ANIMAL MESSAGES

When animals come to us in weird ways—either acting strangely or perhaps an animal out of place (like the python outside our sliding glass doors)—there’s a message in it. Time to look up that animal and see what message it might have for us.

My job went away in April 2009 and by December 2010 my collaborator and I had written the first draft of three Swagger Vasa books. We edited book one, A Sirius Condition, copyrighted it, and were getting ready to publish it when I suddenly got “cautious”. I found every excuse not to publish. To say I was dragging my feet is putting it mildly.

And then the turtles appeared. We live in an area that has rivers, canals, and woods, as well as Florida’s Turnpike and I-95. I was driving down a quiet street one afternoon when I spotted a huge turtle on the side of the road. The big guy was really moving! I didn’t think a turtle could move that fast.

“Message!” I decided, and looked up turtle symbology. One book on Native American animals told me turtle is the symbol for strength, fertility and perseverance. Okay, I had my meaning.

But a few days later, another turtle showed up. This one was every bit as big as the first, and moving equally fast. It was in a completely different neighborhood, so I doubt it was the same turtle.

“Oops! Didn’t get the message!” When I got home, I checked the internet for “turtle symbology”. This time I was told that turtle carries the world on its back. That’s a lot of weight and responsibility. Maybe I was carrying the cares of my tarot clients and needed to leave them behind. Okay, message received.

But the turtles kept appearing, and it was obvious I wasn’t getting the message. It was frustrating. Then one day I passed a church and read the message board: “Take a lesson from the turtle: You won’t get anywhere if you don’t stick your neck out.”

Wow. That hit me right between the eyes. Here I was, procrastinating about publishing the first Swagger Vasa book, and turtle was telling me it was time to stick my neck out. Lesson learned. Book one of Swagger Vasa Chronicles is now available on amazon.com. And we’re hard at work editing books two and three.

So if an animal attracts your attention, look for the message.