captured at arcosanti in arizona

I’m closing in on my time here in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and when I look back over the past seven weeks there’s been a consistent theme. Besides weeks of bronchitis…ugh…CATS.

It all started with…

a cat supervising the cookie bake with friends…
a cat greeting at Arcosanti…
a cat meandering the grounds of Cosanti…
a cat nestled high in a mesquite tree…
a bobcat sighting when driving back the next morning to check on the cat in the tree…
a cat watching traffic lying on top of a concrete barrier on the freeway leaving the Phoenix airport…

Hmm…CATS.

A good friend of mine opened my heart to the wisdom of the animal world when she gave me the book, Animal Speak by Ted Andrews.  Animal Speak provides the spiritual significance of more than 100 different animals, birds, insects and reptiles.  You see, the natural world and the animals within it…speak to us everyday by their appearances, behaviors, movements and characteristic patterns.  When we know what to look for, then we can use them as omens, not in a superstitious sense, but in a way to learn that these animals that enter and exit our lives can provide guidance and support, if we are open to it.

So…to share what the Animal Speak book has to say…in myth and lore, the cat predominates.  Such as in the Hindu tradition Shasthi, the goddess of childbirth, is depicted riding upon a cat.  A wide variety of traits have been associated with cats – often contradictory, curious, independent, clever, and unpredictable.

Bottom line?  Whether domesticated or wild, anytime a cat becomes predominant…look for magic and mystery to come alive!

Oh, and a side note on the bobcat…Whenever a bobcat is around, it will teach us that there is true power and strength through silence…hmmm….so cool!