The key words for heron medicine are purification and self-knowledge. Most waterfowl are associated with purification because water is the purifying element par excellence.
The heron in particular, because of its size and its ability to stand on one leg for hours on end, evokes self-knowledge. Heron is often meditating, in contemplation of the surrounding water world. As it often has its legs in the water it participates in three elements at the same time: earth, water and air. It teaches how to be well anchored. Spirituality without being anchored in reality can present many problems.
Many health problems due to electromagnetic pollution that is very high in our times can be alleviated by taking a few moments to walk barefoot in the dewy grass in the morning. This is an example of electromagnetic anchoring, but all physical activity has an impact on the emotional and spiritual.
The heron is also a guardian of the laws of karma, the consequences of our thoughts, words and actions and the rules of cause and effect. Consult it to better understand how yesterday’s circumstances condition tomorrow’s circumstances.
The ability to know oneself always comes from those moments we spend looking at ourselves and examining our thoughts, our emotions and what they generate and provoke in our environment. In our understanding of life, we often neglect this fundamental principle: we create our life and the events that we experience. It is far wiser to periodically give ourselves a period of stillness and reflection in order to examine and define the thoughts and emotions that are stirring within us, than to throw ourselves headlong into all the circumstances of life, allowing them to provoke the causalities rather than determining for ourselves the substance, the fabric of our life as we want to live it. It is a choice, either to let life and its circumstances move us, or to be the pilot of our existence.
To feed itself, the heron swallows a fish directly, whole. Its digestive system is very flexible, this is the other ability that comes from the heron’s medicine: those who have this medicine know how to accept everything that happens to them and learn from it. They accept everything that life gives them and thus acquire wisdom. They are very spiritual people and are also discreet.
People with heron medicine are very valuable in organizations, because they know how to think, plan and predict, which is very important in any organization, yet they never impose themselves thus are comfortable to work with. They are very attentive, nothing escapes them. They know how to work as a team, while still being themselves. They can easily find food and are not afraid of being alone, even if they are also well within a group.
The feathers of the blue heron can be used for healing and purification ceremonies.