recently been looking into totem animals, very interesting, finding myself learning more and more about the shamanistic side of things. but anyway, recently found my totem animal (or realised thats what it was) a Cougar.

whats yours?

Depends what you mean by totem animal Aiden. If it is the same as a familiar obviously mine is a raven (duuh!) but having originally been trained in formal Wicca (now discarded as I looked such a dork in the ritual gear!) I still find it hard to eat venison.

I gather that the one taboo was eating one's totem animal and that is probably why I avoid deer-meat at all costs.

When I journeyed I found the spirit of the Deer but also was led to the Frog. Frog may seem unromantic but I have since learnt a lot about how the Frog is a link between worlds and can help me journey and discover. The Deer on the other hand I find is grounded and strong but can also alert me to danger so that I can 'run' if I need to. A perfect balance for me.

The Cougar sounds very interesting Aiden. How does your Totem animal help you? What do you do in return? These questions are for everyone really.

Snowstar*

I don't have one (to the best of my knowledge!) and would like one if it wasn't for the fact that I might treat it as some kind of spiritual pet, which hardly seems appropriate.

So, what are totem animals for? If that isn't a deeply stupid question....

And how do you go about getting one? I can hardly put an advert in a local paper.

BTW, I've tried doing a visualisation, and I ended up with a creature that was definately NOT a natural being, and was appallingly light and fluffy - *very* different to my preferred taste in animals, so I'm rather scared of going down that road again. {It was an ochre-coloured flying unicorn. Happy now?}

Ravens and cougars sound cool!

From what I understand your totem animal is the animal you share the most traits with. They aren't necisarily your familar or spirit guide. I'm sure we have had this convo before...

My totem animal is a Wolf.

Ah, thanks for the clarification Lynae! In that case Raven is it ... unless you can have a totem teddy bear which I doubt.

And come to think of it, the very worst nightmare I have ever had was that I was carving up a chicken and it turned into Ragnar my raven. So no, one does not eat one's totem animal!

Well I don't tend to use the terms 'Totem','Guide' or 'Power' and just refer to them as animal spirits which I share a relationship with (longer but less open to misinterpretation)

So firstly there is Lion, a male african lion though sometimes in a human form (think thundercats!!), he is my principle spirit and the first I found to actually acknowledge me.

Then there are Squirrel and Magpie, both pop by occaisionally but mostly in their real life forms (well Lion might do so but I would hate to think what the neighbours would say )

Spider is next, a useful ally and normally there when I am trying to figure something out.

Robin pops up from time to time but largely as a messenger.

Musn't miss out Hare, though its more a case of me assuming that form as a means to travel rather than having a relationship with that spirit though we have run together at times.

I did start to form a relationship with Puma but this fizzled out (may be one big cat is enough)

I have always adored dragons but other than being born a Wood Dragon I have no further contact.

Depends on the culture - some actively eat their totem as it lets them share its qualities.

Oh excellent, in that case my totem animal will be a scampi!

Wondered why my stepson calls me a prawn!

Well some maintain that the spirit form you create a bond with need not be one of flesh and blood. And consider the benefits of a flying unicorn:

swift travel
clarity of view
a useful horn

er I'll let you think about the symbol of purity angle.....

I'm very very close to my Totem Animals.!

I Have to recommend this book, Medicine Cards~the way of Discovery
thru your animal spirits by Jamie Sams

This book helped me alot. Basically, it comes with a deck of cards, and if you meditate and pick cards, according to the book, those are your totem animals.

She says we have 9 totem animals, and in the deck you pick 7.
They represent, each direction and above and below. The other 2, will have to come to you, by dreaming, meditating, etc.

The book has descriptions and meanings for many many animals.
Very fascinating and for me, very accurate.
As someone said before, some animals may not seem like you, but may actually be yours and can help teach you some lessons, you need to know.

My main animal totem, came to me yrs ago, before, the book even.
She is very powerful and always always with me. She always protects me.

My belief is that you have your main animal totems, the 9.

Then there are other animals/birds,fish, etc that come to us, when we need to learn a lesson or to help guide us... For example, one day, while pondering some main events, in my life and needing guidance, I passed a rare beautiful blue heron, in the creek.. being my stubborn self , I ignored it, but.. the next day.. there she was again. I looked her up, and found she had the Exact lessons, I needed to learn.. and the guidance I needed, at that time.

This is just one example, its happened many times before and always special.

If you live in the country, you'll usually see alot of the same animals, but eventually you learn to discern, which ones appear, when needed.. or maybe you'll run into them, over and over, in the same place, or when you're thinking on it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How do they help? By guiding and protecting me, by sharing their lessons and behavoir patterns. They're teachers.

They are always protecting me, and I have them with me, in my visualizations and spells and whenever I have need.. or not... they're simply always with me.

