This used to make people very nervous about these birds. In some cultures, seeing a woodpecker would almost certainly ‘foretell’ someone’s death. This death that the woodpecker symbolizes can be the death of the old self, bad habits, negative beliefs, a phase in your life or even death of the ego. It’s one of those callings you can’t dismiss and I hope you find some resonance as well with this sweet expression of the Divine.Is a woodpecker a sign of death? Yes, it is but this does not necessarily mean the death of the body. The other day as he crossed just in front of my windshield I spontaneously felt his energy cross through my soul. Note: I’ve been largely writing lately about animals others have encountered, but this lovely little beast kept crossing my path on my drive too and from work. All you need to do is open your creative heart with confidence and come into alignment with the deep abundance of the forest about you. You don’t need to go through the task of creating more opportunities. ![]() Ask, “what is stunning here that I am drawn to work with?” In this way you will find that you don’t have to awkwardly think your way through using the resources available to you. Don’t look for imperfections or weaknesses in other people, things, or yourself. In asking about the meaning of woodpecker, you are being asked to take a gliding, relaxed flight through the unmapped territories of your world and see the resources available to you. That this bird is named after a famous explorer tasked with mapping the resources of a newly purchased territory is no cosmic mistake. This is the power of a true artist, one who flows with his form and that of his environment to accent the power around him rather than play the engineer who strives to perfect. This, again, shows how the Lewis’s woodpecker is willing to adapt his resources and his character to match his world, rather than manipulate the world to his needs. The Lewis’s woodpecker re-shapes the acorn to fit natural crevices. It is interesting that like his cousin the acorn woodpecker, the Lewis’s woodpecker will stash acorns in holes in trees, but the acorn woodpecker drills holes to fit the acorn. A perfect companion for business dealings, this monogamous woodpecker is clear in his partnerships and exemplifies how creativity and duty meet for beneficial ends. Merge with this love, and know what it feels like to love without judgement in a way that overlaps with professionalism and confidence. This bird resonates with the deep nature of his forested environment and emanates true, heart-centered compassion from his being. The sweetest color of red covers the sides of his face and clean lines create a collar of grey feathers about his neck. This absolutely stunning, rosy chested woodpecker has a black back that glimmers the deepest shade of emerald green in the sunlight. Let go of the belief that your creativity is limited by what you are. Clearly if this woodpecker can adapt his awkward climbing body to ballet-style flight and make a living doing it, there is no need for you to conform. ![]() ![]() If the Lewis’s woodpecker spirit animal has flown its beautiful self into your life you are being asked to let go of how familial or societal norms have shaped you. It’s hard to comprehend tens of thousands of years of evolution bringing this bird to it’s stunning form as a woodpecker then to have that form employed for occupations other than, well, woodpecking. He’ll gather nuts and berries too, and, on occasion, he will find natural crevices in the bark and probe those. He also delicately gleans insects from the ground or from the surface of the bark. ![]() This bird, which is adapted to cling to the sides of trees and penetrate their bark with hammering blows, catches insects on the wing. This woodpecker doesn’t pound out holes in trees to harvest insects or sap. The Lewis’s Woodpecker prefers to hunt by what’s called “hawking”. This woodpecker’s namesake, Meriwether Lewis made famous by his expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase with William Clark, commented in his journal that this woodpecker flies “a good deal like a jay bird”. Still one gets the impression that the Lewis’s woodpecker is distinctly trying NOT to be a woodpecker. He can drill a hole through wood as well as any of his cousins. His stiff tail feathers make it possible for him to lean his tail along a tree trunk to climb erect. He has two toes facing forward and two facing backward, like all woodpeckers. He has a barbed tongue for snagging insects from holes in trees.
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