Spirit Lodge - Totem Animals - Page 74

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Bear Medicine	Birth Totems	Coyote Medicine	Dragon Ranks	Dragonfly Medicine	Eagle Medicine	Four Animal Helpers	Grey Wolf Medicine	Hawk
Heron Medicine	Horse	Magpie	Raccoon	Salmon Medicine	Spider Medicine	Swan Medicine	Thunder Being Medicine	Totem Loss Disc

GROUSE MEDICINE
By CinnamonMoon

*Ted Andrews/Animal-Speak:
Keynote: Sacred Drumming and Dancing
Cycle of Power: Spring

The grouse is a pheasant-like bird of field and brush. It is an extremely hardy bird. during cold
weather its toes will sprout a fringe to help it walk about in the snow.

Dancing and drumming are both powerful ways in their own right to invoke energies. When
combined, the create opportunities to be drawn into higher states of consciousness. Movement is
part of life. Rhythmic movement creates life. All human activity is a kind of dance and ritual.

The grouse is a dynamic symbol of this. Religious and sacred dance has been a functional part of
every society throughout the world. Shamans and priests used drumming and dance to induce
trance states. Circle dances imitated the path of the sun, and chain and spiral dances were used to
link the male and female energies. True sacred dance is very ancient; it is an outer expression of
the inner spirit. Sacred dance and drumming was a means of transcending humanity. The dancer
can gain control over normally automatic responses by evoking emotions and energies, and then
channeling them through the dance. In this manner, transcendence over these lower energies can
be achieved. This is what grouse can teach.

My first encounter with a grouse dance occurred four to five years ago in Superior National
Forest. I came over a rise and a grouse stepped out of the woods into the middle of the road.

There it began to perform its spiral movement. As I moved closer, it continued its dance,
carrying it back off the road toward the brush along the tree line. It was an amazing performance.
Since then in my travels I have had a number of other encounters, and they always remind me
not to force my movements, but to follow the natural rhythm and spiral of life.

The two most common forms of grouse are the ruffed and the sage. The ruffed grouse is called
such because of a ruff of black feathers about the neck and shoulders. This is very symbolic. The
neck and shoulders area is the point of connection between the head and trunk, the upper and
lower. It is the bridge between the two. All bridges enable a crossing over and an opening to new
realms. The ruffed grouse reflects that working with new rhythms and new movement will be
beneficial to opening a new flow of energy into your life. Dance and drumming would become
wonderful tools to open new realms for you. This doesn't mean you have to go out and take
dance lessons, but simply practice and develop your freeform expressions. You will be surprised
at the changes in your own energy. See yourself dancing into new patterns and realms within
your life. If the grouse has come into your life use the dance. Focus on something you want to
change, manifest, or desire, and create your own movements that reflect it. Perform it to some
drum music. Then watch how quickly the energy begins to flow for you. If performed with the
right intention, you will see results in less than a week. The sage grouse is the largest of the
American grouse. it is a very territorial animal with a lavish display of its great air sacs, spiked
tail, and a flaring mane of stiff, white feathers. It has its own dance to create its sacred space.
One way of looking at territory is from the view of sacred space.

Dancing a circle is an act of creation. It is the marking off of sacred space. When a circle dance
is performed, the individual creates a sacred space within the mind--a place between the worlds,
a point in which the worlds intersect. The creation and marking off of a circle in Wiccan beliefs
is often referred to as raising a cone of power. The circling creates a vortex of energy that is
amplified by the will of the participants and the ritual instruments of the participants. When a
grouse displays itself and moves in its circular pattern it is marking off its sacred space.
To those to whom grouse comes there should be a marking off of sacred space in your life. Make
sure there are territories and areas you do not allow others. This enables your own natural
rhythms and movements to create for you without too much outside interference. For a long time
there was confusion on how the grouse accomplished its muffled drumming in the spring. Today
ornithologists know that it is created with rapidly beating wings. The grouse wings beat the air.
They set the drumming vibrations in motion, setting its power loose on the winds.

Grouse are protective parents. If is young are threatened, the mother will rush at you with
feathers ruffed, or it may feign an injury to lead the predator away from the young. Hidden
within this act is the ability to perform as is needed, to change the rhythm for appearances. A
whirring flight sound is often associated with the grouse, along with pheasants and other similar
species. Often a grouse will use this take-off as if to indicate it has no fear. in reality it is most
likely a warning to others in the area. The grouse does have an ability to fly softly if it chooses.
Rhythm does not have to be audible to be effective. If grouse has come into your life, expect new
rhythms and new teachings on dancing and drumming your life to new dimensions.

*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Grouse connotes a troublesome factor in one's life; a cause for complaint.

