Animal Totems (Revisited)

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

I’m kind of a bird nut and the cool thing, I think about mourning doves, is how they feed their young by regurgitating what is called ‘crop milk’.
The other cool thing is that the cooing sound they make is sometimes mistaken for my totem which is the Great Horned Owl.
Thanks for sharing…..they are an awesome peaceful bird.
James

Oh, wow. Never know about the "crop milk". What exactly is it? Thank YOU for teaching me something new, WhiteShaman. And it's only 9:30 am. :)

The mourning dove is a very common bird and indeed very peaceful, but the best thing about them is that they will never beg you for food like pigeons do. I leave seeds for them on the ground right around my bird feeder. I love birds as well.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Erato

Oh, wow. Never know about the "crop milk". What exactly is it? Thank YOU for teaching me something new, WhiteShaman. And it's only 9:30 am. :)

The mourning dove is a very common bird and indeed very peaceful, but the best thing about them is that they will never beg you for food like pigeons do. I leave seeds for them on the ground right around my bird feeder. I love birds as well.

I think it is a milky undigested cottage cheezy regurgitated substance rich in fat and protein. Yum!
Thankfully there are alot of mourning doves because they are the ones that get hit by the hawks in my yard when hawks are around.
It is also my understanding that in Connecticut anyways, they use to be legally hunted and were a big source of food for early americans.

I recently enjoyed watching a skirmish between a mourning dove and a chipmunk. Each took turns claiming ownership of the seeds that had fallen to the ground beneath one of my birdfeeders.

The mourning dove was first. The chipmunk approached from the rear and suddenly charged. The startled dove flew off a few feet and glared. The victorious chipmunk smugly began to feed.

Not so fast! The mourning dove circled behind the now-oblivious chipmunk and suddenly charged.

The chipmunk jumped like he'd been goosed but I'm pretty sure no contact was made.

The dove happily commenced eating.

But the chipmunk wasn't done....

Over the next few minutes, each chased the other about four times before a passing car's horn startled them both into taking cover. It was hilarious. :)

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by eraser

I recently enjoyed watching a skirmish between a mourning dove and a chipmunk. Each took turns claiming ownership of the seeds that had fallen to the ground beneath one of my birdfeeders.

The mourning dove was first. The chipmunk approached from the rear and suddenly charged. The startled dove flew off a few feet and glared. The victorious chipmunk smugly began to feed.

Not so fast! The mourning dove circled behind the now-oblivious chipmunk and suddenly charged.

The chipmunk jumped like he'd been goosed but I'm pretty sure no contact was made.

The dove happily commenced eating.

But the chipmunk wasn't done....

Over the next few minutes, each chased the other about four times before a passing car's horn startled them both into taking cover. It was hilarious. :)

Ha! love it!
Isn't it cool how when they have it out like that, that there is no real fighting.

[Kiran]

How do you get an animal totem or know which is yours?


I guess from my intuition that for me it should be the lion, as in one of my strongest visions I saw my spiritual mentor as a lion I needed to tame and make love to (a bit rough I like it sometimes ) and I also feel very close to Ayla in the writings of Jean M. Auel whose totem is a lion.

A cat if you want something more tamed. Following its own rules but appreciating friendship and able to give much love if treated right. We always had several cats at home where I grew up (I was raised on a cattle farm). To most cats I felt great friendship. When I was ingressed in a psychiatric long-term unit, a cat came to me. It was a beautiful half-angora female, three-coloured, whom her previous owner called "Trinity". She constantly ran away from there and came to the village the psychiatric unit was in. She felt strangely focused on our house. I fed her outside the house with what was left from my meals, gave her water and sometimes a little milk mixed with warm water. I liked her very much and she started coming by every day. It was getting winter and one of the therapists said I couldn't feed a cat on only leftovers, so she was allowed to come in and he (the therapist) bought dry cat food for her from his own money. She became our house cat. She never needed a cat toilet as she would be out and roaming around most of the day, coming back when we were sitting in the living room to cuddle and be stroked. She liked me best but also helped other patients in recovering. When I was leaving the unit I wanted to take her with me but everyone had grown so accostumed to her that with a bleeding heart I left her behind. I heard she has moved to a different house of the complex now. She never came behind me to seek me, but I would very much wish for a cat like her (not "like", actually. Her.) when I would be living alone. In our shared house we have two cats. The older one, who was there before, is very independent and intelligent (she'd climb in and out through the window and sleep in her "cave" in our huge living room bookshelf), but the younger one - we got her as a kitten - is a pain in the ***. She kept ****ting and peeing our carpet when she was younger and would by no means accept the cat toilet (she had it all to herself and we tried with several brands of litter). She is disrespectful of the older one, even hitting her with the paw. To us she is very shy and keeps running away when we approach her, only trusting a select few and even those not all the times. And even if I love cats I have to resist the urge to hurt her whenever I see her. Maybe that is why she is running off as soon as she spots me.


I also like polar bears. My BFF is called Ursula which means "female bear". I once saw a polar bear in a zoo in summer and felt a huge compassion for him. I think they should be left to their natural habitat. Animals who aren't pets need to live in freedom in the place they evolutioned.

As most females, I appreciate horses and shared a friendship, almost love with a foal when I was 13. She was an only one and had no-one to play with, so we stormed over the field together (she always won me, of course), but today I just think they are elegant animals without further attachment to them.

