Symbolic Meaning of Humming Birds

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believer
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Symbolic Meaning of Humming Birds

Post by believer » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:50 am

I once heard that Humming Birds are symbols of Angels?  Does anyone know anything different?




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JewelOfTheSouth
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Post by JewelOfTheSouth » Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:33 am

In many traditional cultures of the western world the hummingbird has powerful religious and spiritual significance. In the high Andes of South America, for example, the hummingbird is taken to be a symbol of resurrection. This is because each hummer becomes lifeless and seems to die on cold nights, but it comes back to life again when the miraculous sunrise brings warmth.


In MEDICINE CARDS: THE DISCOVERY OF POWER THROUGH THE WAYS OF ANIMALS, Jamie Sams and David Carson say that, for many people, the hummingbird is the creature that opens the heart.
When we assume hummingbird consciousness, our life becomes a wonderland of sensuous delights. We live for beauty, delighting in flowers, aromas, fine mist, and delicate tastes.

When it becomes our totem, the hummingbird teaches us to laugh and enjoy the creation, to appreciate the magic of being alive, and the truth of beauty.

Hummingbirds awaken us to the beauty of the present moment. As they dance the four quarters of embodied exisence, they bring us medicine to solve the riddle of duality. They also awaken us to the medicinal properties of plants.

In ANIMAL SPEAK, Ted Andrews says hummingbirds teach us how to draw the life essence from flowers. "They can teach us how to use flowers to heal and win hearts in love."

Hummingbirds teach us fierce independence. They teach us to fight in a way where no one really gets hurt. They teach us simple courage. Andrews says the twittering, vibrating sounds of the hummingbirds bring us an internal massage that restores health and balance.

Hummingbirds also inspire us to protect the environment and to preserve old traditions that are in danger of being lost. When Native American ways were being destroyed by the expanding Euro-American culture, the Ghost-Shirt religion was established to try to bring back the animals and old ways through dancing. The leader of the dance was a hummingbird.

Certainly hummingbird magic is available to all who live in the New World. There is something inside the soul of all of us that wants to soar through sunbeams, then dance midair in a delicate mist, then take a simple bath on a leaf.

There is something in our souls that wants to hover at beautiful moments in our lives, making them freeze in time. There is something in us that wants to fly backwards and savor once more the beautiful past. The Aztecs came to believe that every warrior slain in battle rose to the sky and orbited the sun for four years. Then they became hummingbirds. In the afterlife these transformed heroes fed on the flowers in the gardens of paradise, while engaging from time to time in mock battles to sharpen their skills. At night the hummingbird angels became soldiers again and followed Huitzil, fighting off the powers of the darkness, restoring warmth and light. As dawn broke, the hummingbirds went into a frenzy. The sun rewarded them for this by giving them a radiant sheen.


In an Aztec ritual dancers formed a circle and sang a song which included these words: "I am the Shining One, bird, warrior and wizard." At the end of the ritual young men lifted young girls helping them to fly like hummingbirds.


There is another Aztec legend which says the god of music and poetry took the form of a hummingbird and descended into the underworld to make love with a goddess, who then gave birth to the first flower.

One of the widespread beliefs is that hummingbirds, in some way, are messengers between worlds. As such they help shamans keep nature and spirit in balance. The Cochti have a story about ancient people who lost faith in the Great Mother. In anger, she deprived them of rain for four years. The people noticed that the only creature who thrived during this drought was Hummingbird. When they studies his habits, the shamans learned that Hummingbird had a secret passageway to the underworld. Periodically, he went there to gather honey. Further study revealed that this doorway was open to Hummingbird alone because he had never lost faith in the Great Mother. This information inspired the people to regain faith. After that the Great Mother took care of them.

"There is nothing more normal for hummingbirds than fighting."

"They also fight when it isn't necessary. Most hummingbird species are very territorial and try to chase off all intruders, even if there is an abundant food supply for every hummer that could possibly come." But the hummingbird fights without harming...posturing, if you will, for the sake of the fight and/or territory...and will not fight if there is a lack of food. (Conserves its energy, or works together?) Perhaps the hummingbird feels so small compared to the rest of the world he must fight for the sake of proving himself/herself? But when it is all said and done, when it truly matters, the bird knows better than to take on that which is beyond itself...and will pretty much only "fight" other hummingbirds!

The fact of the matter is, the hummingbird can and DOES carry it's own mass quite effectively, it's method is merely a different method than that of other birds...perhaps, more like an insect, and yet a bird all the same, just like the Robin or the quail or even the buzzard. No less bird simply because the line it flies is not straight. The hummingbird must battle such "linear thought" constantly, although it perseveres...and accomplishes much!

Accept your methods, defend your methods, and realize when a battle is beyond your realm and limitations.
Maybe just "be" is the lesson of the hummingbird...

