Your Anmial Totems

[Devin]

Hey,
I was just wondering what your anmial motems are.
mine is the Couger?Mountain Lion

[Chodpa]

Good question. As a Tibetan Buddhist of the Dzogchen school my totem would be the Garuda, otherwise known as the thunderbird. How do you know which yours is?

[SilverClover14]

An elephant. I have a weird attraction to elephants and have all my life. The strongest dreams I've had that I remember even 14 years later have been about elephants. It's hard to explain how I know, but I just do. There's no explanation to my lifelong obsession with elephants.. ever since I was little that's all I've been about.

[Chodpa]

An elephant. I have a weird attraction to elephants and have all my life. The strongest dreams I've had that I remember even 14 years later have been about elephants. It's hard to explain how I know, but I just do. There's no explanation to my lifelong obsession with elephants.. ever since I was little that's all I've been about.
I have about five elephant figures around the house. It's said Buddha entered his mother - Queen Mahamaya's - womb as a white elephant.

[NaturaAtraSpiritus]

mine is the dragon fly.

I have always been attracted to them... and them to me.

[Devin]

you know what your anmial totem is by following this simple shamanic exercize......
1.go to a quiet place where you will not be disturbed
2.send relaxing energies throughout your body...in otherwards relax
3.find a place in your mind that opens up into the earth..a cave, well, tree hole, ect.
4.go down that hole until you come to a landscape....take a walk in the landscape and see if any particular anmial "jumps" out.
5.once you have completed the exercize if the anmial is your totem you should feel revitalized and refreshed

[heron]

its that simple huh? To see the spirit world though the eyes of a
Barnes and Nobles educated 16 year old must be an easy
practice.

[RavenTheDarkAngel]

its that simple huh? To see the spirit world though the eyes of a
Barnes and Nobles educated 16 year old must be an easy
practice.


That's absolutly uncalled for. Devin was just trying to be helpful to others so they could find out their totem too. You shouldn't be so rude, but then you should know that as old as you are.

Anyways back to the subject. Mine is the spider. The way I found out was one night before I went to sleep I asked into the air "What's my animal totem?" After that at least three nights in a row I drempt of spiders by the gallons like crawing everywhere and for a week straight I spotted at least one spider everyday. It was really creepy but I guess my question was answered. haha. Has anyone else had a weird experience like that?

[heron]

I see no reason to pacify a 16 year old self proclaimed "shaman" who spouts off shit (with seeming authority) out of some book from the new age section. Its not being rude, its pointing out the foolishness of his words.

That advice wont help anyone find a totem, it will only lead them on a fantasy in their head. Totems present themselves in their own way, and no mass applied daydream of a "ritual" will do it.

Sorry if that is too rude or harsh, but I see no reason to be politically correct on this subject. Its not a joke or a hobby or something to be taken lightly.

[NaturaAtraSpiritus]

I think heron is right on this one. Your totem can come to you at any time in any way, not some self- made fantasy where you try and think it up...

[Fjolnirsson]

As usual, Heron is right.
That must be rough, man. I mean, women are always right, and you're always right, but you're married, so doesn't that cause trouble? Who's more "right", you or your wife?
LOL.

[heron]

She is the only one that I fold for, she is always right lol.

But we only "argue" on things she knows she will get me on anyway.

[strawpuppy]

I have many totems and I do not believe in them one bit!

Maybe I am wrong, I see them as figments of my imagination, though I do not dismiss them as they had important messages to send.............and I learned from them!

I think you just have to keep going forward. Grow beyond your imagination!

Any uptakes on this?

strawpup

.

[heron]

if you have figments of your imagination, then you have no totem.

Mine and my childrens totems appear, in real form, in times of doubt,
need or concern. Several times during a problem have I seen my totem
to give me my answer, and several times have my childrens totems made
themselves apparent.

As to figments of my imagination, i have a great sex life with Rachel Weisz and even had one imagination of Paris Hilton. But that doesnt mean anything beyond spank.

[ElChivato]

okay, sticking to the topic with good vibes...

I think my totem is the american bison. I don't really know why, but I feel a strong connection to the buffalo. Ever since I went to Yellowstone last summer and my family and I were walking around the park and coming so close to all the wildlife, I've been really drawn to the buffalo. I think it's my totem.

[Devin]

Hawk has shown up in my life...He/She appears to me whenever i am questioning my spirituality.

[heron]

The red tailed hawk is my baby girls totem. Its a good one to have in your life Devin.

[Devin]

Yes, Hawk is a very protective guardian. When i'm driving especially, no car accidents so far :)

[thegrittykitty513]

I don't know exactly how to "find" a totem, but I do know that it is a bird that is mine. I'm not sure what bird, exactly...I thought it was a great blue heron or perhaps an egret...now I am believeing it to be a crane...because it is a white long-necked bird but it is not a water bird (like, having webbed feet). I could be wrong, it may be an egret, but I think it is the crane. I was born in the year of the cock according to chinese zodiac. My son was born in the year of the dragon, and my daughter in the year of dog. I gave them native names when they were born...his is Light Snow, he was born at midnight Dec 2 during a cold and light snow. She was born just before daylight on June 25..her name is Day Soon. On thier birth certificates, tho, thier names are Gabriel and Genevieve. I do think the dragon fits the boy...although it's confusing a little because according to chinese lit, the dragon lives a thousand years as a koi, a cock, a serpent, and finally, a dragon. ( at least, if my memory serves me,it does...I could be wrong, correct me if I am...) and my daughter...I'm not too sure about hers yet, but a dog does seem to suit her. Any one with any good suggestions on how to find a child's totem?

