Universal Messages through Nature

Article by Angie Webster

Today as I prepared myself to write, I went outside for some fresh air and a bit of communion with my tree friend in my front lawn. I had been attending to some paperwork for most of the afternoon, which I find very tedious. I was feeling tense and my energy was ragged and raw. My head ached and my back hurt. I knew a few minutes with nature was exactly what I needed to renew my spirit and balance my energy.

As I walked out my front door, I took a few deep breaths, walking close enough to the tree to reach out for the low lying branch near the walkway. I felt that feeling of being trapped inside my head, that sense of buzzing energy, begin to ease as I gently touched the leaves of the maple tree I loved so much. As I stepped under the canopy of the tree, moving toward its trunk, I asked it to show me what I needed to know about life and the Universe today. With that simple question, I felt my heart open and my energy became more at peace. I felt as if I had been freed from my head and had dropped gently down into my heart.

When I placed my hands on the trunk I looked up–directly into the eyes of a hawk sitting on a low lying branch having a meal of a smaller bird. She did not make a fuss about my presence, though I was only about three feet (less than a meter) away from her. Instead, she looked at me peacefully and with some consideration for a moment or two, then took her meal and flew quietly onto the branch of the next tree over. She was still very close and she still watched me. I remained where I was, leaning with my back against the tree trunk.

I noticed that feathers were all around me on the ground and occasionally fluttered from the branch the hawk had been sitting on. As I watched her, I began to think about the amazing message that had been immediately given to me through the hawk when I asked what I needed to know today about life and the Universe. When I asked the question, I was directing it toward the tree, but it was as if the hawk reminded me to expand my vision, allow myself to see the Universe in everything; to remember that all things contain life.

Just as I was recognizing this message, I felt something tickling, crawling on my leg. I gasped and shook my leg, not knowing what it was. I looked down in time to see an ant with one of the bird feathers in its mouth falling from my leg back to the ground. The feather was thousands of times larger than him, yet he never dropped it. I was again lost in wonder at the Universe expressing Itself in this wondrous manner. I began to see a broader message. The tree, the hawk, the ant. All of them were expressions of a larger energy, a larger pattern. As if to answer this, a woman came out of nowhere and sat down near me, between the two trees. I smiled to myself, realizing that she, too is an expression of this larger energy, of the Divine. She stayed for a moment and then left.

All of this was just the reminder I needed at that moment. I felt renewed. Animals are great messengers that Spirit can send to us to remind us of what we need on our path. Hawk is an animal that uses great focus from a high place to see an overall view. She is observant and knows when and how to take action. Ant is also very focused and action oriented. Both animals are very patient and determined, very strong—each in their own unique way. Hawk represents a more ethereal approach, ant a more grounded approach. You might say one represents the Heavenly Realms, the other the Earthly. The two realms together are the union of the Divine aspects. Yin and Yang.

Each thing we encounter, each being, is an aspect of something larger. Every tool we use is also from the larger Whole. It is important to remain open to the fullness of the whole picture. Even our wonderful and beloved Reiki is only part of a much larger whole. It is a tool that we use that comes from the greater aspect. It’s always a good thing to remember there is more. Each individual part is an incredibly important piece of the vast and unfathomable whole. We tend to limit ourselves with our thinking, and sometimes we have to focus on a task, but it’s a good thing to expand our focus now and then, too.

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Angie Webster made a significant contribution to the Reiki community, with a particular focus on Animal Reiki, which she had a deep affection for. As a knowledgeable Reiki Master Teacher and Author, she conducted online courses on energy healing, herbalism, flower essences, and personal growth.
She is the author of “Animal Reiki: How it Heals, Teaches & Reconnects Us with Nature” and “Reiki from A to Z”. Currently, Angie has decided to retire from her professional life to devote more time to her health, family, and the little joys of life.