Belief, Being, & BEYOND!
What you Believe constitutes how you Behave in the world. But there is always something more - The BEYOND! Let's talk to people with a variety spiritual belief systems, perspectives, approaches, and backgrounds in order to sate our curious minds - "What else is out there?"
Belief, Being, & BEYOND!
Wisdom of the Natural World - Granddaughter Crow
Have you ever felt a deep connection with a tree, or noticed how birds seem to be talking about you as you walk through the forest? In this intimate conversation with host Jenny C Bell, Granddaughter Crow reveals the profound wisdom behind her bestselling book, "Wisdom of the Natural World: Spiritual and Practical Teachings from Plants, Animals and Mother Earth."
Through captivating storytelling, Granddaughter Crow shares the fundamental difference between perceiving nature as separate components versus experiencing it as an interconnected living system. She recounts how her Navajo father explained this distinction: English speakers tend to analyze a tree by labeling its parts, while Navajo speakers seek connection with the tree, observing how the same wind moves both the leaves and their hair—recognizing a shared spirit.
This conversation couldn't be more timely. As many struggle with feelings of disconnection and loneliness, Granddaughter Crow offers a revolutionary perspective: we are never truly alone because nature is constantly aware of us. The birds calling to announce our approach, the tree sensing our touch, the fox revealing itself on a hike—these aren't random occurrences but conscious exchanges with beings that acknowledge our presence.
Beyond spiritual insights, she provides practical applications for relationships and work environments. By understanding ourselves and others through animal characteristics—the visionary crow, the grounded wolf, the independent cat, or the territorial spider—we gain frameworks for appreciating different behaviors without judgment. These perspectives can transform everything from romantic partnerships to workplace dynamics, helping us celebrate our differences rather than trying to change one another.
What makes this wisdom so accessible is that it doesn't require specialized spiritual knowledge—it's simply about reconnecting with something all our ancestors understood. As Granddaughter Crow reminds us through the Navajo Beauty Way prayer: "Beauty walks before me, behind me, above me, to my left, to my right, and within me, for I am beauty." Connect with this wisdom yourself and discover your place in the natural world.
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Welcome to Belief being and Beyond with your host, Granddaughter Crow. Hi everybody, Granddaughter Crow here with yet another episode of Belief being and Beyond. This time we did the opposite of Beyond and we're going to go a little within with a very, very special guest who is very, very warm to my heart, and I can't wait. Jenny C Bell is here to introduce our guest today. Jenny, take it away, who's our guest.
Jenny C Bell :Well, actually we're kind of flipping the script today and you are our guest.
Granddaughter Crow :Yay, what are we going to be talking about?
Jenny C Bell :Well, you were so kind and you sent me a copy of Wisdom of the Natural World, spiritual and Practical Teachings from Plants, animals and Mother Earth, because I showed an interest and you signed it, which was so I just thought it was the best surprise. But anyway, you sent me this book. As I was diving into it, talking with you, we realized that you didn't really have like any chats about it and that's like that's kind of sad to me, because it's a great book. I want people to know about it.
Granddaughter Crow :Yeah, it's really interesting because of all of the different authors that I have out there and this is like actually my number one bestseller at this point I know we both have one Wisdom of the Natural World and I was like who better to interview me than Jenny C Bell? She has her own show, she does all sorts of things book talks and everything and so I'm really excited to delve into this book with you and kind of let the people know what it's about and what we're talking about. So take it away, jenny C Bell.
Jenny C Bell :Okay, well, let's travel back in time for a moment. So you said we're going beyond, we're going beyond time and space today, right, so take us back about, like the initial kind of seed or idea. You know, we all, as authors, get that like that seed that gets planted and you're like I just this is going to be a book. So take us back maybe to that moment when, if you can like, when you were like this this is something I want to write about, this is something people need to know about, and let's start there.
Granddaughter Crow :I think that's a very important question because a lot of my other books there I can remember a moment or when it developed within me. This one is actually like the opposite of that. I wanted to write a book and I didn't know what I wanted to write about, and I was talking with Llewellyn Worldwide, the publishing house that published it, and my acquisition editor at the time, and I was like, well, we could do something obvious that I always do, and that's think about the wisdom of the natural world. And she's like what do you mean obvious? I'm like, well, you know there's so much wisdom.
