Brandt's Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Anhinga

Keynote: time to dive in deeper; new birth

The cormorant is found all over the world, with over 30 species. The common cormorant is also called the great or black cormorant. They are found mostly along coasts or inland waters.

They are expert swimmers and divers and can show us how to dive in and to swim where we wouldn't think possible, in almost any environment in our life.

Because cormorants are buoyant yet need to dive, they must swallow pebbles to make themselves heavy enough to stay under water. When it appears in our life there will come a teaching or a new opportunity that will enable us to accomplish what didn't seem possible.

In Japan, cormorants are trained for fishing. A metal ring is placed around their necks to prevent them from swallowing their catch. This is a reminder that we must learn to enjoy our accomplishments, our catches in life and not allow others to distract us from the enjoyment of our accomplishments.

When the cormorant is an individual's totem, the person will have a knack for accomplishing in unique ways what others could not seem to do. When it appears in our life as a message, it is a reminder for us to dive in to what we have been hesitating about. The cormorant teaches us how to dive into the waters of life creatively especially if we wish a new birth.

Some questions to ask yourself when cormorant shows up:

• Are we hesitating acting on our ideas?
• Are we diving in without thought or reason?
• Are we ignoring our opportunities for new birth?
• Do we need to take advantage of new learning opportunities?