HONORING ANIMAL TOTEMS
It is interesting to note that many societies, including the Native Americans, had no word to classify animals. They were simply considered a people, just as humans were people. To the Lakota they were brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. They were extended kin. The word “animal” was hardly used before the 1600s and then mostly by scholars. Animals were simply called “beasts” or “creatures” or some such designation.42
The word “animal” is derived from the Latin word “anima,” meaning soul or breath of life. The wild in “wild animal” comes from the Anglo-Saxon “wilde,” referring to living free within Nature and not under human control. Implied within this is the idea of the breath of the divine within the animal expression of Nature.
In old scriptures and writing, animals were often associated with divine forces, specifically with gods and goddesses. Every Eastern Indian god and goddess has an animal for a vehicle. The divine being is literally carried about on the animal. For example, the elephant-headed Ganesha is mounted upon a large rat, or Shiva rides the bull Nandi. The animal also is a messenger of the god or goddess, and the animal expresses the god’s and goddess’s nature and its relationship to Nature. The people recognized that the divine being was present within the animal, thus every bull was Shiva, as well as being sacred to Shiva.
The Hindu Temples were often constructed in concentric circles, and animals appeared in different forms on different levels of the circles. In the heart of the temple (the sanctum sanctorum, the Holy of Holies), there is just one image of the divine who transcends all of those other physical forms.43
Several bestiaries of medieval times tried to attribute to animals certain specific cosmic qualities and phenomena thought to be constant. Two of these were Physiologus by Alexandria and the De Animalibus attributed to Albertus Magnus. Animals were used as symbolism of the lower aspects that humans must achieve victory over. Animals were often classified according to the four elements: aquatic and amphibian creatures = the water element, reptiles = the earth element, birds = the air element, and mammals (warm-blooded creatures) = the fire element.
Even with the old bestiaries and scriptures, the symbolism of animals often varied according to context-in spite of the constants the writers and teachers tried to assign them. The perception and meaning of the animal could be interpreted along natural, human, divine or even fantastic lines of thought. And usually it involved all.
This is what you must constantly keep in mind as you develop your own animal- speak. There is no simple interpretation. Each animal will speak to you individually, specifically and metaphorically. Begin with a solid knowledge base of the animal and then move into the more mystical and metaphorical associations. None is necessarily any more beneficial than the other, but the former will establish a foundation, upon which the latter will add the color to your relationship with the animal and the entire natural world. Keep in mind that each animal must be examined for its own characteristics and behaviors and related specifically to your own individual life. Any correspondence you can make is going to have some seeds of truth.
As you begin to honor and work with them, the task becomes easier and your interpretations and correspondences will become increasingly more exact. It will enable you to be at peace with the animals and help you to see the mingling of the divine and natural worlds. And your wonder at life will grow in proportion. The animal totems you discover through the exercises in this book serve as an excellent bridge to the spirit realm. Animals will give you greater power and strength in working with those more elusive and ethereal realm while helping to keep you grounded.
As you discover your totems, you will find they come to you in dreams and in meditations frequently. You will encounter the animal in many ways, and these are confirmations to you. You will come across pictures, postcards and curios in which your animal is depicted. You may find yourself discovering television programs exploring its habitats and behaviors with greater frequency. Books, myths, and other depictions of it will cross your path. You do not have to indulge in all of these, but by acknowledging them and taking advantage of them, you honor the spirit and energy working in your life through that animal totem.
There are five very specific things you can do to more firmly establish your relationship with your totem and with nature. They will help you to honor that relationship:
1. Learn as much about your spirit totem as possible. Read about it. Learn its basic qualities, habits, and behaviors. Research myths and tales associated with the animal. All of these will help you to define and understand how its energies are more likely to manifest within your own life.
It is not unusual for people to discover animal totems that are frightening to them. There may be fears associated with them, or the animal may even be thought of as gross and unglamorous. When this happen, I recommend going to the children’s section of any library and checking out a children’s book on the animal. Most children’s books try to present the animals in an interesting and intriguing way-especially those animals that children (and adults) are more likely to shrink from. A children’s book on the animal will help you to become more comfortable with the animal, while usually presenting you with its most fascinating characteristics. Children’s books are usually less threatening.
2. Find pictures and artwork of your animal totem. Make a collage of various depictions of it, all encircling a picture of yourself. Hang the pictures up where you can see them throughout the day. It serves as a constant reminder of the relationship you are establishing with your spirit animal.
