​A few days ago while walking my dog in my neighbourhood, I spotted a Sunbird in a tree. The Sunbird’s beautiful iridescence colours with its metallic sheen always bring a smile to my face. Over lockdown a Sunbird, being attracted to colourful flowers, regularly visited the bright orange Strelitzia flowers in our garden.
 
As if in a dream, the Sunbird suddenly flew from the branch and fluttered around in front of me in a beautiful dance, hovering like a hummingbird, flapping its wings quickly and lightly. The Afrikaans word ‘vrolik’ came to mind, which translates to a lively, bubbly, carefree, light-hearted, high-spirited cheerfulness and merriment.
 
Sunbirds are Africa’s equivalent of the Hummingbird. There is a close resemblance in size, dazzling colours, dynamic activity and both feed primarily on nectar. They are however not related. Sunbirds are songbirds, while Hummingbirds are akin to swifts. Sunbirds are Passeriformes from the Old World. The two species are separated by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and millions of years!  Their similarities are a product of convergent evolution. Sunbirds and Hummingbirds are ecological equivalents and occupy similar niches in different ecosystems.
 
The Hummingbird as a spirit animal symbolizes an optimistic outlook, enjoyment of life, lightness of being, tireless joy and playfulness, as well as adaptability and resilience. It seems the Sunbird carries the same meaning, reminding us to play, find joy in what we do, while being present to ourselves and in our lives. According to Ted Andrews the Hummingbird teaches one “to find the miracle of joyful living from your own life circumstances” (p. 159). My witnessing the dance of the Sunbird right before me felt like a joyous miracle.
 
Bird medicine is about living in the moment, moving with breath and flying into the flow of life. “Their consciousness is in their own life process, from moment to moment”. (p. 74). Birds teach that complete and regular elimination is essential to maintain the necessary lightness for flight. This reminds me of the basic premise of mindfulness meditation, not to let thoughts and feelings get stuck in you, but letting them go!
 
What do you need to get rid off to lighten your journey in life?
 
Image Credit:

1. Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus) www.robertodemicheli.com
2. Sunbird
3. Hummingbird
4. Strelitzia flower – Birds of Paradise

 
Sources:

1. Animal Speak, Ted Andrews, 1993.
2. https://blog.londolozi.com/2020/04/27/sunbirds-africas-hummingbirds

 
#wakingdream #Dream #Dreams #Dreamappreciation #Dreammeaning #dreaminterpretation #Symbolism #animalsymbolism #animals #sunbird #hummingbird #sunbirdmeaning #sunbirdsymbolism #sunbirdmedicine #sunbirddreams #sunbirdsighting #hummingbirdmeaning #hummingbirdsymbolism #hummingbirdmedicine #hummingbirddreams #hummingbirdsighting #tedandrews #animalspeak #birdmedicine #birdteacher #Carljung #jung 

Jung believed that the human psyche is a self-regulating system that strives for growth and seeks to maintain a balance between conflicting potentialities (polar opposites) in the process of ‘individuation’. An important aspect in this process is the Ego-Self Axis, the vital connecting link between Self and ego. If the relationship between Ego and Self is injured, we may experience a sense of alienation, a lack of belonging (being at home with ourselves) and a loss of meaning/purpose.
 
The memory of an original sense of wholeness, which Jung named the archetype of the Self, lies in our deep mind. Out of this primordial ‘oneness’ or paradisal state, a separate ego-consciousness developed as an adaptation to life’s demands (which necessitates repression), anchoring us in the external world. This is the task of the first half of our lives.
 
The Self is the ego’s origin and source of energy, representing the god-image within the psyche. A strong ego or ego strength (not the same as egotistical) is necessary to function effectively in the world as well as to engage in the exploration of our personal and the collective unconsciousness, including shadow work. Jung saw the second half of our lives as a continuous return to the Self or what Edward Edinger called the Ego-Self Reunion, which lies at the heart the process of individuation.
 
The ego is the centre of the field of ordinary consciousness and constitutes our subjective sense of identity. It dictates a selective awareness which directs our attention and what is subsequently remembered. Ego organizes our thoughts, feelings and intuition, informing how we relate to the external world as well as to our own internal world. The ego is just one small part of the Self.  The Self is the sum total of the whole psyche, the centre of the total personality with all its potential, including shadow and other unconscious processes or patterns.
 
The dialogue between ego and Self is pivotal in psychic development and a move towards wholeness. As such we learn to negotiate a balance between the conflicting demands of outer reality, and the internal world with its own inner conflicts.  
 
Written for @jungsouthernafrica

Image Credit: The world soul by Robert Fludd

Sources:
https://healingintheblur.com/ego-self-axis-separation-reunion-and-trauma/
https://sirseth.net/the-ego-self-axis/
https://thisjungianlife.com/episode-162-ego-self-axis-reconnecting-with-source/
http://psychoanalyticmuse.blogspot.com/2013/01/edward-edinger-ego-self-axis.html
http://journalpsyche.org/jungian-model-psyche/
 
 #jung #carljung #jungpsychology #jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #analyticalpsychology #unconscious #consciousness #archetypes #symbolism  #individuation #shadow  #egoselfaxis #ego #self #archetypeoftheself #godimage #source #origian #oneness #wholeness #humanpsyche #growth #opposites #identity
#capetown #capetownsouthafrica #capetownlife #capetownliving