The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I'm hoping this is in the right place, if not, forgive me.

I have always been very interested in Spirit Animals and on the site I have seen lot's of people talk about working with theirs, so I was just wondering how you found yours and if you can advise me on finding mine? Thanks.

 
Can you explain what you mean by "spirit animal"? I ask because that's a very vague term in and of itself, and one that is often used when finding a "totem" animal. (The word "totem" originates from a very particular Native American tribe and the idea of having a "totem" has been appropriated and misunderstood by non-Native peoples for a long time. There are a lot of misconceptions about totems and spirit animals, so whenever a conversation like this crops up I find it's really helpful to talk about our terms and assumptions from the beginning.)

Not everyone has a spiritual connection to an animal, the same way not everyone has (or will get) a patron deity. And even if you don't have that sort of connection from birth, that doesn't mean you can't choose to honor an animal or work with it in real life/on the astral plane/in prayer/whatever.

Well, I may be wrong, but it is my understanding from what I have researched that a Totem Animal can be any animal that you call upon in a situation whereas a Spirit Animal is somewhat similar to a guide and sort of personifies your personality. So I mean the latter. Unless my definitions are wrong, if so please correct me

 
Neo-Pagan culture has greatly skewed the actual meaning of a totem animal (including how to spell it) to point where it doesn't really have any association to the Anishinaabe term beyond the etymology of it. I've never really heard any standard definition of totem that could not just be replaced with "spirit animal", and I think people just keep clinging to the term because it sounds exotic.

The Anishinaabe doodem is your clan animal, and it defines you at birth depending on who your father was. You don't have to go searching for it, nor do you have more than one. Anything else to do with interacting with your doodem in a traditional context I think is either intensely personal or is kept under oath; either way I don't think it's very really been written about.

I have always been very interested in Spirit Animals and on the site I have seen lot's of people talk about working with theirs, so I was just wondering how you found yours and if you can advise me on finding mine? Thanks.

 
What does your intuition tell you?

On my path the animal has always been about learning or seeing the path ahead - entities showing themselves as certain animals to either teach or guide me (those who teach stay around until I have learned the lesson, while the others just comes by for a short visit). I have chosen to just name them power animals, which to me can be any animal (spirit, familiar, totem, in flesh, etc.)...

There are as many paths to take as you can imagine. You could try to ask it/them to show up in a dream. There is also visual meditation. Then there is as I wrote above just write down what your intuition tells you... you can also ask others if they see anything and see where it leads you.

I'm hoping this is in the right place, if not, forgive me.

I have always been very interested in Spirit Animals and on the site I have seen lot's of people talk about working with theirs, so I was just wondering how you found yours and if you can advise me on finding mine? Thanks.

I found mine years ago. I don't know what to call him title wise but he's been with me for about 10 years, he never leaves when my faith has taken a back seat to life and he has an incredible amount of patience. It took him 8 years to feel confident to give me his name, before then I just used to call him 'blue-eyes'. When I need him I can either find him in a meditation or in day to day life I can call him and he'll be there by my side.

He's never directly told me to do anything but he has counselled me, advised me and just used his presence to support me when I've needed it.

So I'm not sure what he is (spirit guide, totem animal etc.) But I know he's always there for me.

. . .

 
Lets cut through the crap here.

Child of Wolves, I understand the need to wan to find your spirit animal. It feels like its a part of you, so you should be aware of it.

To me (and from the books I've read and other people I've talked to) a spirit animal is like your inner personality. It's the animal version of you. It isn't something you choose. It's just something you are. Most of the time, it's your favorite animal because its the animal you feel most drawn to. So you need to figure out your favorite animal, or try to do a meditation. You can look online to find a suitable meditation to help you find your spirit animal. If there's a meditation for spirit guide or something, you can use that too. Just substitute guide for animal.

Totems are also not chosen. There are several different types of totems. There's a message totem, a journey totem, a shadow totem, and one other but I can't remember. lol A message totem is just that: a message. It will appear to you rapidly throughout a short time frame. And it's focus is to deliver you a message, something that you aren't seeing yourself and need some help with. I had a moth as a message totem when I was at a crisis point in my life. It was basically telling me that things were changing and I needed to roll with it.

Shadow totems are, more often than not, something you fear because they possess the qualities you lack. My old shadow totem was a snake. I've since learned to accept the personality traits that a snake represents and it's now one of my favorite animals. My new one is spiders, which I'm getting used to.

Journey totems are typically around for a while. They are there to guide you and help you long term through a situation you are having trouble with. Has your favorite animal changed recently (or ever)? This could be your journey totem leaving and being replaced.

The key to these animals is to know when they are trying to contact you. In my case with the moths, it wasn't just seeing a moth that made me learn they were trying to deliver a message. It was when a bright pink one, one I had never seen before in my life, was resting on a bench that I would sit at every day. Or when a small white one appeared out of thin air when I was communicating with my goddess. Or when I went outside one evening to see a moth the size of my hand, completely uncommon in my area, flying around my porch.

They aren't just your every day occurances. They are special meetings, chance encounters. You can't go to the zoo and see an otter and say that otters are your spirit animal or totem. That will end up giving you all kinds of mixed signals.

Hopefully you'll find that now that you know about these types of signs, you'll see more of them. Your blinders have been taken off and they know that and will try to reach out to you.

In the mean time, go online and look up totem animal meanings to get a better idea of their personalities and what they represent. Try to find what animal has been around you your whole life, one you feel the most draw to all the time, and that will most likely be your spirit animal. Seeing as how your screen name includes wolves, it seems you're already on the right track.


I hope this helped you, and good luck in your hunt!

Brightest blessings,
Elyria

Lets cut through the crap here.

 
I'm confused. Your post seems to be directed to Child of Wolves, but you've quoted Stephy's post. Are you also replying to Stephy? Is her post the "crap" of which you speak? Or is the crap you wish to cut through elsewhere in the thread?

If that's the case, maybe you could be more specific about what you find to be inaccurate or wrong in her post, or the other posts in this thread? It would probably clear up a lot of confusion.

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I would like to thank everyone very much; what you have all told me has helped me decide what is the right way for me and given me a better understanding. By the way I don't consider anybody's posts crap, they were all very helpful. I think I am going to try meditation first of all.