*Jamie Sams and David Carson/Medicine Cards:
Sacred Spiral. grouse once flocked in abundance throughout North America, but now, even on
the plains where these birds were so plentiful, there is an absence of them. Many Plains Indian
tribes dance the Grouse Dance to honor these birds. The movement of the dance follows a spiral,
which is the ancient symbol of birth and rebirth, the ribbed tunnel of external return. The Sacred
Spiral is also one of the oldest known symbols for personal power. When you think of Grouse
medicine, visualize a whirlpool or even a tornado, for the Sacred Spiral will take you to the
center. The spiral is a metaphor for personal vision and enlightenment. Many initiates on Vision
Quests paint spirals on their bodies and believe that the Great Mystery will favor them with
visions of power and purpose because of this symbol. The whirling dervishes of certain Sufi
orders are masters of the spiral dance and can transcend to higher states of awareness through the
repetition of this sacred movement. It is said that dervishes can travel to the center of the spiral
and return with any magical power they choose. In the dervish state, one enters the Great Silence
and has direct communication with the Creator. By spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise, the
dervish draws or repulses specific energies. Sufi dancing is a system which connects one with the
Divine Source through ritual treatment of motion.

If you have Grouse medicine in your cards, undertake a meditation on the various qualities of
movement within your world. Begin by visualizing the sun as one member of a huge group of
stars swirling in the massive pinwheel shape of the Milky Way. Then draw yourself out of this
pinwheel of light and into the spiralling of your own DNA's double helix, an arrangement similar
to a rope ladder coiled like a corkscrew. Analyze the way you move through your world. How do
you picture yourself in the act of "locomotion?" What kind of reaction do you create with the
energy you send into the universe? What words would you use to describe the way you move
through both the material and spiritual worlds? In the final analysis, is your movement
compatible with your greatest desires and goals? Many spiritual disciplines ask that you cease all
external movement in order to recognize the inner life. Grouse medicine, however, is an
invitation to the dance. Grouse celebrates the Divine Source through its sacred spiral dance, and
offers this dance to you as a gift. You can spend a lifetime learning Grouse's lesson on how to
harmonize your dance with Mother Earth's cycles, and how to offer the dance as a creation of
selfless beauty.

Contrary:
Drawing the Grouse medicine card in the reverse position signals a dissipation of energy and
lack of control and discipline. It is symbolic of a lost connection to the Source, and signifies a
lack of clear intent behind an outpouring of energy. You may feel like you are in a tailspin or
going down the drain. Confront confusion either in yourself or in others who may be in the
picture. Examine the way your energy may be causing friction, sparks, or a convolution of a
situation that needs clarification. Work towards harnessing your energy and directing it towards
clearly defined goals. Such is the nature of the Sacred Grouse Dance.

In using this sacred dance as a tool to right contrary Grouse, you may also find that it is a tool to
center or ground you. In grounding, you are once again connecting to Mother Earth and
balancing out the spinning in your head. If you have become so involved with an idea or problem
that you are no longer seeing it clearly, you may feel dizzy or lacking in concentration. This is a
sign that you have entered the thought-universe and are not connected to physical reality. You
need grounding if this occurs. Dancing or walking will put you back in touch with Earth and
your body. Grouse may then teach you how to notice the energy flows that put you in harmony
and balance with body, mind, and spirit.

BearInMind:
GROUSE: SACRED SPIRAL
Grouse once flocked in abundance throughout North America, but now, even on the plains where
these birds were so plentiful, there is an absence of them. Many Plains Indian tribes dance the
Grouse Dance to honor these birds. The movement of the dance follows a spiral, which is the
ancient symbol of birth and rebirth, the ribbed tunnel of eternal return.

The Sacred Spiral is also one of the oldest known symbols for personal power. When you think of
Grouse medicine, visualize a whirlpool or even a tornado, for the Sacred Spiral will take you to
the center. The spiral is a metaphor for personal vision and enlightenment. Many initiates on
Vision Quests paint spirals on their bodies, and believe that the Great Mystery will favor them
with visions of power and purpose because of this symbol.

The whirling dervishes of certain Sufi orders are masters of the spiral dance and can transcend
to higher states of awareness through the repetition of this sacred movement. It is said that
dervishes can travel to the center of the spiral and return with any magical power they choose.
In the dervish state, one enters the Great Silence and has direct communication with the Creator.
By spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise, the dervish draws or repulses specific energies. Sufi
dancing is a system which connects one with the Divine Source through ritual treatment of
motion.

If you have Grouse medicine in your cards, undertake a meditation on the various qualities of
movement within your world. Begin by visualizing the Sun as one member of a huge group of
stars swirling in the massive pinwheel shape of the Milky Way. Then draw yourself out of this
pinwheel of light and into the spiraling of your own DNA's double helix, an arrangement similar
to a rope ladder coiled like a corkscrew.

Analyze the way you move through your world. How do you picture yourself in the act of
"locomotion?" What kind of reaction do you create with the energy you send into the universe?
What words would you use to describe the way you move through both the material and spiritual
worlds? In the final analysis, is your movement compatible with your greatest desires and goals?
Many spiritual disciplines ask that you cease all external movement in order to recognize the
inner life. Grouse medicine, however, is an invitation to the dance. Grouse celebrates the Divine
Source through its sacred spiral dance, and offers this dance to you as a gift. You can spend a
lifetime learning Grouse's lesson on how to harmonize your dance with Mother Earth's cycles,
and how to offer the dance as a creation of selfless beauty.