[erzebet1961]

Mine is the Wolf and the Raven, or Crow...they were given to me at birth...my family is Cherokee

[heron]

I don't know exactly how to "find" a totem, but I do know that it is a bird that is mine. I'm not sure what bird, exactly...I thought it was a great blue heron or perhaps an egret...now I am believeing it to be a crane...because it is a white long-necked bird but it is not a water bird (like, having webbed feet). I could be wrong, it may be an egret, but I think it is the crane. I was born in the year of the cock according to chinese zodiac. My son was born in the year of the dragon, and my daughter in the year of dog. I gave them native names when they were born...his is Light Snow, he was born at midnight Dec 2 during a cold and light snow. She was born just before daylight on June 25..her name is Day Soon. On thier birth certificates, tho, thier names are Gabriel and Genevieve. I do think the dragon fits the boy...although it's confusing a little because according to chinese lit, the dragon lives a thousand years as a koi, a cock, a serpent, and finally, a dragon. ( at least, if my memory serves me,it does...I could be wrong, correct me if I am...) and my daughter...I'm not too sure about hers yet, but a dog does seem to suit her. Any one with any good suggestions on how to find a child's totem?

Sounds like an Egret...the Great White Egret is my sons totem...mine is the Great Blue Heron....They dont have webbed feet...like a pelican would...

Water birds are magical in many ways...and are great totems....the represent mastery of the three realms...water, earth and air...

[fylthevoyd]

As to the subject of how to find your totem animal spirit.....you don't find it..it finds you or is presented to you by the elders of the tribe....and a person may have many...they are not exclusively endowed by one necessarily...it has a lot to do with the path a person has chosen to walk through life....and the level of enlightenment they have achieved on this journey

[happyonehit420]

I'm really not too sure what my totem is. I want to say a cat, because I've always been able to connect with them, but I don't know if that would be it or not. Feral dogs absolutely hate me, but I can get any street cat to come up to me, even if they're afraid of other people...I dont know, I just love cats haha.

[Sunburst]

So far I feel it's a raven...my entire life I've just been sort of drawn to them, and found them beautiful (despite what everyone around me always said about how gross and dirty and horrid they are). When I see them I usually just stop and smile, without even meaning too.

[dollydagger]

my totem..
cats have alway played a huge part in my life
horses....i dream of them all the time. And if I have trouble falling asleep, I conjure up an image of a horse, and it calms me...every time.
I have been seeing this red-tailed hawk around my house alot lately, and a Great Horned owl and I sat in each others company for a long time one night.....

I have heard that you can aquire many animals in your totem throughout your lifetime....

[Salem Blair]

Mine is a wolf without a doubt

[Pooka]

Coyote - we get into more than a little trouble together :D

[Snowman5000]

Just the dog man.

[Moon_Beam]

Mine is the buffalo! Has always been the one that I am drawn too!

[wanderin_blues]

sunburst, i feel the same way about the raven. ive always felt drawn to them and i really admire them. im not very spiritual so i dont think im very receptive to the idea of a totem animal in everyday life if you know what i mean. lately though, things have been happening to me that cannot be coincidence. im now more interested in getting in touch with the spirituality that i know i have.

[MagnoliaInnocence]

Sorry Heron. But I have to say that Devin's way of thinking helped me. I have found that my animal totem is the horse. I got there by going into a different meditation than I normally do, partially by doing it Devin's way.

Also- not to be rude- but truth has no age requirement.

[MamaTheLama]

Deer and panther.
Kinda wish it weren't a deer though, it sounds so wimpy, lol.

[dollydagger]

Deer and panther.
Kinda wish it weren't a deer though, it sounds so wimpy, lol.
on the contrary!! deer is great and powerful medicine, held in high regard.

that is a great totem to have

[Dark||Nomad]

Mine is the dragonfly.

I believe your totem comes to you in physical form, mine did.

[Anachronism]

Has anyone else here worked on an inner totem pole? I have my personal totem, which is Crow - Crow has been with me all my life and follows me everywhere, and speaks to me when I most need guidance. If I'm having a bad day, Crow will appear as if out of nowhere and that always cheers me up.

I have also been building a totem pole, which consists of a totem for each chakra. Like the personal totem, these animals appear when I need a reminder of what is important in my life, and occasionally I will see all of them in succession.

My root chakra totem is Red Tailed Hawk, my eye chakra totem is Turkey Vulture, my foot chakra totem is Great Blue Heron. I have yet to meet the totems for my other chakras, but I suspect Cat may be one and also Mockingbird.

I am deeply connected with birds and with the sky, which is why all of my totems thus far have been birds.

[Anachronism]

Deer and panther.
Kinda wish it weren't a deer though, it sounds so wimpy, lol.Deer is a wonderful totem. When I first began my journey into discovering totems and finding my personal totem, Deer helped guide me in the right direction. I have a very soft spot for Deer as a result, and I wish I'd had the insight to study its medicine more thoroughly.

[dollydagger]

Has anyone else here worked on an inner totem pole? I have my personal totem, which is Crow - Crow has been with me all my life and follows me everywhere, and speaks to me when I most need guidance. If I'm having a bad day, Crow will appear as if out of nowhere and that always cheers me up.

I have also been building a totem pole, which consists of a totem for each chakra. Like the personal totem, these animals appear when I need a reminder of what is important in my life, and occasionally I will see all of them in succession.