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Humingbirds

Post by believer » Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:55 pm

Jewel of the South,

Very cool information, as I watch the Hummingbirds come to my feeder, I will definately look at them differently.  I think they are one of the most unusual species of birds.  Fun to watch!

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Post by JewelOfTheSouth » Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:29 am

I love hummingbirds too! My grandfather used to love them and planted morning glories just for them.

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Julie
The Universe Always Keeps Her balance. Lady Karma always shines through the darkness....

dessa
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Hummingbird

Post by dessa » Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:06 pm

I noticed that Jewel of the South had listed some really great information,

Also there is an author Susie Green her book is Animal Messages

Humming Bird

Constancy in Love ~ The Magic of Flowers

Delecate iridescent beauty of balm, sun kissed climes, only Humming Bird of all the feather denizens of the skies, can float stationary in the air - a rainbow haning before the blossoms whose nectar she sips.  Humming Bird's wings beat twelve thousand times a minute, there tips wonderously describing the symbol of the infinite - an elongated figure of eaight on the side - while creating heavenly sweet music.  Music can transport us to other worlds and open us to a concerto of emotions, from deep sorrow to boundless joy.  If Humming Bird has flown into your life, embrace music, let its magic open your heart and mind to love, wonder, and joy, so that you may experience the boundless, honeyed bliss that life can bring.

HUmming Bird's slender dainty beak reaches deep into the tropical blossoms from which she feeds, allowing her to harvest their bounty with her fine tongue Humming Bird is faithful to the plants that sustain her so liberally - sword billed Humming Bird drinks only from datura, Woodstar from hibiscus - and in doing so ensures their polination and conditinued abundance in the world.  Bee sips mainly from flowers of yellow and blue while Humming Bird almost always sips from those whose petals are red, the color we associate with love.  Hummingbird knows that passion and devotion flourish and grow when hearts are constant, and that there is little more injurious to love and crushing to the spirit than infidelity. If a partner is unfaithful, it is time to soar away and taste the affection of another. If you no longer love exculusively it is also time to fly away before you bruise another being and take away something essential from within your own soul that will leave you less open to love the next time it is offered to you.

Flowers are intrinsic to Humming Bird and will have great meaning for you particularly if they are red. If Humming bird has flown to you, you will find that surrounding yourself with bloooms will lift your spirit and creating a wildflower garden simply by scattering a few seeds will provide you with a restorative space that lightens your heart.


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Ted Andrews/Animal-Speak:
Keynote: Tireless Joy and the Nectar of Life
Cycle of Power: Daytime
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. Its 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 message, restoring health and balance. This 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 3000. 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 from 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 color, and their 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 humming bird can reach high speed at its take off. It can also stop immediately in flight from a high speed. It is such a skillful flyer and is not afraid of any predator. Humming birds have even been 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. Its swiftness is always a reminder to grab joy while you can--as quickly as you can.

Because of its iridescent colors, the hummingbird has been named for jewels and glittering stones--i.e., the ruby-throated hummingbird. It has also come to be associated with the Faerie Realm. One species has been called the wood-nymph hummingbird and another the purple-crowned fairy.

The iridescet colors have also caused it to be associated with rain. More specifically, it is associated often with the rainbow promise that follows the rain. To the Pueblo Indians, the hummingbird's rainbow coloring, its great strength in flying, and its hovering about flowers, has associated it with various ritual practices. Prayers sticks and ceremonies were used to bring the rain and help with endurance.

Hummingbirds are big eaters, and most of their food is comprised of the nectars (sugars) of the flowers, although they will also eat tiny insects. The hummingbird may eat 50-60 meals a day. Because of its small size and its high degree of activity, it loses body heat quickly, so it must digest food quickly. Individuals with hummingbird totems should watch their own sugar levels. Are you getting too much or too little? Are you not getting enough sweetness in your life? Are you not savoring the sweet things in life.

Hummingbirds are very playful. Even when bathing--and they bathe often--they play in the water. They also seem to fight with each other, although no one seems to get hurt. Now scientists pretty much agree that these are only mock fights for exercise and fun.

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. If the hummingbird has taken up residence in you, you may wish to redecorate. It may be telling you to do something to create joy in the home.

Hummingbirds can also hibernate overnight. The body temperature will lower, its 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. For those with the hummingbird as a totem, it is important to get regular and deep sleep and rest. It will be necessary so that you do not burn yourself out.

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 are still 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.

*Bobby Lake-Thom/Spirits of the Earth:
Hummingbird is a very good sign. She is a good-luck messenger. She takes our prayers to the Great Creator. She is a doctor and healer. The Hummingbird has the power to travel long distances under great odds and obstacles. Her colors promote healing and balance. She is very smart and very spiritual. She can teach us how to soul-travel, develop psychic powers of the mind, and how to be graceful.

