Hummingbird Medicine: A Path to Joy, Resilience, and Creative Flow
Have you ever watched a hummingbird dance from flower to flower, wings a blur, sipping sweetness from each bloom? These tiny, delicate yet fierce birds carry profound medicine for our lives, especially when we are searching for beauty, healing, and inspiration amidst life’s challenges.
In the Andean mystical tradition, Siwar Q’enti, the Royal Hummingbird, is a sacred ally. Hummingbird medicine invites us to sip from the nectar of life, even when the path has been hard. It teaches us to follow what brings joy to our hearts, seek sweetness, and remember that our spirit can be light, playful, and creative—no matter what we’ve been through.
✨ The Lessons of Hummingbird Medicine
1. Finding the Sweetness in Life
Hummingbird reminds us to pause and ask:
🌸 What brings me joy?
🌿 What nourishes my soul?
When life feels heavy, when grief or anxiety seems to weigh us down, Hummingbird calls us back to the simple pleasures—walking barefoot in the grass, drinking tea in the morning sun, making art with no agenda, listening to birdsong.
Just like the hummingbird seeks out flowers and sweetness, we, too, can train ourselves to notice beauty, kindness, and small daily joys.
“Hummingbird medicine says: Even in a world that can feel chaotic or painful, there is sweetness to be found. Follow it.”
2. Courage for the Journey
Despite its tiny size, the hummingbird makes one of the longest migrations of any bird—a powerful symbol of resilience and strength.
Hummingbird medicine reminds us that we, too, are capable of great journeys, even if we feel small, broken, or unsure. When we face big life changes, healing work, or creative dreams that feel scary, Hummingbird whispers:
“You are strong enough. You are light enough. You can do this.”
3. Opening the Heart through Creativity
In the Andean tradition, the Hummingbird is deeply connected to the Munay—the energy of love and the heart. One way to connect to this energy is through creative expression.
When we make art, when we weave, felting, paint, or write, we open a direct line to our hearts and spirit. Hummingbird encourages us to create from a place of joy and love, not judgment or perfection.
What if, today, you let yourself create just for the joy of it—like a hummingbird sipping from flower to flower?
🌸 Simple Hummingbird Medicine Practice
Here is a gentle practice you can try to bring Hummingbird’s medicine into your daily life:
Felted Artwork by Ali Rabjohns
Hummingbird Heart Meditation & Creative Prompt
- Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Imagine a hummingbird hovering near your heart, its wings beating fast, creating a beautiful vibration around you.
- Ask yourself: What is the sweetness I need today?
- Place your hands on your heart and imagine sipping that sweetness—breathing it in like nectar.
- Now, create something small: a doodle, a few lines of poetry, a piece of weaving, or a little bundle of flowers. Let this be your offering to Hummingbird and a reminder of your joy.
🌿 Hummingbird in Andean Wisdom: Siwar Q’enti
In Andean cosmology, the Hummingbird flies between the worlds, carrying messages from the ancestors and spirit guides. It teaches us how to listen for beauty, how to drink deeply from life, and how to keep going even when the way is long.
When we call in Hummingbird, we are calling in joy, resilience, and creative flow.
💫 Bringing Hummingbird Medicine into Your Life
🌀 Creative Practices: Weaving, felting, stitching, natural dyeing—any textile art can become a way to embody Hummingbird’s joyful, delicate strength.
🌸 Nature Walks: Spend time outdoors, noticing flowers, bees, birds. Hummingbird loves flowers—what flowers are calling to you?
🔥 Ceremony & Ritual: You can make a small offering to Hummingbird—flowers, a bowl of water, a sweet herbal tea—offered with gratitude and a wish for more joy.
🌷 Final Thoughts
Hummingbird teaches us that joy is a medicine, a strength, and a path forward.
When we remember to sip the sweetness, even for a moment, we reconnect to the beauty of being alive.
May Hummingbird fly with you today and bring lightness, courage, and creative flow into your life.
With hummingbird blessings,
Ali Rabjohns
🌿 Therapeutic Arts Facilitator | Textile Artist | Shamanic Practitioner
www.alirabjohns.com | @shamanic_community | @therapeutic_arts_facilitator
💌 Want to go deeper into Hummingbird Medicine?
➡️ Download my free guide on Hummingbird & Creativity
➡️ Join my next Creative Shamanic Retreat — find upcoming dates here.
