As we approach Lughnasadh, I’ll be going back to Marshall Terrace Park in Minneapolis to peer out at the new Great Blue Heron rookery on their new island home on the Mississippi River. While I’ve been pondering and meditating upon The Heron and it’s journey, my new tarot deck arrived! I’m thoroughly enjoying developing my reading and intuition from The Wildwood Tarot, by Mark Ryan, John Matthews, and Will Worthington.
In my very first reflective reading for myself, interestingly enough, The Heron was the first card drawn! What a welcoming message!
The Heron is able to stand and be still, staring into the waters below, for hours at a time. In some mythology, The Heron is the bird that peers into the Pool of Wisdom to witness the birthing of the Earth and all of life stemming from it. The Heron is also the symbol of the birth of all life, and therefore we see its images being associated with “The Stork” which delivers babies. In some Druid and Pagan traditions, a Heron Bag (or Crane Bag) is carried by the wanderer on their path to enlightenment. In the Heron Bag are stones, magical items, coins, acorns, or whatever the wander keeps in order to infuse connection and wonder with a grounding in the earth and all of its mysticism. The Heron bag is the traveler’s bag of magical secrets!
When we ourselves, like The Heron, stare into waters in our bioregion (our own Pools of Wisdom), we often see the world as a reflection. We see the world and ourselves as we truly are, as seen by the Pool of Wisdom. In this vision, sometimes for the first time, we are able to stand in our own truth of ourselves or our current situation. The secret connections are revealed if we are able to be still and gaze upon the waters. These waters flow in our bodies, our blood, our sweat, our tears. The Pool of Wisdom is both outside and inside of all of us, and is available to show us true wisdom, should we choose to approach it in stillness.
In the coming months of Autumn, then Winter, these Heron in Minnesota will ultimately meet the clear truth of their situation, just as they have for all of their ancestral existence on Earth. Their peering into the water has shown them for who they are – as nest builders and survivors in the evolutionary cycle of Nature. Perhaps the “Blasted Oaks” of their previous rookery have ushered in an awareness of further human encroachment and the possibilities of a change in our northern climate.
Perhaps the Pool has opened an evolutionary window into their sight – and an opportunity for our own seeing. Poised on a “River Between” man’s urban industrialization and Nature’s swift winds of change, they chose to rebuild their nests after all was lost. They will carry through with the incubation and raising of their young, allowing the waters of the Pool to reflect back the ultimate fate of their young when it is time to either migrate, or face the reality of further loss, should winter come swiftly before the young can fly.
The Great Blue Heron’s crossroads is our crossroads. Can we be still to see the reflections of our actions within the Pool of Wisdom? Will we carry on to survive the impending crises that could befall us, or will we be shown our ultimate fate, reflected back in the form of the swift axe of Justice? Will we be prepared for either situation?
If you are part of the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA), and/or any of its offshoots and related branches, you’re probably aware that “The Reform” started in a small college in Minnesota in the 60′s. Back in 1963, students at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota started the Reformed Druid movement as a protest against forced attendance at religious services by the college. What started as a simple protest grew many legs, and now there are thousands of Reformed Druids, Groves, Proto-groves, and related organizations. 
I’m so excited, honored, and humbled! The past few weeks have brought two wonderful Druid milestones for me.
Scott Schumacher is a Reiki Master Teacher, Reformed Druid, Web Designer, Energy Healing Practitioner, and Person living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
