Animal Signs: The Bald Eagle

Today's picture is of Cornelius. A friend sent me the information on him and I wanted to pass it on. Cornelius lives at the Mountsberg Raptor Centre within Mountsberg Conservation Area in Ontario. The centre is home to 14 different species of native birds of prey. Many of the Raptor Centre's resident birds of prey have permanent injuries that have left them incapable of surviving on their own in the wild. In many cases, these injuries were caused by human activity. With the help of these feathered ambassadors, the Mountsberg Raptor Centre teaches the community about the native birds of prey that share our environment and how to reduce the negative impact we can have on them. They have a great website at
http://www.conservationhalton.on.ca/ShowCategory.cfm?subCatID=1455


This is the statistical information from the site about Cornelius:

Cornelius
Species: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Hatch Year: 1994
Arrival at Mountsberg: September 1994
Gender: Male
Injury: Permanently damaged left wing
Life History:
Cornelius was originally admitted to the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. He was found in Sioux Lookout and rescued by the MNR. As a young bird, Cornelius flew into a power line and damaged his wing. Before he could be rescued, his wing healed, causing his left wing to be deformed and shorter than his right wing. Due to the way his wing healed, he cannot extend it fully and can only fly short distances.

Cornelius was the second Bald Eagle that made his presence known to me this weekend so I thought I'd better pay attention to this animal sign.

In Shamanic medicine, the Eagle is considered one of the powerful energies of the sky. But we are encouraged to consider the eagles deeper meaning as well. The Eagle teaches us that life looks different from an aerial perspective and we should take a new view on the challenges in our lives. If we aren't finding solutions easily it may be because our vision is too limited and we are seeing only what is glaringly obvious. The Eagle encourages us to not depend exclusively on intellectual solutions, but also to connect to the spirit, and the knowing that goes beyond intellect. This echos the right and left brain connection of the Third Eye Chakra in earlier posts.

The Eagles' powers are considered to be independence, vision, and strength. The Eagles' home is in the sky, where he fearlessly flies above, bridging heaven and earth.

The Eagles' beak and jaw are the strongest part of his body. It is designed for breaking and crushing. We are reminded to pay attention to our speech and how it affects others. The lesson is to control what we say, how much, and when. Uncontrolled talk can hurt. You could break or crush people with your words.

The Eagle reminds us to take a step back and look at the big picture. View the past and present objectively, so that we can see past restrictions that might be holding us back. The Eagle is said to teach us to courageously face our fear of the unknown, so we can fly as high as our heart can take us.

The Eagle symbolises a state of being that is reached through inner work and reclaiming personal power. It is the ultimate balance between heavan and earth. The Eagle shows you to love the shadow as much as the light.

In order to soar like the Eagle, you need to see everything as a gift from the universe, confident and trusting in your abilities.