Power Animal of the Week – Armadillo
Intuitive Message – For many this is a time of shedding the tough exterior that you have worn as a protective shield for years. It is time to let other see the real you, soft, gentle, loving. As you journey within this week, allow yourself to feel and release all that sits just under the surface of the tough shell. You can so do this and know that you are always shielded and protected as you go. Time to get real and own what is yours leaving the rest where it belongs. With Love and Gratitude, Lisa
Message from the guidebook –
#28 – Armadillo
Armadillo…
Armour all my boundaries,
Teach me my shields,
Reflect all the hurt,
So I will not yield.
ARMADILLO – BOUNDARIES
Armadillo wears its armour on its back, its medicine a part of its body. Its boundaries of safety are a part of its total being. Armadillo can roll into a ball and never be penetrated by enemies.
What a gift it is to set boundaries so that harmful words or intentions just roll off. Your lesson is in setting up what you are willing to experience. If you do not wish to experience feeling invaded, just call on Armadillo.
A clue to how to proceed is to make a circle on a piece of paper and see it as a medicine shield. In the body of the shield, write all that you are desiring to have, do, or experience. Include all things that give you joy. This sets up boundaries that allow only these chosen experiences to be a part of your life. These boundaries become a shield that wards off the things which are undesirable to you. The shield reflects what you are and what your will is to others on an unconscious level. Outside of the shield you may put what you are willing to experience “by invitation only,” for example a visit from a long lost relative, or criticism from friends, or people needing handouts.
If Armadillo had waddled into the cards you chose, it is time to define your space. You may have been too willing to let your home become a bus station. You may find that you cannot say “no” even when you know that you will have to cancel plans to be obliging. This routine can get old in a hurry!
It may be time to ask yourself the following questions:
1) Am I honouring the time I need for my personal enjoyment?
2) Do others treat me like a doormat?
3) Why do I always get upset when I’m take for granted?
4) Is there a reason for my being a “yes” person?
All of the answers to these questions relate to setting up boundaries: what you will and won’t do; what makes you feel uncomfortable and what is comforting to you. How you react in any circumstance has to do with your ability to be objective. You cannot be objective if you cannot tell where the other person’s personality stops and where yours begins. If you have no boundaries, you are like a sponge. It will seem as if all the feelings in a room full of people must be yours. Ask yourself if you are really feeling depressed, or if this feeling actually belongs to the person you are talking to. Then allow Armadillo’s armour to slice in-between, giving you back your sense of self.
Message from Guidebook from the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson….http://www.amazon.com/Medicine-Cards-Discovery-Through-Animals/dp/093968053X
Thank you for the information. I seen 2 armadillos a couple weeks ago as I was heading to work 2am. I had to look it up when I got home. Your description of it relates better to me. I had to actually make my daughter leave my home. I couldn’t stand her treating me as a doormat any longer. She used me until she couldn’t use me any longer. I am extremely worried about her at this point. I know I have no control over the situation and we both have choices to make and choices and actions that have been made. It breaks my heart, but if she stayed, I feel like she would have overtook my soul. She is really into some dark, scary to me, kind of stuff. So not good. I just keep praying for protection for myself and her. She may not want it. But as her mother I love her dearly no matter what. I need the Armadillo’s armour, I think its protective.