Cows aren't sacred to me but born into a cattle and dairy farm I know all those good things that come from them. They can have very different personalities and my father knows and appreciates every single one of them. I hated them as a teenager but learned to accept my humble roots with age.

Hey, Kiran

Totems choose you... not the other way round. They can present in dreams, in visions, or sometimes merely with a life-long fascination for that particular animal. My totem animal is the timberwolf, and I had the privilege of helping a friend raise one from the age of 7 weeks to adulthood. It was an amazing experience that changed me forevermore. If you want to know your totem and are not sure what it is, ask that reveal itself to you and then watch for signs

Bountiful Blessings!

Mine are a little owl and a dragonfly. I met them on two different inward journeys, and they are always there to help me every time I go inward. It is a very tender relationship and I appreciate them so much.

Interestingly, not all animal-looking-spirits are helpful. I met a bear once on a journey, and assumed, because of the animal shape, that she was a new power animal for me...

Wrong.

The bear was not that, and was a spirit looking to feed off of me, in exchange for giving me some of her power when I needed it. She placed a cup of wine before me, and told me that she would show me a greater level of power than I had ever known before----and if I wanted a relationship with her, to drink the cup to signify my agreement.

Normally, the "rules" are to never eat or drink in the spirit world, but in this case, it was a beautiful mother bear (we had a lot in common and I was very drawn to her) and she was in a safe place, and she seemed to be offering me her help in ways that I could really use. Plus, hey, she was an ANIMAL, and I just assumed she was a new power animal being given to me. Animal spirits are all good, right? So I drank.

The power was exhilerating, no doubt about that, almost addicting....but....there was a price for the power. (I would find out that she was feeding off of the karmic return on the good deeds I was doing). I wasn't aware at ALL of what was going on, and was so thankful that I casually mentioned the whole thing to the shaman I train with. His ears pricked up right away, and he began asking a lot of questions, and in the end, he went in and had the bear leave, and gave me some real specific instructions to follow, as to whether or not one should assume an animal spirit is a power animal or not.

If it wasn't for him, I'm not sure I would have ever known! :( This isn't said to scare anybody, but just to share a warning. Just because it's an animal doesn't mean it's automatically going to be a good thing. If you have any questions, or if something is a little strange, ask someone wiser than you to check it out.

Originally Posted by becomingshaman

Mine are a little owl and a dragonfly. I met them on two different inward journeys, and they are always there to help me every time I go inward. It is a very tender relationship and I appreciate them so much.

Interestingly, not all animal-looking-spirits are helpful. I met a bear once on a journey, and assumed, because of the animal shape, that she was a new power animal for me...

Wrong.

The bear was not that, and was a spirit looking to feed off of me, in exchange for giving me some of her power when I needed it. She placed a cup of wine before me, and told me that she would show me a greater level of power than I had ever known before----and if I wanted a relationship with her, to drink the cup to signify my agreement.

Normally, the "rules" are to never eat or drink in the spirit world, but in this case, it was a beautiful mother bear (we had a lot in common and I was very drawn to her) and she was in a safe place, and she seemed to be offering me her help in ways that I could really use. Plus, hey, she was an ANIMAL, and I just assumed she was a new power animal being given to me. Animal spirits are all good, right? So I drank.

The power was exhilerating, no doubt about that, almost addicting....but....there was a price for the power. (I would find out that she was feeding off of the karmic return on the good deeds I was doing). I wasn't aware at ALL of what was going on, and was so thankful that I casually mentioned the whole thing to the shaman I train with. His ears pricked up right away, and he began asking a lot of questions, and in the end, he went in and had the bear leave, and gave me some real specific instructions to follow, as to whether or not one should assume an animal spirit is a power animal or not.

If it wasn't for him, I'm not sure I would have ever known! :( This isn't said to scare anybody, but just to share a warning. Just because it's an animal doesn't mean it's automatically going to be a good thing. If you have any questions, or if something is a little strange, ask someone wiser than you to check it out.

This is fascinating stuff, becomingshaman.

What did you mean when you said "when on a journey"?
How do you go on those journeys?

A "journey" is a term for a meditative experience that is a lot like dreaming, only in this case, you aren't asleep. It's not a visualization, because the experience has a life of it's own, and you aren't able to "choose" what you see---like dreaming, the only thing you have control over is your own self.

There are probably a lot of explanations, articles and thoughts on what journeying is and how to do it, if you type it into a Google search box (try terms like, "shamanic journey" or similar search terms).

It is a very powerful tool to have, but it can also be dangerous, because you are literally journeying to other dimensions (and can get into some trouble there, if you aren't aware of the "rules" and/or if you bump into a spirit that is on the not-friendly side). That's not said to frighten you, but more as a cautionary word. It can be an amazing experience, but it's not always all fluff and roses.

Originally Posted by becomingshaman

A "journey" is a term for a meditative experience that is a lot like dreaming, only in this case, you aren't asleep. It's not a visualization, because the experience has a life of it's own, and you aren't able to "choose" what you see---like dreaming, the only thing you have control over is your own self.

There are probably a lot of explanations, articles and thoughts on what journeying is and how to do it, if you type it into a Google search box (try terms like, "shamanic journey" or similar search terms).

It is a very powerful tool to have, but it can also be dangerous, because you are literally journeying to other dimensions (and can get into some trouble there, if you aren't aware of the "rules" and/or if you bump into a spirit that is on the not-friendly side). That's not said to frighten you, but more as a cautionary word. It can be an amazing experience, but it's not always all fluff and roses.

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?