The Swan
The Swan
Awakening the True Beauty and Power of the Self
The swan is one of the most powerful and ancient totems. Its very name has come down unchanged since Anglo-Saxon times, reflecting its ancient and deep powers.
Usually being pure white, it is often a solar symbol. However, a black Australian swan does exist, and represents lunar power.
The neck of the swan is long and graceful, and one of the bird’s most distinguished features. The neck is a bridge area between the head (higher realms) and the body (lower worlds). With the swam totem you begin to realize your own true beauty, you unfold the ability to bridge to new realms and new powers. This ability to awaken to the inner beauty and bridge to the outer world is a part of what swan medicine teaches us. It shows us our inner beauty, regardless of outer appearances.
The swan is a cold-loving bird, having ties to the direction of the North. Rarely does it thrive in heat and choices cooler climates for its home.
The type of swan and its characteristics has its own significance to the swan and to you, the bearer of the totem. The largest of all swans is the trumpeter. The loud, car-carrying call is the origin of its name. The whistling swan is most common. The mute swan, best known in America, is named for the belief that it loses its voice as it reaches maturity. While not truly voiceless, a symbol of powerless expression, the mute swan is more a symbol of the true nature of “strengh through silence.”
Swans are beautiful, powerful birds. Able to break a man’s arms with the beat of its wings, swans have strong bites as well. Devoted parents, swans mate for life, and some live as long as 80 years. This power, this longevity is possible when we awaken to the beauty and power within ourselves.
It is the totem of the child, the poet, the mystic, and thr dreamer. Swans fill folklore and fairy tales, as traditional symbols of beauty and grace. Swans were sacrified to Aphrodite, the greek Goddess of Love, and they were depicted pulling the chariot of Apollo. Zeus took the shape of a swan to make love to Ledo, a mortal woman - reflecting the swan’s ability to link between worlds.
Many fairy and other tales speak of maidens who turn into swans, in mythology and folklore, by donning the magic garment of a swan’s skin. Many of these tales involving swans ended tragically, hinting at the primal life-changing power of beauty when released freely, and the control necessary tp effectively work with such graced, but powerful energy.
From Greece comes the mystery of the swan song, a belief that taught that the swan sang its most beautiful song only before it died. The swan can teach the mysteries of song and poetry, for these touch the child and the beauty within.
Excepted from “Animal - Speak” by Ted Andrews.
