Spirituality and Self Help
Craft Haven
Finding your Animal Totems
The use of animal imagery or
other nature totems as a way to learn about ourselves has been around as
long as mankind. Prehistoric cave paintings show many man/animal
combinations. In many societies since, priests have used totems and
images to help in coming to terms with the mysteries surrounding them.
Often they would wear the skin of an animal as a way to appease it’s
spirit and honour it’s power. Learning about their chosen totem,
honouring the life of the animal and it’s ways helped them to recognize
and understand forces moving in their own lives. Seeing the lion waiting
for long stretches of time for the right prey teaches us patience in
important things. The care given to it’s young can teach us about
responsibility. We do not have to believe that these animals or images
are in themselves of great intelligence. But they are archetypal powers
that live in all of Nature. They each have their own qualities,
characteristics, strengths and natural wisdom which are reflected in
their actions and activities.
When we pay attention to the nature of a totem, we are honouring the
spirit that lies behind it. We can open up to it and then use it to
understand our own life circumstances. We can then share in it’s power
or “medicine” as it is sometimes called. Animal and nature totems can
become reflections or symbols of a specific force that is manifesting in
our lives. Their characteristics can reveal ways to help us use the same
types of actions to further our understanding of what’s needed at the
time. By studying and reading about the animals in and around our lives
we can understand more about he circumstances we encounter. We can learn
about the kinds of energies surrounding us and how to draw upon those
energies to effectively deal with life situations. By learning how our
totem survives in their environments we can better understand the
principles of how to react when our lives enter a similar situation.
There are a few things you should remember once deciding you’d like to
live your life with a totem.
Most of us have spent our lives ignoring the times nature has tried to
speak to us. If you tried to talk with someone who consistently ignored
you, would you keep trying or would you give up after a while? For many
of us Nature has quit trying. It may take you some time to reach a point
where you can call to, notice and understand the new prompting coming
your way. Be patient, study, learn and listen. It will happen.
And remember your totem chooses you, it’s not you who chooses it. Once
it has come you may find that it is not a majestic eagle or macho tiger
that is your totem. It may be a sparrow or turtle. (Mine are frogs.)
Don’t let your ego stand in the way of learning the lessons it has to
teach you.
Life long power animals are usually, but not always, wild animals, and
all animals have a powerful spirit.
You must develop a relationship with your totem. Learn it’s point of
view, learn to communicate with it, like any animal you will have to
earn it’s trust and respect. That does not happen all at once.
It is good to honour your totem too. Learn about them and their prey or
food. You will have something to learn from them too. Hang up pictures
of your totem, buy or create a figurine, donate to wildlife
organizations or better yet get out and do something yourself to improve
their habitat.
Don’t let your imagination get the best of you. Learn the difference
between what’s there and what you would like to be there.
Also know that it is possible and even likely that you will have more
than one totem. You will probably have one major power animal that
resides with you your entire life, although sometimes in the background
but there are often others who come to the fore during a period of time
when you have need of them. Different stages of life or major changes
may bring forth a new totem to help you through that period. Learn from
all of them, listen to their wisdom and be prepared for a empowered and
more peaceful life.
To begin the process of finding your animal totems ask yourself a few
questions.
What animals have fascinated you most?
As a child which ones did you most like to read about or see at the zoo?
What animals do you see most often when you are in a natural setting?
Which are you most interested in right now?
What animal most frightens you? (Sometimes what frightens us most are
the very things we need to confront and deal with.)
Do you dream about certain types of animals?
(Although I have to say that none of those applied to myself with
regards to frogs, so you never know...)
There are a number of ways to contact your totem, but one of the easiest
is one that follows the basic pattern of most. Find a nice quiet place
to sit or lie down. Outside in a natural setting is great but inside you
own room is fine too. Make sure you will not be bothered. Close your
eyes and relax. Use any meditation or relaxation techniques you may
already know. Now imagine yourself someplace natural, safe and
beautiful. Perhaps a forest near a waterfall, along a bubbling stream in
a hilly sweeping grassland, or even desert. Take a walk in this place.
Follow the narrow path along the stream until you come around a corner
and see a open clearing filled with wild flowers. Or find the cave that
is behind the waterfall that leads you out into a wide expanse of
meadow. Or the canyon that opens up after you have walked through a
narrow and dark crack in the desert stone. Once you have entered your
path and come out the other side, enter the scene and find a place to
sit and relax. Perhaps under the spreading oak in the meadow or on the
rock that is just your size. Relax, hear the birds singing, the insects
buzzing and the wind whispering around you. Enjoy the scents of the
place and it’s peacefulness. Then let your totem enter the scene. Now
spend some time there with it. Will it walk with you, fly above you, let
you touch it? Allow the animal to talk to you. Let it tell you how it
has helped you in the past or will help you in the future. Perhaps you
will be able to share it’s thoughts. Everyone will find something
different here. Thank your totem for making itself known to you. And ask
for some tangible confirmation in the next few days or so that it is
truly your animal. Perhaps in a dream, seeing programs about it on TV,
or coming face to face with it on a walk, but something that looks like
more than just a coincidence to you. After a while, gently walk out of
the scene, take a few slow breaths to ground yourself and get up. Begin
the verification process. Research the animal and it’s qualities. Think
how it might apply to your life. What feeling and emotions does the
animal arouse in you? What does it make you think of? What is your deep
seated response to this animal. If you can truly find no connection to
your life or the verification from the animal does not come soon, simply
perform the exercise again.
When you first start to work with totems, it is important to examine
them carefully. A casual look will not be enough. You will miss many of
the things you could be learning about the aspects that are important to
you and your life. Ask yourself questions about it’s size, shape, colour
and actions. What does it eat? Where does it live and come from? When
does it breed? What kind of environment does it live it? All these
things can teach you much you can use in your life. The animal’s
breeding time may be an especially powerful time for you. If your totem
is a bird that migrates from another country, it may be showing you that
you have connections there, or there are things about that country’s
history or folklore that could be of benefit to you. The animals primary
food source may very well be a powerful totem for you too with it’s own
lesson’s to teach you.
Remember all these things are just guidelines to get you started. You
must do the actual study and work to find the path you will walk with
your totems at your side. Try to separate superstitions from the things
you can learn and see. Remember that everything in Nature has a purpose.
Even if it seems strange or odd, knowledge will eliminate prejudices and
fear. Our world is a community of plants, animals and humans. We are not
separate from the rest. You don’t have to believe all the mythology of
Nature but examining Nature can cause it to touch you in a primal way.
Nature can and should get inside of you, becoming a conscience part of
who you are. It can stir the soul in a way that may not ever be touched
in any other way. That is the true power of the symbols and myths of
Nature.
