Joy, Happiness, Love

Drinking Nectar From the Flower of Life

The hummingbird may be the smallest of birds, but it is also the most fascinating. Anyone who has ever seen this tiny bird is filled with a sense of wonder and joy. It’s name comes from the vibration of its wings as it flies or hovers. We have all heard how good it is to whistle while we work, but humming is much more effective. It creates an internal massage, restoring health and balance. This is what the hummingbird reminds us to do. It reminds us to find joy in what we do and to sing it out.

There are over 300 species of hummingbirds. This is very significant. In the Hebrew alphabet, the letter “shin” is given the numerical value of 300. This has associations with fire and relationships, the past and the future. As we will see later, this is even reflected in the wing movement of the hummingbird. It has the ability to move its wings in a figure 8 pattern – a symbol for infinity and links to the past and future and the laws of cause and effect.

Hummingbirds have long bills and tongues that enable them to extract nectar from flowers. In fact, they could not live without flowers, and many flowers could not live without pollination by hummingbirds. Again this reflects the mysteries of cause and effect that the hummingbird can teach so that you can extract your own nectar.

Hummingbirds have knowledge of how to use flowers for healing. This includes their fragrance, their colour, and herbal qualities as well. They can teach you how to draw the life essence from them and create your own medicines as in the case of Bach flower remedies and other flower elixirs. They can teach you how to use flowers to heal and win hearts in love.

The hummingbird is the most skillful flyer of all birds. It can hover in the air. It can fly backward, forward and sideways. In fact, it cannot walk; it flies everywhere. It reminds us that if we truly enjoy what we are doing, we become light as a feather, and life is rich with nectar.

The hummingbird can reach high speed at take off but it can also stop immediately. It is such a skillful flyer and is not afraid of any predator – even known to chase off eagles.

No other bird can fly backwards. This reflects the hummingbird’s ability to explore the past and to draw from it the nectars of joy. The hummingbird can help you to find joy and sweetness in any situation. It’s swiftness is always a reminder to grab joy while you can – as quickly as you can.

The iridescent colours have also caused it to be associated with rain. More specifically, it is associated often with the rainbow of promise that follows the rain.

Hummingbirds are very playful.

Hummingbirds are fiercely independent. Except when mating, they like to be alone and free, seeming to revel in that freedom. During the mating ritual, the male does anything he can to gain the attention and affection of the female. If the female chooses to mate, she returns the attention, otherwise she just flies off.

Mother hummingbirds are hard workers. This is necessary, for they receive no help from their mate. She will usually lay two eggs, again very symbolic. Two is the number of the inner self, the feminine to which we must give birth and expression to find our own joy. Hummingbirds are master architects. They build their homes with great care and design. Some are very intricate, but each is unique to itself.

Hummingbirds can also hibernate overnight. The body temperature will lower, it’s feathers will ruffle up as insulation and it will assume a state of torpidity. It will appear to have died on its perch. This is done to Prevent exhausting the energy supplies necessary for it to live – while allowing it to rest.

The ruby-throated hummingbird is a wonder of migration. Every winter it makes an amazing journey. For several days it will eat and eat, storing up food and energy in its tiny body. Then it will fly for days and days to get to a warm climate. Some have been known to make a journey of 2500 miles or more, from Alaska to Central America. Scientists still are unsure how it is able to store up enough energy to accomplish such a journey. But it does, and because of it the hummingbird is a symbol for accomplishing that which seems impossible. It will teach you how to find the miracle of joyful living from your own life circumstances.

(Excerpted from ANIMAL SPEAK by Ted Andrews)

“…When I work with a client who is embarking upon an epic life journey, I help her to connect with the energy of hummingbird. This is not only an inspiring metaphor for a journey but an energetic connection with this nature principle. Once touched by the energies of this archetype, we are propelled on our own epic journey that eventually leads us back to our source, where our spirit was spawned. In that ancestral field of flowers, we can drink deeply from the nectar of our lives.

…helps us embark on great journeys despite tremendous odds. When there is not enough time, money, or know-how for what you are attempting, hummingbird can provide the courage and guidance necessary for success.

 ... Living beings seek to explore and discover. This instinct is operant in every one of us. When we deny the call of hummingbird, we begin to die. When we settle for comfort over discovery, or compromise the soul’s longing to grow, we begin to wither. When we reawaken the great instinct to learn and explore, our lives grow less trivial and mundane and become epic.”

Excerpted from the book, “Shaman, Healer, Sage” by Alberto Villoldo, a famous teacher, writer, and Shaman Healer. His book is an excellent introduction to the life of a Shaman or spiritual healer.