Granddaughter Crow :It's our greatest teacher and you know plants, animals, mother earth, how it shows us spiritual and practical teachings that you could do like help you with your relationships and your romance and your health and finance. And you know your health and well-being, your business and finance. And she's just like, oh, this is a really good topic. And I honestly, you know how you have one of those thoughts that's like doesn't everybody think like this? And it takes you into, like, your adult life and you're just like, oh, that was just me all this time. That's what this book is. It literally is a book about the way that I perceive the world my greatest teacher. People ask me, granddaughter Crow, who is your mentor, and I say the natural world is my mentor.
Jenny C Bell :I love that. You thought it was obvious too. That's like the best part of that story, right? Because it's it's not. It's not for most people and that's why this book is so great is because a lot of people spend so much time indoors and we have like artificial lighting and now we have lighting on our phone and social media. There's so much much, and with a lot of people, like with covid, they just got into like not going outside and some people just don't make it like a thing to go outside every day or connect with their tree in their yard or feed their birds, like some people just don't even that's not even a thought, because and it's not a judgment on them, like at all, but they just it's never dawned on them that like there is wisdom to be had in the natural world and I can tap into that by being out there absolutely, and you know, I guess it's just like you said, it's, it's not even a topic people, just you, you don't go.
Granddaughter Crow :Hey, did you go out? And what did you learn from the natural world today? You know people, you know, but I kind of think that way and even though I don't always make it outside and you're right, you know we get so busy and distracted in our life and you know, you can see, you know things on your phone or your screen, but there's a totally different interface between you and the unseen powers that be within the natural world, the nature elements. That actually draws a connection and there can be a dialogue. However, due to our trained brain to observe a screen, a lot of times when we go out to the natural world, we kind of think that we're just observing, it's just on the screen, we don't realize that we are a part of it.
Granddaughter Crow :And that's one of the beauties that I mean. It's a brilliant, very easy wisdom to go. Wait, I'm a part of the natural world and I'm going to go out there. And when I'm standing in my backyard, when I'm in the park, when I go for a hike, wherever it be little thing of grass downtown, wherever you are that you are actually communing and it knows that you're there too. So it fills this like a part of the human spirit that has been neglected and almost feels like, oh, I'm all alone in this world. It's like, oh no, the trees know you're here, you know the grass knows you're here, those birds see you, that squirrel wants to know if you have a peanut for it, you know, I mean, it's that interconnectivity that actually can kind of build up your spirit and give you a lot of healing in so many ways that we don't even even scientifically, we don't discuss.
Jenny C Bell :Yeah, and I want to bring it out in a book, yeah, yeah, and then you do talk about that in the book, some of the science that backs some of the spirituality. But something that was really interesting is you gave an example about like looking at a tree and the different ways that we can look at a tree, and you talk about like the kind of what we would say like the scientific, mundane way, like I see a branch and I'm seeing leaves and they're this shape versus the other way. So I don't know if you could kind of share that with people, because that's something that for most part, someone could go out and do today. They go look at a tree and see the different ways and kind of relearn how to see a tree in a different way, right, I?
Granddaughter Crow :think that it's very important. It's almost like understanding that the translator between the natural world and what it's saying to you is actually the way that you're perceiving it. So when you perceive a tree and you're just like I want to connect with you, I'll just break it down and tell the story.
Jenny C Bell :Yeah, that's great.
Granddaughter Crow :I'll just tell the story. So my father, when he walked the earth, he was born full blood Navajo, english second language, and then he grew up and then he learned he actually became a translator. There's a lot that I talk about within my father, about my father, throughout some of my books, but there's one thing that I don't really share, because it never comes to my mind, is that he actually was on a project way back when he must have been. He was born in 1932, so probably somewhere in the 50s. He was actually a part of a small, small team that translated the New Testament version, king James Version, into Navajo from the English language. Wow, so I never get to share that. It's one of those, like you know, just facts. But I guess I bring it up not only to honor him but to show that he knows how to translate.
Granddaughter Crow :Now, if you translate something from a language that is a lot like your own given language, it's easier. But when you translate Navajo to English, you're literally not only translating a language, you're translating a thought process, you're translating how your brain works. So I asked my dad how is it being in two worlds like translating? What's the difference between English and Navajo? And he says oh, joy, joy. He says, let's just say, if you ask an English speaker, english thinker, to stand in front of a tree, they will stand in front of a tree. And you say, get to know the tree. They will say, okay, that's a trunk. They break it down and they label it. That's a trunk, that's a branch, that's a leaf. I'm going to name the tree Very scientific, like you said, very left hemisphere in your thinking brain, linear thinking logic. Break it down scientifically. It's an oak tree. I know the tree and they walk away. And they know the tree because indeed they do know the tree but they don't completely know the tree.
