Finding Your Spirit Animal

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Original post: Odin

I have decided to attempt to try and find out what my spirit animal is (or spirit animals are).
I have read up on some techniques but wouldn't mind recieving some tips and hearing about some of your personal experiences first

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Original post: Hanged_in_Glory

Greasing yourself down and wildly spiral-dancing on a full moon night is one effective way to get in touch with your animal.

I dearly wanted to be connected with wolf energy, until one night, during a nice long hug, my dearest female friend (a wolf) sniffed my neck and asked me why I smelled like a cat. This took me by surprise, and left me a bit disappointed. Surely enough, the following day, we scryed for my animal totem and it turned out to be a big cat.

But many people have several. Some divide them into "physical", "spiritual" & "magickal" classifications, rendering three totems per. I ended up with one cat and two birds. And, amazingly enough, I sense the presence of their attributes in my daily life more and more...

Good Luck.

HiG

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Original post: Odin

[QUOTE=Hanged_in_Glory;292685]Greasing yourself down and wildly spiral-dancing on a full moon night is one effective way to get in touch with your animal.

I dearly wanted to be connected with wolf energy, until one night, during a nice long hug, my dearest female friend (a wolf) sniffed my neck and asked me why I smelled like a cat. This took me by surprise, and left me a bit disappointed. Surely enough, the following day, we scryed for my animal totem and it turned out to be a big cat.

But many people have several. Some divide them into "physical", "spiritual" & "magickal" classifications, rendering three totems per. I ended up with one cat and two birds. And, amazingly enough, I sense the presence of their attributes in my daily life more and more...

Good Luck.

HiG[/QUOTE]

Thanks The next full moon is in 3 days so I'll probably try and get in touch then. I also want to be connected with a wolf energy, I have always had strong feelings for wolves and they have always been my favourite animal and this has made me think that perhaps my spirit animal is one. But this also makes me think that I might see a wolf during trying to find my guide out of wishful thinking or expectance? I'm hoping I'll just be able to tell whether or not it's the real deal.

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Original post: winged one

Just wanted to tell you there is a similiar thread http://www.occultforums.com/showthread. ... wer+animal

I have also heard that some people can have three spirit animals...one that protects, one that helps you journey...and one that is your true power animal. Although it's possible your power animal may do all of these things. Also even though we're supposed to have one power animal...you can always choose to work with other totems. If you like wolf and want to learn wolf lessons etc...you can certainly ask wolf to be with you. Even if wolf is not "the one" Best to go into the whole thing (of looking for your true power animal) without any expectations. It can get in the way of seeing what is really there. And also I have heard of some people having more than one permanent power animal. So that's possible too.

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Original post: Odin

[QUOTE=winged one;292735]Just wanted to tell you there is a similiar thread http://www.occultforums.com/showthread. ... wer+animal

I have also heard that some people can have three spirit animals...one that protects, one that helps you journey...and one that is your true power animal. Although it's possible your power animal may do all of these things. Also even though we're supposed to have one power animal...you can always choose to work with other totems. If you like wolf and want to learn wolf lessons etc...you can certainly ask wolf to be with you. Even if wolf is not "the one" Best to go into the whole thing (of looking for your true power animal) without any expectations. It can get in the way of seeing what is really there. And also I have heard of some people having more than one permanent power animal. So that's possible too.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, that's really interesting I never had the idea of choosing to work with other totems. I'm going to try my best at finding my 'true' power animal first though, if there is such a thing, and try to clear any expectation of the wolf out of my head.

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Original post: zantheus

In my humble opinion, your Spirit Animal could be just another manifestation of your own Guardian Angel. I guess the form in which the manifestation takes is dependent on the technique and/or the life experience of individual. Although, one has to be cautious to distinguish between the Guardian Angel, a personal entity which is an aspect of your "true"-self, and an external entity mistakenly called by the summoner form mis-use or mis-interpretation of unfamiliar rituals. Usually, the summoner can tell the difference right away when the entity manifests itself with feelings of fear unfamiliarity ... and often this realization comes too late. Never perform a summoning without proper guidance from an experienced mentor. Though, I have found meditation as a practical way to catch a glimpse of your guardian angel

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Original post: Nam

I took a class on channeling that revealed this, among other things. Turns out mine is the dove.

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Original post: winged one

In my humble opinion, your Spirit Animal could be just another manifestation of your own Guardian Angel. I guess the form in which the manifestation takes is dependent on the technique and/or the life experience of individual.

