original image - Verren's Dream
The lesson of the Hawk mask has taken a longer cycle to comprehend than many of the messages that come from peering through the magical eyes of another; to shift into an energy that is beyond the basic human comprehension of the world in order to glean spiritual insights.
Perhaps it is because the Hawk mask speaks to us of perspective; and how can that be a simple lesson?
It may have had added difficulty personally, as Goddess Morrigan spoke in meditation some time back and asked me to choose between two clans for the guidance of my future, and Hawk was the option I did not choose. It is difficult when you feel that you have rejected an energy simply by choosing another; which again, is perspective.
The intention was never to reject; but sometimes we must pick a path and walk it, which often seems at odds with how the world speaks to us; telling us that we can be ALL things, that we have more choices and options than ever before.
The truth however, is that the illusion of choice is often accompanied with a swift realization that it was an illusion; we are often guided to a decision (for good or ill.) Our reasoning and preferences have been shaped by the experiences of our lives, and it is not often that we step outside of what we know.
Fortunately, spiritual path walking can give us the opportunity to do just that.
The Hawk medicine began with lessons from the Nordic Goddess Freya; for Her cloak of shapeshifting is pivotal within the Nordic story of Thor's wedding - Loki (a God of Shapeshifting) borrows Her cloak and shifts into a Hawk; gaining the ability to fly.
To shift ones shape into the physical embodiment of a creature has long been a magical power associated with witches; some claiming it a physical possibility and others an ethereal one. Regardless, the act is quintessentially magical; unexplained, and coveted throughout time. Consider a power that ultimately affects the mind - it is used to trick anothers perceptions or to gather information to broaden our own (or both.)
It is the idea that the truth of a person comes when they feel that they are unobserved; that pressure to conform to anothers ideals shifts their behaviour; and is not a true telling of them.
This, I think we can agree, is definitely a factor within our lives. We embody different titles depending on whose eyes are looking at us, and although the root of the person is the same, it is all illusions that are placed on us by peoples need to understand and categorize another. This is not an inherently malicious act. human beings simply seek to bring structure and order to their lives and perhaps even the universe itself; the search for knowledge boils down to this driving urge; to know. Is this also an act of having power over the universe? That if we completely understand it then we are no longer at risk from the unknown? Or will there always be variables that can defy explanation?
Magick itself is a fascinating example; as some argue that to learn and understand the principles is to master magic, and others claiming that the detachment of mystique from the magical arts is its ruin. Once again; it is all perspective, and given that magic is highly personal and will likely not work if the individual feels that it cannot, then the importance of mystery is in the heart and mind of the practitioner.
The lessons of the Hawk bring a elevated sense of perspective; what does the world look like if we shift? If we rise above situations and seek to look at all angles clearly and without personal bias, can we better understand ourselves, and others? Can we evolve this way? I certainly believe so; in removing the "us versus them" mentality that plagues our world like a festering disease, we can remember that all people have emotions and experiences, that it is not ours alone that define the world.
If we shift into the essence of another being, such as Hawk, we remember the primal animal instincts of survival alongside the elevated spiritual lessons. If we tear each other apart then we, as human beings, are doomed to extinction.
The world is based on ecosystem; the interconnectedness of all habitats, all creatures, all souls. Human beings like to forget that, thinking themselves above it all (which ironically, you find out how untrue that perception is when you engage with hawk energy and truly fly above it all.)
The truth often crashes into us when disaster strikes; when the world churns with natural disaster and the sanitized cities find themselves in the throws of chaos.
Sadly, there will be people that claim one group of people deserved this, as though they are spiritually elite and beyond touch. That is again, false perspective for the sake of fake power. We are all susceptible to death; it unites us, and comes for us all.
Instead we should be reaching out to one another and seeking a sense of unity, before the human race finds itself extinct - from its own lack of ability to connect and empathize will all others around them.
The Earth is our Mother, and demands our respect.
Many blessings, Starlet
Joey