Granddaughter Crow :So you get a Navajo standing in front of the same tree and you say to them same assignment, navajo speaker, navajo thinker, and you say, get to know this tree. Navajo will go, oh, and see a great organism in front of them and they'll just look at it and then they just watch it, they don't break it apart, they just see it as full and they want to understand. In order to get to know it, I must find a connection between me and it. And then it sees the leaves moving from one direction to another, Maybe they're blowing to the north. And then the Navajo looks at their own hair and sees that their hair is blowing in the same direction as the trees is and the branches and the leaves has flown to the north and they would say they would understand the same spirit that is moving the tree is moving me, and now I understand the tree, I know the tree, we are one.
Granddaughter Crow :So in that it's more of a right hemisphere, creative, holistic. It's more like, I guess you could say, english speakers speak in nouns, we label things. Navajo speakers and thinkers are more verbs. They talk in description, they think in descriptive terms. So that's the difference. Instead of granddaughter crow today, they'd be like the lady with the hat and the red shirt. That's who I am, because that's how they perceive me. So it's a totally different way of engaging. Perceive me. So it's a totally different way of engaging. And if you can step out into the natural world and release this idea that I'm going to go talk to the tree and the tree is going to speak English, which maybe it will, because sometimes it does, I'm not going to knock that.
Granddaughter Crow :I've heard trees talk to me and they're like what are you doing or whatever, but in a very interesting way they're speaking body language, and body language, according to our communication experts I think it's Alton Barber louder than words in a communication class undergrad degree. You guys can look it up online. It's like 97% of the human language is in body language tone, pitch, facial expressions and very little like seven, 8%, and then sometimes, if you nevertheless, it's very, very low how much it is words. So if we keep looking for words, we're not going to hear everything. If you pay attention to body language, you'll be like tree is strong, stands tall, rain or snow, it's still there. I can do the same, and that would be a wisdom that the tree could give you.
Jenny C Bell :I love that. There's a lot of things I loved about that, but in the book you definitely I loved. I never thought about language the way that, but in the book you definitely I loved I never thought about language the way you talked about in the book and I studied linguistics, so I'll put that out there for people. So even if you studied linguistics in the university, you're still going to think of this different, because it's definitely what you said.
Jenny C Bell :If the way we speak is the way we think, right, so if our language is in nouns and in, you know, the kind of Western culture is very materialistic, and I don't mean like money, I mean like we want to. If we see it, we believe it right, very scientific, very materialistic. That spirit that you're talking about, that like inner knowing, everything that's been removed from the language right and removed from like everything, because it's like language right and removed from like everything, because it's like you don't ask someone like you know how's your spirit. It's like what do you do for a living? That's exactly right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I feel like what you're doing in here in this book, in wisdom of the natural world, you're giving people the language, the tools, the language to be able to kind of not like crazily rewire their brain, but give them the ability, the tools to be able to be like. Ok, this is another way for me to look at an animal or another way for me to understand an animal than other, just like a field guide.
Granddaughter Crow :Absolutely. And the interesting thing about it is that we're doing it. We just don't know that it's conscious. So it's kind of like you don't run up to a tree, usually, hug it and say thank you, because I'm going to have a picnic and you're giving me shade. You just have that relationship Right. And this is that bringing it forward a little bit more. You understand that the tree is not going to fall on you while you're eating your little picnic. You know there's a relationship there. There's like what I'm calling the interface or an exchange, a dialogue or connection, and it is another doorway to walk through or lens to put on when you are perceiving the natural world, to perceive it as though, if you were to look at it and just pick up the body language, what is it saying to you? And that's a great place to start, because everybody can come up with something. Even if you don't speak English, you come up with something because it is talking to you. We just need to figure out how do we translate it.
Jenny C Bell :So, yeah, yeah, and I feel like it's, in a way, it's going back to like what everybody's ancestors would have been doing Right Before we had like books and social media and everything to label everything. We would have just explored a new area and like observed, right, and like looked at this tree and like what is it doing and how is it moving, and like try to understand. You know, can we eat the fruit off the tree? We have to really get back to connecting and observing in order to just even survive, right?
Granddaughter Crow :Absolutely. I mean, if you just like slow down a little bit and go, wow, there's a really big tree over there and it's in the middle of, maybe a meadow, why is there, just like, maybe a couple of big, big trees over there? You would then sit back and go well, obviously there's a bigger water source over there. So you start understanding that the tree is saying things to you, you know. And then it's like oh, and it's in a place that maybe some birds that don't like to be messed with will live in, that tree, you know. So it becomes a whole story. You understand it as an organism and how it's interconnecting with everything, which then branches your mind into understanding that that's what happens with us too.
