A little birdhouse in your soul...

Today I've been thinking about birds... Earlier, I was looking out of the window at the still blue sea and pale pink sky, feeling deep inside me a real sense of connectedness and peace. All of a sudden, a flock of birds rose up from the sea, their wings shimmering in  the light, and bathed in the pink glow of the sky, They looked as if they could be a flock of angels...

I began to think about how many stories, myths and legends there are that involve birds... From the dove sent from Noah's ark, to the stork that brings the newborn baby, to the phoenix that rises from the ashes, birds seem to feature heavily in a rich diversity of folklore from almost since time began...

In Karelia (Finland) there was an ancient belief in the Sielulintu or Soul bird. The Sielulintu was thought to deliver the soul to newborn babies and  to also  transport the soul to the afterlife at the moment of death. It was believed the Sielulintu protected a person's soul at its most vulnerable; when dreaming. It was tradition to keep a carved wooden bird by the bedside to keep the soul safe during sleep. The "soul-bird" protected the soul from being lost in the paths of dreams...

I have a lovely little book called 'The Soul Bird'. by Michal Snunit, who was born on a Kibbutz, Ein Hahoresh, in Israel, which was established by her parents. Wikipedia explains that 'the relationship between ourselves and our soul is explained in this gentle, poetic story, which was written for children and has since become an international bestseller for all ages.' I thoroughly recommend it! In the meantime, here's an extract for you: 

Soul Bird

Deep down,

inside our bodies,

lives the soul.

No one has ever seen it,

but we all know it's there.

Not only do we know it's there,

we know what's in it, too.

Inside the soul,

right in the very middle of it,

there is a bird standing on one foot.

This is the soul bird.

It feels everything we feel.

When someone hurts our feelings,

the soul bird runs round and round in pain

When someone loves us,

it hops and skips

up and down

backwards and forwards

When someone calls our name,

it listens carefully

to hear what kind of call it is.

When someone is angry with us,

it curls itself into a ball

and is silent and sad.

And when someone hugs us,

the soul bird, deep down inside,

grows and grows

until it almost fills us.

That's how good it feels when someone hugs us.

...

All of the above photos were taken around Warkworth, Northumberland one day in August 2010

Make sure to feed and nurture your soul bird, and listen to its unique song!