My root chakra totem is Red Tailed Hawk, my eye chakra totem is Turkey Vulture, my foot chakra totem is Great Blue Heron. I have yet to meet the totems for my other chakras, but I suspect Cat may be one and also Mockingbird.

I am deeply connected with birds and with the sky, which is why all of my totems thus far have been birds.
how do you determine which totem goes with which chakra? this is facinating, and i would love to build one myself......

[Anachronism]

how do you determine which totem goes with which chakra? this is facinating, and i would love to build one myself......In much the same way that you determine your personal totem, your chakra totems will present themselves to you if you ask them. Focus on each chakra individually and ask the animal to show itself to you. Also, sometimes the characteristics of the totems help determine where it is most useful on your inner totem pole.

For example, Turkey Vulture can see thermals, and have excellent eyesight, scavenging by sight rather than smell, as was once thought. Because of this ability, it is my Eye Totem. It helps me see through my problems clearly and also assists my Third Eye's vision.

[The manticore]

i like pandas

[cricketlind]

Hi there: All are right ways. All paths lead to enlightenment. A totem spirit can come in many forms. At different times in your life and many people have many totem spirits or animal helpers. One can also have vegetable or mineral totems. As everything that exists animate and inanimate has the spirit of life. Hold a rock and you can feel its vibrations if you quiet your self and tune in to its frequency. My first totem was a polar bear. He was real. He lived at the zoo in OKC. The white bear, the white bison, the white wolf and the red wolf, the red tailed hawk and the bald eagle. All members of the crow family have been messengers in my life though not a totem animal. My tree totems are the live oak and the elm. My plant totems are the nettle and the spanish needle and greenbriars. Mineral totems are jade, agate, and quartz. They can be found by meditation exercises, going on a vision quest, assigned to you by a medicine man/woman, or they may present themselves in time of need with guidance in physical form or in your dreams or visions. Or you just may have a particular affinity for certain animals or plants or minerals. You just may have a sense of knowingness. All ways are valid. If it is a true totem spirit then in time of need when you call on one or more of them for help they will appear to you and the guidance received will be validated by the results of following or not following the advice. Same with a "spirit guide" that is in human form or not so human form.

So though, our brother quoted what he was taught and that was in a certain book. If it worked for him then it is valid. And if it works for others it is valid even more. But there are no wrong answers here. You are all RIGHT. And whether one follows teachings in a book from Barnes and Noble (I got mine off the Library for sale shelf) it is a valid path. Though the book had little to offer me. I found my path was a different one. I searched for a totem and couldn't find mine because I already had them. I just did not recognize them as what they were. I was searching and searching and just would not stop long enough and be still for them to catch up and present themselves. They had been helping me all my life and I just called them my Friends who happened not to be human. I had many dreams and visions and day to day encounters.

So that is my advice to any who desire to find out who and what are their personal totems. Be still and quiet and when you most need them or least expect it they will appear. They may be a totem for the moment or for a lifetime. Totem just means spirit helper.

Peace and love to all, Cricket Shadowolf

[liquidlight]

Ever since i was a kid i loved the snow leopard, so rare to be almost mythical. I've never met it in a dream or journey (i don't journey these days), but i know it's always been there, lurking in the background. I did get a chance to see a pair in captivity though a couple of years ago, .. amazing creatures.
In more recent years the white horse has been my main helper, and it wasn't until a spiritual councellor i once saw introduced a 'chief white horse', that i realised this must also be the native american guy i've met a couple of times in dreams ... he's unnerving, ... looks right through you, never says anything.

Others come and go, all sorts, they all have a message of their own.

[tigerchild]

well my first must be the tiger. in a meditation i did a native american spirit told me that his friend, the tiger, would look after me and it still does!
my second is a bird, but i still don't know which, im sure it will come to me though!

[heron]

Liquid, in England, if you are seeing a white horse, it is most likely closer to being a Soverignty goddess, rather than anything native american...especially since horses aren't native to the americas. Look into European lore for better answers.

And tiger, Native American Spirit? Its either a spirit, or a dead indian, but "spirits" generally don't have a racial classification. Again, like the horse, but even farther away, how do tigers relate to native america?

[liquidlight]

Thats not a bad suggestion concerning a 'sovereignty goddess' and i take your point about native americans not having horses until the spanish and the rest arrived ...but thats still a couple of hundred years.
I scoured the history books one day looking for a 'chief white horse', ...i found one but just the name and no information about him. But it tells me that a 'chief white horse' did actually exist.
British (not to mention europe and the rest of the world) legend and folklore is full of white horses and just of the top of my head, Rhiannon is an Irish celtic mother goddess very mutch associated with horses and it wouldn't surprise me to find her depicted as one, but to me the white horse doesn't seem like a 'hearth like' spirit of sovereighnty or community ... it's mutch more aloof than that; it feels to me to be something mutch more universal or cosmic. More of a 'great spirit' than an individual. A moon/cosmic goddess perhaps with that paleness.

[heron]

Sovereignty goddesses represent the fertile mother as a local manifestation....though it might appear that there are several goddesses at play, the are the same. Don't take that as some sort of neopagan consolidation of deities either, but in some cases it is true.

In the lore, Cosmic goddesses are usually cows, representing nourishment, etc, horses never really had that place as a symbol. And as to Northern lore, there isn't a whole lot in the way of moon goddesses...usually depicted as male, Mani.