Jenny C Bell :Yes, and that I love, like so many people feel. They say disconnected. So many people I hear so many people say that word I feel disconnected. Or they say I feel lonely, I feel alone because they don't think of themselves as part of the natural world, because they are, but they are so far removed from that connection that there really is like a loneliness epidemic.
Granddaughter Crow :There really really is, and I think that it really hit our conscious awareness collectively under the pandemic, when we did have to shelter in place or the world was shut down or the social distancing, all of that kind of removed a lot of the things that distract us, even the wonderful things like let's go out for dinner, that distracted us. We kind of were left to say okay, and I know that a lot of people felt lonely at that time. Actually, it was right around then when this book came out. So that was really cool, but it really is. If you kind of go I water my let's say something simple I water my flower bed once a day in the morning you don't think those flowers are going, aren't? If you don't go out there, you know they've got to miss you. Yeah, there is a. They're expecting you to be there. You're a part of their world, just like the bumblebee, the bird, all of it. It's an organism and you can build relationships within there too. So yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it.
Jenny C Bell :Can you talk more about how nature is aware of us and witnesses us? Because for me that's huge. Like someone you know a lot of us like, who are spiritual or on a witchy path, we already connect with nature, but to know that like nature does witness me, does see me back, there's something that does make you feel much less lonely. You do feel a sense of that interconnectedness like you're talking about.
Granddaughter Crow :Absolutely, and I really think that it already is. It's just that we need to find a place within our own psyche that helps us to connect with it and understand it. So the way that I kind of do that at first is I will say go out, find a tree, touch the tree, put your hand on the trunk and just close your eyes and breathe. Or if you are in the place where you can sit down and lean up against the tree and just breathe, wait until you feel the connection and some people will feel it automatically. But just keep telling yourself in your left hemisphere, in your logical mind, that doesn't know this information and needs to learn it for the first time. Your body knows, your spirit knows, but it's like this tree knows I'm here, this tree knows I'm here. This tree knows I'm here. And even if you think it's crazy, you can just say granddaughter crow said this tree knows I'm here. You could just blame it on me.
Granddaughter Crow :But at the end of the day, on one level or another, I believe in animism. I believe that the natural world is full of sentient beings. Everything has a soul and a consciousness and although it doesn't have five fingers and stand upright which trees actually do stand upright. But you know it's one of those things that the tree does know you're there, even if it is because you, your hand, is so cold, the tree will sense that something colder is there. Or your hand is a lot warmer, the tree will sense that there's something warmer there.
Granddaughter Crow :And, trust me, if you want to test this scientifically, and trust me, if you want to test this scientifically, all you have to do is build a huge wall between the tree and the sun and see how that tree does, because the tree understands the heat from the sun and the light from the sun. And although your encounter with the tree may only be for a few moments and its encounter with the sun is going to be a lifetime, it still is an exchange and I hope that makes sense. And the next thing is I look up and when I see a crow fly by or a raven or a hawk, I know it saw me first and I know that it let me see it. And and when you start thinking in that terminology, you're just like well then, when you go out, maybe to the hills or the mountains or wherever you go, and you see a fox, that fox knows how to hide. It knew you were there and it let you see it. And that is the magic right there.
Jenny C Bell :Agreed A hundred percent. I love that and I love cause I always I would tell, I tell my kids, like when we're on a hike or a walk and the birds are calling, I think they're talking about us. Hey, there's some, you know, walking upright, hairless people, things, and they're, they're walking down, they're all talking about us and telling each other we're coming. And I said so. It's like when people say nature doesn't respond, nature doesn't see you, that's not connecting with us. Well then, why are they talking about us? Right?
Granddaughter Crow :Absolutely, I agree, 100%. In fact, I have a couple of blue Jays that come over every morning and some mornings I'm sleeping in and they will stick their head pretty much in the window, not necessarily, but right outside and start screaming in my window like where are you and where are my peanuts, or whatever it is. They're like hello. And so what I do is I do the call and response with them. I will whistle back and then they whistle back and I whistle back and they look at me and it's just this back, and they look at me and it's just this beautiful, like oh my god, I have a new friend and there's a connection. Yeah, but you're absolutely right, the birds definitely are going to be like. There's a tall one and a couple of short ones coming. You know, do they look dangerous? Do they have any food? You know, it's totally that.