*Patricia Telesco/The Language of Dreams:
The energy of pure joy to keep you aloft the flower of the world, extracting the nectar of life wherever you go. This is the only bird in nature that can fly backward. As such, consider what part of the past you're retrieving for productive review. Love. In folk magic, hummingbird feathers were a common component in love charms. Just take care that this is not forced or manipulated. Such a relationship will not last.
Among the Native Americans and Basquwe people, this represents total honesty. They believe that hummingbirds cannot tell a lie. Reveling in freedom and playfulness. Scientists have shown that these birds seem to enjoy both tremendiously. How much free time or play time have you had lately?

*D.J. Conway/Animal Magick:
This beautiful iridescent bird is found only in the Americas. There are hundreds of species of hummingbirds. Except for some large species in the jungles of South America, this creature is extremely small, some no bigger than bumblebees. It is the only bird capable of backward flight; its wings can beat fifty-five times a second. It has a very thin, long beak and a long tonuge, making it possible for the bird to feed while suspended in the air.

A fearless thing for its size, the hummingbird exhibits superb precision flying, especially during ferocious battles between males during the mating season. I've seen our cats creep alongside of the house rather than expose themselves to the high-speed bombing runs of hummingbirds streaking between the porch railings.

The Mayans associated the hummingbird with the Black Sun and the Fifth World of their legends. Their deity Quetzalcoatl was considered to be a hummingbird god and, as the Feathered Serpent, wore its plumes. Although the feathers of this bird were used in love charms, the Aztecs had a war god, Huitzilopochtli ("the hummingbird on the left"), who wore a crown of these plumes.

Superstitions: It is believed by many that hummingbirds migrate by hitching rides on larger birds.
Magickal Attributes: Happiness, love, relaxation. Don't be so judgmental. Love and happiness in your life.

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Denise Linn/The Secret Language of Signs:
Are you too busy and frantic in life? Is it time to slow down and relax? Hummingbirds represent the absolute energy and joy in delving into the nectar of life. They can fly up, down, and even backward. Expand your joyous energy in all directions.

*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Hummingbird warns of frequent indecision; mental vacillation.

*Zolar/Encyclopedia of Signs, Omens, and Superstitions:
Should a hummingbird pick at a girl's breakfat, it is said that she will marry during the year. If she is already married, a woman will have a child within the year. In Latin America, hummingbirds are thought to be a refuge of dead souls.

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Joy



Life is a wonderland of delight -
darting from one flower to another,
tasting the sweet nectar and
radiating the colors of the rainbow.

Hummingbird a symbol for accomplishing that
which seems impossible.
It can teach you how to find the
miracle of joyful living in your own life.

 
Hummingbird medicine is herbal; it shows us how to use flowers for healing.
They teach us how to draw life essence from flowers
and create your own medicines.

This totem reminds us to explore the past and extract the sweetness from it.
It can help you find joy and sweetness in any situation.
Grab joy as swiftly as you can.

Hummingbird reminds us to find the joy in what we do  and to sing it out.

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Hummingbirds's Wisdom Includes:

Ability to heal by using light as a laser from mouth
Endurance over long journeys
Ability to fly into small places to heal
Joy
Happiness
Love

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The Hummingbird

The hummingbird brings us the gift of beauty. The ruby throated hummingbird is one of the most common species in North America. This energetic little bird migrates 1800 miles from the Eastern US to spend winter in Central America.  This distance alone indicates the hummingbirds stamina and perseverance.  They can show us how to go the distance without becoming depleted.

When hummingbirds mate, the male claims a territory and attracts a female to it. When she appears, he does a courtship dance, flying back and forth in a perfect arc. The arc symbolizes a luminous bridge connecting one life to another. Male hummingbirds start the process of procreation and the female completes it.  The arc then becomes a circle, a cycle of completion.  When the hummingbird flies into our lives it can indicate a need within ourselves to complete a specific lesson that we have been avoiding.  Once the mating act is done the males go to look for other females.  The mother lays and incubates the eggs for the required 16 days and then raises the young by herself.  The number 16  is important for those with this medicine.  It represents change within a 16 day period.

Hummingbirds flap their wings at the fantastic rate of 90 beats per second during normal flight and up to 200 beats per second during courtship, giving them their humming sound.  They have excellent maneuverability in flight.  They can hover in the air, fly backward, forward and sideways.  The hummingbird flies everywhere because it cannot walk well.  Hummingbirds have the advantage of seeing things from all angles and can show us how to expand our perceptions.

Hummingbirds are small but expend so much energy flying that they require large amounts of sugar rich flower nectar to stay alive, having to eat twice their body weight a day.  Because of its small size and its high degree of activity, it loses body heat quickly, so it must digest food quickly.  Those with this totem need to watch their own sugar levels and take care of their digestive system.

