Do you have a totem animal? What is it teaching you?
What have the animals taught you in the past?(Link)
This is one post that will make me rather unpopular, but hey... can't change that, right?
Totems are all the rage. I think about every Pagan and Witch I know has got at least one. It's like those "must-have" pencilcases back at school. You need one to be considered part of the gang. Once upon a time I even read (online) some kind of war between two self-proclaimed "master witches" over who had more and better totems.
Really?
Historically, totems originated from the area of Canada/nothern North America. A similar concept is familiar with the Aborigines, and there are African cultures with animal spirits in their ancestry as well. Other countries and cultures have supposedly used "animal spirits" as well. A totem was usually supposed to be the ancestor of a group of people, such as a clan or a tribe. This means it was something you inherited, not something that would "come to you" or that you could choose from a list. It especially marked where you belonged to. Kind of like a crest, or a spiritual family name.
(That is my problem with the word "totem".)
These days, when Pagans and Witches talk about totems, they usually mean some kind of animal spirit or guide/mentor thingy. It is a very personal connection, and with many people I have met, totems seem to change rather fast. (Like, going through three or four different per year.) It is the same with familiars - everyone has got to have one, sometimes there are discussions about "how to find the best familiar" and such, and I am not completely sure this is what the original concept was about.
Of course this is not necessarily true for everybody, and under no circumstances would I try to take anyone's personal guides and mentors from them. This whole business belongs in the area of personal experiences, difficult to debate those. But very often it seems to me that all these people with their "totems" and "familiars" are like those people claiming that the wine they drank last night gave them a "migraine" or that they have got "depression" because of a bad day at work.
Okay, having made myself unpopular, let me continue by stating that I do not have a totem nor a familiar. Or at least I have never searched for one. Sometimes I will communicate with animal spirits during dreams or meditations, but that is something different. I have also learned a lot by simply watching the normal animals around me, which is probably not a cool as a spiritual lesson, but has helped me a lot in life anyway. And of course I may change my opinion on this at any given time. ^^
5 Kommentare:
No wonder I'm sooo freaking unpopular. I don't have think I have one ;-( I really love dogs and spiders, and they tend to accompany me in dreams and journaling, but...
Oh well, we can't all be perfect, can we? *wicked grin*
Happy Friday the 13th
Oh. I have said the same things before only substitute the word totem with past lives or auras. It's not that I don't believe it's just that why all of a sudden does everyone have one?
I've never felt I had a totem. I will say that there are been times when certain animals, birds, etc are suddenly present more than usual in my life. But I take this as a message - because the spirits like to use images and such. SO I look up the meanings for the animals and usually I understand what is going on. But I haven't had one animal that has hung around, nor a familiar - yet.
If I do you will be the first to know!!! :)
I know exactly what you're talking about. I've been party to jokes a few times here or there about why are only the popular animals totem animals and the land of misfit totems. ;)
You're not the only one who's unpopular because of this, or that rants about it, either. I had many a rant on this subject, AND *gag*familiars*cough sputter* when I was still using blogger. To me it's not "When I have a familiar or a totem animal" it's "IF I will ever have a familiar or totem animal".
Today, pagans seem to think these things are standard within the community, and in some ways they are and I really have to wonder if some aren't making things up off the tops of their heads to impress the rest of the pool.
I don't have one either, and probably never will.
I have a familiar (ball python), and an animal spirit guide (an Oregon Spotted Owl). I had no idea these were "popular" in the pagan community. I agree with you on the "totem" stuff though. I think that most people pull from the Native American traditions without enough knowledge to put it proper use.
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