Animal Totems

In earlier posts I talked about cats and owls as being symbols of Halloween. So I wanted to go a bit deeper and do a post in honor of my 'seperated at birth' soul sista, Cat. She and I share MANY interests, and one of those is an interest in Animal Totems and Animal Medicine. Some of you are familiar with this and added to the earlier discussions with your own interesting information. But for anyone who hasn't been introduced to this particular brand of 'earth magic', I thought I would share a little info on this fascinating subject. My own Animal Totems have included - Cat, Owl, Butterfly, Crow, Squirrel, Ladybug, Snake, Lizard, Goose and Spider.

"Animals come to us because they have a lesson we need to learn; a power they are willing to share with a friend. They seek to give us a gift of understanding, universal love, energy, and knowledge. In general, animals remind us that we are part of the earth; that each creature has a place; that each creature has a skill of it's own; that we have instincts given to us from Mother Earth, wisdom born to us that we must awaken. Each animal has it's own special power and message, for each animal has a powerful spirit and an inherent skill. The animal will choose you and make itself known to you. You will only need to pay attention to discover what your totems are."

There are several types of animal totems that may come to you:

"Your 'Life Long Animal Totem' works with you throughout your entire life or until such time that you no longer need that animal totem. It is always there when you need it's powers. Always reminding you of your power and connectivity."

"A 'Journey Animal Totem' reflects a period of time. Not just a day, but weeks, months, or maybe years - the time it takes you to walk the path that the Animal Totem is reminding or guiding you on. During this journey you will find that this animal is always showing up in your life, or that several animal totems will appear in your life to guide you on the path."

"A 'Message Animal Totem' usually is bringing you a self growth, spiritual message, or a cautionary warning. It is often a wake up call or slap in the face. It will usually be a very unusual experience making it very powerful at that time and very impartial for a brief period of time."

'Shadow Animal Totems' are those totems that test us. They have great power for us, but will put us through tests before they will let their power work with and for us, instead of against us. A Shadow Animal Totem is one that initially you fear and it often represents inner fears that you must overcome."

To help determine what your own Animal Totems are, take the following questionnaire: http://www.spiritualnetwork.net/totems/discover_your_animal_totems.htm

And then for in depth analysis of what your own animals impart to you, visit Sayhada's informative web site: http://www.sayahda.com/cycle.htm