Collection: Two Swans In Garden

ARTIST: Fr. Bob Gilroy, SJ

ARTWORK NARRATIVE:

Swans represent grace and beauty on many levels. They are associated with love, poetry and music. The swan was sacred to Venus, the love goddess in Roman mythology. The swan was often pictured singing to a lyre in Greek tradition. In Celtic tradition the Swan represents the Soul, our eternal essence.

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Swan's Wisdom Includes awakening the power of self, balance, grace, inner beauty, innocence, self-esteem, understanding dream symbols, seeing into the future, understanding spiritual, evolution, developing intuitive abilities, divination, grace in dealing with others and commitment.

Swan represents grace and beauty on many levels. It is associated with love, poetry and music. The swan was sacred to Venus, the love goddess in Roman mythology. The swan was often pictured singing to a lyre in Greek tradition. In Celtic tradition the Swan represents the Soul, our eternal essence.

The Swan is one of the most ancient and powerful power animals. The Irish bards were both poets and musicians, and wore cloaks made with swan feathers. Also in the Irish tale about the Children of Lir, who were turned into swans and sang so sweetly that all who heard them were put at ease and slept peacefully. These 2 examples along with other Celtic legends of the humans shape shifting into swans highlights the deepest meaning of Swan medicine.

The Ugly Duckling is a widely known children story, about an apparently ugly little duckling, who doesn't look like the others and is rejected and labelled a misfit, different. In the end all are surprised when he grows into being the most elegant of birds, the swan. This highlights the deceptive nature of first appearances and also reminds us that true beauty grows from within. The Swan teaches us that we all have inner grace and beauty, and this teaches us self-esteem. As we begin to realize our own true beauty, we reveal the ability to bridge new realms and new powers.

Swan will show one how to firmly rely on the beauty of ones being as it works in the physical and spiritual planes. One will be impelled to happy and grateful of and for the physical body and our intuitive mind.

Grace doesn't mean only the ability to live a balanced life, it is also being able to be at home in many planes of reality, to see that we are more than we appear to be " we are both physical and spiritual beings. We are souls having a human experience.

Not only does the swan reveal to you your own inner beauty, but also that of others. A Swans graceful entering into your life signals a time of altered states of awareness and the development of intuitive abilities, for those with this medicine have the inherent ability to see the future, and to accept the healing and change that is starting in their lives. Accept this and it will help you go with the flow. Listen to your inner knowledge and intuitions and Swan will work through you. The Swan's voice teaches the mysteries of song and poetry, for these touch our inner child and also our inner beauty.

Swan gracefully glide through the water leaving hardly a ripple behind. Their natural, effortless beauty reminds us to move gently through the currents of life and not fight against them. Swans do not dive into the water like other birds when feeding. Rather, they skim the water dipping their long necks and heads in and out. Water is linked with the feminine intuition and emotion. By following swans example we learn how to view our emotions without getting trapped by them. Our intuition helps us comprehend our feelings and the swan helps us process them.

Swans mate for life. When choosing a mate mutual bill dipping or head-to-head posturing are involved. They are dedicated partners. Us humans often make commitments we can't keep. By following swans lead we will begin to respect what we have chosen and to follow things through. Honoring our commitments increase personal integrity.

Swans are very fast fliers, they fly in V formations at great heights during migration. Their wings beat slowly but steadily, lending them the endurance required reach their destination without tiring. If this is your power animal you have the same ability and should apply the swans movements when pursuing something. The large wings of the swan in the sky gather and store knowledge from Great Spirit. Their white plumage reminds us of the dazzling beauty and innocence found in the purity of Great Spirit, and their long graceful necks act as a bridge between the ordinary and the extra-ordinary. This bridge holds the wisdom for spiritual realization.