Grasshopper Medicine

It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap.” – Stephen Schwartz.I have always had a deep love and respect for nature and its inhabitants, both small and large. I adore watching the natural world around me, and all of its creatures going about their daily lives and doing their jobs, just like you and I.There are times when certain animals will appear in my life as if having something to tell me. In Shamanism or the Native American culture, when an animal comes to you, it is said that the animal brings you “animal medicine.” Animal medicine is medicine that heals your consciousness. Animal medicine can bring you personal power, strength, and understanding. Each animal brings with it its own unique essence and lesson to share with you. What it means to you as an individual is entirely up to you to decipher for yourself. How did the animal make you feel when he/she came to you? What was going on in your life at the time? What answers were you looking for? You can also look up the meaning of the particular medicine, and take from it what works for you.Working with animal medicine is a great way to learn to honor all living things as teachers. It is a great way to practice being present and to become one with all of life and nature.Grasshopper medicine has had a huge impact on me, and has come to me during times in my life when I have felt that my inner faith has been tested by my outward circumstances. My first encounter with grasshopper was right before I gave birth to my second daughter, there were grasshoppers scattered all over my back yard, singing their beautiful songs. Grasshopper had such a profound impact on me at the time that I drew a picture my pregnant self with grasshopper. I knew that grasshopper meant “a leap of faith”, but little did I know what a great leap I’d soon be taking.I became extremely ill with pneumonia, so ill that when I went to the emergency room my blood pressure was off the charts, and my pulse was 120 beats per minute, just resting! my tired heart was having a tough time keeping up with the work it had to do to keep my pregnant, asthmatic, and very sick body going. My temperature was 102.8, even after taking multiple fever reducers. I was terrified for my poor little baby trapped inside of my burning hot womb. I nervously stared at the monitor and watched my baby’s heartbeat rising from the heat and stress my body was putting on her.I told the Doctor about my concerns for my baby, and the Doctor said he was not worried about my baby, but about me, my body was not fighting for itself, but only for my baby. The Doctor informed me that if my body was going to have a chance, they needed to do surgery immediately to take my baby out. They needed to put me under and intubate me, with my asthma and the pneumonia, I was scared for my life. The overwhelming fear I felt at that moment is really indescribable, I knew that there was no getting out of this one, and I had no other choice but to trust my instincts and take that “leap of faith.” I thought of the grasshopper and how it only leaps forward and never backwards, and I took that leap, and here I am today, I am alive.The second time the grasshopper entered my life was the night before my Grandmother’s Memorial service. I was standing in my kitchen thinking about my Grandmother as these intense feelings of isolation, dread, and doom fell over my body. I began to panic, I needed to escape, but there was nowhere to go, I felt so alone trapped in these terrifying feelings. As I lifted my head to the screen on the sliding glass door, there was a little grasshopper looking at me. I decided once again to take that leap and allowed faith to move within me. Grasshopper brought me such peace at a moment when I needed it most.So those are just a couple of wonderful ways animal medicine has touched my life. Sometimes all we need is just a little hope, and that’s just what animal medicine brings. These animals can pull you outside of yourself by helping you to focus on positive ways to make it through whatever challenges you are facing at the time.What animal calls to you?