Stacey L.L. Couch's Blog, page 9
April 13, 2016
Spirit Animals: BUSY BEE
There is a plethora of beautiful information available about the general qualities of bee symbolism such as fertility, communication, hard work, rewards, etc. For some variety, I’m going to give a more detailed look at lesser known aspects of bee symbology and biology.
Bee Symbolism of the HiveThere are only seven species of honey bee, which is a very small portion (0.04%) of the 20,000 bee species on earth. We know the honey bee best because they are the only domesticated bees. The honey be...
March 29, 2016
Archetypes: THE WARRIOR
The warrior is a masculine archetype, but this does not mean that women can’t express the characteristics of a warrior. From what I’ve seen women are just as likely as men to fall under the influence of this pattern. The word warrior contains the word “war”, which is what this archetype is about. Conflict is the name of the game.
The Warrior Archetype in BattleTo exist the warrior needs a battle to fight. The first question you must ask yourself is, “Who your battles with?” Are you an actual...
March 11, 2016
How to: Spring Equinox Rituals
Spring equinox rituals can be synonymous with Easter traditions, but there is more to this celestial holiday than many people realize.
The springequinox (otherwise known as the “first day of spring”) is a turning point in the seasons when the sun reaches its zenith over the celestial equator. Or, more plainly, it comes to the midpoint in its journey from north to south. On an equinox, both the northern and southern hemispheres are equally illuminated.
From the Latin word meaning equal (equi)...
February 29, 2016
Spirit Animals: FALCON FURY
The current information about falcon symbolism fails to encompass many of the amazing adaptations of the entire family of falcons. When most people thinkof a falcon they think there is just one species, but “falcon” refers to a family of birds of prey. There 37species of falcon subdivided into four groups – kestrels, hobbies, traditional falcons (such as peregrine falcon and prairie falcon), and hierofalcons (such as gyrfalcon and lanner falcon).
Reaping the Power of Falcon SymbolismThe falc...
February 16, 2016
The Power of Imagination & The Shamanic Journey
The power of imagination is devaluedin our culture. We are toldto leave our imaginations behind in our childhood. The saying, “it is just your imagination” becomes a way to dismiss experiences we can’t explain via route of the five senses. We do everything we can to avoid talking aboutour imaginations and instead we brainstorm, practice creative visualization, dream up, and go on guided meditations.
It’s all a silly ruse of semantics. We cannot not imagine. It is as a...
February 9, 2016
Archetypes: THE CAREGIVER
One of Carl Jung’s primary archetypes, the caregiver archetype is akin to theservant archetype in Caroline Myss’s model. Many people lump a whole host of archetypes under the umbrella of the caregiver which can confuseour understanding of this fundamental archetypal pattern.
Selfless Serviceof the Caregiver ArchetypeThe main attribute that characterizesthe caregiver archetype is adesire to serve others and to forget oneself in doing so. The path of the caregiver archetype is the same selfles...
January 28, 2016
A Duckling Rescue Story
I had a thought provoking comment on my blog about Dove Spirit Animal today from a fellow who was moving across the country and took a wild mourning dove with him. After three days in the car together, the man released the dove in a completely new habitat. You’ll have to read his story as well as my response to see what path that leads down. Through his question another thread spoketo me in the form of a memory I try not to recall very often.
This stirred up, unsettling memory is from atime w...
January 19, 2016
Spirit Animal: INDUBITABLE TIGER
The most common associations with tiger spirit animal are courage and strength, which are very easy to understand. Tiger has a fierce reputation known for preying on humans and taking down prey twice his own weight. The tiger is rivaled in size only by lions. There is no definitive evidence that tigers are, on average, bigger than lions, but, no matter, they are very, very big cats. Tigers can weigh upwards of 600 pounds and be over 9 feet long.
When we...
January 15, 2016
Are You Good at Being Compassionate?
About two years ago I added two questions to my intake form for new clients. I put the questions on my intake formsto learn more about each individual client and how she sees herself. The plan was togarner information from how these questions were scoredand tailer the content of conversations to best help each person. Here are the questions:
On a scale of 1 to 10 how compassionate are you with others? On a scale of 1 to 10 how compassionate ar...January 7, 2016
Archetypes: THE TRICKSTER
Daredevil skateboarders, snowboarders, BMX bikers, skiers, and motocross riders have an ever increasing dictionary of tricks. They are our modern day trick-sters, doing what defies logic and seems impossible while having a good time. An avid snowboarder for many years, I could never fathom what a rodeo flip was, let alone how to do it, but it didn’t matter, I still admired the beauty and grace of my trickster friends. These amazing tricks are a simple demonstration of how the trickster archet...
