The Iguana & the Hawk

The goal of ascending is expressed in the the Mayan symbols of Kukulcan, the feathered serpentt. Kukul translates as feathered and can translates as snake or serpent. When I asked the Maya for an example of someone who embodied this mystical symbol, they mentioned Christ. The book He Walked the Americas describes how Christ appeared to the Maya, and to other Native Americans such as the Apache.

It was a year before I went to Tikal when I was at the Mayan ruins of Tulum that I had an encounter with the Mayan mystical symbol of Kukulcan: the feathered serpent. As I mentioned in chapter two, the feathered serpent embodies the goal of our highest spiritual potential. In this image, we envision the spiritual potential for achieving the integration of the material (serpent or snake) and spiritual (eagle) sides of our nature.
My eyes were fixed on the way the sea and sky seemed to merge seamlessly and become indistinguishable at the horizon. Behind me were the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Tulum. I felt a sacred serenity as I was sitting on the edge of a cliff. The sea shimmered from the intense light of the noonday sun while small waves of turquoise water were gently caressing the rocky shore. Each of us in the group had fifteen minutes to pick a spot for participating in a prayer for world peace. It was inspiring to think that at at the very same moment in sacred sites all over the world that day, people would be praying for world peace.
Before seeking a quiet spot, I happened to look down the face of the cliff. There I saw a huge iguana that was about six feet in length. He was seated on some rocks about thirty feet below me. The big lizard was looking up at the sky. As I followed the iguana’s gaze, I saw a hawk hovering about thirty feet above me. Here I was positioned midway between these two creatures. I recalled how the shamans consider the hawk to be a messenger of God, whereas the eagle is considered to be a direct expression of God.

The hawk then flew to my right and, steadying itself in the crosscurrents of wind, hung motionless in the air. With its head down, the hawk’s beak was pointing directly toward the ground. What an unusual sight to see the hawk hanging motionless, its feet aimed at the heavens and its head aimed at the earth.

Moments before I had seen a Mayan sculpture called the descending god. It was set in the stone slab above the entrance to one of the temples in Tulum. The sculpture was the figure of a Mayan male deity with a headdress and his head was pointing to Earth while his feet aimed toward the heavens. The resemblance between the stone sculpture and the hawk hanging in the air was remarkable. Ancient symbols were coming to life before my eyes by manifesting in the natural world surrounding me.

While I observed the hawk suspended in the air, time seemed to stand still. The bird held its position for what seemed to be almost a minute. It was a minute that seemed like an eternity. I got the impression that it was scanning the ground below for its next meal. I waited for the hawk to dive down and snatch up in its beak some unsuspecting prey.

When the hawk finally did dive down, it simply flew close to the ground shooting through the brush and then out to sea. No prey in its mouth. It just disappeared from view and seemed to pass through an invisible portal. I walked over to the spot where it had hovered and I found a small stone temple in ruins hidden in the brush. As I proceeded to meditate there, I had the feeling that the hawk had led me to an extension of the portal that it had disappeared into. Silently, I said to myself, “If indeed this is a portal to the spirit world, to a higher state of consciousness, then perhaps my prayer for world peace would be empowered!”

Right here in front of my eyes, I was witnessing a manifestation of the mystical symbol of the feathered serpent. I felt that I was being given a sign by the Divine of what it means to follow the path of spiritual transformation. Through this concrete symbol of the feathered serpent—the hawk and the iguana—I could now see how the Divine may communicate to us through other living beings. Such a perspective truly does help us heal our relationship with Mother Earth and all living beings. After all, the two creatures came into view right before a prayer for world peace.

As aspiring feathered serpents, we align our lower nature with the peaceful power of love: the dynamic and enduring life-force energy that animates all living beings including plants and animals alike. The goal is to align ourselves with this deeper and truer vision of God, the Divine Beloved, communicating to us through the physical universe and guiding us to practice loving-kindness in all we think, feel, say and do. [Parts of the above were taken from A Matter of Love, featured on www.drsrj.com]

Today, take the opportunity to practice kindness. Say a kind word words, perhaps pay a compliment, to the people who you encounter: the young man or woman taking your order at the coffee shop; the bank teller as you make your deposit or withdrawal; the cashier as you check out at the grocery store, and so on.