The Blue Jay Signaling a Turning Point: Omens for the Death Worker

(3 minute read)

A few days ago I went for a walk at sunrise.

As I came up over a hill, I was greeted by a pink and blue haze in the sky with a rising sun making sparkles in the dew on the grass— the air so cool and fresh to me that I blurted out loud without thought “There is glory in this day.”

I was so happy for this feeling because I had been going through a familiar spiritual itch.

A very uncomfortable and unnerving place in myself that I know very well and comes around occasionally had been shaking me up for a week or so. This particular place is a turning point that I am unable to complete without ending a mode of operation. One that was useful for my processes of expression and manifestation in my death work, but has now become stagnant and personally-outdated.

The path in the meadow curves around a little pond that has tall cattails along the edges and then drifts into a deep three-thousand-acre forest. As I took the path into the woods, I enjoyed noticing the slants of sunrise light on the dried pine and the moss around me. As I often do, I stopped on the path and engaged in communion with some details around me.

Behold, behold my eyes see a vibrant spray of royal blue, black speckled blue jay feathers!

I moved through the trees to find the carcass of blue jay fully intact, splayed out and skull exposed. All around the dear thing were pinecones. So, I moved them 1 by 1 to create a circle around the bird’s body. Then I put my sap sticky hands together and prayed this song. “Oh Great Mother of Death, even here still, I see you blending beauty and heartbreak. May I continue to do your work. And may you carry me as I do?”

The very day before this walk I had a conversation with a Nine Keys alum about her death work. The conclusion that we came to in her work was that she needed to “turn up the witchy” a little bit in her work. As I was saying this to her my eyes moved to a piece of art in my office of a blue jay surrounded by pinecones. This darling apprentice was influenced by blue jay when she was finishing her Nine Keys and crafting her website for her community. She often used pinecone in ritual. I took the art down off the wall and held it in front of my computer so that she could see what I looked at in reflex as I commented on the mystery side of her death work. We were both very clear then. And I was so grateful for the time we got to spend together finding clues for her work.

So here I was in the woods the next morning having the message returned to me as I sang the prayer in tribute over blue jay. “Oh, Great Mother of Death, even here still I see you blending beauty and heartbreak. May I continue to do your work. And may you carry me as I do?”

When I felt the time with blue jay’s carcass was complete, I stepped back onto the path to be greeted by a three-legged pure white dog with eyes so incredibly light blue they appeared to be white! He was a sight to behold.

Have you ever been looked at by white eyes?

His owner walked up behind him apologizing that he was off leash. I said, “No worries at all. He is a beautiful and special creature.” And she said his name is Ghost.

I kept walking and laughed the witch cackle that comes from my grandmama through me as I said in return, “Of course that is his name! It’s nice to meet you, Ghost.” when between my feet a long black snake slithered over the pine needles.

Oh, we know how these things come in threes. Blue jay, ghost, snake.

There is glory in this day.

I have often found in my decade of knowing I walk the death worker’s path, that when I find myself alone with a grand creature in nature just after it has died, I understand this to be an omen marking an ending in my soul-self path. A turning point may now be completed.

Blue jays are remarkable in their expression. Not only are their feathers eye-catching, but their call is also distinct and heard far from where they are calling. They are messengers of clear communication and bold expression.

There's a funny thing that happens when you are so moved to manifest your calling into a thing that pays your bills. We can find a formula that works for us but then after a while find that the formula no longer serves when we ourselves have gone through an ecdysis/emergence turning point. Meaning— our business must shift as our ego-self sheds another layer for the free movement of soul-self. When your business is a physical manifestation of your calling the business and soul-self are not separated. They are two hands for a body of work.

Truth is, I have been grieving what I thought was the loss of my art, in particular illustration and drawing, because for many years I have been so focused on my business and calling solely for being in service to those who are dying, the people taking care of them, and death workers. I have had very little bandwidth for my art. I have cried many tears over the loss of time that I wanted to be spending at my art desk. My death work, in its most recent incarnation has been very much geared towards helping death workers build their businesses. And while I enjoy this immensely and will continue to help death workers merge their calling with business, I now see that I am moved to a different place, a different speed, a wide-open meadow where there is more time and space for my art, my self-expression. I can let go of the mode of operation I have been using for quite some time. I’m safe to let go of how I was going about my business. I’ve turned the corner, blue jay confirms. There is glory in this day.

I want to show other death workers this way of ‘doing business.’ I want to help them truly understand that their calling will carry them. I desire to show them the magic in their work and the way it delivers time for the things they want to do and the resources to be well fed.

I want to show other death workers that their expressions of their work and their offerings may metamorphosize again and again, and that letting go truly is the art we are here to understand.

I want to express the reality that our businesses can emerge from soul-self. I want to be a messenger with clear and bold expression.

Blue jay, you are unforgettable just as seal and raven were.