A hen scratching for her chicks....is she looking for food to nurture and feed them?
This symbol conjures up all kinds of images for me...the chicks are her offspring, representing the father and the mother.....their many qualities, talents and potentials, bred into each one! Imagine the tremendous energy she would need to take care of and feed them all!
Is she teaching them all that she is and can do...and perhaps more? A process that would probably involve more than the five senses...where we learn to feel, search for and act.
Wow! I just looked up 'chicken' in my Animal Speak book by Ted Andrews. The key words arre Fertility and Sacrifice! Cycle of Power: Year-round/Daybreak - Oh my, being a mother this does ring true!
"Because of their egg-laying ability, chickens are always associated with fertility. The feathers of chickens were used to stuff bedding, the primary place of sexual activity. They have also been, throughout history, a common animal used in sacrificial rites....sacrifice has ties to the ancient mystery of sexuality. In the fertilization process, the male seed is sacrificed to impregnate the female egg. Because ejaculation occurs outside the body, it has correspondences to an act of sacrifice.
....Deities were invoked thorugh the simple act of throwing grains to chickens. If the chickens were listless in their eating, then it indicated that the gods must be angry."
If I may be perfectly honest here, there were times when my children were small that my own creativity felt as it it was being held back, blocked, lacked freedom. And now that I have more freedom, I'm at a loss what to do with it!
I must go make that mandala!
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