If There’s a Scorpion Behind Your Toilet, it’s Time to Give Love a Try
[image error]Behind the toilet, in the shower, and snuggling inside the bed sheets, bath towels, and even the pillowcase were scorpions. The most frightening of my Trust Your Animal Instincts encounters was definitely the appearance of 7 scorpions within a 48-hour period. I had journeyed over 2,000 miles from home to a remote area near the jungle to listen to my own intuition. My answers to life’s questions mostly came in the form of wild animals.
My adult life had been plagued by bad relationships. In my late teens, I experienced a violent attack and also some deeply painful emotional experiences. Instead of risking a broken heart, I spent decades keeping love at a distance by building a hard shell around my heart for protection. I reasoned, if they couldn’t get past the barriers, then surely, they wouldn’t be able to hurt me.
During my time alone in Costa Rica, reflecting on my life and asking for guidance about love, I began finding scorpions everywhere. But what did it mean? The scorpion is an ancient symbol of power, representing transformation through the death of the old and rebirth into the new. Rebirth could be with the self and others, of ideas and beliefs, or a complete change in one’s way of life. I wasn’t thinking of transformation when the cranky, barb-tailed arachnids greeted me, in what felt like an all-out invasion.
After a couple of sleepless nights and a long day of hiking and meditating about how scorpions could be an answer to my questions about love, my intuition spoke. A scorpion’s exoskeleton provides a strong barrier from its enemies. The scorpions represented the hard shell I’d built around my own heart for protection. The problem with barriers is that they prevent things from getting in, but also from getting out. I should have chosen a shield of protection that could be raised and lowered as needed to allow love to flow freely in and out of my heart.
I decided it was time to smash that barrier around my heart and give love a try. It was risky, but I trusted my own intuition about what felt important in that moment and took the risk of loving someone. It felt scary at first, but also liberating, freeing, and exciting. Not a single scorpion came into the house after that day of revelation. And, while I appreciate the personally delivered message from my scorpion friends, I hope not to encounter any more in the future.
