Animal Totems (Revisited)

Originally Posted by Erato

Hi becomingshaman,
My question was about how you go on these journeys. Do you meditate? Do you use drum circles and go into a trance? Or do you use plants like San Pedro or aya? You said you were studying with a shaman. What do they think the best way is?

I would be interested in more details as well.

Hm. I'll have to ask him.

Personally, I just do it. Most of the time it works. It wasn't always that way...it used to take me a long time, and I had to get really still, down to this quiet place inside of myself...and then the journeys would start from there, but only sometimes. Now, it's very easy and except for very rare occasions, I just do it, like how I eat or jog or paint. No special noises or music, no special atmosphere (though that would be nice, lol), no plants or drugs or anything.

From what I know about journeying, it's not for special people but for everyone. It's something we all have the ability to do---it's just that we have never been taught and/or led to believe it is perfectly natural and normal.

I learned on accident, in a setting where I was bored out of my mind and had to be very quiet for a few hours, each time. I accidentally stumbled into this thing where I could "dream," only I was wide awake, and things would happen during those 'waking dreams' that would teach me things, or, if I asked for wisdom or help for a particular person or issue, I would get feedback and wisdom or direction for them (which I would then use to pray for them---only rarely would I actually TELL them what I saw).... I didn't exactly know what it was (or that anything like journeying existed at all, actually!)...but it was always very positive and beneficial....so I assumed it was a kind of prayer.

If I were to suggest a way to start learning to journey to someone, I would recommend sitting quietly, eyes shut, and daydreaming. Let the daydreams or pictures just kind of flood over you...or the dark color of the back of your eyelids (honestly, just quietly watch whatever it is you are seeing with your eyes shut---no worries if it is just darkness)...and daydream away, visualize, watch the darkness---- whatever it is you want to do...until the pictures or images or colors start taking on a life of their own.

When they do, follow them. See where they go, what happens, what goes on. When the pictures take on a life of their own, it may be something dramatic, like suddenly a panoramic scene opens up, or it may be something little, like circle shapes start spinning. That doesn't matter. As soon as the images start acting like they would in a dream, where they are doing what they want to do and it's not you making it happen, then, follow it. (Personally, my opinion is that I would not recommend seeking to interact with any spirit beings, should you meet any, if you are on your own and do not have anyone more experienced to guide you, except with caution. There are a lot of wonderful beings out there...but there are some that are not so wonderful, and it's always good to be careful, especially as a beginner. No eating or drinking either in the spirit worlds, of course).

It may start out slow and bumpy, and take more than a few tries to get anything at all...but with time...you may be surprised. :)

...We should start a new thread for this, actually, because I'm sure others may have thoughts or tips to pitch in.

We should start a new thread for this, actually, because I'm sure others may have thoughts or tips to pitch in.

Please do!

I am trying to learn about native american spirituality. So don't know really anything about animal totems.

All I can say is I have this great need to find out about wolves, and I have put it off for far too long.

If anyone has any direction in which to point me It would be greatly appreciated.

Simply Googling "animal totems" will bring up a lot of sites. Some have worthwhile information. Some just parrot what others written. You'll have to sift through them and see what makes sense to you.

The book Animal Speaks by Ted Andrews provides a good overview and starting point for anyone interested in the topic and I also found the Medicine Cards of Jamie Sams and David Carson interesting.

I tend to have more winged creature medicine
I am Raven, Crow, Eagle, Owl, Vulture, there are other birds i cannot put a name to...
I actually see Raven in his shapeshifting form lots. He's quite the trickster and i have a good relationship with him, but some of the things he does puzzles me, he as a sense of humour thats for sure. The first time i ever met him, he scared the **** out of me, flew down and transformed into a huge really tall dark native man, right in front of my face, and tried to seduce me. His eyes were dark and way too knowledgable to take in. We talked through eye contact, and he managed to erase my fear for hours it seemed. I can't remember what he said unfortunately, only bits and pieces of significant things. Weird thing is he made me fall in love with him. He works in weird ways. I ended up running away from him when his power was released from me. Then he did start talking out load, frantically, in a language i could not decipher, but he wanted me to follow him into a scary looking part of the forest, and my fear got the best of me, and i remembered not to follow creepy strangers into the bushes. Well i was scared of him for a few years actually, but now i know i totally misread the whole thing wrong.
I also have a beautiful white wolf who is my playful little spirit buddy
And crows follow me around everywhere, yelling at me, but i can't understand them when they aren't in spirit form. Ravens and eagles used to when i lived in the wilderness, but now it's just town life.
I've seen bear, not much though
Deer
Blue Deer from Huichol tribe, Aztecian nation
Killer whale
Crow brought me a Moth
I also have a giant tiger for some reason, in my visions and dreams i get to ride him
And ladybug, although me and ladybug don't get along well, because they scare me to death from the first time they decided to come to me. I was little, and ladybugs would fill my entire room, walls, ceiling just pulsing with red shells, and they wouldn't go anywhere else in the entire house. Nested in only my room for years. They still like to show up randomly and land on me, but i only freak out and run away screaming. Hopefully some day i will get over my phobia, because i am sure they have good medicine too.
I think i have a lot more i forgot, and that always sucks, because when i pray and do ceremony, i tend to forget to mention some.
I think all people have a lot more totem animals than they think. Especially if they grew up around a forest.

Jaguar first came to me in a dream. It was more of a nightmare, she pounced on me with claws bared! Definitely got my attention, lol! She guided me for about a year and has since faded into the background a bit. Owl began appearing for me late last summer. I just had a past life regression done during which my guide showed himself to me in both human and owl form.

[sensitivesoul]

I'de really love to be able to communicate with my totems. One is wolf and he's mostly all white except for a small batch of grey on his forehead. When he came to me in my dream he was teaching me something. His voice was very strong and I could feel he was full of wisdom.

I've also been contacted by a grey horse. I'm not sure which kind of horse though, all I remember is a gorgeous big grey head sticking out of the barn door and beautiful grey eyes looking back at me.

I want to contact these totems and talk to them but it's frustrating because my mind has trouble calming down and keeping free of random thoughts . Any tips or recommendations?

[WhiteWarrior]

I had a chat with the spirits through a medium last night. Among the things I asked, was what totem animal I had - if any. The reply came promptly: 'owl'. And I did a facepalm, because now I see why the Cherokee elders decided to give me the name White Owl.

I don't know much about totem animals, and I am skeptical to what I find online because it is so easy to just make an article up based on what everyone knows about an animal. Does anyone have anything they can tell me about the owl as totem, that isn't just a copy/paste from a random website?

Oh, and the spirits also mentioned a bear but there was the addition that it meant love?

Originally Posted by WhiteWarrior

I had a chat with the spirits through a medium last night. Among the things I asked, was what totem animal I had - if any. The reply came promptly: 'owl'. And I did a facepalm, because now I see why the Cherokee elders decided to give me the name White Owl.

I don't know much about totem animals, and I am skeptical to what I find online because it is so easy to just make an article up based on what everyone knows about an animal. Does anyone have anything they can tell me about the owl as totem, that isn't just a copy/paste from a random website?

Oh, and the spirits also mentioned a bear but there was the addition that it meant love?

WW,

I understand you hesitation about wanting to read something one line. Personally for me owl is my power animal and if you want to ask me question about owl you are welcome to and I will try to help. A great book to get on animal guides that cover characteristics, to habituate, behavior and spiritual significance is Animal Speaks by Ted Andrew.

I would recommend this site as it has a in-depth explanation, if you wish to visit it;

http://www.shamanicjourney.com/artic...crecy_ part_I