What’s your Animal Totem?
September 22nd, 2008 by Dan BodensteinNative American spirituality assigns traits and meanings to different animals. These animal totems, sometimes called animal spirits or spirit guides, offer guidance to their people in form of visions through the use of dreams and meditation. Each animal carries a special meaning, and it is the animal that visits you most that is your power animal.
Years ago I started meditating and started to “see” animals within my minds eye. Two animals became predominant in my visions, the dolphin and the gecko. Most people think that totems are usually the bear, the wolf, or the buffalo since they are most predominant in native American culture. When people start looking for their totems, they expect to see something common like them. Although often the case, the truth is, the vision is usually forced.
Last year I had a rare privilege of attending a session with Ted Andrews, a teacher and author of spiritual enlightenment. During his discussion, all the attendees participated in a meditation session. Within this session I had a vision of a large bird, a phoenix. I was puzzled by this, but Mr. Andrews indicated to me that the mind is not limited by the physical animal forms we are accustom to. He also indicated that it may also mean that the creature truly existed at some point in time, and by opening my mind to the universe, I was able to “see” this. Wow. That sort of blew my mind. Is it true? There is no honest way to know, but I do know what I saw.
What’s your animal? Chances are you already know what your power totem is. Is there an animal you are already drawn to, or extremely fond of? It could be something as obvious as your cat, or dog. It may be a variation of them as well, perhaps a cougar, or a fox. Ted Andrew’s book Animal-Speak offers explanation and meaning of many animal totems, and includes many exercises to enhance your connection to your animal guide.
Think about it. In the future I will post more information on how to seek out your totem.
Comments
So are totem poles carvings of peoples animal totems? Like in Alaska when there are birds and bears on the totem poles.
Hi Marney, totem poles often depict animal spirits that were related to the tribe or lineage of the people. The word totem is defined as, “An object, usually an animal or plant, revered by an individual or a particular social group”
Here the word applies to the carvings on the pole, where as with a spirit guide it refers to the actual animal.
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