Hummingbird: A Message from the Ancestors: A Memoir and the Inspiration for Writing
(excerpt)
Diana Raab
(Modern History Press / January 2024)
1,590 word excerpt
Every day, hummingbirds visit the garden outside my writing studio. They love the red trumpet vines from which they drink their delicious nectar. They hover in the middle of the flower for a few seconds, suspend in the air, then move on to the next vine. They move so quickly that I have to keep my eyes peeled to catch one before it flies away. Hummingbirds seem to have a lot to do throughout the day, working their magic on plants and other sentient creatures.
It is said that people who were close to us before they passed away often send us messages in the form of bird spirit guides. Hummingbirds in particular have a strong connection to the spiritual realm because they resonate with a high vibration. They are also happy memories that open our hearts and make us smile. They are called messengers from heaven because they often appear when we are grieving the loss of a loved one. In this way, hummingbirds also have a healing effect. If you observe a hummingbird, you will notice that it stops completely when flying at high speed. Also, the movement of a hummingbird is often in the shape of an infinity symbol, which represents the hummingbird's connection to eternity.
Some Native Americans believe that the presence of a hummingbird brings unconditional love and harmony. The Aztecs saw the hummingbird as a brave and courageous warrior. They also believed that hummingbirds are immortal and connect us to our ancestors. In fact, every appearance of a hummingbird can be seen as a visitation from an ancestor, or a manifestation of the spirits of the dead.
In his book Ancestral Medicine: Ceremonies for Personal and Family Healing (2017), Dr. Daniel Foore writes that connecting with ancestors is beneficial for mental and physical health. Connecting with ancestors can increase self-confidence and intellectual abilities, as well as help you become aware of family qualities that can benefit you and future generations. It can also encourage introspection and clarify your life purpose. People who connect with their ancestors often feel more supported and secure.
Many intuitives believe that hummingbirds are the best evidence of messages from heaven. At night, when we fall asleep, these birds have the ability to lower their metabolism to the bare minimum required to sustain life. To conserve energy, their metabolism almost completely stops. They also easily travel back in time, reminding us that it's okay to look back and connect with the memories of loved ones who have passed away.
My grandmother passed away when I was 10 years old at the age of 61, but I am convinced that she visits me often in the form of a hummingbird. She sends me messages of love and gives me ongoing protection. She reminds me that everything is temporary and it is important to enjoy the time we have on this earth. She tells me that my time on earth was too short and that taking care of me as a grandmother was one of her greatest joys and accomplishments. She reminds me to look beyond the small everyday worries of life and see things in a bigger picture. She also tells me that with love, almost anything can be achieved and that life without love is empty.
I believe that if you pay attention, you can receive signs from those who have passed away to show you the way. Some call these beings guardian angels, others spirit guides. They come in many forms, and you just need to be open to the secret messages they send you.
I'm not the only one who receives messages from deceased people through birds. Birds are like omens. Some say birds are a source of spiritual inspiration. After all, birds have wings, just like angels. This makes sense, since birds fly close to the heavens to gather wisdom and messages to bring back to us here on Earth. Over the years, I've learned to pay attention to these messages.
My father, Edward, was another ancestor who visited me. He was small in stature, 5'9″, but had a big personality, a constant smile and well-set capped teeth. He had a broad forehead and thin, dark hair that he wore slicked back. He loved to joke, had an affectionate nature, and was animated by making others happy.
My father lived through the Holocaust from age 15 to 20, losing both his parents and his youngest brother in the gas chambers at Dachau. So expanding our family was very important to him. After immigrating to the United States at the end of World War II, his mission in life was to bring as much peace as possible into his life and the lives of his loved ones. Decades later, he was especially happy when, as a grandparent, he met his first grandchild. He was a retail toy salesman and wanted to give his first grandchild lots of toys.
My father passed away more than 30 years after my grandmother's death. Now he visits me in the form of a dove, a symbol of peace that I need in difficult times. Although my father left this world a long time ago, I believe the dove's visits are a way of reminding me of his presence. He still reminds me to seek peace for myself and those I love.
When my grandmother and father were alive, they gave me unconditional love, and they still do so during every visit. They don't give me detailed instructions directly, but rather support and guide me on my life's journey. I sometimes feel their presence on my right shoulder, like an energy flowing through me. It's a physical sensation, like a tingling or chills in my upper body. Sometimes I feel their presence when one of my limbs is paralyzed. Sometimes I hear my father giving me advice or telling me that everything will be okay.
My grandmother's messages reach me in other subtle ways too: an unexpected bird, a sudden phone call, a book that fell off a shelf, a song playing on the radio, a light flickering in the house, a voice whispering in my right ear, etc. It may only be a word or two, but like the hummingbird, it's enough to convey an important message.
My parents were immigrants and worked long hours, so I was a very independent child. Years later, I'd beaten cancer twice. I intuitively knew how to take care of myself and surround myself with people who loved me. I sought out good, easy-going people.
For self-care, I started meditating in the early 1970s, before it was trendy. I was very selective about my friends and it took me a while to trust people. The loss of my grandmother caught me in a cycle of fear. When I broke up with my boyfriend as a teenager, I remained traumatized long after friends in similar situations had moved on. I was constantly on the defensive, terrified of dying, being abandoned, or both, leaving me alone.
Over the years, I came to believe that painful experiences from childhood have a lasting impact on the rest of our lives. If I felt unloved or reprimanded, I could close myself off. Five years after my grandmother passed away, I had a violent argument with my mother. I don't remember what she said, but I remember that it was the first time I realized that our worldviews were completely opposite. My mother knew how to destroy my self-esteem and make me feel empty inside. For example, she would mock me in front of others.
People often ask me why I am my mother's daughter. Our energies are completely different. My mother's negative personality often brought people down. In contrast, I am a positive person who has inspired people to feel good. Maya Angelou wisely said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
In fact, as children, we don't initially understand the impact of a crisis, such as losing a loved one or finding out we're unwanted. In his book The Body Keeps Score (2014), Dr. Bessel van der Kolk explains that if we feel safe and loved, our brains specialize for play, exploration, and cooperation. On the other hand, if we feel scared and unwanted, we end up with feelings of fear and abandonment. It took me years to feel safe and loved.
Most of the time, children and adolescents take things calmly, but when they have difficulty expressing their feelings, their body sends them messages. After my grandmother died, my parents fought a lot. It was painful to watch and impossible to understand. I think my childhood asthma was a sign of the stress I felt at home. According to the Cleveland Clinic, traumatized children are 50 times more likely to develop asthma than their peers. As an adolescent, I hung out with teenagers who used illegal drugs and stayed away from home as much as possible. I was at a loss, searching for a way to reconnect with my grandmother. Now I wonder if the hummingbird's visits were a way to make that connection. Were her messages a way to heal my grief over losing her and being unwanted by my mother?
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