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in issue twelve:
Synchronicity
Scintillations
The Phone Call
Finding Feathers
Did God Land Me
   This Waitress Gig?
Letting Good Happen
Continuous
   Synchronicity
Unexpected Inspiration
Rubber Band Fairy
Bird on My Shoulder
Listen To Your Body
Letters to
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Books That Changed
   My Life
Moody Girl

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Issue 13: Danger
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Finding Feathers by Rebecca Carlisle

I started noticing feathers after reading about their significance in several books about spirituality, angels, symbols, and creating sacred space during my ongoing search for my own connection to the Creator. Feathers are traditionally linked with Spirit because in the animal world, when birds take flight, they are the creatures that come closet to Heaven. I think of feathers as floating, magical messengers, harbingers of good tidings and generally happy news. After spotting many feathers on my own over the years, I pieced together the message they were trying to send me. Whenever I find a feather, I believe it is a message from the spirit world that I am on the right track.

As I am naturally a worrisome person who does not trust her own instincts nearly as often as she should, it is a calming thought to believe that I have made the right decisions in my life. When I find a feather, I smile and heave a tiny sigh of relief after receiving its "message". I think to myself, “Yes, today I am on the right track and I am doing what I should be doing.” It feels like angels are winking at me in those moments and I feel a sense of lightness and peace.

I don't set out searching for feathers. I just happen to find them going about my everyday, mundane life. I find feathers on the sidewalk on my way to and from work. I find them outside the grocery store. I find them near my car. I find them in parks. I found one on the shore of a lake. I suppose I mostly find feathers where birds hang out and drop them. I like to think each feather is meant only for me. Maybe these feathers are trying to send messages of hope to lots of people and I am the only one who notices them before the wind whisks them away to deliver feathery messages elsewhere.

Sometimes I know that I am the only one who Spirit is trying to connect with in that particular moment. This seems to be especially true when I've become almost blasé about the feathers I find on the ground as I walk or when I am experiencing especially troubling times. Often when I have been having a particularly bad day and feel like all is lost, I will spot a feather and smile as I take a relaxed breath in, knowing that all will be well again soon. Other times I almost scoff at the sight of a scruffy feather because I am so despondent. It seems like the angels have to go to extreme measures of getting my attention through their mysterious feathers at these times. They must believe I need an extra jolt of the miraculous to get my mood to shift. When I find a feather in a surprising way, I feel compelled to give up feeling sorry for myself and accept the message that they care, that they are listening, and that this, too, shall pass. The uplifting memories of special feather sightings have helped me through many moody slumps.

One of my most amazing feather sightings happened on an ordinary day as I was typing away at work. A tiny, tiny, tiny feather floated in through my second story office window and landed daintily on my shirt. I was stunned at the sight of it and stared, open-mouthed, as it moved closer to me. The sweet little feather found me here of all places, at this strange job where I sometimes feel like I am just wasting my time and talents. Aha! I smiled broadly as I felt the sense that the Creator sees me everywhere I am and loves me no matter what. This little feather must mean that it's okay that I'm working here—that it's fine if I mistype words routinely—and that I am making a difference in the world, if even in small ways. Maybe that's what the angels are trying to get me to understand: That it is ALL okay. Perhaps I am only wishing these comforting thoughts to be true, and that's just fine, too. I admit that my faith is shaky and that I often wonder if I am fooling myself into believing in angels, God, and a benevolent spirit world when I have no real proof. Even through my doubt, I just cannot dismiss that miraculous feathered message. Maybe that is all the proof I need.

Early one morning (after I had decided to write this feather story, ironically enough), I was accidentally meditating before I went to work. I say "accidentally" because I am not likely to meditate purposefully even if I put it on a To Do list every single day for months. Nonetheless, I fell into a deep meditative state and felt as though I were releasing lots of ancient emotional baggage. It felt like layers of old hurts were being lifted from my troubled soul. Once I opened my eyes, I felt an impulse to get up and open my front door to symbolically escort out the old, unwanted stuff that I had released. Back inside, I closed the door feeling quite silly for believing I had made any difference whatsoever in my life by such an action. At my feet, on the doormat INDOORS, was a feather! I gasped at the sight of it. I had not a doubt in my mind that it was a nod from Spirit saying yes, I had made a difference. I felt as though I could float into the clouds right then.

For the past few months, I have really been in need of a magical feather sighting. A loved one is having a severe health crisis and I am emotionally exhausted dealing with it. I have seen a few scraggly feathers on the ground, but I am too distraught to accept their meager comfort. I want to have a miraculous one appear. My faith in everything has been shaken lately. Although I don't really think any amount of feathers will help with my real problems, if it brings a smile to my face, maybe I can make it through the next moment.

On my way to work a few days ago, I stopped in my tracks and stared at the ground in front of me. I saw a piercingly bright magenta feather! When I caught my breath and began to take another step, I saw a neon yellow feather just a few feet ahead of the magenta one! I let out an audible gasp as a flood of emotions poured over me. I felt like crying, laughing, and celebrating all at once. So many hard days had passed. We were just barely beginning to see our way past the roughest parts of the medical treatments. We were seeing more healing taking place at a quicker speed, and daring to hope again. And here was a reminder to be grateful for all of the prayers that had been answered lately. After I gazed at the brilliantly colored feathers for a very long time, I closed my eyes, lifted my head and sent a silent thank you heavenward. I had asked for a feather miracle to show up, and it certainly did in a wonderfully beautiful way. I am still shaking my head in amazement now.