Hummingbird Medicine and Creativity

Dreaming the Path of Sweetness at the Spring Equinox

This teaching is rooted in Andean shamanic tradition, where animals are understood as guides for living in balance and reciprocity.

Hummingbird Medicine carries the energy of joy, courage, and deep trust in life. At the Spring Equinox, a powerful seasonal threshold in the spiritual year, Hummingbird arrives as a guide—inviting us into creativity, soul calling, and sacred reciprocity. In Andean shamanic tradition, Hummingbird teaches us to move forward not through force or certainty, but through joy, curiosity, and alignment. This is a medicine of lightness, reminding us that creativity is not something we push for, but something we listen to and allow to unfold.

Hummingbird Medicine and the Soul’s Calling

In Quechua, hummingbirds are known as Siwar Q’enti. Traditionally, their feathers are used in love ceremonies, symbolising devotion, sweetness, and the courage to follow the heart. With iridescent wings that shimmer like light itself, these tiny beings can hover, fly backwards, and travel vast distances—migrating thousands of miles each year from South America to North America.

Hummingbirds do not worry about where the nectar will come from. They trust that the flowers will appear.

For me, Hummingbird Medicine is deeply connected to creativity, embodiment, and soul calling. When Hummingbird appears, it is often a Call to Adventure—an invitation to move from thinking into doing, from hesitation into trust. Not through pressure, but through alignment.

“Once touched by the energies of this archetype, we are propelled on our own epic journey…”
— Alberto Villoldo

Trusting the Soul’s Calling at the Spring Equinox

Though she is the smallest of the sacred animals, Hummingbird undertakes the greatest journeys. Her medicine teaches us that power does not come from size, confidence, or certainty—but from devotion to what brings us alive.

I’ve come to recognise Hummingbird moments in my own life as times when I didn’t feel ready, but felt called. Moments when something inside stirred long before a practical plan existed.

These invitations often arrive quietly—while walking alone in nature, working with my hands, or standing at the edge of a creative project that feels bigger than me.

Each time, the question is never:
“Do you know how?”

It is always:
“Will you trust?”

At the Spring Equinox, Hummingbird invites us to dream forward without needing to see the whole path. Just the next flower. Just the next sip of sweetness.

Stillness in Motion: Hummingbird Medicine and Time

One of Hummingbird’s most profound teachings is her relationship with time. When she hovers in mid-air, wings beating faster than the eye can see, she appears completely still. This paradox—stillness in motion—lies at the heart of her medicine.

Here, we step outside linear time and enter mythic time, where past, present, and future soften, and new possibilities can be dreamed into being.

In Western culture, we are often taught to rush, plan, and strive. Yet Hummingbird Medicine offers another way:
Trust that the flowers will bloom along the path.

I’ve learned that creative insight rarely arrives when I’m pushing. It comes when I soften—when effort gives way to presence. These moments often arise during ordinary, embodied tasks: washing up, rolling felt, watching light move across a wall.

The body is engaged. The mind quietens. Creativity begins to hover. These are portals and doorways.

Photocredit: Amantani Island at sunset by Ali Rabjohns

Creativity as Medicine in Shamanic Practice

Creativity, from a shamanic perspective, is not about productivity or performance. It is a form of inner listening.

Artists, poets, musicians, and makers have always known how to step away from the noise of the outer world to hear their inner voice more clearly. This capacity is deeply connected to healing.

In my work supporting others through creative and therapeutic arts workshops, I often see how creativity opens pathways for healing, expression, and reconnection. Again and again, these blocks reveal ancestral roots—old stories of “not allowed,” “not safe,” or “not good enough.” In many lineages, creativity was sacrificed to survive.

Those inherited patterns can remain quiet in the body until they are acknowledged, honoured, and released.

When ancestral threads are acknowledged rather than resisted, something softens. Creativity no longer feels indulgent. It becomes a necessary medicine.

Reclaiming Energy: Joy as Fuel

Shadow work helps us become more discerning with our energy—seeing where we leak it or give it away instead of using it for our own creative lives. When parts of ourselves have been hidden or suppressed, they continue to draw energy from us unconsciously.

Through practices such as soul retrieval and shamanic healing, we can reclaim lost aspects of ourselves and restore energy for joy, creativity, and meaningful work. As these parts return home, more energy becomes available for joy, expression, and meaningful work in the world. Hummingbird Medicine teaches us something vital:
Joy is not frivolous. Joy is fuel.

When we align our lives with what brings us alive, synchronicities unfold. Support appears. The path becomes lighter—not because it is easy, but because it is aligned.

A Shamanic Creative Practice: Vision Boarding with Hummingbird Medicine

As winter releases its hold and spring begins to stir, Hummingbird invites us to dream forward.

This vision boarding practice is not about fixing yourself or setting rigid goals. It is about listening for what wants to emerge.

Create a quiet, comfortable space. Light a candle or place a flower nearby to mark this as a sacred time. Close your eyes and imagine Hummingbird hovering near your heart, wings beating fast, creating a gentle vibration through your chest.

Ask softly:

• Where is my soul calling me?

• What nectar am I seeking this season?

• What brings me joy, curiosity, and aliveness?

Allow images, words, colours, and feelings to arise. Let your hands choose before your mind steps in. When finished, place a hand on your heart or solar plexus and ask:

What small step can I take to honour this vision?

Return to your board often. Let it evolve.

Living in Ayni: Sacred Reciprocity and Joy

In Andean cosmology, life unfolds through ayni—sacred reciprocity. When we nourish ourselves with joy, beauty, and creativity, we are better able to give back to the world with presence and generosity.

Hummingbird wastes nothing. She takes only what she needs and leaves the rest intact. Her joy is relational, balanced, and in service to life.

To live with Hummingbird Medicine is to ask:
How can my joy serve the whole?

A Hummingbird Blessing

May Hummingbird fly with you as the light returns and the days grow longer.
May you sip deeply from the sweetness of life and trust that what nourishes you is enough.
May joy guide your steps, creativity open your heart, and courage arise gently—without force.
May the ancestors smile behind you, the future open before you, and your path unfold in beauty, one shimmering moment at a time.
May you walk forward lightly, carried by joy.

About the Author

Ali Rabjohns is a Shamanic Practitioner, Therapeutic Arts Facilitator, Textile Artist, and Paqo. She weaves Andean wisdom, creativity, and community practice through her work. Ali is currently planning shamanic retreats in Peru, offering opportunities to experience Andean wisdom, ceremony, and creativity in the land where these traditions originate.

You can find a Hummingbird Meditation on her YouTube channel and access the Vision Board resource here.

Instagram: @shamanic_community | @therapeutic_arts_facilitator