Green Sea Turtle - Slow Down

Keywords:

Longevity. Slow down. Savour the small things. Give your plans more time. Shielding yourself. Psychic defense and protection. The planet. Following currents. Knowing the rhythm and flow of life and the lives around you. Ancestry. Heritage. The past.



General Description:

The green sea turtle is a large, heavy turtle that spends most of its life at sea. It can grow up to 1.5 metres in length and weigh some 200 kilos. Sea turtles are quite common in Australia, with 6 of the world's 7 sea turtles visiting Australian waters and shores.

The green sea turtle acquired its name due to the greenish colour of its body fat, so coloured because of algae. Sea turtles are herbivorous and feed on algaes and sea-grasses.

Females often mate at sea with more than one male, and can lay over 100 eggs a year. Sea turtles lay their eggs on traditional nesting beaches, and are threatened by predation and habitat destruction. Green sea turtles are also threatened by hunting, being used for turtle soup. Their shells are also used in ornamentation. All species of green sea turtle are considered Vulnerable.

Lessons and Challenges:

It's okay to slow down. In fact it's more than okay, it's often a healthy way that we can give our bodies and minds a break. Taking the time to slow down and just savour the small things; nice weather outside, how good it can feel to sit and be relaxed at the same time, the simple act of cooking a meal and losing yourself in the process, or going for a jog around the block and noticing the inner rhythms of your body. Sea turtle reminds us that the only way we can expect inner health, is by giving ourselves that time to heal and grow, to value ourselves not just for the speed at which we can work, but also at how much we can slow ourselves down and relax.

Green sea turtle cautions gently against rushing into plans, or going into a situation half-cocked. Give your plans more time. Think about them more, visualise what you want in more detail, let them simmer away, but don't rush into them. Share your ideas with others, let them grow in other circles of knowledge and experience and see what filters back to you. Sometimes you need to give your ideas and plans away to others, the universe, your inner mind, before you will find the answers and results you seek.

Shielding yourself from harm may come naturally to you, or it may be something that you need to remember how to do. Either way, green sea turtle places emphasis on varying aspects on shielding and self-defense. You have the resources to take care of yourself right now, it is just a matter of choosing to look after yourself. Often some of the most affective ways we protect ourselves from the rough and tumble of life is by withdrawing from it or being gentle with ourselves.

Sea turtle brings up the wisdom of our ancestry and our heritage, and also of the wisdom that lays within our own past. We may not like our family very much, or we may love them, but somewhere in your bloodline and lineage are great reservoirs of strength and knowledge that you can pull from. Do you know who your ancestors are? What about your heritage? Have you ever wanted to know more about your parents or relative's lives? Reach out and reach back into your history, and if you are unable to do this, reach back into your own past and your own history. There are great oceans of experience that you can learn from in your own history if you choose to get in contact with it.

Sea turtle teaches one to slow down, to learn, to withdraw. In many ways, sea turtle teaches us to 'let go' of trying to have an iron control over our lives, and to follow the currents instead. Life is often trying to nudge us down a certain path, and sometimes it's important to stop and see where that is, and it is up to us to listen and follow when it is healthy for us to do so.

In knowing what paths we are being coaxed along, we are better able to learn about the rhythm of life and how it flows through and around us. In turn, we can then see what paths the people around us would benefit from being on. Sea turtle energy can indicate that you are able to offer good advice at this time, if you pull from your history and watch what's going on around you.

There is so much importance placed on being young these days! Staying 'young' forever, usually through looking young, anti-aging cosmetics and many other devices aimed to prevent 'aging.' Aging is not a bad thing, and sea turtle's longevity is a testament to how many creatures, not only humans, are benefited by the process of aging and the acquisition of wisdom.

The turtle in general is associated with the planet or the 'Earth' as a whole. In some mythologies it is connected with the growth and creation of the planet. From an environmental perspective the turtle represents protection of the planet, on one level, a need to protect the seas and the turtles breeding grounds, which it has used for thousands of years. It also demonstrates a need to protect the environment and planet as a whole. Consider immersing yourself in the nurturing of plants or the earth at this time, simple gardening may be the slowing down you need to help gain some inner focus.

The Shadow Aspects:

The shadow aspect of green sea turtle counsels that we are taking too long to implement plans and look after ourselves. Slowing down is only beneficial when used in moderation, such as balanced against healthy levels of stress. However, when you slow down too much, you begin to procrastinate and become lazy, you automatically give away the things you care for because you never spend the time on them that is required to keep them close to you. Green sea turtle's shadow aspect helps you to learn slowing down in moderation.

Green sea turtle as a shadow aspect also confronts any fears or prejudices we might have about our past. It may be that traumatic things occurred in our past, or it may be that we simply don't believe that our ancestry, heritage or past is important in our present and future. Green sea turtle comes into our lives as a shadow aspect to say that this is not the truth at all, and the studying and learning about our past will greatly benefit us.

Communion:

Like all animal helpers, this animal will only appear when right and appropriate, and cannot be forced to visit you, commune with you, or share messages with you. Green sea turtle, like other turtles can be a shy visitor, but in visualisations and journeys alike they tend to have a gentle energy, and one that is suggestive of a wealth of inner strength and wisdom.

You can increase your chances of contacting them by using effigies or figurines of turtles, or alternatively visualising yourself swimming along a current, or drifting along a current that turtles may use in their travels. For a sea turtle, you can also visit a sandy shore as it tends to help a great deal in increasing the success of a visualisation.