I never tell anyone, my main one, simply as a protection thing.

I just find Jamie Sams book, to be really excellent.

hope this helps

Blessings Whispered~

A fan of Liono.
I had a slight preference for pantera.




I get visits from squirrels when special things will happen.
Odd: good, even: bad.

I also have something with snakes, although that is very recently.

I am afraid of spiders, although I seem to sense them when they around even if they are not yet insight.

Due to my last name, I guess I some affinity with foxes.

Born a fire dragon, I might have their temprament but do not have any affinity with them.

Still haven't discovered mine yet, but I have a great love for frogs, goldfish, cats, racoons, foxes, rooks, monkeys...I could go on...

Blessed Be xx

It's always a badger who comes to me during any pathworking. Sometimes speaking in rhyme which is bizarre!

It's been a badger for a long time now, but I discovered a very strange thing last year - my mum's maiden name is a very common name in our town, and various nicknames were applied to the men of the name to distinguish between them. It turns out my mum's dad's name, and his dad's name, and HIS dad's name, and so on, and so on... was Badger Grant. We'd had no idea. Whenever I see "my" badger now in my pathworkings, I'm more mindful now that there could be some family connection - it's nice.

ahh found this link, about Jamie Sams book

http://www.mysticraven.net/pages/totems.html

it also tells about various totem animals
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also Love this link!!

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4076/index1.html

and more!...

http://www.mysticfamiliar.com/library/sham.../animal_totems_

http://www.animaltotem.com/ ( if you keep clicking on home, you'll get a different animal with explanation.. or go to bottom , of page

Well not really I just used them as an example, he tends to be very Anime style though - probably as thats how I would expect him to look.

Mind you I wouldn't mind conducting rituals with the Sword of Omens

Mine is definitely the wolf.

OK, I'll grant you that a flying unicorn might be useful in some circumstances. With regards to the purity angle - I think it's safe to say that that is not really an issue...

Thinking about it, the ruddy colour is quite interesting as well...

I'm slightly clearer now about the differences between totem and spirit animals. I think. I'll add it to my (ever-increasing) list of things to investigate at some point.

"other than being born a Wood Dragon"

"Born a fire dragon"

Can someone explain these to me, please? I've always had an obsession with dragons, and this has intrigued me.

mine was a fox... many years ago but i let him go free and wander

he was too restless and hated the city

Great links Whispered. Thanks for that!

Well this is what it had to say about mine -

Raven Totem

Raven flies to us with heightened awareness and greater understanding of our consciousness. It is with this new perception that we begin seeing into the hearts of others and experience their feelings. Raven asks us to experience the transformation it brings within our multidimensional self, and be reunited with the mysteries of the universe so we can expel our inner demons.


Sounds about right to me.

They denote the year of birth in the Chinese Horoscope - I'll look for a link and come back

Hmmm. Hard one this. Again I get animals as symbols sometimes in meditation etc and feel attracted to some, but don't follow shamanic path so hmm. Out of mystical/mythical/misunderstood fossil remains type creatures, it has to be dragons. To me they are a symbol of strength and protection, and on the negative side to me they symbolise hoarding knowledge and sometimes being stuck on old ways for the sake of it. Horses I love, again, very vague, feeling of strength and warmth, beauty.

Wolves again deeply attracted to, I sense this is partly a romantic illusion type thing although some true wolf traits I identify with. Also because my other half's very definite totem animal is the wolf so I feel a respect and connection there. In Ultima Online you can cast a high level spell where you can change into your choice of a variety of animals for a brief time, one of which being the wolf ; one time when Eric and I were both on powerful mage characters we kept casting this spell over and over and expressing affection to each other as wolves. Now this sounds kinda freaky and like something you'd get at a furry convention but truly, it was surprisingly moving and powerful.

Nowt so queer as folk eh

As promised here is a link that explains the Chinese system and calculates your sign

Totem aminals a.

Well first n fore most has to be my name sake, the king of beasts the Lion. If yr going along the lines of yr totem is the one you share traits with,then yep the Lion. Was told a while ago i'm very predatory , always watching my surroundings, checking everything out n everyone.

Aminals i'm very close to, sheesh just about any you care to name, cepts spiders . I have a serious gift with most but particular fondness n connection with bears, eagles and horses.


Lion

[quote=Cosmic_Fool,Jul 17 2005, 09:29 PM]



[/quote]

As promised here is a link that explains the Chinese system and calculates your sign

[/quote]



Oh lovely thanks so much. I am a Fire Monkey ......... now ain't that just too true for words!!!!!

you mean panthro? huge thundercat fan, have all 130 episodes on dvd

Thanks. I'm a Water Ox. The description is scarily acurate.

