3.4 Talismans
“Feathers are messages from the Ancestors. If you find one, pick it up and keep it.”
-Cherokee Wisdom
Another form of supernatural aid is the talisman. These talismans can be anything from good luck charms to special magical items blessed by a shaman or healer. The only rule for talismans is that they mean something significant to the owner. I’ve found my best and most potent talismans in the woods while walking and just paying attention. When you’re open to the Universe, there’s no telling what she might reward you with, so keep your eyes open!
If you wish, you might make a medicine bag for carrying your talismans. Making your own bag out of cloth or leather adds a special touch and makes it even more powerful to you. While you could purchase one from a store, making it yourself lends a power to it that buying one could not. When you’ve made your medicine bag, you may place your talismans in it and keep them with you, especially when engaging in spiritual pursuits. Some people have small medicine bags to hang around their necks, while others make larger bags that may be worn around the waist. It’s all a matter of personal preference. There is no right or wrong way to carry your talismans. The “right” way is the way that seems best to you, and you alone.
Talismans are any objects that have significance to the owner. They are spiritual and symbolic reminders of ideas, ideals, or events that we wish to recall. Talismans may also be messages from our own supernatural aid. If you are seeking a message from a talisman, these questions may help you to decipher what your supernatural aid may be trying to tell you:
- How did your talisman present itself to you? What was the context? What were you doing at the time? How did it catch your attention?
- What supernatural aid do you need from your talisman? What do you hope it will tell you?
- When did you find it? Was it morning, afternoon, evening, or at night? Could there be any significance to the time of day in which you found it? What about the season and time of year?
- Where did you find your talisman? Be specific. Was there anything in particular about the location that contains a message?
- Why do you suppose your talisman chose this particular time and place to present itself to you?
3.5 Seeking Supernatural Aid
Whether you choose to seek supernatural aid from talismans, or animal totems, or nature herself, or from some other means, it may help to know how to go about it. Whether you see your own supernatural aid as coming from a divine source, or as coming from your own unconscious archetypes, or from some other source, one of the best ways to commune with that supernatural aid is through meditation.
Meditation stills the mind and quiets your thoughts and emotions so that your own inner voice may come through. When practiced for the purpose of seeking Supernatural Aid, the goal of meditation is not to find answers to questions. The goal of meditation for this purpose is to allow your soul and spirit to become quiet enough to hear the answers when they come from your own supernatural source.
When practicing meditation for the purpose of seeking Supernatural Aid, first formulate the question you’re seeking an answer to. Be as specific as possible in framing the question, so that when the answer comes, you will recognize it.
Next, do grounding and centering meditation, but don’t try to seek an answer to your question while meditating. Just focus on the stillness. After you have meditated, remain open to the nature around you for the rest of the day. Don’t actively seek Supernatural Aid; just allow yourself to receive it should it arrive. Be there, in the moment, with nature, and allow nature to speak to you in its own time.
If you’ve had little experience with meditation, the terms “grounding” and “centering” may be unfamiliar to you. Centering means directing your attention inward by letting go of distractions in the environment and focusing only on your own inner state of being. Grounding means rooting yourself to the earth so that you are not relying on your own energy. You are actually drawing energy out of the Earth herself.
One of my favorite grounding and centering meditations is the Tree of Life meditation. The instructions for this particular meditation follow below.
3.6 Tree of Life Meditation
Begin this grounding and centering meditation by finding a comfortable place to practice. If at all possible, this place should be outdoors. If you have a sacred space that you use for your spiritual practice, go to it. If your sacred space contains a tree, sit comfortably underneath it, with your back resting against the tree. By resting your back against the tree you are able to draw energy from the tree, so the tree chosen for this meditation should be a tree whose spirit is friendly to your own spirit.
If you must do this meditation indoors, sit comfortably in a quiet area that is familiar to you. Before beginning this meditation, center yourself by emptying your mind of all distractions. Start with a few cleansing breaths, making sure that your exhalations are longer than your inhalations. As you breathe, direct your attention inward. Do not proceed until you feel that you are centered. When you feel centered, go on to complete the meditation by following the steps outlined below.
- Begin the Tree of Life meditation by thinking of a color that gives you peace and serenity. This should be a color that brings you happiness, joy, and relaxation.
- Now visualize a small sphere of light in this color, radiating from your solar plexus, just above your navel. Picture this light flowing downward, out of the tip of your spine, into the earth below you.
- See the light branching off like the roots of a tree, drawing strength and energy from the earth. With each breath, you are drawing more energy out of the earth and into your spirit body.
- Your spine is becoming the trunk of a tree. The energy channeled within your spine is becoming the Tree of Life. Feel the energy rising from the ground to become part of your being. Feel the energy rise through the trunk of your spine into the crown of your head. See the energy as colored light, bursting forth from the top of your head. The light energy emerging from your head is branching off in all directions, reaching out to touch the heavens above with each exhaled breath.
- Watch the energy rise far above you, like the branches and leaves of the Tree of Life. Feel yourself becoming a part of all that is. You are merging with the life force of all existence.
- The energy beneath you is reaching deeply into the center of the Earth, drawing upon the life force of Gaia herself. The energy branching out above your head is reaching beyond the Earth. It is reaching to the stars. It is expanding into eternity.
- Now that you are completely grounded, seek your own supernatural aid by sitting quietly upon the Earth. You are not trying to go anywhere. You are not trying to do anything. You are simply enjoying the bliss of being. You are waiting quietly in the silence for your supernatural aid to present itself and to speak to you in its own way.
- Meditate on the silence, allowing your own supernatural aid to speak to you when and if it will.
- When you feel you are ready, you may close the Tree of Life meditation. To close this meditation, see the roots and branches of energy slowly returning to the center of your being. The energy of the life force is not leaving you, it is simply concentrating itself into your center of being.
When you have returned to this world, open your eyes, and open your spirit to the world that surrounds you. Be ready to receive your supernatural aid in whatever form it chooses to manifest itself to you. If your supernatural aid did not make itself known to you during this meditation, then the meditation itself and the stillness it brings is its own reward. You may try again on another day to seek wisdom from your supernatural aid.
3.7 Walking the Path
With visible breath I am walking.
A voice I am sending as I walk.
In a sacred manner I am walking.
With visible tracks I am walking.
In a sacred manner I walk.
–Prayer for Bringing the Sacred Pipe, White Buffalo Calf Woman
As you walk the Way of the Coyote, realize that you are not alone. When you set out to fulfill your destiny, things have a way of working in your favor. The stars align to assist you. Doors open. The Universe puts things in your pathway to assist you in your travels. Jung called this process “synchronicity.”
When you set out on your path, it is easy to get discouraged when things don’t always go as planned. The purpose of supernatural aid is to give you an otherworldly confidence in your ability to complete the tasks that lie ahead. Remember that as the trials appear, their purpose is to teach you what you’re capable of. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the journey. Mistakes are learning opportunities. If you never made a mistake, you’d never learn anything, because you’d be doing what you already know. Learning involves risk, and that is why your supernatural aid is there…to help you manage the risks along the way so that you may learn from them and not be overwhelmed by them. As you set off on your own personal journey in the footsteps of Coyote, rest assured that this is the path chosen for you. All the events in your life up until now have led to this moment. When things are difficult, keep this in mind. This is your destiny, so you will succeed. How could it be any other way?
