The Hawk - God Of The Sky

A hawk that landed in a tree right outside our window and waited long enough for me to get  find my camera and capture this extraordinary event.

 

 

Saturday morning I lost my youngest and last surviving brother to suicide. Like so many of us, my relationship with both my brothers was difficult in so many ways, yet, we had deep familial bonds that always survived the painful struggles.

My sister, SIL and I were standing under trees across the street when the ME van carried him off'  We were so focused on the van that we did not see what was taking place above us all.  But after I was settled in at home, many hours later, my partner Bill, who was standing alone at the time, told me what he saw.  Flying above the "shed" that was my brother's man cave where he was found, was a very large red hawk circling around and around.  It took my breath away to hear this.  A bird has always made itself present when other relatives have passed on.  But never a hawk.  I was immediately struck with the thought that it was either my father come to lead his soul onward, or it was Larry's spirit finally freed from this earth and flying around in the sheer wonder of it.

 

 

I shared this with my sister-in-law, who then told me that when my brother, a mason, was building a wall beside his house, a monster of a hawk flew in and landed on the wall beside him. 

The hawk is a spiritual messenger, and upon a Google search, I just learned that according to Spirit Animals & Animal Totems ,  "In Ancient Egypt, the belief was that a hawk-headed spirit called “ba” would fly off a mummy to come back among the living as a hawk or swallow. The hawk symbolized a part of the soul that would be freed up after death and come back to the world of the living in the shape of a bird. It was also the animal of choice for the god Horus, god of the sky, who was represented with a hieroglyph depicting a falcon or hawk."

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was parking my car in the local supermarket when I nearly jumped out of my skin.  Something large and red caught my peripheral vision and I turned to see this huge hawk barrel into the wooded area beside the parking lot and disappear into a tree.  I was astounded to see this in such a busy place...who would think of a hawk hanging around the parking lot of the busiest place in town!  No one else seemed to notice it, though.  I appeared to be the only one standing outside my car with a jaw dropped to my knees dumbstruck.

This bird symbolizes a divine connection and acute observational and intuitive powers.  I'm going to be thinking about my newfound relationship with the hawk.  Perhaps the hawk is my new spirit totem who is trying to teach me something. 

 I'd very much like to think of my father and my brothers circling above with large strong wings reveling in their free and joyful nature!