3. Draw and sketch pictures of the animal. Don’t worry about the quality of your artistic abilities. Don’t compare your drawings to anyone else’s. No one else has to even see your sketches. Remember that the relationship you establish is personal to you. You will find as you practice with the animal, your depictions will be surprisingly accurate.
If you are a doodler while on the phone, doodle sketches of your animal. It helps you to build a relationship and no one ever critiques doodles. All artistic endeavors stimulate the right hemisphere of the brain which helps us in our intuitive perceptions of the entire spirit realm.
4. Buy figurines of your totem. They do not have to be large or expensive. Many bookmarks sold at bookstores have animal depictions on them. Buy these for yourself and for others.
Small tokens and images (such as found on bookmarks) of your animal make wonderful gifts for friends and family. As you give the gifts, you are honoring the universality of the animal’s spirit and its ability to help everyone. You do not have to tell everyone why you are doing so, nor do you have to explain its esoteric significance. Simply let them know it a favorite animal of yours, and that you thought it would make a nice gift.
5. Give anonymous donations to wildlife funds or specific organizations associated with your totem animal. Anonymity simply helps ensure that the honoring is for the sake of honoring rather than for recognition.
Volunteer time and energy at parks and nature centers. Most are always looking for reliable assistance. You may not work with animals directly, but your efforts help to promote the well-being of that natural environment. The tasks you do may not be glamorous, but every aspect has its importance.
At Brukner Nature Center in Troy, Ohio, I serve as a volunteer in several capacities. In one capacity, every Thursday morning I clean cages and feed the animals. The task can be time consuming and requires that you handle poop and other waste products which is not very glamorous-especially in the spring when the center is overflowing with babies and orphans who mess over everything. It also requires at times that you handle animals who can have a very nasty attitude. On the other hand it does allow contact with a variety of animals, and it frees the staff persons for more important duties in regard to rehabilitation, education and such. There is a trade off.
Remember that as you promote and protect any aspect of nature, you promote the relationship and life of your specific totem. Every aspect of nature is linked to every other aspect of nature in some way. We just do not always recognize the connection. As you work to promote and protect some aspect, the spirit behind it then works to promote and protect your life, for nature is not separate from us either.
Do not boast of what your totem is or does for you or others. Disbelief on the part of others, whether expressed or not, can hinder and restrict your connection to your animal. There is strength in silence. Speaking of your relationship can dissipate or weaken its energies before it gets a chance to work some real magic for you.
There is nothing wrong with simply letting others know you are fascinated by or like certain animals. If anyone asks, simply tell them you admire its energy and qualities. An animal totem is personal. Yes, individuals may have the same generic kind of animal, but the manner in which it works with you will be different from others. It is neither better nor worse, just different.
Learn to honor your relationships and allow them to unfold with respect. Learn the limitations, and allow your totem to learn yours. As you grow and unfold the relationship, do not be surprised as it changes. Be creative in the relationship and in your own way of honoring it. Give thanks to whatever divine source you worship for assisting your through this spirit animal.
CALLING YOUR SPIRIT ANIMALS
Once you learn your spirit animals, it is important to establish a positive working relationship with them. This will enable you to know exactly what they can and can not do for you. It will help you to call upon them and the archetypal energies operating through them for your particular purposes.
Begin by meditating upon the animal. Do simple visualizations, imagining it standing before you or drawing close to you. Let it speak to you telepathically. As it stands before you, let it speak to you about itself. Let it tell you how it can help you in different areas of your life. Don’t worry that it may all be in your mind. The more focus you give to it, the stronger the invitation and connection to its essence.
Practice visualizing it merging into you. Perform meditations where you see yourself as this animal. The exercises in the next chapter will help with this. If there are situations at work or at home where you know you need this animal’s energy, take five minutes before entering into the situation to see your totem alive within you. Feel its energies strong and vital. Know they will help you in handling the situation with great success. See the situation turning out successful as a result.
As you begin to know your animal spirit and are able to recognize its energies around you and within you, you can begin to experiment with calling it to you. Music, chanting, and drumming can all be used to help call your spirit animals forward. Drumming and chanting are powerful tools that can assist in shifting consciousness and opening doors to the spirit realm. Although we do not have the time and space to cover all of the aspects of drumming and its applications to working with animals, it will be examined in greater detail in the next chapter.