[liquidlight]

Yes you are right the many goddesses are the many faces of one goddess. I'm very familiar with the cow goddess both in dreams and as a more tangible presence in my life, and she is indeed a provider and nurturer and has made her presence known to me particularly in the last 2 or 3 years.
In dreams of her it is always a moonlit night and always water, she shows herself as a cow or half woman half cow. In one nice dream, i and two others rode on her back along a canal in the moonlight. She has indeed become for me the personification of my cosmic mother and i always feel blessed to dream of her.

[heron]

Yes you are right the many goddesses are the many faces of one goddess.


NOPE, not what I said...I said many goddesses are aspects of the same goddess....BUT not all goddesses, etc....I am a very hard polytheist, but with sovereign deities, etc, they appear in different cultures in different places... different in someways, but ultimately the same.

Sif is not the same goddess as Freya, Frigg is not the same goddess and Lilith, Earđ is not Skađi....but Nerthus is Earđ, Earđ is Gaia, Frigga and Freya at times seem cognate, and Hela is definetly Kolyo and Calypso....Same with gods...Taranus is Thunar, Thunar is Thor....Thunar is not Frey, but Frey is Ing....etc...could go on forever.

I don't apply the neopagan all gods are one god kinda thing....don't know how you deducted that.

Wassail, Gar

[liquidlight]

ok i see what you are saying. ... but i disagree.

[heron]

As a neopagan, I would suspect that you would...though you find far greater wisdom in exploring ancient truths, and spend less time creating modern fantasies.

[liquidlight]

I don't classify myself a 'neopagan', and i don't and never have followed any tradition or religion because i see each on it's own as being limited in it's structured beliefs and all the dogma that goes with it. But different people have always believed in something and i'll look into anything to find some whisper of truth. My own truth is simple .. that we are all part of one life ... humans, plants, animals, minerals everything. And that life is the goddess who gave birth to us all and everything. But individuality and living in duality has it's truth aswell. Creation would be pointless without individual personality or form. So my struggle in life is to reconcile and marry these two truths. Oneness in duality.

I might add that just because something is old or ancient doesn't give it any more credence to me, people have been pretty mutch the same for a long long time ... just as stupid and just as intelligent. In a couple of thousand years perhaps some of our craziest beliefs of today will be deemed 'ancient wisdom'? I'd really hope not.

I can see clearly that you hate christianity. But what do you make of Jesus if i may ask? Because i see his message and what followed as being completely different things.

[Dancing_Sun]

When I started my spiritual journey I thought my spirit guide was a dragonfly because i was so drawn to them but as I furthered spiritually I found it changed. I go out to the same sacred spot I have outdoors where i feel connected to the earth and one day I was having doubts, i even asked "is this the right path for me" and a raven came very close to me and stayed for a while and then as he left he circled around me three times and on his way he went. Everytime I went out there he would come and watch me sitting on a tree near by. So my animal is now a raven. A lot of things in my life have changed including where I live and where I am at spiritually. The raven has now gone but I feel at peace with that because he was there when i needed him. I feel that a new animal may appear to me or the raven might come back when I need him.

Those are my thoughts
Peace. love to all

[liquidlight]

Heh, i followed a raven through the woods once ... it kept croaking and then flying off a bit to another tree, and i kept following. I think it was having a laugh!
You don't often see ravens here but they're about.

[heron]

I do not hate christianity....but i do hold it responsible for many things that I do hate.

I think Jesus did not exist historically, and that the whole mythos was a politically motivated Roman creation.

I do not put credence in things just because they are old....but i do put credence in the organic growth of all of mankinds understandings of Nature, and the spirits and gods that abound within it. That grew from our first spark of awareness, and bloomed into the many beautiful folkways of the tribes of man....

That is what I put faith in...the neopagan thoughts are trying to make something new look old, and create a polytheistic view based on monotheistic comforts.

[liquidlight]

"I think Jesus did not exist historically"

Fair enough, there's almost no evidence of his physical existence ... but there is very little evidence of anyones existence from those times.

Well, polytheism and monotheism. Like i said i'm trying to reconcile the two.

[heron]

Well, polytheism and monotheism. Like i said i'm trying to reconcile the two.

Try pantheistic worldviews. Worldview is more important that picking a "religion". If you trap yourself in that box, then it doesn't matter how you justify it, you are still trapped in the box. Forget that any religion exists at all, and then look to nature...soon you will realize that what you learned was what the ancestors were telling us.

The sky is the sky, and is part of earth, but is also seperate from earth in the balance of what makes fertility. Fertility is not the earth, but is a part of her as well....all together they do make one thing, in its own roles, but still distinctly different. A candle is not its flame, and the flame is not its hear nor its light....you can't say that the flame is a candle (or vice versa) and leave it at that. You will never get the wisdom of the wholeness that way..you must understand that they are all seperate things coming together in a grand dance....same with manifestation....yes the candle is one thing, but all that it is is so much deeper than that.

Don't limit yourself to simple all is one concepts, for the sake of your wisdom.

[liquidlight]

For the sake of my wisdom i will try to stay open minded. 'All is one' may sound like a simple concept but it's not so simple in a world where everyone thinks themselves separate from eachother.

