In Native American traditions, there is a belief that you are surrounded by power animals. You have some that come and go, and some that stay with you forever. The ones that come and go show up at certain times to give your their medicine, because you need it! Perhaps you all of the sudden have an affinity for lions! Maybe you need a lesson in pride.

There are many ways to find your power animal. You can be led into a journey with a shaman. You can pull animal cards. Or you can simply pay attention.

The other day I went into a Goodwill looking for aprons for my class. I ended up in the “art department” (of course) and one particular beaten up frame called to me. It didn’t want me to purchase it, but instead it asked me to open up the back and see what was in it behind the picture.

Now – when I say that a picture frame was asking me to do things, I do not mean that it literally was asking. I mean that I was called to do so through curiosity and a pulling in my intuition.

When I opened the easel from the glass, there was a folded note. The note was a thank you note, as the picture and frame was a gift. Apparently, someone in Seattle was gracious and had hosted a visitor from Japan for whatever reason. Thus a thank you note was written, and this gift given. the note was not a big deal, except the last line. It read something like “My father is an oil painter, so I was going to send you one of his works, but he suggested I send you this image of  ’The Great Master’ instead.”

I realized that I had not even looked at the picture in the front of the frame yet, so I pulled it out. It was a postcard from Japan, and on the front was a water color of a forest and a lake, and a tiny white horse.

That tiny white horse is The Great Master?

Of course that tiny white horse is a Great Master! For me he is. He is one of my power animals. He is the master of independence and freedom, of deep service to those who need him, of patience and understanding and of standing up for his beliefs. He is mighty, and equal to humans, if not superior. He is strong. He is mystical. He is a master in all of these.

For me, this was a personal reminder that horse is there. That I have many things to learn from him still and that I can call on his medicine when I need to. I still have a lot of work to do with horse, and he is begging me to heal myself with him so that we may move forward. (I am highly allergic to horses, yet one of my greatest desires is to ride).

Ah… but what if it were the forest who were the ‘Great Master’?

Advertisement