Exploring your Connection with your Animal Spirit – Part II
September 24th, 2008 by Dan BodensteinSo your animal spirit appeared to you during your meditation time. Now what? I know why I am asking you? I’m suppose to be explaining this to you. Well to be honest, all I can do is tell you the different meanings of the different animals based on my experience and my readings.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say a squirrel appeared to you. You’re probably thinking, “a squirrel? of all the possible animals, I get a squirrel?” Remember you don’t pick the animal, the animal picks you. Its all part of the “don’t force it” issue. So a squirrel, what does it mean? What is the meaning behind the squirrel. According to resources like Ted Andrews’ Animal-Speak, the squirrel stands for preparedness, saving for the future, and change.
When the squirrel appears to you in a vision it may be telling you that you need to prepare for some future event. It may also be telling you that you need to focus on saving “something” for the future. This year, at the beginning of hurricane season, the squirrel appeared to me in a vision along with a ram. What made this vision different is that usually the spirits speak to me, but in this instance they did not.
Despite that obscure oddity, I researched both animals. The squirrel, meaning preparedness, and the ram standing for new beginnings, and strength. Mixing preparedness and new beginnings I took this to mean the beginning of hurricane season, and the need to be prepared. I figured it meant there was a chance we could get hit with a hurricane here in South Florida this season. It made sense at the time. Three days later I realized what the visions true meaning was. I also realized why they did not speak to me. You see, the night I had my vision, I was also teaching my wife how to contact her spirit animals. She was having trouble and could not get to her “place”. In my vision, the squirrel and ram did not speak to me because they were not there for me. They appeared to me, because they could not appear to my wife. Three days after the vision, my wife’s father passed away. The message was clearer then, “prepare for a new beginning”. I was angry with myself for not realizing this sooner. But as I said, I never experienced this scenario before.
In this instance, the vision could have dual meanings, and some might say I found reason for meaning. The truth is, we all find meaning in what we want. Whether its meditation, or religion, we find our own meaning.
So what does your totem mean? Here are a few animals and their meanings…
Dog : Unquestioned loyalty, love, healing, and the ability to sense trouble.
Bear : Looking within, change, healing, and solitude.
Hyena : Adaptability, patience, and understanding cooperation.
Chances of you seeing any of those three may be remote, but if you’d like a decent online reference visit AnimalSpiritscom
No matter how obscure the animal may be, chances are it has a meaning for you. Explore your new realm and see what wonders it opens for you.
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