Make up songs and chants to your totem. They do not have to be complicated. Two to three lines that are simple, melodic, and repetitive can serve as a wonderful tool. If there is a simple song or chant that you are already familiar with, alter its words so that it honors your totem. In your meditations, you can easily ask your totem to teach you the prayer-songs that will call it forth more quickly.
One of the most powerful chants that I use for all of my spirit animals comes from adapting an old Renaissance performance piece. I use its three-line chorus as a call to my animal totems. It is also protective and energizing, and it celebrates the animal.
The piece is called “Riu Chiu,” and it is a 16th-century, anonymous Spanish work. It is one of the most frequently performed Renaissance pieces at Christmas, but, as with many such pieces there are both religious versions and secular versions.
The three-line chorus has twelve syllables per line and three lines. Three is a creative number, and it is inherent within the twelve. Twelve also has its own great mystical significance, with ties to the twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve months of the year, etc. These numbers give the chant a creative rhythm. For those who study numerology, the significance will not be missed. (You may wish to refer to my earlier work, Sacred Sounds, for some of the significance of rhythm and for more specific techniques in writing magical and mystical chants and prayers.)
The translation of the lines also has ties to the mysteries of predator and prey as discussed earlier in this book. The adaptation of the third line reinforces the idea that the divine manifests through specific animals and expressions of Nature.
“RIU CHIU” (original)
Riu Riu Chiu, La guardo ribera.
(Riu, Riu Chiu. Who guards by the river.)
Dios guardo ellobo de nuestra cordera.
(God guards/keeps the wolf from our ewe.)
Dios guardo ellobo de nuestra cordera.
(God guards/keeps the wolf from our ewe.)
“RIU CHIU” (my adaptation)
Riu, Riu Chiu. La guardo ribera.
(Riu, Riu Chiu. Who guards by the river.)
Dios guardo ellobo de nuestra cordera.
(God guards/keeps the wolf from our ewe.)
___ guardo ellobo de nuestra cordera.
( _ guards/keeps the wolf from our ewe.)
In my adaptation, I do not use the word “dios” in the third line. Instead I substitute the name of the animal I am calling. Since this is a Spanish piece, I use the Spanish name for the animal. In this way I emphasize the idea that God or the Divine manifests through an animal, and it is the energy of the animal which keeps the wolf away from the ewe. It is the animal who activates the energies for the balance of magic in predator and prey.
SAMPLE ADAPTATION
Riu, Riu Chiu. La guardo ribera.
(Riu, Riu Chiu. Who guards by the river.)
Dios guardo ellobo de nuestra cordera.
(God guards/keeps the wolf from our ewe.)
Halcon guardo ellobo de nuestra cord era.
(The hawk guards/keeps the wolf from our ewe.)
The animal is the form in which the divine manifests, and this is reflected within the third line. If I am working with several animals, I will repeat this, each time substituting a different animal. I will usually repeat this song three times for each animal, keeping that magical rhythm of three. Experiment with it. Find what works for you. This is a powerful piece, and I have found it effective in calling to me those animals that I do not normally work with.
At the end of this section is the melody for this piece. If you have access to a piano or a musical instrument, it will help you in learning to sing it. I recommend going to your local library, a college music library, or even a music store which has access to Renaissance pieces, and getting a recording of it. Hearing someone sing it will help you learn the melody much more easily. Most libraries, if they do not have it, can help you find it.
The effort you put into it finding it and learning it will be well rewarded, as it is a powerfully effective piece. Drums and rattles can be used with it as well, enhancing the effects. A simple Spanish-English dictionary will help you with the Spanish names for animals that can be substituted. Some names may not fit easily into the rhythm, so you may have to be creative. For example, the Spanish word for owl is “lechuza” which does not fit smoothly into where “Dios” was. I simply blend it together, dropping the last syllable, so that instead of three syllables, “lechuza” seems to have two—“lechuz.” Your intention will carry through.
The following are some samples:
|
Deer |
venado, ciervo (masc.) |
Kangaroo |
canguro |
|
Hawk |
halcon |
Owl |
lechuza |
|
Eagle |
aguilla |
Rabbit |
conejo |
|
Fox |
zorro |
Turtle |
tortuga |
|
Horse |
caballo |
Vulture |
gallinazo |
|
Elephant |
elefante |
Whale |
ballena |
Below is the music for this call to the animals. Work with it. Experiment. Your efforts will bring swift reward. As you learn it, you will be able to use it to call animals, send them with messages and help you to shapeshift. It has a magic to it that will work.
