Bird Essences - Reflections on the energy of birds

The wings of the heart

“Would a bird build its nest if it did not have its instinct for confidence in the world?” Gaston Bachelard. What is it that makes birds so attractive? Birds are the guardians of the air. The humble messengers of trees. The masters of flow in a multidimensional reality. As humans, we are born with two innate fears: the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. Gravity is ingrained in the very core of our existence at this level. It allows life to be as we know it, and is at the same time a prison from which we subconsciously dream to escape of. Maybe as a primitive memory of floating in our mother’s womb, from ethereal dreams, or even as an earlier memory of cosmic unity, we all have some primitive weight-less experiences ingrained in our souls. What is it then that fascinates us so much about flying?

Flying inevitably inspires freedom. A freedom often tinted with a little bit of fear, and its maybe this same fear what makes it worth exploring. Flower Essences, as a common ground for us Vibrational Therapists, have a unique ability amongst all living creatures: plant cells are capable of receiving solar light and transforming it into storable energy through photosynthesis. As Edward Bach brilliantly perceived, this ability co-relates to the human consciousness, that absorbs information from the environment, and can decode and store it in the shape of knowledge, available for us to use in the future. We need Flowers to help us learn from our experiences, storing conscious knowledge that facilitates our healing journey, bringing insights and understanding at different levels. What do birds bring in?

Birds are not only amazing because most of them can fly. Let me tell you, in my words, some other facts about birds that really startled me, this might give us some clues around the gifts they can share with us:

• Birds can see a much wider spectrum of colours than humans do.

• They have a very big heart in comparison to their bodies.

• Birds have a highly complex respiratory system, with several air chambers distributed around their bodies and bones, which allows them to breathe in a one-way system and keep their body weight low.

• They don’t have teeth, most of them just swallow.

• They can control their metabolism and body temperature in incredible ways. Some of them, like the Green-backed Firecrown, can enter a state of torpor (keeping only the vital organs working) for periods of time. Others, like the Torrent Duck, can have different body temperatures in their feet, by sending cold blood to them and keeping the warmth next to the body.

• When migrating, birds can sleep one brain hemisphere at a time, so the other keeps working (wouldn’t it be great to be able to do this?).

• Some migratory birds, like Whimbrels, can sense where the poles are by storing magnetite in their beaks. They can also hear noises as far as the Atlantic on the other side of the continent when flying along the Pacific shores.

• By seeing the sun and the stars, plus using their senses, birds can not only orientate when flying through the globe but can actually navigate, which involves sensing exactly where they are.

But to learn all of this, and to really integrate it with the support of Flower Essences, we need to be grounded, and this is an area where bird essences surprised me because very often, the most spiritual of them, like the Magellanic Woodpecker or Cinereous Harrier, happened to be also the earthliest ones. Quite often for us, working in the field of healing, what really causes vertigo is not the spiritual world, but the one ‘down here'. I’ve learned from birds like the House Wren, that the fear of totally being present in the world is at the same time our biggest joy, the one that we can only experience here and now, and the reason for this physical experience. We are spiritual beings living a physical experience of love. You’re invited to this dance of life. To bring in more of this flow, of this grounding lightness. To live more fully through the senses. Whenever a Bird Essence is gifted, they use the opportunity to ask for one thing: that we care for each other and the planet we live in. That we remember that is a gift and take it in gratitude.

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This article was originally published in the Spring 2021 edition of Essence Magazine, from the British Flower and Vibrational Essence Association, BFVEA, UK.