The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I've spent years searching for my spirit guide/watcher. I was never able to get a clear idea of who that may be until recently. I was meditating for about 2 hours about a week ago, asking for a sign about who my spirit guide is. I had visions of red, flashes of light, and what looked like blood splatter. That is all I saw. When I was about to come out of meditation, I heard a whisper "Bellona" in my left ear.

That night, I had a dream that a woman, in full roman armor with a whip, spear, and a blood red flame was guiding me in taming a cougar. I managed to get the cougar on the ground, a gag and reigns in it's mouth, and I rode it into what looked like a lodge filled with men in full armor. They saw me, screamed a war cry, and ran out of the building ready for fighting.

Prior to this I had never heard of Bellona, so I decided to do some research about her.

I know Bellona is an ancient Roman Goddess of war, with her Greek equivalent being Enyo. She's closely tied to Mars, and is said to be either his wife or daughter, but more often than not his twin sister. Her origins were most likely Sabine. Her temple was just outside of the Roman boundries, her land was considered foreign land. A spear would be thrown over her war column, into her lands, to initiate war. As well, her day of feast is on my birthday (June 3). I know she is known to scream war cries and bark orders. Also, she wears a plumed helmet and armor, carries a sword and spear, a shield, and sometimes she carries a torch with a blood-red flame.

I can't seem to find much about her as a Goddess for magickal workings, though.

So to wrap this up, I have some questions.

1. What is her element? I know, since she's Mars' companion, it could be fire, but I don't just want to assume.
2. What is her sacred animal?
3. What is her symbol? I know the asteroid named after her is a whip crossing a spear (spear pointing up and whip at 45 degree angle -- effectively pointing between 1 & 2 on a clock face), but again, I don't want to assume that is her symbol.
4. Is there anything else that I missed, such as specific spells or invocations to call upon her, specific colors that represent her, any other days marked for holidays or celebrations of Bellona, etc.

Any help would be great! And I want to thank everyone in advance for reading this and any help that is received!

Arilia