For three days now, I've had weird stomach stuff going on. It starts up in the early evening, before dinner time, making me not want to eat at all. By bed time I've been having difficulty taking a deep breath or even standing fully straight. When my husband asked, I pointed to the spot where the pain is most acute and he said - that's your gallbladder. That makes no sense to me though, from all I know about what causes gallbladder distress. A low fat, no animal fat diet, consisting primarily of raw fruits and veggies should not be a problem for the old gallbladder! In chinese medicine, gallbladder issues can be a sign of holding bitterness and anger, which I thought about - am I bitter? I sure have had my periods of bitter anger in the past, but I'm really not feeling either these days - I'm actually feeling more free and peaceful within myself than I have maybe ever! Perhaps it wasn't my gallbladder, but it is in that region of the body, and you see how I mull things over! Thankfully, I've started to improve - perhaps because of the attention I'm giving to the ideas it has provoked?Anyway, in my quiet time this morning I kept getting an image of a crow. At one point, during my visualization, this giant crow hopped over, dipped his head toward me and pulled out a perfectly round, white stone, pearl like, from my stomach region, just below my sternum. Crow, in the Medicine Cards, created by Jamie Sams and David Carson, is described as a symbol of Sacred Law, protector of all sacred texts, and represents an omen of change. Merging the realms of dark and light, Crow lives in timelessness, knowing the present, past, and future all at once. When Crow appears in a card spread (or as I believe, in your meditation, back yard, popping up where ever if you see a repeated pattern), asks you to take a look at how you see human law vs sacred law, and asks you to recognize your own personal law or truth. It asks are you living by that truth and walking the talk? I ask myself am I listening and living my personal truth fully? What is my life's mission and how can I fully embrace and live it?Also interesting (to me!) is that the discomfort I am experiencing is in the stomach, or third chakra region. The 3rd chakra rules personal power, will, ego identity, and self esteem. It's also where you set boundaries for yourself - knowing how much to give, and how much to keep for oneself. Between Crow's wisdom and what I know about chakras, I'd say I'm being asked to find the balance of how I use my inner knowledge in my outer world, how I remain present and true to myself as I move through this human plane. Of course, that's something we're all trying to do, don't you think? How do you learn from your body's messages?
Just for fun, I thought I'd share this video I came across,
which shows just how dang smart and adaptable crows are!
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I had my galbladder out and if they need to take yours out, let them. It is a totally easy operation now.
ReplyDeleteNo more pain for my dear friend.
I feel much inner peace coming from you Karin.
When I think of you having the pain in your stomach and the image of a crow it makes me think of how crows recognize possible danger and how they post lookouts when they are feeding as it is their most vulnerable time.
If a crow flies into your life, through a dream or if you keep seeing one it is usually a message to get our of your familiar hear, look past your present range of vision, listen and act accordingly.
BUT if it is your stomach and galbladder get it fixed.
Love to love you baby.
xoxo
Love the video of the crow.
We are such interesting creatures, humans.
ReplyDeleteI tend to consider that physical pain is a manifestation of something we've been ignoring in our emotional landscape.
But then, if we don't treat it, it becomes not just physical pain, but physical illness.
To get to the point where something manifests physically, the issue has taken some time. Negative emotions can be toxic if not dealt with, and if there's one thing I've learned over time its that whenever you think you've dealt 'fully' with something, you probably haven't.
Not if you're still thinking about it.
So, I agree with Renee - go get your gall bladder and whatever else, checked out. Just to make sure.
And continue the beautiful work you do, knowing that emotions are tricksters that hide rather than be resolved. There may be more to do, and your pain and your crow is pointing the way.
I hope you start to feel better Karin! I definitely agree with Renee!
ReplyDeleteI love this journal page.... everything about it!
The video was awesome except that I was nervous when the crow was in traffic...lol.
BTW! Last week I went to see this lady to have my chakra's balanced. I was pretty tense when she started but by the middle of my session I could feel the stress just melting away. It was very powerful.
You are so powerful Karin. I admire and feel inspired by your ability to look at what your body is trying to tell you, not in a fear based way, or panicked way but in what lessons illness is here to teach you. I have many fewer "ailments" than you have been challenged with and I have a hard time with that sometimes. You really are a special being on this Earth.
ReplyDeleteI love Medicine Cards - mine have been left to the wayside for far too long ! Time to revisit them, maybe ? Love the messages of the messenger Crow too. I used to fear the black, seemingly ominous birds, but now have come to see them as brilliant, adaptive and message bearing creatures.
Sending some extra healing love your way.
