Picus May 2026

So the next time you hear a woodpecker drumming on a tree, pause for a moment. Don’t just see a bird looking for insects. See a lost king. See a prophet in feathers. See —still tapping out the secrets of the forest, still searching for his lost love, still refusing to bow to Circe’s spell. Have you ever encountered a woodpecker in the wild and felt like it was trying to tell you something? Share your story in the comments below.

Picus was deeply in love with a beautiful nymph named . She had a voice so enchanting that she could move trees and calm rivers with her song. Picus was devoted to her, and for a while, they were happy.

The sorceress —the same enchantress who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs—fell madly in love with Picus. She saw him hunting in her woods and was immediately obsessed. But Picus rejected her scornfully. "I belong to Canens alone," he said. "I will never be yours."

When you think of woodpeckers, you probably think of a rhythmic tap-tap-tap echoing through the woods, or perhaps a flash of red crest against a tree trunk. You probably don’t think of prophecy, witchcraft, or the tragic downfall of a king.

Then came the witch.