The Bird of Humanity
Learning to Fly
We’re all born with a knowing.
Sometimes that knowing goes against what we are told by the people in authority.
For me, that came in Church and School when I was told by the adults around me that religions other than my own were inherently wrong.
Hmmm…really? That smelled like fear even to the Kindergarten version of me. The first of many inner red flags. I quickly learned that asking questions to the nuns was a bad idea. Best I keep all of my doubts about our prejudices to myself.
As an adult it soon became clear that when we are in the trees and too close to our experience, we are myopic and can’t see what needs to be seen even if it resulted in peace on earth.
Our egos need to be right and special.
Our perception clouds our vision and the best and fastest way to shift our experience is to get a birds eye view.
To rise up and shift our perspective. To be moved by life.
Growing up, one of the wisest beings in my life was this bright yellow eight foot two-inched feathered friend that as had a giant nest behind a lovely Brownstone at 123 Sesame Street.
Sesame Street is so loaded with symbols and allegories. Big Bird represents a child's limited understanding of the world. He takes everything at face value, unaware of innuendo, and frustratingly prone to constant misunderstandings.
He would eventually (often annoyingly) resolve the misunderstanding but he also helped lay down a layer of kindness deep in my heart so I wasn’t surprised to read that he was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress.
Devoid of any formal spiritual tradition, the deep wisdom infused in these Sesame Street characters (Mr. Dressup and Mr. Rogers) taught many of us about doing what is right. What it means to be a good neighbour, why it’s important to share, to tell the truth and why integrity matters. The shows shared spiritual truths in the way children could gobble them up and wanting to come back for more.
It was brilliant.
“Well it doesn’t matter whether we’re birds of a different feather, with a little cooperation we can make it together’.
Big Bird - (sharing wisdom since 1969)
There is an ancient beautiful Cherokee and Bahá’í prophecy that speaks about this particular century that I find fascinating as it aligns so beautifully.
In case you’re not familiar with it, the Bahá’í faith is one of the most beautiful and inclusive that I’ve come across in my travels. One of the most important principles of the Baha’i Faith is the oneness of religion, or the belief that all of the major world faiths teach the same fundamental truths and are entirely in agreement. The Bahá'í Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions originating in Persia (Iran) in the year 1844. Geographically it is world's second-most widely spread religion with about six million believers worldwide who come from virtually every cultural, racial, social and religious background on earth. Like a good idea worth spreading it’s catching fire.
It essentially sees that throughout history, God has sent to humanity a series of divine Educators—whose teachings have provided the basis for the advancement of civilization. These Manifestations have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muḥammad. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God. Bahá’ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
My spidey senses tingle when I read this. This feels like a YES deep in my bones. It aligns with the Principles in A Course In Miracles…
One TRUTH spoken in many different ways.
Before I share the story, it’s worth noting that I’m challenged to find a single spiritual tradition that does not use birds as symbols.
In Native American culture, birds and in particular the eagle is most often desired as a totem. The eagle is considered a strong connection between earth and sky energies with its heightened view, keen sight and insight. The eagle also represents spiritual growth and is considered the spirit keeper of the eastern direction or air quadrant of the Medicine wheel.
On the other side of the world, The Garuda is a mythical deity featured prominently in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Garuda is depicted as having the body of a human and the beak, talons, and wings of a bird. In the Mahabharata, an epic poem from India, the Garuda is born from an egg with a huge ring of fire about it.
In Christianity, we see powerful birds like eagles as pictures of strength, and owls representing desolation (Isaiah 34:11). In sacred art, the Holy Spirit is depicted as a dove, as He appears at the baptism of Jesus, while the finch is associated with Christ's Passion, and the peacock with immortality.
Universally birds are associated with balance, wisdom, higher vision, inner strength and spiritual enlightenment.
The Bird Of Humanity
This particular ancient Bahai and Cherokee prophecy dates back thousands of years.
It tells the tale of how The Bird of Humanity has a male wing and a female wing.
“The world of humanity has two wings – one represents women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.”
Essentially, the Bird of Humanity has been flying for centuries with primarily only its right or male wing growing stronger and the female wing has been unable to extend fully.
In fact, our left wing of Humanity has atrophied considerably.