Thanks Renee, I do love crows and all the mythology connected to them :) I think you're right and I am listening. I have even found many alternatives to healing the gallbladder without surgery, but I'll be honest - I don't think my issue is truly gallbladder, after reading about it and talking to a friend who had to have the surgery as well. I love your added crow insights - thank you!! xox
ReplyDeleteYeah Svasti, we are interesting creatures, we humans all! I believe what you've said is often the case as well - I also think we sometimes manifest symptoms to "hear" a message we need to hear, that isn't getting through in other ways. My body has always been a mainline for inner info, even as a child! If you believe in past lives, which I happen to, I believe symptoms from those experiences that are unresolved can come through this form. We carry body memories from infancy, when we were preverbal as well, which I've experienced through hakomi therapy. I regained the vivid memory of a traumatic experience I had as a 6 month old, later confirmed by the involved party. For me, my body is the first gateway to info, and yes - I'll be following that crow and listen to what ever wisdom or lessons arise :)
Thanks Manon, I am feeling quite a bit better today! I know - I held my breath with the crow on the street!! I've done chakra balancing as well - it can be very calming and energizing at the same time! There are wonderful exercises for self balancing, through meditation and visualization as well. It can be a powerful practice.
Thank you so much Kim - we all have our ways of listening to what this universe has to say, and for me it has always been most powerful to just go within. I don't know if I had much choice, since my body has been a treasure trove of guideposts along the way! But I have never been able to ignore it ;^)
Yes! The medicine cards are so terrific. Even just flipping through the book randomly to read the story of an animal is rewarding to me, so a revisit can't be a bad thing!
Thanks to all your caring concern. Love to you all, Karin
karin,
ReplyDeletei always come away with so much after visiting your journal here, whether it's through your artwork or words, or most likely, both!
Crows always seem to pop up in my life in very striking ways. I will have to tell you sometime in an email. They are always seem to be messengers to me. And in my paintings I use them as such, also as symbols that have to do with my dreams.
I have been in such a bad relationship with ignoring my body, that I don't know its language anymore. I am intrigued by what you and a commenter wrote about chakras. I may have to look into it.
thank you for sharing so much of yourself here. I hope you are feeling better.
i love the expression on her face and the swirl in the solar plexis chakra... and the crow -- very much!!
ReplyDeletei will offer the dissenting opinion here re: the gallbladder. i can't imagine having it taken out. why shoot the messenger?
xo
the dissenter. ; )
I had to come see your crow page. I love the crows!
ReplyDeleteAnd the video was great. Clever little buggers.
Much as I enjoy gazing at your creations and getting lost in them, I so love when you share your stories with us. It just makes for an even richer experience of your work.
ReplyDeleteCrows are also the bearers of Magic. I'd say your visit from Mr. Crow was quite magical indeed. It made me think of oysters that create something beautiful (a pearl) out of something irritating (grit). You might enjoy reading more about the process: The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl.
Thank you Bridgette - I look forward to your reading about your crow visits! I've done quite a bit of chakra study over the years, but my earliest intro was via Caroline Myss's book Anatomy of the Spirit, which I refer back to again and again as a favorite resource and guide to inner work for myself. You might enjoy checking it out.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how we often spend so much time doing "inner work" but ignore the container for that which lies within. For me, the container is my gateway - and only by passing through it do I fully understand what's going in inside!
I'm with you Lynne - and since surgery hasn't yielded the most successful of results for me, it would most certainly be the absolute last result. I like my organs/messengers :)
Thanks Zom - I thought it was pretty cool that you posted crow symbol info from your journal at about the same time I did! That universal messenger thing ;^)
Hi Earth Mother - I actually had a very similar thought, and though you can't see it in my photo, I painted the stone/pearl with pearlescent paint and finished it with high gloss varnish to make it shimmer! My mind may have first attached the stone reference, because of gall stones...
Happily the pain has lifted. I'm thinking the it started to stop me - to make me pay attention to the messenger/Crow, who came to simply deliver a 'pearl of wisdom' which lay within me, but I needed to see it, know it on another level and make it conscious - not just hold it within. Then there is this sharing thing :)
My dearest friend. How are you feeling and how is the pain.
ReplyDeleteWhat does the doctor husband say?
Love Renee xoxoxo
So glad the pain has lifted Karin. You are so phylosophical in the way you deal with everything. Love the crow image!
ReplyDeletelove how you covered the area in pain with swirling light... this piece is beautiful. got to get into my studio and make some art!!!! xoj
ReplyDeleteFor me crows are the Morrigan, like Kali, death and rebirth/regeneration, tricky messengers from the goddess that signal a change.(And I love belly dance because it gets my chakras open and aligned, and is great exercise for a damaged core like mine!)
ReplyDeleteYour work as always is breathtaking and inspirational.