Animal Totems And Finding Your Spirit Animal
An animal totem or animal guide is a symbol that helps us to understand our personality characteristics and how these characteristics affect us in decision-making, and also living out our life paths.
Animal totems, also known as spirit animals, are traditionally rooted in Native American and Aboriginal cultures, where a totem is revered as the sacred symbol of a tribe or family.
However, it’s not exclusive to these traditions. Each individual has a spirit animals who is available if they’re willing to reach out and listen to them!
While various animal spirits can show up in your life in various points, there will be a single animal that you connect to that will consistently be part of your lifelong journey.
The core traits and characteristics of your spirit animal will capture the essence of your inner self and you’ll recognize your power, your strengths, and even your hopes and dreams in these animals. Because your spirit animal is actually a reflection of who you are, these spirits can give you meaningful insight about your own subconscious and your life.
An animal totem provides you with guidance and protection in various points of your life. During times that you need them, these animals will show up to offer you comfort, inspiration, and advice. These spirits may also teach you to embrace important aspects of your personality, such as playfulness, courage, or transformation.
Finding Your Spirit Animal
For some people, the knowledge of their spirit animal comes naturally to them, with one type of animal that has resonated with them for as long as they can remember.
For example, it’s possible that you’ve always felt drawn to wolves since childhood due to the loyalty and fierceness that resonates with you. Or perhaps you’ve always been inspired by the resilience and freedom of hummingbirds. These connections that you feel towards specific animals are likely your subconscious mind recognizing itself in these animals.
Other people will notice that a certain animal keeps appearing in their life, such as cats constantly following you and keeping you company when you go for a walk outside.
Sometimes, your spirit animal will make its presence known in other ways, such as hearing the song of frogs at night, or always encountering images of cheetahs or horses in your life.
When you turn on the television or turn the pages of a magazine, you might get a glimpse of this animal over and over. Simply be open and receptive to the animals that repetitively show up in your life.
If you’ve never felt a particular bond with any animal before, try to ponder on different animals and see if any resonate strongly with you. Make sure you cultivate an appreciation and love for the natural environment, so that you are prepared to recognize the signs and symbols from your spirit animal.
Looking internally is also an important step in finding your personal animal totem. After all, you share a spiritual connection with this animal, so being in touch with your subconscious will certainly help.
Meditation is a good way to reach out to your spirit animal and invite it into showing you signs of its presence. Seek out materials for guided meditation on animal spirit guides, so that your practice will be focused entirely on communicating with your totem.
Once you’ve asked your spirit animal to show up in your life, keep your eyes peeled for messages from these spirits. While it’s possible for you to encounter various animals through the day, the most prominent and frequent animal encounter is the most important.
Dreams are also a good place to “meet” your spirit animal, so you can also ask yours to reveal themselves in the dream realm. Remember, dreams often fade from memory upon waking, so it’s important to write down all the details of a dream encounter the moment you wake up.
Common Animal Totems And Their Meanings
There are an endless array of potential animal totems in the animal kingdom, but there are several that are quite common to connect with humans.
The Eagle
The eagle is a strong and powerful totem that highlights independence and clear-sightedness. If you connect with this spirit animal, you probably work best on your own, but you’re also highly valued for incredible vision and attention to detail. Brave, ambitious, and confident, you don’t hesitate to push yourself to your limits to achieve all your desires.
The Hummingbird
The hummingbird is another bird that’s also quite common as a totem, representing adaptability, optimism, and joy. People with this spirit animal embrace the bright and playful side of life, even as they work tirelessly in the pursuit of their dreams. Small yet extremely capable of amazing feats, a hummingbird totem reminds you that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
The Horse
Another common spirit animal is the horse, which represents freedom, nobility, and personal drive. Like horses, you heed the call of the wild and you are a little headstrong in your personal journey. Horses could also indicate positive change and transformation in your life.
Snakes
While some people may fear snakes, this is also an extremely favorable spirit animal that highlights your confidence, charm, and intuition. In the same way that snakes shed their skin periodically, a snake means you tend to take life’s changes in stride and emerge a better person after a major transition, whether it’s a career, a relationship, or some other life event.
The Wolf
Wolves are also a great and noble spirit animal that symbolize bravery, loyalty, and intelligence. If you have this totem, it means that you build strong, lasting relationships with family, friends, and partners. However, these animals tend to be distrustful of those outside their inner circle.
There are only five of the most common animal totems and there are dozens and dozens more. Learning more about the lives of these wild beings is important to do so that you can find out more about your spirit guide, and also about yourself in the process.
Working With Your Spirit Animal
So, how do these animals help you exactly?
Sometimes, animal totems bring important messages, so it’s up to you to listen to what they are trying to tell you. Maybe you are about to make an important decision about your career and your spirit animal is guiding you towards the best path you can take. Or perhaps you are stuck in a rut and it is urging you to take action.
But waiting for your spirit animal to send you a message is not the only way to work with them. Once you know what your spirit animal is, you can use this animal’s core characteristics as a guide on improving your own life and mindset.
After all, this is the animal that best represents your own inner self! If your spirit animal is a turtle, act with more patience and perseverance in your regular life and see where it takes you. If your spirit animal is a dolphin, embrace your playfulness and powerful instincts.
Unlike humans, animals remain close and a part of Mother Earth. When you work with your spirit animals, you nurture the part of yourself that is connected to the natural and spiritual world.
If you’d like to discover who your spirit animals are, you can click here and fill out the form on my Psychic Reading Page to get more information about a Spirit Totem Discovery Session, or call my office at 614-444-6334.
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Thank you so much for this information. I had tried a meditation as you suggested and I remember it so clearly. I’m on a marble Plato with a canvas tarp like thing hanging over it . It was lightly raining and as I looked around there was a red fox . We started to run around and play together . As my meditation was ending and the fox say there fading from view I heard a male ‘s voice say ” Swiften” . 😊 Not sure if he is my totem or not but it was a really cool experience ☺️.