Spirit Animals vs. Totems

Originally Posted by Wisa'ka

For the longest time I thought one of my spirit helpers/animals was Kingfisher, but he was only a friend who would share the bank with me by the river where we both fished. He would make a decent totem for an angler.

That would have been my question. Was he sharing his fishing magic with you or was he using yours? Who got more fish?

Originally Posted by RiversLady

That would have been my question. Was he sharing his fishing magic with you or was he using yours? Who got more fish?

Why Kingfisher did of course as he was a complete natural always having a bird's eye view of his quarry.

Of course the few fish I did catch were bigger than his

Originally Posted by RiversLady

Another reason goes along the same lines as keeping your name a secret. If a powerful
Shaman got ahold of your name, they could work magic against you or enslave you.

May I respectfully ask about revealing our names? My 'Native' name was given to me by a Lakota sister in ceremony. The name was heard by friends and soon traveled the powwow trail with me..everyone calling me Snowdove. I am concerned about it not being a secret now. I am aware of powerful Shamans and the magic they have..and dont want to give them any power over me.
My Medicine name is secret though. Only the Elders that gifted it to me and myself know it. Is it the Medicine name you speak of, or did I make an error many years ago to keep allowing all to call me by my given name of Snowdove?

Really any name can be used to work harm on you. It is the name you keep to yourself that is the most powerful. "Medicine" name is an anglesized term that isn't used by actual Native Americans unless they are giving it to a "paying member" of a ritual. Then it will make the rounds to show where the easy marks with deep pockets are.

Originally Posted by RiversLady

Really any name can be used to work harm on you. It is the name you keep to yourself that is the most powerful. "Medicine" name is an anglesized term that isn't used by actual Native Americans unless they are giving it to a "paying member" of a ritual. Then it will make the rounds to show where the easy marks with deep pockets are.

I agree. In the old days and even now most traditionalists will not give their real names or 'medicine names' to complete strangers and it was/is considered rude for anyone to ask for such. Then there are the less important 'nick names' that are easily given and sometimes adopted.

I have to wonder about those living today who will offer every shread of personal information including phone numbers, addresses, life histories and dates of birth on these big social networking sites.

Ya sniped me on that Wisa"ka

This might make naming easier to understand for ya. You can have several names. A family name is only used by
family members. Ex - my husband and I call our child by a pet name that we would get killed for if we called said
child that in public. As mates, the man and I call each other pet names in bed. Wouldn't say those in public either!
You can have a name that you use at gatherings and potlatches. You would have a tribal name given to you at birth (or
shortly after at a naming ceremony), which would be known to those your family lives with. Then there is your real name.
Only you would know what that is. You and the giver I should say. Your real name would also be known to some
in the spirit world. Your helping spirit or your spirit mate would use those.
Because that name is of the spirit world it is the one that a shaman could use to harm your spirit. This is also
the name that they would use to enslave your spirit when it passes out of your physical body. Are you familiar with
a shaman's spirit helpers that they can call upon for help with a difficult task? Most of those are not exactly
willing helpers. Most are of them are dead humans who let their name fall into the shamans hands. They don't
serve into eternity thank goodness. Most are freed when the shaman passes away. And you can be sure they are waiting
for that shaman to pass to they can "reward" them if they had to do things they didn't want to.
In very rare cases, a shaman can give a spirit name of his to another shaman. This should be done only in times
of the greatest need, and the spirit should be thanked with some kind of offering or by giving it
freedom after the crisis has passed.

You wouldn't give Facebook your real name and phone #? ROFL

"You wouldn't give Facebook your real name and phone #? ROFL"

LOL! No. Although being somewhat sociable, I'm not that foolish or needy.

I would like to know why the need to anglicize all these Indian names ? Our languages are beautiful as they are. Some of our words have no meaning in the English language.

What reason would a shaman have to cause trouble with anyone? Also, I never heard of not telling anyone else your spirit animal. They're protectors, why would they cause harm?

Originally Posted by thexx

What reason would a shaman have to cause trouble with anyone? Also, I never heard of not telling anyone else your spirit animal. They're protectors, why would they cause harm?

First of all most traditional Indians I know including me would not reveal such information even if it is the mainstay of any 'Native American' Spirituality forum. We use the names spiritual leader or medicine people instead of shaman.

So what Indian Tribe do you belong to ?

Originally Posted by thexx

What reason would a shaman have to cause trouble with anyone? Also, I never heard of not telling anyone else your spirit animal. They're protectors, why would they cause harm?

It depends on how strongly you believe in the spirit realm. Read the whole thread and you will get some idea of the problems you can encounter.

Now I ask you to do this small mental excersize. Think about this: What would happen if you lost your name? Someone stole it perhaps? Don't look at it as impossible, and don't apply it to the material world. How would you feel and what would you do? I await your reply!