Animal symbolism teaches us about ourselves and our behavior. We can also learn a lot about animals and the way they were perceived by people. Animals have similar behaviors as us, in a way, since we often have a hard time controlling our natural instincts.
Birds have especially been interesting to people because we admired their ability to fly and see the world from above. Since we didn’t have that opportunity, they mesmerized us and we kept our eyes on them and admired them.
Hawks are amazing birds. They captured people’s attention with their grace and ability to fly in the sky with mesmerizing sped. Hawks inhabit large portions of our planet and we can find them almost anywhere in the world. The biggest population of hawks lives in North America and Europe. People never established a close relationship with hawks, because they were always unreachable to us.
Hawks can fly extremely fast and they are truly magicians of flight. Besides being extraordinary on the outside, hawks were also important in a symbolic way. Hawk symbolism was important for many cultures around the world and their physical abilities influenced the symbolism in a great way.
Today, hawk symbolism is still pretty important and highly valuable. If you are interested to know more about the hawk symbolism, this is the right opportunity to do so.
Spirit Animal and Totem
Totems and spirit animals teach us about our behavior and about our character. Even though it sounds impossible, we share a lot more in common with animals than we think. They are guided by their own simple urges and desires to survive, but we often show same behavior when we are passionate about something. Each one of us comes from nature and we can’t escape from this fact.
Spirit animals and totems are often confused as synonyms. People don’t quite understand the difference and think they are the same think. To be honest, they are pretty similar but there are some differences that set them apart. If you are uncertain about the difference then read the following explanation, and if you are already familiar with the definition then you can skip right to the characteristics.
Spirit animals follow s our entire life. They come from nowhere and somehow everywhere we go, they are around us. If cats, for example, were constantly somewhere around you then there is a big chance that your spirit animal is cat. Spirit animals can also be recognized in our dreams and during meditation. Our spirit animals are going to come into our dreams often and during our meditation sessions as well.
We can also tell if an animal is our spirit animal by simply interacting with it. There will be a certain connection between you and a certain animal, and you will know that this is your spirit animal. Spirit animals lead you through life and help you overcome difficult moments. The way a certain spirit animal goes through life is the same way you act when something or someone challenges you.
Totems are determined by our birth date. Each person has its own totem and it is easy to determine which one is yours. Totems guide us through life but they are also great representations of our energies and characters. Ancient cultures used totems to attract energy and powers they required to overcome difficult moments. When there was no rain, they would reach out to their totem animals and ask for protection and help. You can do the same when it gets rough, and find that inner, hidden strength you need to persevere.
Spirit animal
As a spirit animal, hawk is best described by these words:
- Vision
- Strategy
- Intelligence
- Concentration
- Protection
- Rebirth
- Intensity
- Attention
- Teamwork
People guided by the hawk spirit animal are visionaries with a lot of new ideas in their head. They are true leaders and can persuade almost anyone to do something. People trust them and find them to be powerful and mesmerizing. If your spirit animal is the hawk, then you know how to present yourself and how to make others feel secure and protected in your presence. You exude confidence and people love you for your bright personality.
People guided by the hawk spirit animal are also intelligent. They don’t have to finish college or get a degree to know certain things. They also have a great ability to adapt to unknown situations and can blend in different social groups. Their intelligence allows them to be excellent in almost every field and career. No matter how demanding it might be, if they have enough passion for it they will succeed.
Besides being intelligent and visionary, hawk spirit animals also represent protection. People who are close to them love them for their protective nature and because they would do anything for the people they love. You don’t have to be someone they know, to get protection from them. They love helping others in need and if they notice you need help, they will be the first ones to offer it to you.
Hawk spirit animal symbolizes concentration and attention. You are a person who likes to have everything under control and nothing can pass by you. Finding jobs in military, police force or even working as a private detective is perfect for you. There is nothing you can’t do if you set your mind up to it. Your attention to details is very high and you tend to be more precise than necessary sometimes.
Totem
Hawk totem is a symbol of positivity and energy. You are someone who likes to see good in people and you like to find the positive in everybody. Other people might find it annoying that you are so optimistic about things, because it is hard to keep a positive mind in certain situations. They might not see things the way you do, and this makes you a little bit antsy in their eyes.
Hawk totem symbolizes honesty and making things clear. People who are born under this totem love to drag the truth out to the public and expose someone who has been wrong. This doesn’t make them a bad person, they simply don’t like when things are hidden or in the dark for no reason. They love helping others by finding out the truth and the real reason behind something.