"The sky is the sky, and is part of earth, but is also seperate..." Well, this is exactly what i mean. The sky and Earth are separate but work in harmony as a whole. There is a oneness they share that is beyond either part. Call it perhaps, a cosmic intelligence that directs both sky and earth. Is it so hard to understand the concept of one behind many? Do you never look at your partner or child and see that the same thing that gives them life and makes them tick is the very same thing that does you also?
Physical life is about the many, individuality and difference ... the amazing myriad ways that life exists, but when we die our differences are no more. Our being dissolves into the conciousness of oneness in spirit, just as our bodies dissolve into the oneness of matter, or the earth. So this living and dying goes on and life constantly renews itself in this kind of recycling process.
So physical death is part of life, and renewal ... growth and decay both working apparently against eachother, but in actuality working together as one, following the same cosmic intelligence. It is that cosmic intelligence that is oneness giving birth to many. So there is no conflict between individuality and oneness as long as the individual knows it's place in the scheme of things... forgetting that place gives rise to ego and so one fears not just death but life also.
So to me there is a balance to walk between the two.

[heron]

The conflict of duality is a nessecary cycle...look to the world tree cosmology for that. It is also the main lesson in all of the IE based myths, most notably the Nordic versions.

All is part of one, Dame Hell, Old Night, Mother Fate...She is the all...but all is not She.

Upon death, there is mergence into the Well of Potential, or the Underworld, where all things are born from and return to. Again, conflict of duality...chaos feeds order, life feeds death, etc...the word to describe that concept is Ghosti...it is the core of all heathen beliefs...it means roughly, a reciprical bond with another...from feeding a guest well, being giveful, and ultimatly dying....all of these things are poart of ghosti....if ghosti is out of balance, then fertility suffers. Too much chaos? death...too much order? stagnation=death, give too much? give too little? take to much? etc....living in balanced ghosti is living in balance of all of manifestation.

I think we are having less differences than we are seeing on here....but the larger picture we do not so much disagree on...

Be Whole, and may the gods see you always.

Gar

[liquidlight]

"I think we are having less differences than we are seeing on here....but the larger picture we do not so much disagree on..."

Well Heron, thats a fair statement ;)

... and thanks also, your 'heathen mystic' perspective is certainly interesting and refreshing and i have indeed learned a thing or two.

[tigerchild]

well, my i just say that tiger's may not have existed in native america but they still have there own medicine. i take the point that it is unlikely to see a native american spirit with a tiger but it is possible.
i enjoyed reading the debate and would love hearing about both your views!
so thanks.

[liquidlight]

Well i know sabretooth tigers have been found in tar pits in the states somewhere, also here in the UK. Perhaps there were once tigers in the americas? It wouldn't surprise me.

Well it seems not, no evidence found anyway, but this page does say the modern tiger and sabretooth ARE distantly related, suggesting that a more modern pregenitor of todays tigers may have existed in the americas.
http://www.tigerhomes.org/wild-cats/wc-history-wild-cats.cfm

... but as far as man and tiger existing together there is unknown. I think they can only trace man in the americas as far back as 30000 years or so.(slightly uncertain evidence based on stone/flint spearheads).

There's lions though!

[tigerchild]

wow! thanks, thats really interesting! thanks liquid light.
i guess it will just just be an unknown. :)

[edenfield]

Hey,
I was just wondering what your anmial motems are.
mine is the Couger?Mountain LionWhat is an animal totem plz? I am new to this.

[Olympic-Bullshitter]

Laughter is the best medicine. And if you are going to laugh, you might as well laugh at yourself. Thank you Grandmother Spider!

[Passionate1]

I guess mine may be The lion I love the lion how it demands respect and you know that it is king (queen in my case)

[Passionate1]

I guess mine may be The lion I love the lion how it demands respect and you know that it is king (queen in my case) and I have a thing for guys with hair LOL

[themnax]

your alies are those who come to you in time of need, who look after you, not which you like or dislike or think they should be. a totem is something dead, carved on a tree. your alies, and we all have them, and or they us, its an omnilateral relationship, not any one way only at all, are living arctypal spiritnessess of kinds of living organzims, maybe the collective species conscousness of that species of living organism, or perhapse some other kind of spiritness that represents and guides it. whatever they are, it is a relationship we and they have with each other.

like many things, this is one of those we don't have to pretend to know more then we do to feel and experience.

who they are, sometimes they announce themselves to us, that's pretty much it.

its not really something to go arround talking about. not a fassion statement or a choosen afinity, like a favorite color or something.

sometimes they visit you in your dreams. sometimes in their animal form, sometimes as shape chaingers too maybe. it may be possible to meet them sometimes in real life, but probably not such a good idea to insist upon doing so.

their patience is no more infinite then yours or mine, except in the sense of their sticking with you, inspite of each of our sometimes screw ups.

but i really wouldn't push it. the'll let you know, even if and when you're too blind to see that its them doing so.

=^^=
.../\...

[heron]

a little study on the feccebeast might help out some too.

[windy]

Is a totem a personal thing or can a totem belong to a family. You know, going down thru the generations.

