Issue #71 The Magic Heron Newsletter – What creature symbolizes tranquility and power?
Welcome to the 71st issue of The Magic Heron Newsletter, a fortnightly newsletter with a focus on journaling, writing, and learning nature’s wisdom through midlife.
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Texas, November 5, 2023
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Hi there!
Today’s journaling tip: Write about where you are in life at this moment.
Slow down, stay in this moment, and write about what is going on around you. What sounds do you hear?
If you are at home, listen to the busyness of others in your home, the hum of the refrigerator, or what the patterns on the tile remind you of.
If you are in a coffee shop, write about the background noises of people’s conversations, the coffee aroma, etc.
If you are outdoors or sitting in your car, can you pick out the different calls of birds? Are they chirping to each other? Or sounding alarm calls?
Starting with where you are in the moment will lead you into deeper journaling by connecting and grounding you to the here and now. Try it and see where your journaling leads you!
Did you sign up for NaNoWriMo?
If you are just starting to journal, try a 30 day challenge to get you in the habit. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a 30 day challenge to write 50,000 words that many writers participate in every November to write the first drafts of their novels. Why not use the challenge to start a journaling habit? You don’t have to write that many words. Just use it to journal. It starts this November 1st.
This week Owl has shown up as the Spirit Animal for the newsletter. Check it out below and see if any of Owl’s teachings resonate with you.
Happy journaling!
This week’s Newsletter Spirit Animal
Bear Symbolism and Meanings:
Bear can be a picture of tranquility or a symbol for warrior and power. Bears are omnivores and love berries. They have an easy-going energy and love a sunny spot to relax in. They enjoy a simple life when the conditions are favorable.
We can learn from Bear to do the same, enjoy simple food and simple pleasures in life. Simple moments, a cup of coffee, a sunset, these are the things that help us step out of the chaos of our lives.
Bear Symbolism and Meanings:
- Peace
- Bravery
- Powerful
- Duality
- Benevolence
- Motherhood
- Sovereignty
- Resurrection
When Bear shows up, what messages are being brought to us? Think about patience and connection. Hibernation allows us a time to be with our ideas and projects until it’s time to implement them. Bear can also teach us how to connect with earth and celestial (sun/moon) energy and tap into the wax, wane and flow of our lives.
Bear teaches confidence and authority as Bear’s physical presence shows us we can be larger than life when we raise ourselves up. No one questions the bear. Bear shows us how to impart authentic authority in our energy.
Bear teaches about nurturing and protection of motherhood. Nurture and protect your own children or ideas/projects with the same fierceness that a mother bear does for her own offspring.
Bear has imminent domain and beneath the surface, can be potentially explosive when defending itself. This is where Bear teaches courage, sovereignty, and warrior aspects of ourselves.
For many cultures from the Norse, to the Celts, to the Native Americans, Bear was an important teacher and messenger. A powerful symbol of solar and lunar duality teaching how to balance energy.
Recently Published . . .
New in the Shanna Lea Author / Magic Heron Creations Printables Shop
I am in the middle of moving a lot of my printables to a new platform called Payhip. I have all the Spirit Animal Journals moved and will continue to put out a new one about once a month. Check out the new shop and I’ll be adding new planners and ebooks there soon!
1. New shop: Shanna Lea Author / Magic Heron Creations Printables
3. Combine this coloring journal planner with your Spirit Animal Journal!
New Books!
My daughter and I created a whole line of Writer’s Notebooks. Use them for NaNoWriMo, notetaking, for work, or journaling! You can find the notebooks on the Magic Heron Amazon Author Page
2. Natural Cold and Flu Remedies
Interesting links . . .
Here are some interesting links I came across on my ventures through Internet Land this week that I thought you might enjoy.
1. A Mushroom that turns into INK | Shaggy Mane Mushroom Time Lapse
2. HOW TO CORRECTLY IDENTIFY AND USE EVERGREENS FOR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL USE
3. Elderberry Shrub + Mocktail Recipe for Immune Support
4. 3 Winning Sweet Potato Recipes That Will Make Your Mouth Water
5. 7 FALL CRAFT PROJECTS YOU CAN MAKE IN AN HOUR
***I use Mountain Rose Herbs for ordering all the herbs I use. Every order I’ve received has always been fresh and gorgeous. Click here to order the herbs you need for your teas, infusions, spices, and other ingredients for your kitchen:
Autumn Recipe . . .
Celebrate Autumn with seasonal recipes! Make homemade pumpkin pie spice!
Autumn Fun . . .
Autumn Nature Bucket List! Roast pumpkin seeds!
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds (with 3 Recipes!)
Journaling Inspiration . . .
1. New Month Journal Prompt for Effective Goal Setting
2. What is (and isn’t) junk journaling
3. Magazine Glue Book | How I fold & cut it | #gluebook #gluebooks #collage #collaging #magazinecrafts
4. How to Prepare a Book for an Art Journal | Bonus: How to Break a Blank Page
5. A Commonplace Book Will Revolutionize Your Life
Random Nature Fact . . .
Dolphins call each other by name! They sound out a unique whistle to identify each other.
Nature Journal Video . . .
1. Join John Muir Laws and naturalist, journaler, and explorer Sandy McDermott for a bear-raising adventure. Sandy describes her adventures with Brown Bears in Alaska and we draw them together as we learn about their natural history.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Nature Journal Prompt . . .
Use the picture above to practice drawing in your nature journal and noticing details about this animal.
Bear facts:
Lifespan: 10 – 30 years
Scientific name: Ursidae
Weight: 125 – 500 lbs.
Speed: 35 mph
Habitat: tundra plains, ice fields, prairie and foothills grasslands, thick temperate rainforests, high mountain forests, etc.
What it eats: omnivorous: berries, grain, fish, insects, birds, mammals, etc.
What eats (or preys on) it: aggressive and top of the food chain, but tigers, wolves, cougars, bobcats, coyotes, and humans prey on bear cubs
What I’m watching . . .
1. We just finished watching this and loved every episode. Amazing history of all the ages of the earth.
Life on Our Planet | Official Trailer | Netflix
What I’m reading . . .
What’s on my bookshelf:
These have been favorite writing books I’ve always kept on my bookshelf to refer to over and over.
1. Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy
Quotes I’m pondering . . .
“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
and
“The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider.”-
Jane Hirshfield
Questions I’m considering journaling on . . .
What book had the biggest impact on my life?
Journal Prompt . . .
Think back on a time where you felt like you failed at something. How did you bounce back from it?
Reviews . . .
If you have bought any of our books or printables and enjoyed them, please leave a positive review on Amazon, Etsy, or Zazzle. Those reviews mean the world to us and help boost us up on the platforms. Thank You!!
Happy Journaling!
. . . Shanna
P.S. Is there something you like or would rather see in the newsletter? Hit reply and let me know!
I’ll be back on November 19th !
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