Jenny C Bell :Absolutely yeah, yeah, and that's something we talked about the pandemic. Something that really helped our family is we did a lot of outside time in the yard and outside time at parks and the kids. First friend moving here we actually moved during the pandemic was the next door neighbor's cat. My first friend was a scrub jay and I named her peanut and she just started like talking to me and looking for her peanuts and there have been times where she knows she'll come to the kitchen window and like look in there, like hey, you're a little late, and it's like it's a relationship at this point.
Granddaughter Crow :Yes, absolutely. And you know, some people might say well, aren't you anthropomorphizing the natural world? And to a certain degree, I'm like, yes, I am helping my brain understand it by giving it English language. However, there is an exchange there that I can only explain to you another English speaker in English. But there is an exchange that's happening there that my spirit feels, that it's my mind is recognizing, that's like oh my God, it sees me this.
Jenny C Bell :So yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's, and it's science. I mean, scientists have proven that crows recognize faces and crows will hold grudges and they will pass on the faces they don't like to their offspring. And it's like if you did something bad to a crow, they will know forever in all of their lineage because they pass that information down. And so science has proved that it's not, it's not just us being, like you know, witchy or spiritual, right, it's like they really do see us. They do, they absolutely do.
Jenny C Bell :I love it, I love it. I love it too. So one of the things I thought was really interesting about your book in particular was that this kind of all of this information and all of the natural world can also be applied to like relationships with other people and also work, career, and that's not something we see very often in these books. Right, a lot of times you read this it's really just for you, the one person, and you might have like a little shift or a change that definitely affects the world around you, but it's not so much like so clear.
Granddaughter Crow :So if you could talk a little bit about that too, that'd be great absolutely so when I talk about the wisdom of the natural world, and let's just break it down into, let me show you what it looks like to work with the animal kingdom, to assist you with relationships, and then I'll give an example on how it can help you with business. You know your finances, okay. So every animal in the animal kingdom moves and perceives and walks the earth, or flies or swims in different ways. Some are slower, some are faster, some are hunters, some are like they just graze. There's different. We'll just break it down into almost like characteristics, behaviors, and so let's say that I'm granddaughter crow and let's say that I am crow because, well, honestly, I behave like a crow, I behave like a raven. Well, honestly, I behave like a crow, I behave like a raven, I'm very, I'll fly into your space and I'll be like you know, and I'll, I'll call and I'll talk and then I'll fly away and people are like what you know and you know. There's a lot of other attributes, obviously, that I have, but I'm, I'm, I see things. I guess that's another one because I'm a crow and have that totem or identify as a crow, or totem I can see from a bird's eye view. So then. Hence I'm a visionary, I see big picture, which also means that maybe I might lose a little bit of that grounded detail because I'm up in the air, and so the attributes and the characteristics and the behavior that I have aligned with in the spirit of the crow are things that I carry.
Granddaughter Crow :Now, my husband is not a crow, he is not a raven. He actually has a spirit totem of a wolf and I'll talk about spirit totems in just a second, so we'll cover that but his spirit totem is a wolf. And what are the different behaviors? Well, he's got four feet, he stays grounded, he can't fly. If he wants to see a bird's eye view, he has to go to the top of the mountain or talk to me, because I can tell him what I'm seeing. And then, if I want to see, like, what is right in front of us, he will tell me because he's got four feet on the ground, he's logical, he's walking I guess you would say practical grounded, with the four feet on the ground. So, yeah, we could argue and go that's not what it looks like from up here. Well, that's not what it looks like from up here. Well, that's not what it looks like from down here.
Granddaughter Crow :But instead of getting into that type of a relationship dynamic that most people have on trying to cause somebody to perceive something their way but go, well, we're headed in the same direction I see that we can do this. And then my husband says, yeah, but there's a tree and it's going to take us longer. Did you eat your lunch? Did you bring your lunch, you know? So we actually have that symbiotic relationship, and even in the natural world, ravens and wolves have that symbiotic relationship and so it is with us.
Granddaughter Crow :So, really quickly, before I get into the business, no-transcript, you fall in love with somebody's authenticity. When it's not yours, yeah, but you can stretch yourself to understand it and know that they hold a position that is beautiful and that can assist you, as you can assist it from different positionings. Is that? Well, granddaughter Crow, I thought that you know animal totems and spirit guides and all that. I thought that if I, as a non-Indigenous person, does that, am I not being appropriate? Is that am I appropriating? How did you know?