Due to this, the male (or yang/alpha) wing has gotten overly developed to the point of domination and violence, and the bird of humanity has been soaring in circles unable to fly in a straight or “true direction”.
This inherited ancient prophecy says that in the 21st century (that we are now already officially 23 years into), the female (or yin/omega) wing will fully extend and express itself fully in both men and women.
The male energy or the yang energy will be allowed to relax a bit and The Bird of Humanity will soar.
Green light. This really hits home for me.
Matter & Spirit, Yang & Yin, the Alpha & the Omega. Doing & Being.
IN balance.
If there was an ancient story to ever summarize the whole point of my own work, it’s this story in another faith.
To help Humanity find its true power to soar by developing our individual and collective female or feminine wing.
A balanced world will result in ecosystem homeostasis, empathy, justice, compassion, kindness and love as an equal part and player to our current bottom line of money, power and technological advancement.
This will enable our overworked masculinity to relax a bit.
To get present with our depth dimension and intuition where it’s been patiently waiting for us to call on it. It’s the biblical still small voice within.
The full potential and expression of our higher selves.
Within women (and men) lives the feminine, the yin, and also called the omega principle. This principle has long been "cast out" or "shamed" within society, however; this is the very essence that our world is needing now.
It's the exhale to our inhale, the silent wisdom that whispers, the intuition, the connection to our earth, humanity, love, and creator.
I’ve heard Lynne Twist refer to our current century as “The Sophia Century”. (**Sophia meaning “wisdom.” From the Greek σοφία, Sophia was an important Hellenistic, Platonic, and Gnostic concept denoting cleverness, intelligence, and wisdom—even forming the root of the word philosophy, meaning “love of wisdom.”)
As a women growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s I learned that productivity and hustle was venerated. The adults around me demonstrated a Protestant work ethic. A patriarchal effect that by assimilating to it, women who entered the workforce and learned to adapt to the masculine could survive and even thrive. To become “one of the boys” was the goal, to prove ourselves and fit into corporate culture often at the expense of our intuition. Even women’s fashion reflected this conformity. While some women did wear suits at the turn of the century it became mainstream in the 1960’s. Here is Yves Saint-Laurent’s first suit in 1966…
It is more important than ever to soften into our divine feminine again. During this century women will take their rightful role in co-equal partnership with men. It feels right to me, the same way seeing women wearing running shoes with their suits in transit looked right to my young eyes. Comfortable. To be clear, this is not about skirts and heels, it’s an energetic way of being in BOTH men and women.
I can see now from this higher perspective that my own depression was caused by my over-masculinity.
My body needing a deep rest from putting on a smile and from the exhaustion I felt pushing through. It was an act. I was being what I thought was the right way to be. Productive. The adrenaline high can only carry us into mid-life if we’re lucky and then our body starts to fight back to help get us back on track or our relationships implode.
Something had to give.
This applies to ALL of us. This is not a gender thing. The Patriarchy is not about men and they are not to blame. It’s something we co-created and agreed to on an energetic level and we’re now entering an age where we need to face ALL of our creations.
It’s a time of reckoning. Humility. To see the truth of what we’re been doing to our planet and one another.
A re-atunment to our true nature to find our way.
Learning to trust our own pace, rhythm, and ways of creating and being productive.
To focus less on achievement and more on connection and being love so we can start to fly in a straight line and stop circling the sky in a self destructive suicidal dive bomb.
It’s as though we’re driving impaired or under the influence of our egos.
“I'm learning to fly
But I ain't got wings
Coming down
Is the hardest thing.”
Tom Petty
We all depend on both polarities to be whole.
Holy.
I love the idea of BRAIDING ourselves: where the two parts of us become one.
That our masculine productive strong individuality can serve the feminine or the good of the whole. To recognize that our souls ARE connected and our bodies and every cell in our body is infused with this conscious intelligence that IS connected to all.
All of creation is divine and animated with this life force energy.
Native cultures have known this since the beginning of time. There is no separation between matter and spirit~ they are one and the same.
Science has demonstrated that matter only morphs into a particle when a wave is animated by an intelligent observer. It’s hard for our minds to grasp but I smiled when I read Einstein’s observation that “time and space is an illusion of consciousness, albeit a persistent one”.