Very true. Although this doesn't take into account totems that are not guarding you rather teaching you. I guess it depends from what avenue you approach the whole totem/spirit/power animal thing. I tend to come from a native american/shamanistic route. I am certainly no expert, but I do think some totems are in more the animal spirit category rather then the guardian angel one. But I can see the guardian angle for sure.

Although, one has to be cautious to distinguish between the Guardian Angel, a personal entity which is an aspect of your "true"-self, and an external entity mistakenly called by the summoner form mis-use or mis-interpretation of unfamiliar rituals. Usually, the summoner can tell the difference right away when the entity manifests itself with feelings of fear unfamiliarity ... and often this realization comes too late.

I myself have had experience with all three. Though as I said above I do think there's a fourth category which is the animal spirit . It is definitely not a manifestation of the self nor does it feel like the guardian angel. And Z you're right on about the feeling of something else showing up. If it gives you a bad feeling, asks you to do things you feel uncomfortable with or has any sort of negative personality, vibes..whatever it's not a guide. True guides are positive.

Never perform a summoning without proper guidance from an experienced mentor. Though, I have found meditation as a practical way to catch a glimpse of your guardian angel

Well, that may be advisable but highly unlikely for a lot o' people. The part about having an experienced mentor.

I've found it helps to create a sacred space, clear an area, whatever and then set intent. Clear intent will take care of a lot of the problems. The other thing is just recognizing when something is negative and then telling it to go.

Course this is with things like angels and guides and whatnot. "Summoning" other stuff is in a whole other thread.

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Original post: Odin

Thanks, interesting stuff guys
Like Winged One I also believe that spirit animals are seperate beings to Guardian Angels. To anyone interested, I had a go last night and revealed a red fox energy. I'm very skeptical though as it was my first time, and also i didn't manage to establish any communication with it. We shall see, I'm going to practice every night.

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Original post: Hanged_in_Glory

Well, Odin, that's a good start. There were many good points made in this thread. It is hard to distinguish one energy from another sometimes. I'm not particularly sensitive to these kinds of things. I get a "sense" of it, but often only very subtly.

The thing about the big cat rang very true for me. I often stretch like a cat, almost to the point of dislocating things. Despite my advancing years, I've always been very quick and light on my feet, moreso that actually strong. I have a longtime preference for Tiger Claw style kung fu, and I've often worn a tiger claw around my neck for several years now. I hate getting wet. Just a jump into the shower and jumping right back out, and nothing more. And while many dogs love me, a great many more stranger's dogs hate me. All of these things should have been clues. And yet my physical totem is not the tiger, but another large cat.

I've been told recently by an astral scryer that I have a rather large dragon that dearly wishes to be in touch with me, as well as a geometrical shape that attempts to communicate with me through numbers. My reply to her was "But I don't believe in dragons" and she came back at me with "Well, maybe you should start to." She then went on to explain that many people have them and that they are not so much what we picture as storybook dragons but "dragon" is the best sense of what we can apply to the energy as a label. The best I can do here is to visualize, and I always am wary of the thin line between imagination and reality.

Good luck in your continued efforts....

HiG

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Original post: winged one

The thing about the big cat rang very true for me. I often stretch like a cat, almost to the point of dislocating things. Despite my advancing years, I've always been very quick and light on my feet, moreso that actually strong. I have a longtime preference for Tiger Claw style kung fu, and I've often worn a tiger claw around my neck for several years now. I hate getting wet. Just a jump into the shower and jumping right back out, and nothing more. And while many dogs love me, a great many more stranger's dogs hate me. All of these things should have been clues. And yet my physical totem is not the tiger, but another large cat

Actually tigers like to swim. Don't they?

I've been told recently by an astral scryer that I have a rather large dragon that dearly wishes to be in touch with me, as well as a geometrical shape that attempts to communicate with me through numbers. My reply to her was "But I don't believe in dragons" and she came back at me with "Well, maybe you should start to." She then went on to explain that many people have them and that they are not so much what we picture as storybook dragons but "dragon" is the best sense of what we can apply to the energy as a label. The best I can do here is to visualize, and I always am wary of the thin line between imagination and reality.

How cool. About the dragon. I've heard of others having mythological totems. I'm all for it. Especially since with me personally I don't always fit within standard lines so with my personality and other's similiar to me it makes sense that there would be things like unicorns, phoenix's etc. Although I've never heard of anyone having a unicorn protector. Maybe that's because I don't know any virgins. Lol. The geometric thing made me think of the South Park episode where they go to Jewbilee camp and Moses talks to them..

