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| great white heron arrives in his home |
Leigh McCloskey is an actor, painter and author. Ten years ago he entered his living room to find a Great White Heron standing in the center wheel of a large red Persian rug. It was looking right at him. He even got a photo (see above).
His story is written up in a short essay titled A Most Remarkable Visitation. (linked HERE on Whitley Strieber’s UNKNOWN COUNTRY site)
This large bird remained in his McCloskey's for some time, and he tells of having a communication with his guest. At one point he spontaneously blurted out "Thoth!” This is the ancient Egyptian ibis headed god, the revealer of alchemical and Hermetic wisdom.
Hearing this exclamation the great white heron clucked loudly. McCloskey started thought he was going to faint and asked the bird Is this where someone appears in a puff of smoke?
McCloskey writes:
Then I heard him speak inwardly in a very powerful masculine voice, exhorting me, “Absolutely not. You have the nature of consciousness all wrong. It has nothing to do with the human form and everything to do with the incipient pattern of intelligence which is within everything.” My mind then flashed onto the holographic DNA fractal weave that comes from my painting, Phoenix Arise (see below).
He continued. “You know I am bird. You see that I am a symbol, but what you fail to realize yet is that I am consciousness that lives in more than one world at a time. I ascend and return and the reason I don't speak to you with words is I teach you to trust your inner story teller.”
This account, especially the quoted text above, really hit home for me. This was exactly the meaning that is arising from all my owl book research. Rather than any conclusion, I have instead become of disciple of the story. It is the first-person account that holds all the power, and these stories have the ability to transport me to a place of deeper knowing.
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| Phoenix Arise by Leigh McCloskey |
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7 comments:
I've been thinking along similar lines, Mike. It's like our souls are knitted together by stories.
Hi Mike,
This post immediately caught my attention as I am both a "Maybe Person" and a birder! Ha!
I had never heard of a Great White Heron and immediately thought this was a misidentification - I thought it was a Great Egret. Poking around a bit online, I learned that the Great White Heron may or may not be a color morph of the Great Blue Heron but one thing is certain, They are rare (numbers are estimated to be around 1000) and they are found exclusively in southern Florida. I guess that makes this odd encounter that much odder!
If anybody is interested, they can read a bit about the debate over the GWH here:
http://blog.audubonguides.com/2011/04/11/wading-into-controversy-the-great-white-heron/
Hope all is well with you and your toenails,
Derek Z
Thanks for sharing this Mike. That quote about the 'inner narrative' i quite potent.
May I suggest to the readers to listen to Burnt State (Robert) being interviewed by Greg Bishop on Radio Misterioso. The conversation went along this very topic about narratives being used to make sense of the world --and also *make* the world, in a way.
In that podcast Burnt mentions this other TEDx presentation by Jeffrey Kripal, the author of Mutants & Mystics, which is also highly recommended -- in fact I'd like to ask you to invite Kripal back to the Hidden Experience podcast, since I feel now you're better equipped to ask him about the 'story-telling' quality of the owl symbol.
Surely I'm not the only one who misses your audio discussions? ;)
No i miss them terribly...I'm not even trying to make you feel good or pump anyone's ego. You have a great voice mike and a really honest approach with questions that satisfy my interests. I need them to save me from boredom and stupid interviews from blowhards.
If you don't start recording more podcasts I might have to do something drastic like do my own podcast and believe me I'm not that person...
Shan, nyc
The people for more hidden experience podcasts unite!
Last Saturday afternoon, driving home from Pomona, CA after a disastrous job interview for what turned out to be a pyramid scheme run by some odd Chinese ladies who failed to mention beforehand that this job does not pay at all, whilst driving home on the 10W, I saw a white heron fly past my windshield, from parts unknown. No swampy area nearby and no other birds of its type in the air. It was quite a sight. I made sure to check its significance when I got home.
Browsing my favorite blogs today, SecretSun.blogspot led me here and I noticed this post.
To make matters even more synchronicitous, about a month ago, I was checking out YouTube clips from my favorite 70s teen exploitation movies, and saw someone mention Leigh ("Alex") McCloskey's talent as a painter. I checked out his work and loved it. And here I am.
I am pondering a move, a big one, that will alter my life significantly. I am, it appears, on a new journey of awareness, and your post kicks it off.
Here we go! Thanks for the great writing.
The great blue heron is one of 2 of my animal sprit guides, or totem animals that appear at random times in my life. The other is the green lizard. I have always wondered the significance of these encounters. I had a heron fly over me yesterday. I usually think to myself, "hey there's my bird" and a very calm sense of okayness comes over me. The lizard appears randomly and often I find one on my fence or in my garage in an area where they are not very common.
Thank you for this. 29 years ago I had a similar experience with a Red-Tailed Hawk. It OPENED me to such communication. I've had MANY such , in the years gone by.
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