[themnax]

Is a totem a personal thing or can a totem belong to a family. You know, going down thru the generations.

no a totem is something, one culture suposedly had that name for species symbol spirits, one family of cultures, in the pacific northwest.

what indiginous cultures all over the planet recognized is the personal thing, i mean, like i've already described. i mean if you want to learn something you might want to find out what tribal elders have had to say.

an alie, is like a personal friend, but friend, well, i mean, their not like pets or anything, or lovers or something, their powerful, but its like their going their way and your going yours and sometimes well theres like this spirit of a whole species and, but its like in one person, one being, one awairness, and you help each other out, look out for each other. that's how it works.

it's got to be mutual, and you don't get to pick some creature you like because they look cuddly or you're impressed by their claws or strength. it could be a very small, very, not physically strong species at all, but very wise as it has to be to survive in the big universe of nature.

but you see, whatever it is, its like your brother, sister, and you just kind of look out for each other. that's what it is. that's how it works.

and usually, it's when you're in a difficult situation, in a hard way, that's when you find each other, you and this guardian spirit of yours.

and it isn't against god or some other belief or anything like that at all.

it's like invisible friends, only you don't make them up or pretend to hold your bedroom door open for them or anything. the walk through walls and doors and everything just fine.

but if you want to of course, and this in another different kind of thing entirely, but you can make a symbolic place in your home, where all kinds of spirits are welcome. you know, set out a glass of water for them on a kind of little alter like or something.

but that's not something anyone has to do either. i mean its all, all of it, between that spirit and yourself. you have to work it out with each other togather. its not something anyone else can give you that. not something your gonna find reading about it or that you can get from me or anybody telling you about it either.

=^^=
.../\...

i think i see what your getting at about the family thing. there's cultures that have that too, but usually its about like an extended family or a whole moity being associated with a species where, in that culture that species symbolizes some particular specialization, area of effort or spirit endowment. that's something, that aspect, that sort of thing, it's something that somewhere in my ancestors there might be, and i know of some other places that have that, but my own personal experience, is just about entirely as far as i know, of the individual thing.

=^^=
.../\...

[windy]

Thanks themnax. Owls seem to come into my life alot. I've been warned of impending asthma attacks while sleeping by dreaming of owls flying at my third eye or dropping feathers on me. I have also dreamed of owls leaving behind claws and feathers for me. All of this started about 7 yrs ago after a "close encounter" with an owl that scared the bejeezus out of me. LOL Is this my totem?

[themnax]

Thanks themnax. Owls seem to come into my life alot. I've been warned of impending asthma attacks while sleeping by dreaming of owls flying at my third eye or dropping feathers on me. I have also dreamed of owls leaving behind claws and feathers for me. All of this started about 7 yrs ago after a "close encounter" with an owl that scared the bejeezus out of me. LOL Is this my totem?

that's the sort of thing that might well suggest that, but i do wish people would quite using this word "totem" that way.

an alie is just that, just like as if it were a human, like a partner in bussiness or something like that, not a toy or a symbol of who you are, or even a lover in bed with. it is a personal and spiritual RELATIONSHIP.

possibly the closest and most important spiritual relationship in many, if not most, people's lives. even people who have no idea it exists.

=^^=
.../\...

[mamaKCita]

great horned owl. they never fail me.

[windy]

Yes! themnax, you are right. An allie. I've never thought that way about it before. Thanks. mammak, ya!! had one fly low over my head, took my breath away.

[mamaKCita]

so far as i can tell, they tend pick women.

[heron]

In the northern traditions, it would be called a feccebeast...its the animal shape your fecce takes in the early stages of communication.

[windy]

...don't know what a feccebeast is could you explain please. Also, about 7 yrs ago immediately after an encounter with an owl, a most curious thing happened. My vision and hearing aren't good but all of a sudden I could see and hear EVERYTHING to an extraordinary degree. I was outside at night. I can't explain the feeling that came over me during this. Heightened senses, euphoria a feeling of freedom....it was like our spirits touched for a moment......

[themnax]

i was curious about this reference as well, as my own experiences took place outside of any tradition. i grew up in maidu country and my father's mother's mother was onondagwa from upstate new york, but my only contact with any of these traditions has been through my reading and hearing about from a few maidu friends i've met over the years. but my experiences, well i was walking along a road with my dad one day when i was very young, in a place where wolves had supposedly been extinct for many years, and i had, i was lagging behind him to be in a sort of state of meditation with my surroundings and when my dad looked back to see where i had gotten to, there was this old she wolf walking beside me. and we were just walking beside each other and then we decided, i don't know which or how, but we walked parallel to the road through a screen of brush and trees where we couldn't be seen from it for a ways, except going back to look at this place, that would not have been physically possible, so i cannot say what took place physically in that instance, it wasn't like it was a big thing, nor seemed like one at the time. and then after that, we were going down to the bear river where there are all of these mine tailings, i mean like there's this big wide area of gravel all up and down along that river, and the river itself constantly recuts its path through them, and anyway, the wind was toward me and everything and i walked accross the gravel to where the river was and there was a little bit of a gravel bank and the river was below me and when i got there and looked down there was this mountain lion getting a drink of water out of it, right there, not more the ten, fifteen feet from me.

well that was what happened that day, but since that time, there have been dreams that were signifigant to chainges in things that happened in my life that involved them.

so that is all i know, other then what i've felt at times since.

=^^=
.../\...

[windy]

hi themnax, ya, I'm not connected to any tradition either and also have a Native connection in my family. Algonkin ( or Algonkian ). Back when I was a kid, people didn't talk of these things. I always had a feeling about this but didn't find out for sure till a few years ago. I wish I had been raised with this knowledge because I think my father had a positive experience with it as they lived out in the bush. Loved your story of the wolf and the mountain lion. Literally gave me goosebumps......

[heron]

The Fecce, Fetch, is the manifestation of the strand of fate that you are part of. You are an event on the thread, the Fetch is the greater self of the thread as a whole..you are part of it, and it you, but the two are not one and the same...except after contact and communion with your fetch...which appears at first as the fetchbeast, then later as the human shaped manifestation of the fetchbride/groom. Upon the union of your self and your fetch, you have accomplished what all mystics have sought, and will be ever aware as the fetch line continues after "your" death.


