Falina, the eagle that watched everything, saw that her Grandmother, Tilny, could no longer catch her prey. Her nails were long and supple; the beak, once so perfect, was too long and sharp. Bending and pointing against her chest, her wings were old and heavy, due to the thickness of the feathers - which made it so difficult to fly!
Her Grandmother could no longer follow her on flights across the sky, as they watched the vastness of the planet. One day, Tilny called Falina and said, "Granddaughter, I'm 40 years old, and at this age, we, the eagles, need to make a serious and difficult decision. Either we die or go to the Mountain of Renewal and stay there for five months; so that we can live another thirty years."
Falina listened attentively. Tilny went on saying: "I made the decision to go to the mountain, and I want you to go with me to learn the path that one day you must take." Falina, in a mixture of curiosity and fear, agreed immediately.
The next day, they journeyed to their destination. It was a high mountain, beside a huge wall. There, with Falina's help, Tilny began to build a beautiful nest. After she had made her home, the Grandmother said to her Granddaughter, "Now I must begin my renewal ritual. I must remove from me everything that is no longer useful."
Immediately, she began to pound her own beak against the stone wall until it was pulled out. Falina saw her Grandmother's pain expressed through the strength of each strike. Her eyes were moistened with love and she could do nothing - just watch and learn. Without the beak and exhausted, the Grandmother sat down in the nest and closed her eyes waiting for the birth of a new beak.
Falina flew off to hunt and breathe the air of the blue planet that fascinated her so much. Returning after a few days, she found her Grandmother with a new beak, pulling out her own nails. One by one the claws are ripped out. Without understanding the process, once again, Falina flies through the mountains thinking of her Grandmother. Day after day, the process of birth of new and strong nails was observed.
One day, with all the nails formed, Tilny began the last and painful process of renewal: pulling out the old feathers. Her Grandmother's fragile body revealed and the remaining feathers shivered at the touch of her beloved Grandfather, the Air. Once again, the Grandmother clings, exhausted, to the difficult task. Finally, after five long months, Tilny leaves for the famous flight of renovation, ready to live for another thirty years. To dance with the clouds, with the morning stars and to sing with the mountains. Now, like two friends, they can go back to hunting and resting where only those who have wings can reach.
Reflections and Considerations:
How many times in our lives do we need to retreat, seclude ourselves, in order to pull out from us what no longer serves us? Nature speaks of seclusion, where, on his or her own, the individual is renewed through his or her own pain. It is in exposing ourselves, our anguish, pain and passion that we are able to cross such difficult portals! It is by being honest with ourselves, having more and more awareness of the intention of our actions or the attitudes that we have, that the process of renewal can be enjoyed. It is by leading a conscious and lucid death and life that each being is given the dignity to close his or her eyes and silently state: I AM.