Lexicon of spirit animals: toucan

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Mode of life:

The toucan is an exotic bird that is largely endemic to the tropical rain forests in the Amazonas River Region up to Central America. There are 45 toucan species, all of which are classified with woodpeckers. Most distinctive characteristic is the prominent colorful beak, the primary reason for the toucan's exotic appearance, which has several functions. Firstly, the beak is perfectly dovetailed with the toucan's feeding habit. With the tip of its beak it mainly pecks fruits, berries and insects, all of which are then being slipped into its throat. Secondly, an ostentatious beak comes in handy in terms of enticing potential partners. And last but not least, the beak serves the regulation of the body-heat balance: with an astonishingly lightweight beak, which despite of its large size doesn't even make up 5% of the toucan's entire body weight thanks to internally consisting of a solid and rigid "foam" of airtight cells, the toucan is able to absorb and conduct away surplus heat via blood vessels in the beak, hence allowing this animal to remain cool all day long. The toucan is one of the loudest birds in the tropical forest, while its melancholically sounding chantings usually set in with sunrise and sunset. They prefer living in high treetops, where for mating they withdraw into tree holes. There are virtually no differences in looks between a male and female toucan, and their lifespan can last very well up to 20 years.

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Spiritually light aspects:

Connecting with the toucan brings us in touch with our exotic uniqueness, inherent self-confidence and authenticity. Being a very vivid and vocal Amazonas dweller, the toucan betrays secrets as to how significant it is to finally step into our power and speak up without mincing words, especially when it comes to matters lying closest to our Heart. In this way we not only disembarrass ourselves from personal debasement and victimhood but we also learn that we will be given wings to influence others with the sound of our voice. Just like the toucan can be identified with a single cry of its voice, the authentic energetic signature footprint shall shimmer through every single word we speak. The toucan exemplifies that there is no use in masquerading under the disguise of Happiness when in fact we are not feeling that way. People will always judge, if not our authentic version then our clown's mask. Why not take a leaf out of the toucan's book and deflect superfluous ambient heat by decidedly using our mouth so that we can always keep cool?

All images: flickr

Spiritually dark aspects:

The toucan cannot help but be an extroverted attention-seeker. If being carried to extremes the toucan might take the cake by unconsciously making tactless statements that it regrets later. Being one of the loudest and shrillest birds in the tropical rain forests, it is guaranteed that a toucan's rash chatter makes massive waves. Altough its authentic nature doesn't leave much room for speculations as to the leaked information's validity, overzealously letting the cat out of the back in this way provokes explosive conflicts that can spoil the collective harmony within the twinkling of an eye. Knowing when to be silent is an art worth learning.

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Much Love and Light,

Alex