My mom just passed away I've seen 2 red Cardinals what does this mean?

It can mean whatever you feel will comfort you.

That you just happen to notice two red cardinals lately.

It doesn’t mean anything. One of the effects that grief has on the human brain is that it makes us hypersensitive. The most obvious symptom of this is having emotional reactions to every little thing that reminds us of our loss. But a less obvious symptom is that it can lead us to ascribe patterns to everyday coincidences that we would normally ignore, interpreting them as meaningful despite the fact that they do not mean anything at all.

Red cardinals stand out, especially in the winter when they fluff up their feathers to keep warm. They also have to fly around more in winter months when there is less food available. So it really isn’t all that surprising that you have seen two recently. The only thing that is different is that your grief is making you notice them more and is latching onto them in the hopes of finding some sort of comfort in their appearance.

Sometimes this kind of response makes people feel better. Sometimes it keeps them stuck in their current stage of grief. In other words, it’s a gamble. Delusions can be comforting at first. But in the long run, all they do is exacerbate the pain. The truth hurts now, but gives us comfort thereafter. So for a more reliable method of healing, embrace the truth. Your mother has passed away, but you can keep the best parts of her alive in your mind and in your actions.

Be good, and be well.

If the two, red cardinals gave you a sense of comfort, or if they helped you feel a connection to your mother, they were meaningful indeed.

My sympathies for your loss.

Cardinals, especially in winter, are a sight to behold. It is just extraordinary that a relatively common bird can be so beautiful. What it means is that there are wonderful things in this world that will help get you through your grief. My sympathies as well.

Ask your own intuition. Feel the answer.

God, you people. @janbb and @Zaku have the best answers here.

Sorry for you loss, @Sghnaim.

One can be in a hyper-sensitive state for a period of time after losing a loved one. That can trigger awareness of apparent coincidences that otherwise would go unnoticed, and that’s what I later attributed my own similar experience to when my dad died unexpectedly some years ago.

My mother passed away four years ago, and I sometimes like to think that she “visits” me in strange ways because she told me that she would.

Even if she doesn’t, the thought and the connection it makes me feel to her is comforting at times. Many people believe that cardinals, blue jays, mourning doves and monarch butterflies are spiritual messengers or positive harbingers. I’m not sure what I believe, if anything (I lean more toward atheist/non-spiritual), but it’s a lovely thought for sure.

My condolences on your loss.

It means nothing, merely a coincidence.
The night my father died there was a big thunderstorm. We joked that now Dad and his father were back together in the next life, prospecting for gold.

My sister tragically lost her fiance. When they were dating they kept seeng luna moths. After he died whenever she would see a big moth it was him keeping up with her. It was a way for her to find comfort. This is no different.

@Espiritus_Corvus Speaking as a research psychologist and a trained grief counselor, I’m going to have to disagree with your assessment of which answers here are the best. While meaning making is important in the aftermath of a loss, there is more than one way to make meaning out of life events. The research shows that remembering and honoring the deceased is more likely to outlast the bereavement process and promote long-term resiliency than connecting with fleeting coincidences. There’s not much available that isn’t behind a paywall, but you can try looking up work by Katherine Nordal.

They are there to let you go back to her grave and pray.

In the realm of Spirituality there is what is known as animal totems. It is believed that when an animal crosses our paths especially in times of difficulties, it’s presence will give one pause to take time and reflect on their lives and any recent event that has affected them and their lives. Cardinals are colorful, strong and stoic with a most beautiful bird call. Not sure if you can identify with those qualities, either way google Cardinal animal totem and you will find some interesting stuff perhaps you will find meaning in.
Sorry for your loss.

My mom told me before she died that she would be right around
the corner waiting for me. She used to collect dimes so after her
death I started finding dimes much more than I used to. I have
no doubt it is her speaking to me.

It means that you know people say a visit from a cardinal is a visit from a dead loved one. That’s all there is to say about that. The birds have never let the secret out for sure. They let us speculate.

Today I half hour before my daughters bus comes the spot where the bus lets her off in front of my house was a bright red bird red beak I took a picture of it and was told it was a red cardinal. My father passed away two years ago and I have been going through the motions and the past four days I have been missing him badly and crying and really depressed. I don’t know if that means anything. Back to the bird I approach the bird just sitting there on the walkway I thought it was fake at first until I seen his eyes blinking. He wasn’t moving I thought he was injured I ran in the house and got a box and got gloves he let me pick him up and put them in the box checking him out his wings were fine his little legs were intact I just patted his back and he seem to enjoy this just looking at me . He didn’t look sick he just sat there with me and let me stroke his back. I called my sister and I emailed her picture she said it was a red cardinal she said try and see if you could move it a little to make him fly to know if he’s injured in that I did that and after half hour of hanging out with him he shot out of the box like a rocket healthy and fine. It would be comforting to know if that really is a message. Anybody else thoughts on that

It sounds like a lovely encounter.