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The eagle's lofty flight and keen vision represent but another form of the same divine spirit.
According to Swedenborg;
Flying eagle signifies the divine truth of the word as to knowledge and thence understanding.
To the Egyptians;
The eagle was the messenger to the gods and the sun, a symbol of eternal life.
To the Romans;
The eagle was the carrier of Jupiter's thunderbolts and a sign of power, which was adopted as a
symbol of the Roman emperors, and was carried before the Empire's legions.
To the Greeks;
The eagle was the messenger to the Greek God Zeus, and Zeus took the form of an eagle when
he carried his young lover Ganymede to Mt. Olympus.
A more detailed meaning of the eagle to Native American cultures is;
Eagle represents a state of grace that is reached through inner work, understanding and passing
the initiation tests that result from reclaiming our personal power. Eagle Medicine is the Power
of the Great Spirit. It is the spirit of tenacity. It is the gift of clear vision with which one can truly
see the things one sees. It is the patience to wait for the appropriate moment. It is to live in
balance with heaven and earth. Eagle reminds us of our connection with the Great Spirit. It tells
us that the universe is giving us the opportunity to fly above our life's worldly levels, or above
the shadow of past realities. Eagle teaches us to look above in order to touch Grandfather Sun
with our heart, to love the Shadow as much as the Light. Eagle asks us to grant ourselves
permission to be free in order to reach the joy that our heart desires.
Another Native American spiritual meaning of the eagle is;
The eagle is the brother who flies highest and closest to the Creator. His vision, wisdom and
courage are gifts that we each possess.
There are very many Native American references to the spirituality of the eagle which Wambdi
Wicasa summarises well;
The Eagle has long been the symbol of honor, bravery, love, friendship and mystical powers for
the Indian Nations. The Eagle gives visible form to Wakinyan (He who speaks Mystery), the
Being who moves between man and Wakantanka. Wakinyan shows up in endless variations of
eagle-likeness in Indian design from the southern tip of South America to the North Pole area.
Each Tribal group has its own stories and legends concerning the Eagle and Wakinyan
(Thunderer, Thunderbird). It has to be more than mere coincidence that many of these stories are
identical in tribes widely separated in both Americas.
Another Native American reference to the Eagle being the messenger of God is
We communicate with the Creator by listening to the spiritual voice of the eagle. The eagle has
many important teachings. Through eagle the knowledge of the Creator is channelled to the
people.
The eagle also features in Native American Blessings.
May you have the strength
Of eagles' wings,
The faith and courage to
Fly to new heights,
And the wisdom
Of the universe
To carry you there.
this we knew:
that our spirits joined not only
with the man and bird
and those in the outer circle
but also with the earth and heavens;
and seeped deeper still
into the web of all our relations -with the Great Spirit in all things,
and we became One.
And in that world among the worlds
secrets of an inner universe
were made known to us.
And so it was,
as it always has been
and always will be
that Spirit comes to awaken us
soaring upon the wings of rhythm
encircling our forgetfulness
with the rapture of being alive
in the temples of our bodies
at the altars of our souls
in the bosom of Mother Earth
here and now.
Author Unknown
The eagle is a prominent spiritual link between heaven and earth within many traditional
European pre-Christian belief systems as well;
The Welsh Lleu and the Scandinavian Oin both transform into an eagle. Lleu does not die, but
is transformed into an eagle reaches the otherworld in the shape of an eagle. Oin, seeks
protection and knowledge as an eagle.
To the Germanic people the eagle was representative of Wodan, the ruler of the gods, and came
to symbolize the German Kaisers.
The Rig Veda describes how the god Indra;
Riding on an eagle, stole the drink of immortality from heaven.
The Bible carries references to the eagle as the messenger of God, and as a link between heaven
on earth. Two examples are;
.I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Exodus 19:4
. but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
On
Eagles
Wings
An Eagle flew into my dreams last night...
On mighty wings we two took flight.
Sumerian culture also refers to the eagle as a means to travel from earth to heaven;
One of the earlier legendary kings in Kish was Etana who was later believed by the Babylonians
to have rode to heaven on the back of a giant Eagle so that he could receive the 'plant of birth'
from Ishtar. Etana was said to have ascended to heaven on the back of an eagle.
The eagle also appears in a similar vein within spiritual symbolism. An example is the Perthro
Rune;
On the side of human nature this Rune is symbolized by the flight of the eagle. Soaring flight,
free from entanglement, lifting yourself above the endless ebb and flow of ordinary life to
acquire broader vision.
The
Life
Forc
e
The teachings of Juan Matus refer to the Eagle as having
the supreme consciousness.
A being pops up into the known once the force of life has
bound all the needed feelings and awarenesses together.
As soon as the force of life leaves the body at the moment
of death, all the single feelings and awarenesses
disintegrate and go back to where they came from; the
unknowable.
What an impeccable and humble universal being does
after attaining the third attention, is very much like dying,
except that its cluster of single feelings and awarenesses
do not disintegrate, but glide into eternity without losing
the togetherness of the thousands of different feelings and
awarenesses.
At death however, those feelings sink deeply into infinity
and move independently as if they had never been a unit,
and the consciousness that housed all these independent
units is consumed by the supreme consciousness of the
Eagle.