Feathers are one of the oldest universal symbols. There has always been a magic to them that makes people believe in the impossible, and in doing so, connects us to the world of spirit and transcendence.
When I started my stained glass meditation line, I didn’t intend for feathers to be such a big part of my offerings. But over time I got asked to make them more and more. Clients connected with the symbol of the feather in a deeper way than other symbols.
When something deeply resonates with you, it’s important to follow that feeling. Your personal spiritual practice is all about you and whatever intuitively helps you connect to the universal truth around you. When it comes it your personal life, you don’t need to justify why something feels good to use when you’re using it in a private way.
However, something that can be helpful is to learn more about WHY a symbol resonates, and through research and learning, you can deepen your practice and truly utilize the power of the symbol.
Feathers Throughout History
Feathers have been an important symbol for most communities around the world. Humans have long been enchanted by the creatures that have the freedom to fly through the sky, so most cultures have some sort of mythology around the feather.
It’s hard to do justice to all of the various tribes, religions, and nations around the world because there are so many variations and it’s not fair to lump them all in with one another. Each community uniquely uses feathers, but the general connecting thread seems to be that feathers designate status and a connection to a magical power.
Feathers are generally worn, kept in a sacred place, or ingested. Historically, those who could access the power of feathers were often trained in doing so or had enough status in the community that they were allowed to be the keepers of that magic.
In ancient Greece, specific birds held the power of the gods, and using the feather would help you call them. The peacock is one good example, an animal that was created out of Hera’s watchman, the hundred-eyed giant Argus. The peacock is also sacred in India, where it is worn and ingested to combat various illnesses and gain strength.
In ancient Egypt, the feather was the ultimate symbol of judging worthiness. To be admitted into the Field of Reeds, (the Egyptian version of heaven), you had to pass a trial by Osiris, the Judge of the Dead. He would weigh your heart against The Feather of Truth. Anyone whose heart was not as light as this feather would not be admitted into the afterlife.
Many tribes in South America would use the feathers of birds in their traditional medications, as well as wearing them on their body after gaining them through spiritual rites of passage. There are also tribes with hunting rituals, where a community member is sent out into the forest on a quest to capture a specific bird to gain the power of that animal.
In the United Kingdom, many clans would use feathers to signify authority within the clan. In Scotland for example, clan chiefs were allowed to wear three feathers, chieftains could wear two and armigers could wear one. Anyone who had not gained status in the community through legitimate means wasn’t allowed to wear feathers as part of their garb.
In European pagan traditions, the feather is also a source of power and connection with a magical realm. In several traditions, the colors of the feathers are important and designate different types of powers that come from that feather. Feathers are kept on altars, or burned or ground into mixtures to use in spell casting.
In Africa, feathers have been used as self-adornment by many tribes to designate status and power. The most colorful plumes were hunted as decoration and a show of strength to other clans. The ostrich feather in particular was used to designate luxury and vitality. When colonialists arrived in Africa and saw the use of this feather it was sought after and became synonymous with luxury in the West, with massive detriment to African ostrich populations and the clans that used them.
In North America, many different tribes of Natives use feathers as religious objects. In certain tribes, a warrior was awarded a feather when he was brave in battle. In other traditions, feathers that naturally fell to the Earth contained the bird’s energy and were seen as a gift from the natural world. Each type of feather represented something different.
An Important Check-In
Before I go on and tell you about why I create feathers, I do need to address something extremely important, and that’s the issue of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is a very complex and difficult topic, and if you would like to engage deeper with what it is, I’ve written a more in-depth blog post HERE.
I’m bringing this issue up because as someone who currently lives in North America, I’m well aware that for many people here, the symbol of the feather deeply connects with the tradition of the use of feathers in Native spirituality. Although my use of the feather symbology does not connect to this tradition, many people will assume that interaction because of where I’m located in the world.
I want to talk about cultural appropriation because everyone needs to understand the horrible impact of our colonialist history. This topic is extremely complex, but the more we try to have humble and present conversations about why it’s so damaging, the closer we get to healing.
In North America in the 80s, caucasian communities were deep in the governmental process of trying to forcefully assimilate Indigenous people to a Western way of life, denying them any right to land, language, communities, and spiritual artifacts.
At the same time, the New Age movement began to see Native American spirituality as something to be desired and began producing objects that badly mimicked their tradition. During a time that Westerners were profiting off of these objects, there were still laws all across North America that banned Native Americans from even owning their spiritual artifacts, let alone selling them.
