when i first arrived at my current home
a small brown otter was down by the bank of the water
maybe 60 meters away.
the next summer i saw it around the neighbors house
maybe 40 meters away.
4 years later for a couple of days it was right up on my patio
within maybe 2/3 meters of me.
one morning it came around the corner and was surprised to see me.
it retreated back around the corner, peeked around to see me still sitting there
hesitated then scurried forward to where it had been going.
i too had a moment of fright when i first saw it.
i was taken by surprise
and i had considered stepping back inside
As an aquatic animal, the otter is a symbol of life.
Why?
Because the prime symbolic meaning of water
deals with the divine feminine, which is a major life-giving energy.
so i was thinking
otter is feminine.
i carry a lot of wounded male energy.
so otter & i
were feminine & masculine afraid of each other.
yet after our initial fright
we were each able to move past our fear and go about our day.
otter hesitated then scurried forward to where she had been going.
i hesitated then continued forward to my smoking rock.
so i thought that’s my lesson.
my masculine and feminine have feared each other.
6 years ago we were 60 meters from each other.
4 years later 2/3 meters apart
and while we didn’t touch we had come a long way.