I'm a fire lamb ... that just made me think of barbecues and made me hungry was fairly accurate apart from the elegant bit

Earth Rat, ah well you live an you learn, but a flattering write up

Indeed. It has been such a long time that mixed the names of two of them.
As for the dvd, I am jalous

No one else, who deeply connects with their animals?

I am very interested, tho, also in the shamic path..

I'm just more interested in totem animals, than basic chinese stuff.. lol

i like being specific!

pomona, I really loved your badger story!! Thats what i'm talking about..
obviously badger is one of your totems, it'd be interesting exploring, see if you can strike up a convo or rapport

So far i've found two totem guides .. A snowy owl, (no it's not called hedwig ) And a tawny owl.

In answer to WhisperedWind .. I'm very close to the tawny Owl. She's been with me for a long time. I often think that I see her in reality as well as my meditation. Some nights, especially in the spirng and the winter, I hear an owl down in the field. I talk to it, and it flies closer to the farm.. It's gotten so close once that she was on the oak directly next to the farm house, which was an experience. This was about a year ago, and I remember that the two of us just stared at eachother. The house in inhabited by my grandparents, and about 10 years ago they took in a tawny owl that was injured and cared for it, for about 2 years it would frequently come back into the house. After that my gran never saw it again, but i'm pretty convinced that it's the same owl that's both my totem and the owl that inhabits my grandma's farm occasionally.

The odd thing is, that since the previous owl stopped visiting the farm, the owl that I see (if it's the same one) is never spotted around the area unless i'm visiting.

That's cool, I'm a Fire Rabbit!

I seem to have two. The Owl, because they figured heavily in my childhood and the Puma or couger as they appear frequently in dreams.

According to the Chinese horoscope I am a Water Rat.

Well I'm a metal oxen

Winged stag for me.

I'm a metal monkey and thats the best description of me I've ever seen

Well my totem is of course an owl.When i was younger it was an otter,raven and peacock...
my chinese astrology is a WOOD TIGER,roar......

Back at the Beltane Bash in May, I found a kid trying to earn some pocket money by finding my totem animals for me - all 7. It only cost me £1, bless him, and I thought he was so cute I couldn't help myself! Also, I believe that children have a greater connection with nature and spirits than most adults do.

Point being, He came up with some very accurate results - a butterfly for one of the directions, a wolf for the 'underworld' and a dog to guide me in the 'upper realm'. I wrote it all down, but I can't find the sheet!

As for my two other guides, I feel a very big connection to lizards - love 'em!

As for the Chinese zodiac, I'm a fire tiger. When I was younger, I felt a very great connection to this animal, but not so much anymore. Maybe it's because as a child I used to live in a different country for three years, and by moving away from that country I broke some of my ties with Tigers.

I was born in the Chinese year of the metal pig and under the western astrological sign of Cancer the crab.

My totem animal is however the raven, I seem to share a fair number of it's traits, I also normally dress all in black and have an affinity for them.

The raven is considered the trickster in a number of traditions in both Europe and North America, this ties in with my patron being Loki.

Storm Raven

People will have to forgive my ignorance of the shamanistic practice of totems. Apparntly I'm one of the unlucky ones, mines appears to be a spider, and I'm arachnaphobic ( the proper version where I freeze and don't breathe etc if a spider is too close.)
I've been told by others that people who are resistant to their totems are usually hiding parts of themslves too, and that they need to learn and accept themselves etc. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen. I'm just going to lurk and watch the developments on this, as I say all I know is either second hand from books which I haven't bothered to check so I am going to just watch this thread develop, let others knowledge lioght the way etc.

HMMmmm one of mine is Spider too, and (its about time - can you imagine the noise when a spider hears you reading your poem to Lion and then looks at you pointedly and starts tapping 7 of its feet!!!) I have just put a poem about her here

My Animal is a Wolf

I am a water dog I would say that description fits me perfect

I haven't got a clue what my totem animal or guide is. I was born in the chinese year of the sheep (how appropriate, as I'm from Wales) and have cancer the crab as my horoscope sign. I'm a very typical cancerian, with gemini traits.

What is the best way to contact the totem animal? Meditation? I don't just mean looking on an internet site.

Well I simply meditated - a lot, often just lying with my eyes shut and seeing what appeared. Several animalish forms appeared (the clearest being a corvid that took one look and turned its back on me ) Then one night I fell asleep doing this and had an intensly vivid dream in which Lion came to me and told me he was my guardian. We had a very long conversation and when I woke the next morning I was wired!!

Spider however just kept popping into my mind at certain times, I ignored her the first few times then I made the connection and our relationship has growm (though I do remember to treat her with respect...)

Kev

I'm thinking of taking the duck-billed platypus as my totem animal. It is eclectic, cute, and on the other side of the world Suits me just fine then.

it is also venomous and lays eggs.......

Bring it on!