Granddaughter Crow :I was going to ask that Because I'm psychic, you are, I am, and then I'll talk about the business, but it just it was, it was almost a yeah, it was a question, and so it's kind of like yeah, I'm not asking you to do an indigenous shamanistic recognition. I'm literally asking you what kind of an animal do you feel like today? You can change it tomorrow. How are you behaving in your relationships with this person today? And when you do that, then it opens up. It's animals that we connect with, and that is a global thing. There's animals all across the world. There's animals in all religions. There's animals in all cultures. It's not appropriation to go. I love kangaroos you know.
Granddaughter Crow :Or, and I love to hop and I've got a pouch or something like that, or I always love dogs because they're loyal. Oh, that means that you're loyal? Oh, I always like cats why they're independent. Oh, do you recognize your independence? So it's kind of that type of a thing. I think I, you know, I think I will need to talk about that more in the future, just because the sensitivity around people not wanting to be you know, to be okay, to be right, and what their practice is. So I'll probably outline it in one of my next books. But even more. But I'm not asking you to get a spirit totem or do a shamanistic thing. I'm asking you to do something that you would ask your children in kindergarten Okay, everybody, we're going to play farm. Who wants to be the duck, who wants to be the pig, who wants to be the cow? And that kind of a style. Does that make sense, or am I, I love that.
Jenny C Bell :I think what I had a lot of thoughts, so we'll get to the business question a second. But the first thought was I remember taking psychology senior year, high school and my teachers like she did a lot of fun little activities and one of them was like Okay, close your eyes, You're going to the zoo and you're going to get to take a picture with an animal. What animal are you taking a picture with? And then we all wrote it down and she said that's what you're looking for in a partner at the moment. Right, and everyone was like what? Like everybody, it would fit, it fit everybody.
Jenny C Bell :And so I love the idea of seeing our loved ones, our work relationships, our friendships as animals, seeing ourselves as an animal, because what it does is it takes a lot of blame and it makes it so. It's like I don't want you to change because I know you're just, you're a cat, and cats come and go when they please and they're independent and you just that's who you are. You're a little aloof and it's OK because that's you're a cat. That's how I see you. You never have to tell the person that, but it does. It really helps us see things differently and I like that. You said it's like what you would ask a kid and it kind of brings that inner child into play. I think that's amazing because it really does open us up to see the world in an interconnected way, right like so, and I did that as a teacher as fun to share.
Jenny C Bell :So I definitely identify with wolves. I love wolves, they're my favorite animal and when I was a teacher I saw each classroom as a pack and I was alpha and I would make sure that they. That was established. Just, you know, not through anything wolf-like, but it was like I want them to know.
Jenny C Bell :I'd often say, like when they would be talking I'm sorry, this is the Mrs Bell show, not your show. When you have your college degrees you can run the show, but it was like a very clear message that I'm Elsa and you're the pack and you're all going to follow me. And I didn't even think about that until a couple years into teaching and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm running them like a wolf pack. And it's been working, because people would say to me well, how are you getting the kids to be quiet when you need to be quiet? I'm like what do you mean? They just are. But it was because I think I came in and I'm like natural world, that the alpha wolf will automatically go in order for us to actually assimilate, learn here, you guys need to respect this space.
Granddaughter Crow :And I'm the alpha and you're raising a pack of wolves and and I think that that's absolutely lovely. And also it's not only understanding. I love you, you're a cat, you come and go as you please and I don't need you to change. It also addresses this compare and contrast that we do a lot. A lot of times it's like, well, I can't fly. Well, I can't fly like granddaughter crow flies. It's like, yeah, because you, you're a wolf and granddaughter crow can't run as fast as you and she doesn't have the teeth that you do.
Granddaughter Crow :And you know, there's all. Everybody gets to be their own and then you have the interchange between them. So if you're looking at somebody who is behaving like a cat and then you're looking at somebody who is behaving like a cat and then you're looking at somebody who's behaving like a wolf or a dog, you're going to have a natural, you know dynamic there that sometimes they get along and sometimes that little dog wants a lot more attention and wants to snuggle on the couch for movie night and the cat's like whatever you know. So there's there's this automatic exchange when you think about. How is your partner behaving today? Is your partner a mouse and are you overwhelming your partner? Is your partner a bird? And you are, like, why do they keep wanting to fly around and go places? It's like it has nothing to do with you, honey. Like, why do they keep wanting to fly around and go places? It's like it has nothing to do with you, honey. It has to do with their personality. So it gives a lot of respect to self as well as the other, and it really shows us that there is beauty in being different.