Hawk totem symbolizes passion, confidence and strong libido. People born under this totem are romantics who are constantly in love. Their love doesn’t have to be directed towards someone else, they can simply be in love with the world and each new day. Their visionary minds don’t allow them to be closed up and they definitely see the world through pink sunglasses.
Symbolism and Meaning
Hawks have been important symbols in many cultures around the world. The ancient civilizations were first mesmerized by the hawks appearance and extraordinary abilities. Like I mentioned earlier, birds especially captured people’s attentions. It was always interesting for humans to see birds in flight and imagine how it would feel to see the world from their perspective. Because of their inability to see the world through bird’s eye, our ancestors used to link birds to deities and gave them extraordinary powers.
Hawk symbolism in ancient Greece was linked to the Greek god of Sun Apollo. The hawk was a sacred symbol because the hawk was the solar bird. Hawks are related to sun, which is the reason why Apollo’s main characteristics were intelligence, growth, healing and radiance. Both Apollo and the hawk symbolized renewal and rebirth. Sun and the hawk symbolized renewal, because the sun had to rise each day to bring back the day. Hawk is the faithful companion of the Apollo and both of them have the power of protection over humans. Greek people used to believe that the hawk and the Apollo guarded and protected them from evil.
To Egyptians, the hawk was associated with the god Horus. Hawk had the specific connection with the death ceremonies and they believed that the hawk represented the human soul. They would release the hawk during death ceremonies in order to show the leaving of the soul from the human body and its ascendance into the sky. The releasing of the hawk was performed by the royalty and pharaohs. This only shows how important the hawk was to the ancient Egyptians and what it represented in a symbolic way. In Norse mythology, the hawk also represented the ascendance of the soul and the soul leaving the human body.
Hawk was also related to Valkyrie. They weren’t considered goddesses but they were immortal. They were beautiful, warrior women in Norse mythology who assisted the overlord Odin. Their obligation was to return the souls of the warriors who have lost their lives in battle to the Norse homeland Asgard. According to the myth, Valkyries used to take different shapes and one of those shapes was the hawk one. They were shape shifters because this helped them to blend among the humans. Hawk is also the symbol of transformation, partially because of the connection to the Valkyrie.
Hawks in popular culture are symbols of leadership, bravery, teamwork and power. Many products and brands use hawks as their symbol because even the hawk symbol shows a lot of power to the people. Many sports teams use the hawk symbol in order to portray exactly these characteristics. Hawk tattoo meanings have the same symbolic meaning, in a sense that they represent power, teamwork, leadership and intelligence.
Dreams about Hawks
Dreams about hawks can have both positive and negative meanings. It all depends on the other symbols that were present in our dream and how we actually felt during the dream itself.
Hawks can send important messages to us when we dream about them. Since they are symbols of power and strength, we can expect that the message they are sending also have the same amount of importance and power.
Seeing a hawk – If you saw a hawk in your dream, then you need to pay more attention to the people who are around you. Their intentions might not be honest and you could be tricked by them. Perhaps someone on your workplace has the intention of hurting you and ending your stream of good luck and success. Another meaning of this dream is defeating your enemies. You will be able to defeat your enemies and end up as a winner, no matter what your enemies had in mind.
Flying hawk – Seeing a hawk in flight is a symbol of positive energy and luck. You can expect all of your dreams and plans to become successful, and there is no need to fear the outcome.
Several hawks – If you saw several hawks in the sky, then you are anxious and there are situations in your life that are making you feel stressed. In order to lower the level of anxiety, get rid of negative people and start doing things the way you want to do them.
Shooting at a hawk – if you shot a hawk in the dream, then you are going to win something. This dream is an especially positive sign for finances. You can expect some kind of winning or money that will pour in from an unexpected source.
Dead hawk – When you saw a dead hawk in your dream, this means you will be tricked by someone. This person is going to hide something from you and you will find out about it later. Since this person is someone really close to you, you will be extremely hurt by this kind of action.
Conclusion
Hawk symbolism is extremely complex and important for so many cultures around the world. Hawks are powerful birds that simply demand respect after only looking at them. Ancient cultures linked them to power, success, leadership and intelligence.
Even today, hawk is one for the symbols with a high position on the symbolic meaning scale. People might not worship animals as they did before, but we can’t deny the importance of animals in our world.