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Original post: Hanged_in_Glory

You know, winged one, I believe you're right. Tigers do like to swim and they swim well.

As for the dragons, they've played such a role in almost every culture and every age that I often wonder if they are mythological, or something else. Clearly, there is no evidence that they ever existed, but to play such a big role in humanity's consciousness and for the legend to be so widespread across the earth is strange, I think.

Far as I know, the Chinese don't have a belief in unicorns, but they do believe in dragons. The Chupacabra is pretty much confined to Mexico and Central America, the unicorn and basilisk, etc, are mainly European, but the dragon is central to almost all cultures. Perhaps they are just a manifestation of energy given form by what people could understand at the time.

To make matters worse, I've been chided by a couple of people who said "oh, so you believe in angels and demons, but you don't believe in dragons or unicorns. Do you have physical evidence for the existence of angels and demons?":rolleyes:

I won't know for sure until if and when I "meet" mine.

peace,
HiG

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Original post: Odin

Hanged in Glory, I've heard about the idea of mythological creatures as totems too. I suppose anything's possible. Let me know if you ever contact your dragon :p
I also find it very interesting that the dragon is prominent in cultures all over the globe. One theory I have is that they could have found dinosaur bones and mistaken them for dragons, but this can't account for all of it.
Very interesting stuff, people

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Original post: equinox

i tried visiting the astral plane and finding out what my animal was, but i just fell asleep every time. i bought this deck of cards from barnes and noble which was supposed to divine something or other. maybe i just didnt read the directions right...

i would still like to know what mine is, if anyone is like psychic because i cant read myself very well thanks

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Original post: She Demon Wolf

Far as I know, the Chinese don't have a belief in unicorns, but they do believe in dragons.

They do however, have a mythological being called the Kirin/Qilin (also Japanese), which is close, although it's appearance is more draconic. I'm unsure how much it can be considered to be an eastern counterpart to the unicorn though. They are nifty looking things, either way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

As for the topic at hand, I've always felt a spirit animal will find you when the time is right. The best thing you can do is 'ask' that it be shown for you, and ask that you be made ready for the encounter. It's also imporant to distinguish between a spirit guide, and a totem animal.

Beings considered mythological do show up across both denominations. Consider spirit guides to be beings that take on a form that is one that you will react in the best way to (regarding the help they are there to give). And consider totems to take on the form of the creature that best represents the lesson you are to learn from it, and the energy that comes from it. Dragons are symbols of ancient wisdom, very proud, stubborn, fierce but also very protective of what they value. If a dragon shows up as a guide or a totem, think about how those things may apply to you or your life.

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Original post: Hanged_in_Glory

The Qilin. How interesting!

Thanks for pointing that out. The thing almost looks ridable.

HiG

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Original post: lioncastle

What about just looking at the animals that surround us and seeing which ones resonate on a constant basis? It can change throughout our lives. I have no answers for anyone else, but in my experience, there are animals that come and go and point out needs at specific times, and those who are constants. The constants (IMO) are more likely to be our "totem" or power animals.

Mine is definitely the dog, but lately I've had visitations from coyotes, foxes, deer, owls and ravens, and one kick-ass lesson from the bat. Take each lesson as it's given to you...I guess that's what I've learned so far.

JMO...
lc

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Original post: Kazahel

I seem to dream of the animal first and then later I just seem to shapeshift into it(in dreams). My first main one was wolf which I dreamt had been after me, but eventually I got annoyed and killed it in a lucid dream. Then after that I just shifted into it because I knew I could somehow. It took me awhile to fully shapeshift into a wolf though because I kept walking normal like a man, but once I learned to run with my hands it shifted me properly. So the wolf was like my animal form for years in dreams.

Then later I dreamt I was a crocodile swimming in a river which was pretty trippy because it just seemed to come from nowhere. Like I hadnt really ever thought about crocodiles before(like I'm no 'fan' of animals).. but I really understood how it moved. It was a great feeling and I deathrolled a person I took from the waters edge, which was really cool because I could see all my teeth as I rolled.