While Natives could get punished for having a single feather in their home, Caucasians could happily buy and sell these objects with no repercussions. And while I may not be personally responsible for the atrocities that led to the world’s current racial climate, those who are white are still benefiting from this history.
I want to be clear that I did not start making glass feathers to mimic a Native tradition in any way. I am not trained to use any type of Native tradition involving feathers, and my experience with the feather as a symbol did not come out of it. Although I am not trying to profit from those traditions, I do want to take this moment to acknowledge that as a person with white skin I have the privilege to engage with things in a way that others still do not.
While I did not commit the crimes of my caucasian ancestors, I am responsible to help clean up the mess. As a privileged person, and as a thinking, caring citizen, I will always ensure that I try my very best, while humbly admitting that I will likely always fail.
At the same time, I don’t want to shy away from these loaded symbols or topics, because I think that there are incredible things to be learned from these universal tools. While it’s impossible to get through this life without accidentally harming others, I think it would be even more detrimental to not engage with powerful facets of spirituality because we are lost in our shame.
Why I Make Feathers
I was a super quiet kid who grew up in an abusive and fundamental religious home. While certain traditional religious spaces may be very healing for people, the particular space I was raised in was dysfunctional and damaging.
Because my home life was very challenging, I tended to be in nature as much as I possibly could. I knew nothing of spirituality except for an angry and violent God, but when I was in nature I felt connected and okay. I would spend as much time as I could be fascinated with the world around me.
Feathers in particular held me in complete rapture. When I would find them on the ground I would hold them in complete awe, staring for hours at the spines and colors. I was blown away by the idea of flying away from my lot in life and would constantly imagine myself with wings.
I became fascinated with birds of all kinds and I began to believe that crows were following me to protect me all the time. (Maybe they were!) Every feather I fell in love with got added to my collection, along with all the rocks I was obsessed with. I had no idea why at the time, but both of these things held great power for me.
I had always felt connected to the world around me, nature was one of the only places I felt a sense of peace and being part of something greater. As I grew I started seeking out traditions that I could practice that would deepen my spirituality and sense of connection.
Along my journey, I spent time learning in a Wiccan coven. Wicca is a nature-oriented religion with practices derived from pre-Christian religious beliefs. Originating in the United Kingdom, its tenants are ritual magic, respect for nature, and worship of a goddess and other deities.
My experience in that particular space ended up being just as rigid and problematic as many other traditions. There were some practices I could not in good faith abide by, but there were others that resonated with me powerfully and I still use today.
The allowance to worship nature as a deity in this tradition was massively healing for me. It connected so deeply with what I had felt as a child and validated my feelings that nature could be just as holy and nourishing as any other form of Deity.
This context of new spiritual creation underlies the entirety of my art practice. The belief that we are capable of making space sacred through our attention and presence has lived with me through all my creations and is now the central focus.
I feel that for me art and religion are synonymous. They both provide a way of understanding ourselves and comparing our experiences with others. Both focus on creating a vision and greater connection to the world in general, and it is through this connection that I hope to make a difference in the whole.
How To Use Your Feather
For me, the feather will always hold the same type of power as I felt as I child. It connects me to a magical realm and makes me believe in the impossible. I still pick up and keep feathers I find in nature, and I love that I get to re-create their energy in glass.
Every culture had its way of engaging with the energy of the feather, but the linking factor is that the magic of the bird gets felt through the feather. Even though we are in an era where we can understand and master the power of flight, we should still let the magic of the symbol help us feel connected to this miracle.
It is important that when we engage with this symbol that we are aware of its historical implications, and that we are conscious of the ethics of the objects we have in our spiritual practice. Items that are obtained through damaging other cultures, produced with unethical labor, or through harming creatures, will carry that energy into your practice.
So when you feel a connection to an item that resonates with you, meditate on the type of energy you receive from it. Does this feather give you a sense of calm, of power, of possibility? If it comes from a specific bird, research its qualities and what you can learn from it! If it comes from a cultural space that’s willing to share their practices with you, connect with people from that culture who can teach you!
We use symbols that have been used for eons because they do hold power. The feather is a powerful symbol. If it’s something that resonates with you, I encourage you to begin to research ways that the use of feather magic can be right for you!
