitzil's death, he became a god.

The Aztecs came to believe that every warrior slain in battle rose to the sky and orbited the sun for four  years.  Then they became   hummingbirds. In the afterlife these transformed heroes fed on the flowers in the gardens of paradise, while engaging from time to time in mock battles to sharpen their skills. At night the hummingbird angels became soldiers again and followed Huitzil, fighting off the powers of the darkness, restoring warmth and light. As dawn broke, the hummingbirds went into a frenzy. The sun rewarded them for this by giving them a radiant sheen.

In an Aztec ritual dancers formed a circle and sang a song which included these words: "I am the Shining One, bird, warrior and wizard." At the end of the ritual young men lifted young girls helping them to fly like hummingbirds.

There is another Aztec legend which says the god of music and poetry took the form of a hummingbird and descended into the underworld to make love with a goddess, who then gave birth to the first flower.




One of the widespread beliefs is that hummingbirds, in some way, are messengers between worlds.  As such they help shamans keep nature and spirit in balance.  The Cochti have a story about ancient people who lost faith in the Great Mother.  In anger, she deprived them of rain for four years.  The people noticed that the only creature who thrived during this drought was Hummingbird.   When they studies his habits, the shamans learned that Hummingbird had a secret passageway to the underworld.  Periodically, he  went there to gather honey.   Further study revealed that this doorway was open to Hummingbird alone because he had never lost faith in the Great Mother.   This information inspired the people to regain faith.  After that the Great Mother took care of them.
http://www.hummingbirdworld.com/h/native_american.htm

[Nichi]

Hekura Song (Iramamowe's)

After days of calling the hekura of
the hummingbird,
she finally came to me.
Dazzled, I watched her dance.
I fainted on the ground
and did not feel as she
pierced my throat
and tore out my tongue.
I did not see how my blood
flowed into the river,
tinting the water red.
She filled the gap with precious feathers.
That is why I know the hekura songs.
That is why I sing so well.

Shabono .....
Florinda Donner

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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1089904644387224

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Anna

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https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10202843992322487