Before
modern industrialization we were more in tune with the natural world. We were
more connected to animals and their wisdom. We learned lessons about life by
observing them, and we saw in them a mirror of our own qualities, both good and
bad, so that we could improve ourselves and discover how to live in harmony. This lost awareness is reemerging today. It
is, indeed, very accessible through any ancestral roots – European, Asian,
African, etc. – but the most common view in our culture at this time is through
Native American traditions.
Within
these traditions, there are variations from nation to nation, and from tribe to
tribe within one nation, but some beliefs are generally held in common. For
instance, a common view is that when you are born, you enter this life at a
certain place on the Medicine Wheel. You
will traverse the Wheel many times during your life, as the Wheel encompasses
all the virtues and imperfections, all the ups and downs that a lifetime
entails. However, your particular placement at the time of your birth indicates
which life lessons will be most important for you to learn during your lifetime. Creator gives you help to succeed in
mastering these lessons. One such aid is your Personal Animal Totem (or totems,
in some cases). In one Cherokee tradition, Creator gives each person seven
totems in each of seven categories, for a total of forty-nine. You become familiar
with your totems and begin working with them.
You then start paring them down until you discover which totem is your
strongest ally. This totem is the most influential helper on your path to
becoming a “true human being,” someone who who leads your life “in a good way”
by developing your gifts and talents to benefit the people for several
generations.
So
how does your Animal Totem help you do this? Well, at the most base level, your
Totem helps you muddle through your life with a little more grace and peace of
mind. But it can do more than that if you work closely with it. It strengthens
and deepens your sense of connection – to family, friends, yourself, your
purpose, and to the Great Mystery of life. Your Personal Totem shows you where
you belong in the great scheme of things. Creator gives you this gift and asks
you to cultivate the bond between yourself and your Totem because, as you begin
to integrate it into your daily life, you discover how to use its wisdom to
remove barriers to your personal and spiritual development. Unfolding your
relationship with your Totems brings self-knowledge, healing and purpose. It
deepens your intuition and awareness. It
improves the stamina in your mind and body, and promotes peace and power in
your heart and soul. You arrive at a place where you are contributing to the
balance and harmony of all things on earth just by being you. Your
Personal Totem takes you there.
So,
how do you know what your personal animal totem is? And how do you make its
acquaintance? Sometimes an animal enters your awareness because it startles you
by flying across your windshield or darting in front of your car as you are
driving down the road. Or maybe you just
begin seeing a particular kind of animal everywhere you look. People can mistakenly
assume that this is their personal animal totem. Usually it is not. Often this
is an animal that has come to give you a message for a particular time or
circumstance in your life. But your true personal animal totem is there with
you throughout your life, all the time,
even if you don’t notice it. The way to
discover it is through a traditional method called “journeying.”
A
journey is a very deep meditative state arrived at by traditional grounding
methods and calling on the assistance of the Four Directions, Mother Earth and
Father Sky or Great Spirit. Usually you
have a guide to lead you, accompany you through the Journey, and bring you
safely back. The guide does this through guided visualization, which may or may
not be accompanied by drumming. Once you
are in the receptive state that Journeying induces, your guide gives you the
traditional suggestions that lead to recognizing your Totem, both within you
and as a separate being who will assist you. You will be able to ask questions
of your Totem, and it will give you insights and answers to what’s been on your
mind. You can see your circumstances
from a previously unimagined perspective, and new information is offered for
considering whatever is at hand.
Meeting your Personal Totems is a profound experience. It connects you deeply to yourself and to the Great Mystery – Creator, Spirit, God, Goddess, or however you conceive and call the awe-inspiring wonder of creation. Developing your relationship with your Totems brings self-knowledge, healing and purpose. It deepens your intuition and awareness. It improves stamina in your mind and body, and promotes peace and power in your heart and soul. Its value is timeless – as uplifting and meaningful today as it has ever been.
It has been my great good fortune to have met and studied with some amazing teachers and healers over the years. Medicine people of four cultural traditions have graciously put enough trust in me to give their endorsements so that I might guide others on traditional Journeys to meet their Totems and Spirit Guides, open their Energy Centers (Chakras), find their missing soul pieces (Soul Retrieval), and other such Old Ways of healing. It is a blessing to have received this knowledge ~ and even more so to be able to share this beautiful Medicine with others.
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