Being Hearted

How do you describe being hearted? What sort of connection do you feel towards your heart type? What makes this experience important to you?      



I am hearted to Ravens. There has always been something connecting me to the species Corvus Corax, the common Raven. It is a familiarity like no other to a point that I almost thought I was a raven in part. Yet, I am not a Raven. That familiarity is rather a strong bond I feel towards them as if they were my own kin, even though they are not. Ravens are like family to me, or at the very least like dear friends that have always been significant parts to my whole life.  This is a connection I feel to them that may very well derive from a spiritual bond I share with my personal spirit guide, who happens to be a common Raven, yet the connection does extend to feeling this way to the entirety of the species. Important spiritual and life markers have always been met with clear signs to me from these birds. Whether it comes from a vision in a dream, seeing one in person, or even coming through as a sign from a mere picture or showing up on the television.  Ravens will always hold this importance to me, as they are a species I hold close to my heart and which is bonded to my soul. Wherever I go, I know that they are with me in spirit. I am raven-hearted.  

Being hearted is so much more than liking a certain species, or seeing similar traits in them from myself. It's something that goes beyond relation and empathizing with the species. A lot of those feelings definitely come with this experience, though not always. There is an overall resonance that we feel towards our hear types, but not all who are otherhearted feel the same way. Perhaps not everyone feels empathetic towards their hearttype, or perhaps they don't even like the species overall. Not everyone likes their family, so I don't see how it couldn't be something similar to hearted species. Maybe some see their hearttypes as siblings, as fatherly or motherly figures in their life. Some might feel they are protective or give them advice. I don't mean this in a way to confuse it with spirit guides, but rather seeing these things in the physical animals. It is different than spirit guides, as not all hearttypes are a spiritual connection.

The connection of a hearttype could be many things for different reasons. Still, it is not precisely a chosen experience. For what is choice when it comes to these things, whether they are inherent or come later in life makes no difference. My connection to my hearttype began when I was a teenager, not something as long standing as my being born draconic. It could be something I developed over time, as the ravens watched over me through the forest. They were the ones there for me where my family was not. I started to look to them as my friends, my family. Not long after I would meet my personal spirit guide, the Raven.

This become an important aspect of my life, just as important as other key things that have helped me along my path. Without ravens, my life would not be the same even, I may have never found a connection like this in another animal if they weren't the ones there. Its hard to imagine that though. I can't imagine them not being there. They've appeared to me nearly everywhere I go. From the home I left in Nj.. the the college I began my new life at in Canada.. to my first house.. and now even my second house they dance around my yard in the sky welcoming me home.

Ravens are my relatives in spirit, the family in my heart, and the companion to my soul. That is the best way I can describe my connection to them, why this is important to me, and what it is like being otherhearted.


-Azaphaer

I'm very new to being hearted. It's not something I had ever given much thought to until recently. I suspect I have several heart-types, but I'm still sorting it out.

I know I am horse-hearted. I suspect I am likely rat-hearted. I also suspect I am feline-hearted. I think I might be Ent-hearted or maybe tree-hearted. I'll focus on horses since I'm certain of that heart-type.

Being hearted, to me, is an emotional-turned-spiritual connection. I grew up riding horses, and I think that's where that heart-type began. Most anyone who has ridden long enough can tell you that when you spend enough time in the saddle, and enough time with a specific horse, that something incredible and distinctly spiritual happens. You stop thinking of yourself separate from the animal. You communicate through subtle muscle movements. You feel the horse between your legs, the horse feels you on his back. I've had this happen to me thrice. The first was an old, gentle, intelligent horse named Crossfire. He could honest-to-goodness read my mind through how I sat on his back. I scarcely needed to kick him or use the reins. He read the unconscious signals I gave him, and responded to my thoughts rather to my conscious commands. Crossfire is long-dead now, but he will forever be a part of me in a way no other animal ever has. The second was an even older horse named Chief. Chief was a picky horse. He didn't like most people. He consented to let me ride him, but he wanted to do his own thing. I had to learn to read him. I had to always be one step ahead of him. Whatever he wanted to do, if I didn't want him to do it I had to stop him before he started. So I learned to read the subtle shifts in the muscles of his shoulders and back, the way his weight shifted when he adjusted his back feet. How he moved his head, swiveled his ears. It was all important. In this way, I stopped feeling like I was a person sitting on his back. Rather, I was just an extension of him. Then, last but not least was a young, vibrant horse named Oreo. Oreo was stubborn. You had to prove you could make him do what you wanted. That started on the ground. I had to learn how horses communicated with each other, to get Oreo to let me ride him.
Through all of this, I was developing a spiritual relationship with horses in general. Now, when I watch a horse, in person or on a screen, I'm watching their thoughts, their intentions. And somewhere within that, I internalized the horse and made them part of me. I feel a spiritual uplifting when I see a horse. Horses actually make me feel closer to my kinself, which is somewhat ironic being that a dragon would gladly eat a horse under many circumstances.
My dragon self has caused an interesting specificity in my heartedness. I feel the strongest connection to Icelandic Horses. This is despite the fact that I've never even ridden one. All the horses I've ever ridden were Tennessee Walkers. The Icelandic Horse is unique among horses in that when I look at one, I feel as though they are calling to me. Calling to all of me, including the dragon I once was. I was not very surprised when I learned that a unique trait of the Icelandic Horse is that they aren't afraid of much. Most horse breeds are used to being prey animals and can be easily startled and flighty. Icelandic Horses, having developed on an island with no natural predators, don't have this fear. I suspect this is why I feel such a strong connection to them. Were I to come to them in dragon form, they wouldn't flee from me. Even my dragon-self can accept a spiritual connection with them, because I know they would not see me as their predator. So, while I am horse-hearted, I can only say that all of me is Icelandic-Horse-Hearted.