The Magic of the Magpie

The magpie has a rich history of symbolism in Northern Europe, China, and North America.

They’re risk-takers; fast, bold. They love treasure and became known for waiting in streams by silver and gold. Going to get what they want, then exiting quickly.

The native Americans attributed the trickster to the magpie, an opportunist.

The Chinese believe it’s an omen of good luck, good fortune, and brings blessings of abundance.

Spotting a magpie can be a sign of change. A sign that a long-lost love is trying to find you.

It has its lineage in the crow family. Crows have significance in the UK. They are seen as an ominous thing, both good and bad. A bringer of change. That change could be death. The land of the UK was deeply forested until very recently when the monarchy chopped a lot of the wood down to plant oak trees to harvest for ships. As our population grew, we needed a lot more land to plant the food that we need; we deforested our land to provide that.

Crows like semi-forested land, they moved in after the deep forest was cleared. This is why they’re sometimes seen as a death omen. The loss of biodiversity on our island. A calling in our souls for the deep forest to return. The collective noun for a crow is still murder. Perhaps it’s because of their association to violent death, or their blunt caw.

I often see magpies now, they fly by in moments of deep contemplation where I am discussing changing aspects of myself.

In the UK, we have a saying to say to the magpie every time we see it:

Hello Mr. Magpie, how’s Mrs. Magpie today?

You could argue that this phrase is rooted in patriarchy, I don’t know how you differentiate a female and male magpie, that’s something I’ll learn after writing this. Maybe next time I’ll lead with Mrs Magpie, and see what happens. You can tip your hat, or salute them to show respect.

This kind of folkloric story is endearing to me, it shows a connection to the land; its contours and fluctuations. The character of the animals contributes greatly to the land.

For example, whilst I was in Sri Lanka for a month, I was comforted by the calls of the local birds, morning and night. There’s something about the confirmation of the cycle of the day, honouring that is a joyous occasion.

Photo by Joy Yu on Unsplash

The magpie is also really boisterous, cackling and calling loudly. You always know when it’s around, much like change, it can’t be hidden for long.

There’s an old nursery rhyme that we sing here in the UK to our children, I remember it fondly and I always count the magpie to see what’s in store for me:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.

Of course, like dreams, animals can provide a palette from which we collect our paints. The washing of the canvas and painting of our lives is a separate act for me. I am curious about the role that animals play in my life, I’ve always been drawn to them. I follow the wolf spirit closely in meditation, as I took a shamanic journey four years ago, and the wolf showed up.

I think these symbols can provide us with guidance throughout our lives. A way to interpret the living world around us, and how reflected that is within our inner nature.

Each animal has an inherent nature, a spirit. The way that it moves, the animals don’t have a discerning logical mind. They are embodied in their tendencies that transcended over generations of evolution. It can reflect an energetic nature within ourselves, a recognition of that energy within us, seen in the motions and occurrences in the natural world.

A connection to something larger than me, that’s the spiritual aspect to this. The reminder of something I’d long forgotten that sits dormant in my energy.

I’m deeply grateful for the presence of the magpie in my life, it serves as a confirmation that I am experiencing relation to the world around me, that I am tapped into the energy of the universe, receiving the signs and signals of synergy. I don’t live my life based on this, it doesn’t govern me, yet, I do listen and observe these things, and they do frame my experience. One colour on the palette of life, one thing that I can choose to listen to.

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This post was previously published on Medium.

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