The hummingbird serves to remind us of the beauty  and wonder of the world.  While their speed and sound may sometimes startle us, they help pull our attention out of the mundane so that we can acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of Creation.

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*Jamie Sams & David Carson/Medicine Cards:
Joy. Hummingbird is associated with the Ghost Shirt religion, which taught that a certain dance done properly would bring about the return of the animals, and that white people would disappear. Once again the Original People would know the joy of the old ways. In Mayan teachings, Hummingbird is connected to the Black Sun and the Fifth World. Hummingbird can give us the medicine to solve the riddle of the contradiction of duality.

The song of Hummingbird awakens the medicine flowers. Hummer sings a vibration of pure joy. Flowers love Hummingbird because nectar-sucking brings about the reproduction of their families. Plants flower and live because of Hummingbird.

Hummingbird can fly in any direction--up, down, backwards and forwards. Hummingbird can also hover in one spot and appear to be motionless. Great Spirit created Hummingbird to be slightly different from other feathered creatures.

Because of their magical qualities, Hummingbird feathers have been used for a millennium in the making of love charms. It is said that Hummingbird conjures love as no other medicine does, and that Hummingbird feathers open the heart. Without an open and loving heart, you can never taste the nectar and pure bliss to life. To Brother and Sister Hummingbird, life is a wonderland of delight--darting from one beautiful flower to another, tasting the essences, and radiating the colors.

If Hummingbird is your personal medicine, you loe life and its joys. Your presence brings joy to others. You join people together in relationships which bring out the best in them. You know instinctively where beauty abides and, near or far, you journey to your ideal. You move comfortably within a beautiful environment and help others taste the succulent nectar of life.

Hummingbird holds the Bow of Beauty which is delicately inlaid with gold and silver flowers, pearls, and precious jewels. Hummingbird disdains ugliness or harshness, and quickly flies away from discord or ddisharmony.

If Hummingbird has flown into your cards, get ready to laugh musically and enjoy Creator's many gifts. Drop your judgmental attitude and relax. Hummingbird will no doubt give you a flash of the spirit, darting here, there, and everywhere. Get ready for a strange new burst of energy which may send your senses reeling.

Hummingbird hears celestial music and is in harmony with it. Hummingbird may invite you to an art museum or a concert. Hummingbird energetically embraces the highest aesthetics.

Never be coarse in front of Hummingbird, for this is a fragile medicine which may have no understanding of worldy affairs. Beauty is the target, and Hummingbird's mission is to spread joy or to be destroyed. Hummingbird quickly dies if caged, caught, or imprisioned.

Follow Sister Hummingbird and you will soon be filled with paroxysms of joy, and experience a renewal of the magic of living.

Contrary: If contrary Hummingbird is in your cards in any configuration, it speaks to you of matters of the heart. How or why has your heart center closed? Have you done something callous to another, causing them to shut off the love they once felt for you? The contrary Hummingbird may presage sorrow and the inability to see the many blessings we two-leggeds have been given and the primordial beauty that surrounds us. If contrary Hummingbird sings its forlorn song, perhaps you should journey into your personal pain and know that your sorrow is your joy in another reflection.

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believer
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Hummingbirds

Post by believer » Sat Oct 04, 2008 12:24 am

Wow - Dessa,

Awesome info, thanks so much!

Believer

dessa
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Post by dessa » Sat Oct 04, 2008 6:49 am

Thank you it is kind of you to say so, I hope that it is something that can be useful for you.

take care be well

mystic67
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Post by mystic67 » Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:42 pm

Hummingbirds definately represent joy to me, and if they appear in your life often I think they may bring the message to
you to let more joy into your life. I love it when all of a sudden you start seeing a certain animal all the time.
D

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PetraVanilla
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Post by PetraVanilla » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:06 pm

Thank you for all the info, guys, I just had hummingbirds come back into my life via a bracelet i got for my b-day... so cool!!

Blessings, love and light!
Petra
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Learn about what I do :) http://petrasando.us

kiliemah
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i love hummingbirds TOO!

Post by kiliemah » Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:03 pm

During a tough time in my life I was about to leave my exhusband at the time but I was really scared and didnt really know what I was going to do. I was sitting on my porch crying and I was like God what am I going to do... and two hummingbirds came out of nowhere I was amazed at how close they were to me! So beautiful. then one came to the front of the porch the steps hovered there then they flew away. In that moment I knew I was to leave and it has always meant change to me. That was the last night I spent in that house..
Sincerely K

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symbolic of hummingbirds

Post by believer » Wed Jul 14, 2010 1:51 am

Wow, what a sign.  I do believe in them :)

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