I spent the weekend doing a past-life workshop—my 4th one. The life I recalled was a priestess in the temple of Athena in ancient Greece. Fire was very important—it was the center of everything. My main job was to keep the fire fed. It used to speak to me. In that life, I could directly communicate with the fire, as well as speak with owls and olive trees—both symbols of Athena.
After the workshop, I came home and took my dog for a walk at the trail behind my house. I did my routine ritual of working on the ocean, 4 directions and to protect nature there, but also of greeting a lone Cypress tree there that has become my “greeting tree”. (See Connecting with Trees for more info on this.) This tree has so many branches coming out of it that the trunk is not accessible, so I usually place my forehead on the same branch and same spot. The spot has become smooth over time, and it is very distinct. On this visit, I noticed that the tree had left me a sprig of green right where I always place my head. I got the message that it was important to collect this, and it was meant for me. As I was walking, I began to question whether the memories of what I had recalled were real, and if I was crazy and making it all up in my head. I had also asked for a sign in the form of an owl while I was walking the trail and to my disappointement, I didn’t get one.
We were asked to write down our dreams the first day of the past-life workshop, so when I returned home from my walk, I decided to take it a step further to really try to connect more with that life. I lit a candle and tried to connect with the fire. I sat across from it, cross-legged, for what seemed like forever, and all I got was crickets—nothing! The flame was super still and the fire seemed unresponsive. In my frustration, I asked why it wasn’t working, and to my surprise, I got a reply from the fire: “You would have never sat that way then, you would have been kneeling for me!” So, I got up, and knelt down in front of the fire. “I’m listening, now what?” I asked it. It asked for an offering. Immediately I said “but there are no Olive trees here in Moss Beach, will Cypress work instead? The answer was yes. I grabbed my sprig of green that was gifted to me from the Cypress tree earlier and placed it into the flame. The flame danced for me and was happy after it consumed its offering.
That night, I dreamt of 2 owls that landed on a tree in front of me. They were looking at me, as if waiting, for me to start a conversation. The sign came in my dreams.
On Day 2 of the workshop, after it had concluded, I again took my dog out with my husband and went on my usual trail walk. I was telling him that this life came so easily to me, and I shared my doubts with him about questioning if I had been making it all up. Not just the past life, but all of it. The connection, the signs, the birds talking to me, my intuition. Just as I finish saying this, I look up and see a Great Horned Owl in a tree. I had only seen one other one on this trail in the 2 ½ years of walking this trail at least 3 times a week. I walked up to the owl with my husband, and then a little tiny bird starts flying up towards it, one branch at a time, until it was right under it. My husband was horrified, and thought that the little bird was going to get eaten. “What’s it doing?!!” he said to me. I told him that it was speaking to the owl. I could “hear” everything so clearly. It told the owl that I’m the person who takes care of this place. And then more little birds started to flock to the tree. They were all chirping loudly and this time they were speaking to me. They said “this is the sign/message that we’ve told you has been coming”. (See Nature Speaks for more on this.)
I was in tears. I was so grateful, and in so much awe. As we kept walking I heard a piercing screech. I had never heard an owl before, but I immediately turned to my husband and said “there’s another owl calling me”. The screeching continued until I found the owl that it was coming from. I walked up to the owl and it stopped calling me. We gazed at each other for a few moments and it had another message for me. “It was really important for you to see two of us, just like your dream” it said. Now I really lost it! I was sobbing uncontrollably.
On our walk back home, we stopped by the lone Cypress tree and I did my usual greeting with touching my forehead to the usual spot on the same branch. The tree also had a message. It told me that the offering to the fire was important because it connected my past life with the present. That’s why the owls were able to show up now.
Words can’t begin to describe my magical experience. If I had any doubts at all, they were all gone. And it was even more amazing to be able to share it with my husband, just in case he ever thought that I was crazy too.
It’s now the day after I wrote this and wanted to add a little more. I just finished walking the trail, and this time I “called in” an owl on my walk. Once other people cleared, it showed up. I walked up to it and it asked “what’s up”? I felt a little embarrassed because I didn’t have anything to say to it.
Here are the pictures I took on my phone of the owls, in the order that I saw them.
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