In a nutshell.

[windy]

Hey heron...so is the Fetch your "higher self"? This is pretty cool...what do you mean by "will be ever aware as the fetch line continues after your death." Can I read about this in depth anywhere on the internet? ....thanks...

[heron]

Your seat of consciousness is moved to the fetch rather than in your soul/spirit complex...which splits upon your death, and "you" go through the waters of forgetting, and into the underworld...or well of potential....to merge with the fetch means you escape such a hard fate.

It is more than a higher self...but close...the fetch is the manifestation of the entire strand of fate that you are only a happening on..."your" self is one of many "selves" that the fetch "self" has had....that opens a whole new can of worms...as to there being no true "self" anyway.

not sure about on the net...but Robin Artisson talks about it in his traditional witchcraft books in good detail..especially Witching Way of the Hollow Hill...and maybe at www.robinartisson.com (http://www.robinartisson.com) or http://www.robinartisson.com/scarespite/hallpage.htm.

[windy]

Heron...loved the Robin Artisson site. Especially "the Old Ways" Thinking of buying Witching Way of the Hollow Hill Thanks.....

[NightRose]

Double post.

[NightRose]

I am very certain that mine is a fox. I've had a few encounters... a dream about one who has helped me get through a huge obstacle before. When I asked my nan if she might be able to interprit the dream she told me that her Father used to call her "Fox". I have a fox skull in my bedroom. And the moment it sort of confirmed it for me was when I went for a walk a few weeks back about 7:30-8 at night and as I was crossing a highway, about 100 meters away there was this large fox crossing it opposite from me, I was watching it as it walked and once I crossed the road, I turned and stood there for a moment and we just sorta looked at eachother for a moment before I turned to walk again. I glanced back and the fox was gone again.

[fragile wings]

Red Tailed Hawk

[smarmine]

I think mine is a grasshopper

[Clordio]

Dragonfly

[Olympic-Bullshitter]

Let a man decide upon his favorite animal and make a study of it, learning its innocent ways. Let him learn to understand its sounds and motions. The animals want to communicate with man, but Wakantanka does not intend they shall do so directly-man must do the greater part in securing an understanding.

[erzebet1961]

My totem is a she wolf with a Raven , or a crow , sitting on her right shoulder....its a big black bird , and my granma would always get the two mixed up.
The animals were picked out for me before i was born.
We are Cherokee

[ippi]

Nowdays, they are an Eagle, and, a rabbit... I have seen these animals, and I know this from the look of these creatures... Also I got, my own spirits, who are more like teachers...

[Argiope aurantia]

Alright, I have a rant on the totem thing. I am a believer in totem animals, that many of us have an animal spirit/ally. So far, I have seen many cats, canines, horses, and buffalo. I have seen a plethora of various birds, and 90% of these totems/animal spirit guides/whatever have been well respected throughout certain cultures. Where are the not-so-loved animals? I don't remember seeing any reptile totems, though I know that gators, crocs, turtles, and snakes are popular. I saw no fish.

From what I have been given through neopagan lore (priestesses, books, and internet), the animal chooses you in a mediation or certain life events. Some (from the posts here: I know little of American Indian beliefs) are gifted by tribal elders. From the abundance of animal species, however, why have the only invertebrates I've seen been four dragonflies, a grasshpper, and three other spiders? And why did some get certain species and others get a whole Genus? Did only the animals closely allied with humanity choose people? Where are the cockroach and snail totems? Slugs? Ants? There should be millions of ants.

For myself, all spiders link to me in ways, but the main totem animal is the black and yellow argiope spider (Garden spider. Google my screen name for images). I have been arachnophobic my whole life, but fascinated by everything with eight legs until it showed up in my bed or clothing. A spider has been present at every major life event I can remember, even if it was just a little brown house spider scaring me into not being so traumatized by the event itself.

This means that I am small and relatively harmless but still attention grabbing and unexplainably disturbing. I am talented in knitting and crochet and have developed a marvelous green thumb since realization. I am violently devoted to the children I am not even pregnant with yet, and yes, I occasionally eat my mate. The argiope is one of the few species that actually do that (No widow does in the wild.), but he hasn't complained yet.

I'm convinced that my husband is a rat totem. He's the stereotypical pack rat, loves rodents (It's funny to see a scrawny six foot tall nerd/punk/goth cooing like a little girl over the hamsters in the pet store.), is a master of MacGuyverist engineering, and while he cares for his loved ones fiercely he is absolutely vicious to his enemies. He's not so convinced.

[Mountain Valley Wolf]

The snake is a very important spiritual animal. The snake or serpent, or some other reptilian relative including the dragon, are all connected to the axis mundi, the celestial axis. THey are also connected to our own internal axis mundi---the spine (for example the snakes of Kundalini).

My spirit animal is the wolf, and he is always around me---he is a guide when I need him, protects me, and is a friend. But one time in a low point of my life, I went on a spirit journey for help (with my wolf at my side), and one of the visions I had was of a giant green snake with long fangs, that wrapped around my house, which became quickly enclosed in its coils. It reared its head up and hissed menacingly while showing its fangs----I knew that no harm would come to my house----that it would protect it. I believe it is still there, for I look for it/invite it/make sure it is there while on spirit journeys, or when I am away from home ,etc.

The turtle maiden and her turtle also came to me at that same time, and she helped me achieve some things that would not have been possible without her help. So I am always indebted to the turtle and give it thanx when ever I have a chance.