Let’s allow ourselves to take in the native and spiritual teachings of all of our ancient spiritual traditions to heart and stop asking for proof or signs at every turn. I find it fascinating how hard Jesus tried to encourage us have faith and stop asking for proof. We can’t help it with our overdeveloped masculinity and ego. We want to see something before we’ll believe it, and that’s not how things seem to really work on this blue marble.
Everything originates from thought. From spirit and then it becomes matter or experience. Nothing comes into form in the world without first being imagined.
An awakening is taking place and this century to this reality and it’s the perfect time us to shift towards the possibility of world peace, ecological regeneration and freedom.
To stop telling the masculine story that we are separate from the earth or one another and need to do this alone.
And do as Big Bird suggests:
Cooperate. The Latin prefix co-, meaning “together,” and operari, meaning “to work.”
The term “co-op” is a shortening of cooperative and is used when people work together like a Corporation - our business works better as a sum or whole body when everyone plays their role in service of the wellbeing of the whole company, the employees, the shareholders, the community and the greater good of all. Corporation in Old English literally means combining in ONE body.
Many successful companies seem to get this. The son of a French-Canadian blacksmith created a successful company that many of us know and love on this premise…Yvon Chouinard.
“I've found the cure for depression is action.”
— Yvon Chouinard
The company is Patagonia.
The higher awareness of what it means to exist in our divine self as one with nature and each other is a realization of Truth.
To have a new realization of who and what we are and why we’re here.
A new identity so we can change from this deeper place to do what is right for the whole.
All of us has a role to play to help with this escalation of humanity.
The instructions are to love and forgive one another and ourselves.
TO BE OURSELVES. Intact. As we were created. Our true nature is not to be resisted for us to be in harmony and balance.
I love this prophecy because it doesn’t make anybody wrong.
It’s like we are all feeling sick and we don’t realize that it’s because we’re pregnant with possibility and it’s more like a morning sickness. A sign of beautiful things to come.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
…‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.” And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new”, then he said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.…“Behold I make all things new.”
The Book of Revelation
To be balanced in both IS our natural state.
Let’s all give credit where credit is due. We can thank that well-intentioned masculine energy for building our infrastructure, our cities and our homes.
It has given us technology and science. It’s amazing!
But we can no longer measure success in the material plane alone. We can use our rational minds and learn more about our depth dimension. With this comes our capacity to heal our suffering, to shift our perceptions we must not hurt our masculine wing just become fully expressed in our femininity so our masculine can relax a bit and we can find some equanimity.
Then we’ll effortlessly be able to do what this fine feathered balanced bird seems to be doing magnificently….
SOAR!
Be lifted by the tail wind of life by aligning our OWN wings in this newly balanced way first.
Let’s all imagine THIS bird so together we can make a quantum evolutionary leap and transcend our lower levels of consciousness, heal our own neurosis, inspire our communities and empower others to soar right along with us.
The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over women by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting – force is losing its weight and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age, less masculine, and more permeated with the feminine ideals – or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced.
Abdu’l-Baha: “Baha’u’llah and the New Era”, 1976 U.S. edition, p. 156
Ready for lift-off??
I AM (pun intended:).
With love,
Rev Nona
ps. Please raise your hand if you didn’t roll down your windows and sing Tom Petty’s “FREE FALLIN’ ” at the top of your lungs in 1989. I don’t believe you.
My girlfriend Laura and I were so excited to have tickets to see his last concert in Toronto in 2017, but her flight from Europe was running late and they had their sweet baby Kate in tow so by the time we got downtown from the airport there would have only been time for maybe one final song and a possible encore left. I ended up just driving them straight home and we reassured ourselves we’d see him another time.
We both regret it to this day.
Sadly we lost a musical legend when he accidentally overdosed on prescription meds that same year. I was surprised to hear it and curious what he felt he needed to get through the day. Rolling Stone reported that it was Fentanyl, Oxycodone, Xanax, Restoril (a sleep aid) and Celexa (to treat his depression). One of the most commonly prescribed cocktails that promises to help us feel better or “fly above” our pain.
"Everyone has tragedy in their life," Petty told ABC News in 1991. He was inspired by a pilot, who said the hardest part about flying a plane was coming down from the air. "You can lay down and let the tragedy overwhelm you, or you can fly above it, and I think that's sort of what I'm trying to say in that song.
Tom Petty