Granddaughter Crow :So if you're enjoying the Belief, being and Beyond podcast and would like to support it, I'm on Patreon. Just go to Patreon, granddaughter Crow, or you can find it at granddaughtercrowcom. Thank you so much. And then you get to go. Well gosh, there's a lot of different animals. What if my partner behaves like a dolphin and I behave like a bear? Well gosh, you guys aren't even in the same realm. Like, there's got to either be a lot of love or you it's got to. The dolphins got to find her way up to the mountains and you've got to find your way down to the ocean. So there's a lot of different barriers or a lot of different challenges with that, even though you love dolphins. So you know, or you can go oh well, I don't need my bear side as much and you turn into you know. So there's. It's a lot about psychology and human development based on animal personality traits.
Jenny C Bell :Yeah, and it's. You're saying it's not appropriation because we're not walking around saying wolf is my spirit totem. You're just saying I feel like I'm a wolf today and because I feel like this, I'm acting this way and this person's like this and we're interacting and it's just a way to see the world and, I think, relationships in a more pleasant way, like it's less. Like I said, it's about the blame and the, the ticks and the problems. You just accept because we just accept that a wolf is a wolf. We don't ask the wolf to be like a dove. We don't ask it to change right, right exactly and and in such.
Granddaughter Crow :Then you get to see that. And you get to see it, uh, even with your children, as far as maybe one's a bookworm and the other one loves to run around the backyard like a squirrel and you're like, do they have ADD? And you're like, nah, he's just got a squirrel totem. You know, it's kind of like, just give him some nuts, he'll be fine, let him dig. You know, I mean, you know, that's just a funny example, but it really does show about that. It really does show about that how do I approach my relationship and how do I respect and how much do I understand my partner. And then, taking that into, like even business would be or finance would be. Well, it would be like this Maybe right now, due to my financial structure, I need to behave like a turtle, I need to kind of pull everything in, I need to put a cap on myself and I need to move slowly through what I do, and then you learn that way. And then let's say, no, I think you know, I with my finances, I'm more like, I guess I would say, a bull. And the reason why I say a bull is because we have the bull and bear market right. So that's an easy you know line, and so it's kind of like I get to be, you know, strong and move and spend money and save money and you know.
Granddaughter Crow :So this it really has to do with looking at the animal kingdom and the variety of different characteristics, behaviors, attributes within each of my teachers and going. If I'm going to approach my life today as a butterfly, how different is that than I approached my life yesterday as an opossum, when I just laid around. You know there's and you get to consciously make these choices and do it with relationships with yourself, with your health and wellbeing, with how you eat, with how you spend money and how you interact at work. If you have a team and there's always that one dud and maybe all of a sudden that dud, you're just like. They act like a spider, they're always like by themselves and they're very territorial and it's just like, yeah, but they really can create that web now, can't they? So maybe this is your computer programmer, that you need to quit bothering and let them be by themselves so they can create that. So it kind of alleviates a lot of that. I need them to be like me or I need to be like them. You know programming.
Jenny C Bell :I love that. I want to talk about a little bit about how the book is really good for someone who maybe isn't considering themselves spiritual but just kind of like wanting to have that intuition and that more of a connection. Because what I like about it is in the wisdom of the natural world you have, you go over plant kingdom landscapes. But you also talk about like using Oracle cards and even explain how to make your own real quick. So if you don't have a card deck, let me just tell you how to make one. You talk about the seasons and the weather cycle.
Jenny C Bell :And then even at the end, which you've written a whole book on, you talk about the shadow. So it's like someone is really getting a very full introduction and they can go to the different things and maybe take a deep dive later. But I just wanted to kind of talk about, like, how this is good for a beginner or someone new to all of this.
Granddaughter Crow :I absolutely love this, or someone new to all of this, I absolutely love this. This is something that I think, because of things that you had mentioned, like this is how our ancestors knew what fruit to eat. This is something. This wisdom isn't something that's new within our human psyche. It's something that a lot of us have forgotten because of the social structure that we were raised in, born to and live in. So if you were out in the jungle or in the Andes or something like that, this would make a lot more sense to you. So it really is just a reconnection with self.
Granddaughter Crow :As far as a beginner, I think it works really well because I mean, it's fun and you, it's easy to understand. There's not a lot of. I mean, I could walk into a kindergarten class and say who wants to be a doggy today, get the hands. Who wants to be a cat today, get the hands. Who wants to be a mouse? And then go okay, how are you guys interacting? And they would all know what I'm talking about, because it's not necessarily spiritual, but it is spirited. It's working with the elements of something that is very, very amazing within our human experience, that we forgot or disconnected from.
