Feathers and Bones

I noticed the box a week ago on my way to work. It was placed by an ancient oak tree on the side of the road with four stop signs.

I passed it several times in my car and a couple of times as I took my walk. There was a rock placed on top, holding the box in place, allowing whatever was inside to find its own way to the roots of the tree and not the wind.

Today as I walked by, the rock was off and the box was now opened. Inside were the brown and gold feathers of a rooster, the flesh already eaten by the maggots, the feathers and bones the sole remains of its short life.

I stopped and looked. I wondered. And I thought about the person who would leave such an offering. Was it for Elegua, the guardian of entrances, roads, and paths? I thought about the rooster. I thought about the seeming futility of the whole thing. I walked away pondering.

And as I reached my house, I found myself praying, knowing that whatever the motivation, deep in that box, deep in the life of that rooster and the person who killed and placed it there, there is a longing and a desire to connect, transform, and surrender to something so much bigger than anything we can imagine.

I prayed for courage because I sensed that as much as we want, there is a natural terror of being in these bodies that last for such a short time. All of us have to cross through difficult boundaries, none of us can quite do so on our own.

We make our  offerings and for milliseconds stop looking away–because everywhere we turn, we are beckoned to let go and surrender to life itself.

2 comments

  1. Thank you for praying for the rooster, Carlos. Such a beautifully-written post.

    I understand that a dead chicken or rooster placed at a 4-way stop is an offering to a particular god in Santeria or something. In horse country, there are signs posted at some 4-way stops and at railroad tracks that ask that offerings not be placed there. Offerings also happen often when there is a full moon.

    Such a sad and, as you mentioned, terror-filled, practice. I respect others’ beliefs, but I guess I don’t have to like or fully understand them… (Yes, I’m a vegetarian lol)

    Let go…

    1. Jana, it’s good to hear from you. I have missed you!

      My prayer was based on my sense that I’m not separate from the rooster nor the person doing the offering. All beings experience fear. We all have all sorts of coping mechanisms for this.

      I would not offer a rooster, but I know I use and offer lots of other things that are not that different.

      When I look at my consumption I see how much of it is based on sacrificing the living for the maintenance of a semblance of control. My sacrifices may not seem so obvious but they are indeed.(The phone I’m using right now is an example of precious Earth minerals being used for this very purpose.)

      Ultimately, all of us are figuring things out, walking our way home. We know so little. Yet, when we are fortunate, we get to hold hands with one another and whisper to each other that love and kindness, compassion and goodness are our birthright, and though we may meander and struggle, we will find our way home because we all belong.

      Big hug.

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