It seems that it’s not just Sweetie & I who are suddenly awash in white feathers. I’ve received blog comments and a few emails from people who are excitedly sharing the discovery of white feathers in their own lives. Yes folks, we’re all connected. Yes it’s real, that feather’s for you. Yes it means what you think it means!

Just in case we weren’t impressed with all the white feathers suddenly abundant in our lives, look at what Sweetie found at the beach last night:

This is the left wing flight feather of a Steller’s Jay. It is an extremely rare find.

I have had only one other blue feather in my life; it was also a Steller’s Jay feather. It was smaller and not quite as pretty as this one, and it was not banded. I received that first blue feather after I asked the birds to please give one to me. A week or so later, I came upon a mortally injured jay, hit by a car. I picked up one of his feathers from the ground, where it had been knocked off his body. I had both of my dogs with me at the time, and I couldn’t help the bird. Instead I prayed for a cat or an eagle to quickly speed this jay into the next world.

When I returned to the spot a half hour later, the bird and all evidence there had been a bird was gone.

This is a common occurrence when you humbly and openly request a particular feather. A friend of mine recently asked her totem, the hummingbird, to please give her a hummingbird feather as a sign to confirm the hummingbird medicine is with her.

The next sunny day, a hummingbird flew into her window and died, granting my friend an entire bird’s worth of feathers. An unbelievably precious gift, and the sacrifice of the animal’s life makes these feathers all the more sacred. My friend confirmed with her totem that the bird was indeed meant for her, and all of the feathers, enough for a lifetime’s worth of medicine. She was invited to soberly pluck the feathers from the bird’s body, a task she did with respect and reverence.

I had recently given my steller’s jay feather to my friend Hernan, who has crow medicine and is experiencing rapid spiritual development.

And here comes into our life a new blue feather, more beautiful than the last. A gift we did not request, given without sacrifice of an animal’s life, gratefully and humbly accepted.

Okay, we’re impressed. Thank you.