Around the same time I had been having dreams of a large great white shark that had been stalking me in the water. I thought it was trying to eat me at the time but looking back I think it was just trying to rub its nose against me. It did that when I was trying to get out of the water away from it but I took it as it trying to get me. Then later(in the crocodile dream).. I shifted from crocodile to great white shark because I knew my teeth were not good enough to eat quickly. And for some reason that inspired me to shift to the shark. So I placed my.. feet together and it formed a tail which when I flicked to move, that then shifted me into a full size great white shark. Which was really cool because I could feel the power behind the tail and my mouth was so huge, which was the main thing I noticed. So I ate a swimmer because I was built now for eating quicker, and it was like I was eating a fleshy water bomb. I got my teeth stuck and had to shake my head really fast just to get my teeth free from them. It was pretty real feeling.

Anyway then later not that long after that dream I dreamt of a lion which I was placed into. It was a really big lion which was in the clouds with a rainbow above him. He had a slightly more human looking face though.. like his forehead was different. And after that dream the next time I went to run like an animal I shifted into a small thin lion(like a cat). But later I found I couldnt run like that. I tried but I had broken paws or something.. like my human hands were coming from the paws too, so it was like I had two hands and two paws which made it too tricky to run with. I stumbled.

Anyway.. so because of certain dreams I guess the animals I'm closer with are wolf(dog).. shark and lion. I think crocodile was just to get me to shark but I dunno. But I'm not afraid of those things as much anymore. Like one of the last times I dreamt of a shark I could see it eating a person, but I still swam to the person to help them. And the last dream with a shark it was a baby great white(like my pet) and I picked it up to rub its little belly. lol.

So yeah... I seem to dream of the animal first and then later I use its form or something. And my last dream I wasnt animal at all.. only my shadow was, which was pretty trippy.

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Original post: winged one

I have also heard that sometimes you may not be able to find your totem (as in the one assigned to you from birth) because it had to leave at some point to protect a part of you. I guess some people have their's show up or are able to find it after they do a soul retrivial...or some similiar thing. That's a whole other discussion though.

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Original post: chaogomu

I'm at an interesting point for several reasons.

first, I deal mainly with chaos magick with a discordian bent. thus I realize that most totemic animals are highly independent and very powerful servitors, usually created at the time of summoning. there are exceptions to this but they would rather I not talk about them.

second, I have never performed any ritual with the intent of finding a totemic animal. I've thought about it once or twice but never while meditating or performing magickal work.

with that i find it curious that a totemic animal has decided to choose me.

although it does make sense seaming as how it's a coyote.

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Original post: chingwauk

I was taught that you have only one Totem Animal.It depends on the day and month you are born in.

Power animals choose you and you can have several but in my case there has been only one A small brown bear that acts as my protector as well.

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Original post: Josh The Lost

I find this thread quite interesting.

I found my spirit animal in a series of dreams I had in the year of 2006.

I can't really recall the first dream in much detail but I distinctly remember a hawk watching me as I carried along in my dream-state activities. At first, this kind of creeped me out but I didn't at all feel the least bit threatened. Just generally weirded out.

The next dream involved me climbing a treacherous mountain, nearly falling at every grasp, only to climb my way face to face with a hawk resting upon a branch that was protruding out from the side of the mountain. I grabbed hold of this branch and pulled my way to the summit. The hawk flew away to get out of my way and I felt safe because the branch was obviously quite sturdy. This time I was not weirded out by this hawk, despite it being inches from my face. Everything felt like it was going to be O.K.

The last dream about a hawk, I remember in very vivid detail and it's so close to my heart that I cannot reveal it here but I will tell you that I learned the Hawks name in the last one. He didn't speak my language but somehow I just 'knew' it.

Since those series of dreams I haven't had a hawk dream since but I am reminded of the dream everyday when I am greeted by the calls of hawks that have just moved into the palm trees next door to us in real life.

I believe that a Hawk is perhaps my spirit animal.

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Original post: chingwauk

I am very sorry I made a mistake when I posted what I did.I was thinking of your Birth Totem.

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Original post: Pheathers

I kinda think the turkey vulture might be special to me. During a walk, a shadow fell on me, and when I looked up there was a vulture hovering right over my head, it was so close I could look him in the eye. It seemed the bird found me interesting and had come down for a better look. On another walk, I had a pair swoop over my head, land in a tree, and we had a staring contest. It was also very misty that day, so the encounter was quite spooky. I've also dreamed of one that was trying to rip my eyes out, it was saying "you don't need eyes to see!"

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Original post: Wolf Spider

Many Rattle Snakes cross my trail. Not my Spirit Animal, but it is my girl friends.
She visits me from many thousands of miles away through Snake.