Spirit Animal Kingfisher

It has been a while since we've drawn a spirit animal card, You might think of this as just a card to ponder or meditate on for the day, or you might think of it as a spirit guide or as your particular spirit animal (totem). While I was shuffling the cards, I was thinking of the summer breezes and wishing they would bring in new vitality and insight into my next project.

 Today's card, the Kingfisher,  is taken from The Greenwood Tarot- Pre-Celtic Shamanism of the Mystic Forest by Mark Ryan and Chesca Potter.  It is one of my favorite decks. Both the book and card deck deal with many Celtic archetypes, not just Spirit Animals, but I purposely chose today’s card from among the spirit animals it features.  Since this particular card is drawn from a Tarot deck, we have the additional information that this card represents the page of cups. You remember that cups is the minor Arcana suit that has to do with emotion, and page is the equivalent of a Jack, a court card of a young man, or an important idea not quite fully developed. 

I was never familiar with what a kingfisher looked like until I stayed at a wonderful Celtic Ross Hotel on the Cork coast, very close to my favorite Stone Circle at Drombeg. Their Kingfisher bar is aptly named for the view of kingfishers frolicking in the waters across the road in front of the hotel. Their actions reminded me of pelicans. However, their dainty beauty and pretty color were quite different. I watched kingfishers throughout my 4-day stay and never tired of the view.

Kingfishers are both King of water and air, for they can dive in the water and catch a fish and fly away with equal finesse and speed. As reinforced in this guidebook, they have been symbolic of ancient wisdom in Celtic  lore  for centuries. Kingfishers are symbolic of Freedom, Courage and Adventure. The free spirit they convey is balanced by tenacity. I think of them as graceful but scrappy. Although that isn’t a term I usually use for birds.

Spiritual meanings when a kingfisher appears in your dreams suggests positive and keen perception combines with a lightness of spirit to bring positive things your way..

May the kingfisher appear in your dreams and May your next steps be positive and light.