Connected to nature

In addition to selling antiques in downtown Chico and studying metaphysics, Celtic history and Druidry, Victoria Hunt just published her first book, Animal Omens, earlier this year. The book, a collection of stories, shows how encounters with animals can communicate a spiritual significance based on their energies. It encourages people to achieve wisdom from personal experiences with animals and to have a more thorough awareness with nature itself. Hunt also practices Rune readings and Shamanic healing, teaches earth-centered classes, and is a member of the British Druid Order. Hunt, who is an antique sales dealer at the Eighth and Main Antique Center in Chico, is also working on a second installment to her book. Animal Omens can be found at Lyon Books and Learning Center.

How did you get started writing Animal Omens?

I was having these encounters with animals in Bidwell Park. I spend a lot of time in the park. I got to paying attention to animals, and when I was having a problem, or was in a certain frame of mind, or needed an answer to a question, I would see this animal that I wouldn’t normally see. I would come home and look up the animal in my animal omen books and the sighting of this animal would coincide with the answer that I needed, or would help me through a problem.

Can you give an example?

Let’s say hummingbird. I was in the park, sitting on the ground, enjoying where I was and watching a squirrel. I was just really happy! Then I heard this buzzing in my ear, so I turned around and right in my face was a hummingbird, just hovering, looking at me. And then it flew off. When I went home to look in my book I read that hummingbirds are all about happiness and joy. So a hummingbird came to share its happiness and joy with me—to let me see that what I was feeling was vibrations sent out to everything.

Who is the book written for?

The book belongs to those that I honor, my higher powers. It really is their book because the inspiration came from them. In Druidry we call it awen, which means divine inspiration. There are 29 stories; 20 of them are mine, nine of them are other peoples'.

How do you think this book is going to influence people?

If nothing else I think it would help you see that there’s something other than what we see and believe out there. There are other things that we don’t see because our society doesn’t honor any of that. We’ve just closed our eyes to what our ancestors knew and worked with. They lived with the land; they didn’t have all this stuff that takes their attention away from what sustains us, which is the Earth.