Granddaughter Crow :So, as far as a beginner's guide. You could do this one even before you do anything, or even if you're just like I'm really not interested in spirituality at all. I just really have a team of people that I need to work with in a different way because nothing's working. So for beginners, it's asking you to consider the world from a different point of view. That isn't mine, but it is something that we all knew, that we forgot and I'm trying to remind us, and it can be woven into your spiritual belief system, or it can be a la carte and you can just use it for your kindergarten class or your team at work or whatever.
Jenny C Bell :Yeah, and I've given you this compliment off camera, but I'm going to say it here is that you are an expert in leadership and you're an expert in a lot of things and you have a really like robust background. But you somehow take these really big ideas, a lot of which are scientific or based in like science, and you break it down for anybody, because you don't have to have like a college degree to read this book. And even if you do, you're're still going to like it's not, it's not dumbed down, but it's explained in a way that anybody can just get it and they can go oh, I don't have to, I don't have to reread that chapter, I don't have to go find another book. It's explained in a way. It's very available for everybody.
Granddaughter Crow :Thank you, I really appreciate that, appreciate that I actually do that on purpose, because I define intelligence or even genius, is the ability not necessarily to always use $5 words or have those conversations that only can happen in your field because you have all of this lingo and jargon. But I see intellect and being a genius or doing something brilliant as taking an esoteric, crazy concept and boiling it down where you can explain it to anybody, irregardless. And you know, even I mean, even if you do have your doctorate you're reading this and you're just like huh, that makes a lot of sense. All the time I've been treating my wife like a duck and she's a swan, you know.
Jenny C Bell :Yes, yes, I think it'd be fun if there's anything else you'd like to share about the book. But before we end today, I think it'd be really cool if you were to read the Navajo Beauty Way prayer to everybody that's in the book, because it's actually personally, one of my favorite prayers and I love it. It's like I think it's such a beautiful prayer for people to think about every day, to read every day, to say every day, and it's one that really kind of, I think, boils down the whole idea that, like, connecting with everything is beauty, right, it's beautiful to be connected and beautiful to see the world the way that you're explaining.
Granddaughter Crow :I love it. I'm going to do it from memory, and I love this because, even if you don't pick up the book, I really want you as a listener, if you've made it this far, to really take this in for a moment. There are paths that you walk in life and there are ways to walk in life and different cultures have different ways, and one of the ways of the Navajo is called the beauty way. Yeah, the beauty way. And so here is. There's many iterations and versions of this, but take this, if you will, and then, if you use it, say that it's a Navajo beauty way prayer that granddaughter crow shared from with you, and that will be. Take care of any appropriation. So here it is. Take a deep breath.
Granddaughter Crow :So beauty walks before me, beauty walks behind me, beauty walks above me, beauty walks to my left, beauty walks to my right, beauty walks within me, for I am beauty. I love that because you can make it your own. You can say strength walks before me, behind me, above, below, right, left, within. You can say courage, you can say peace, you can say whatever you wish. Originally, it's beauty, and that doesn't mean superficial beauty. It means the true essence of, like a rose, a flower. The strength, beauty walks within you and even if you remember this and you can't remember oh, did she say right or left, it doesn't matter. What matters is if you're present with intent, and it not only sets up your way and your day, it also is a protection around you because you are declaring what will be invited into your energetic space.
Jenny C Bell :That's wonderful. Yes thank you for sharing it with everyone. I liked hearing it in your voice.
Granddaughter Crow :Oh, I thank you so much, jenny. I love it. There is this, so much more in this book. Wisdom of the Natural World. You can find me wwwgranddaughtercrowcom all social at granddaughter crow. Wisdom of the natural world spiritual and practical teachings. And again, this book isn't here to teach you as much as it is here to remind you.
Jenny C Bell :Yes, thank you so much and that's the beauty way right, Remembering and being present of all that is around you and that you are connected and you really are truly never alone.
Granddaughter Crow :I love that you are never alone. So thank you for tuning in to yet another episode of Belief being and Beyond with your host, granddaughter Crow. Text the show I want to hear from you Like, comment, subscribe, share. If there's something in here you're just like, oh, this person would like to see this, share it. I would love that. Um, my hope is is that whoever can benefit and feel inspired, encouraged and empowered to be your authenticity. That's what I'm here to do. This is granddaughter granddaughter love.
Granddaughter Crow :See you on the flippity flip. Thank you, Jenny.
Jenny C Bell :Thank you.