[Holy Ancient Megumi]

mine are all white : Eagle , Buffalo , Wolf and Dove ,
then i have a hawk that is big , and a bear that is my father

[heron]

Do any of you know the animal you call your totem as your pukrell instead? The Pukrell, or fetch beast, is the animal face of your Fetch. It is usually the first way that contact is made with your Fetch-self. The serious and successful mystic will move on to know a deeper level of the Fetch, as the bride or groom, knowing that the beast was a simple initiation.

More often times, "totems" are power animals or spirit guides, not the fetch beast, for it takes a serious and prolonged effort for the Pukrell to be shown, more so for the bride.

[Mountain Valley Wolf]

That is interesting. Do you know what language the word 'pukrell' comes from?

I know that there are certain indigenous cultures where the spirit guide becomes a spirit spouse. For example, there are Ural-Altaic shamans in Central Asia who have a human spouse and female guide spirits that become their spirit spouses. They hve children in the spirit world with the spirit spouses, who cook for them and perform all the duties of a spouse, only in the spirit world. They can even get jealous of the human wife. The human wife is understanding because that is part of her husband's calling.

[heron]

yeah..English

[OceanStar]

Ive always been very drawn to tigers, crows and cows...

I'm drawn to tigers when I'm energetic, trying to turn new ideas into action and so on,when I feel deeply depressed or anxious I always become aware of crows around me (I can hear them outside when I take exams and it calms me down)...and when I lack confidence or feel low or my life's unbalanced, I feel a connection with the cow...(and I started following Hinduism about a year ago which is interesting seeing as how the cow is so revered in that religion.)

I'm not really sure what that means tho...Ive never really heard of animals totems before reading this post.lol

Slan.x:)

[Mountain Valley Wolf]

Ocean Star, did you know that those are all ancestral animals?

The cow is (or was) the Great Mother clear accross the Eurasian continent, and down into North America and the Middle East. This is why she is so important to the Hindus who have retained this ancient tradition. The cow originated in Europe with the Aurochs. (The Aurochs is now extrinct). It was exported down into the Middle East and North Africa as early as the late paleolithic, or early neolithic (and here we think of these people as a bunch of cavemen, barely able to make stone arrowheads). One of the oldest forms of the Egyptian Goddess was that of the cow----inheritted from the earliest North African cow, and Middle Eastern herders. The pre-christian Europeans carried this same tradition, in some places, well into the last millenium.

The crow was the mother of some shamans and appears in numerous traditions accross Northern Eurasia, though I believe the eagle is more common.

The tiger is the great ancestress all through South East Asia, particularly from Malaysia down through Indonesia. It is a common totemic spirit among the shamans there. It would have been the ancestress of the Koreans, but the Bear was able to produce human offspring, and so the tiger became the helping spirit of the Great Father, or ancestor instead.

Accross to Japan, and the Ainu people share the bear as their great ancestress.

Of course, I guess any spirit animal has an ancestral connection as I pointed out in a previous post.

[talk2thetrees!]

My totem is the wolf. I was meditating one night, and I saw myself in wolf form with another wolf by my side, They played together and were very good friends. Then the wolf representing me left. So I was sitting alone with the other wolf, (it's confusing, i know two me's) but the human me was sitting with the wolf and we watched a sunset together. then the me wolf came back. hurt and bleeding. The other wolf rushed to the me wolf's side, forgiving the mewolf for leaving him.

I've seen this same wolf in many dreams, sometimes i feel his presence with me.

[Mountain Valley Wolf]

That's a cool story talk2thetrees! I too have experienced myself as a wolf. Other times I am just with my wolf. Numerous traditions teach of multiple aspects of our soul, so the experience of you as you, and at the same time, you as wolf fits that concept. Though that is not the only interpretation. But that is really cool!

[SamanthaHazelEyes]

Wolves. Ever since I was child I had a huge connection to them, and I used to actually howl at the moon until I was seven. An unusual child I was...
I also have a connection to owls.

[babyjay]

i feel like i would be a bird.. but i've always been drawn to wolves as well.
i feel like i would be a bird, more though.

[themnax]

mine found me, and that's what makes me think they are real, even though i wasn't doing anything special to go looking for them.

[Maitereya]

at one point in time a mocking bird was following me and watching me. It was odd, sometimes i would want him to go away other times i would be okay with the thing sitting on a branch chirping. i never really delved into the idea of that mocking bird untill now.

in art class in school we were told to make totem animals, i made a snake.

do these animals always come to me or can i call on a random animal for help, like a bear for strength?

[RainWarrior]

I'm Native American an we work daily with our spirit guides. If anyone needs help figuring out what theirs is feel free to contact me. I run a business specifically to help people find theirs. There is no charge for this service as I do not believe anyone should pay to pray. There is a typed guide on my website with instructions on how to try and find your guide. Asking someone else to help you find yours should always be the LAST resort in my book as the bond between you and your guide is your business. Also keep in mind that a spirit guide may not be the one you want, for example my friend clearly has a primary otter guide when he would like to think himself a wolf. Remember ALL animals areunique so are their spiritual powers I will help in any way possible. In my culture you have 7 spirit guides one of which is your primary or dominant totem this is the one who will be with you constantly. We also believe that you should keep a piece of this animal with you at all times to represent a closer connection to him or her. For example if my guide is the Bear I will constantly keep bear claws on me. Sorry if your guide is a bird of prey due to laws you arnt allowed to posess feathers or talons from these birds :( this is what happens when people shoot for sport.