Turkey Medicine

Small Beaded Honeycomb Smudging Feather by Elewmompittseh on Etsy

Happy Monday and welcome Turkey,  who is my teacher today!  Wild turkeys are native to North America and we are lucky to have a large tribe of around 42 birds here.  They make their rounds every day and stop by to eat birdseed, insects (including ticks!), and also the food we leave out for Crybaby, the feral cat!  Some people believe they lack intelligence, but after watching them for years, I disagree.  What I admire most about them is how they care for their young, with both parents sharing the responsibilities.

The males are totally fearless when it comes to protecting their mates and their eggs.  One day when three of us were walking our dogs in the forest, a male turkey jumped out of the bushes and didn't want to let us pass. Not caring to turn around which would add 2 additional miles to our walk, we managed to race by him.  But in the process, Melissa dropped her pouch and we could see it on the road right where the turkey, who had returned to the bushes, had been.  I held the dog Melissa was walking while she tiptoed back very reluctantly to pick it up.  Just as she bent down to grab the pouch, the turkey came flying back out of the bushes, screaming with fury and just missed her as she snatched it up and ran.  This time though he didn't stop and continued to chase her even when she reached us, so we all tucked in our tails and fled - three humans and three large huskies, running for our lives as fast as we could from that fearsome bird! 

Turkey is known as the Ground Eagle by some Native tribes and teaches us how to give with no strings attached and without expecting anything in return.  The giving may be of time, knowledge, or material things. Some people dedicate their entire lives to helping another person, or a cause. There are so many ways to give.  That turkey was even willing to give his life to protect his family, because in truth, the dogs didn't really want to run away from him.

I think St. Francis, Patron Saint of The Animals,  summed up Turkey Medicine perfectly in his prayer:

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying (to self)
that we are born to eternal life.



A lot of people misunderstand that last line of his prayer because the "to self" is implied by all the other lines of the prayer but not written out specifically. That's what St. Francis meant by "dying" though - we please and serve Spirit by being unselfish and helping others instead of always putting ourselves first.  He's told us all the ways we can give and pointed out that what goes around comes around.

You might have barely enough for yourself, and feel you have nothing whatsoever to give.  But my dog Sky says "Love costs nothing, you can always give love".  And that's what Turkey Medicine is all about :)

End of day notes: Today I was thinking of all I have - really just about everything I want of what's important to me and even more.  So I had the thought that maybe because I have so much it's easy for me to give and it's not a chore or a challenge because I enjoy it.  So if you have a lot to give and enjoy giving to begin with, does it still count?  Turkey says yes, it does indeed count because we are always given the means to honor our personal medicines and the result of using those means for what they are intended to be used for is joy and happiness.

Ok, that makes sense, so no need to thrash around in the brambles - just follow the path. ~ lol ~ Sincere thanks to my friend and teacher for the lessons today!