It’s always a blast to find out what your animal guides, or totems, are or to be around when other people find theirs. One person can be working with chicken in one aspect of their lives and with tiger in another. People are complex and fascinating. However, when I talk with people they speak as if knowing this information is the point. Being able to say, ‘My animal guide is xxxxxxx!’ is basically all they think about. And then they find out and they stand there like children who didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas and never ask to the obvious, ‘What do I do now?’
Animal guides aren’t something you ‘have’, they are an insight you have into your being and a relationship you have with someone who loves you unconditionally and wants to help you through this life. Therefore knowing who they are is just the beginning. Like any other relationship you have to go through all the steps: introductions, getting to know you smallish talk, finding things you have in common, doing things together, etc etc etc. For some that means collecting items that represent that animal so they have them around all the time, possibly wearing things that represent the animal, (not necessarily wearing the animal. Whale skin is slippery and would smell over time…) and possibly thinking about what this animal means and how it applies to their life. Or just being happy to see it around all the time.
For others it is going out and working with actual animals. Becoming a biologist and working with the animal you are called to is an honorable profession and helps you become in tune with them in a very direct way. Still others create art concerning the animal or see them as a spiritual guide whom they pray to and seek guidance from concerning all important issues. All of things are valid and I have experienced all of them to one extent or another including working with raptors at my local zoo as one of my animal guides is Golden Eagle and another is Osprey.
But there is another method that few know about or attempt and that is meditation. There are meditations which can show you who your animal guide is and allow you to work with them, however if you truly wish to reach out to them, I believe clearing your mind and opening yourself up with the intention of meeting them will allow you to interact with them. In fact, I believe Star Trek Voyager actually showed a space-tech version of this process in one of their Season 1 Episodes. Just reason to appreciate Star Trek. 🙂
Anyway, through meditation you can meet your animal guide, but again, what next? That’s where I appreciate the meditation route because it allows the guide to interact with you in a deeper way than just through its regular habits and habitat. It can actually speak to you if it wishes, lead you to various locations or experiences, answer questions that you may have, and like Virgil did for Dante in The Divine Comedy, it can lead you through adventures to find your true self and help you delve further into who you truly are.
Knowing who your animal guide is, well, that’s just the beginning of the story. Let it be the start of an amazing adventure. Learn everything you can about them physically. Learn about their habitats and habits. Learn about what they eat and why and what part they play in ecology. Then see how that relates to your life. Do you need to take on some of those traits or does it illuminate how you already operate in the world and why? Do you need to tone it down or amp it up? What wisdom do they have to teach you about you? Don’t just sit around hoping that messages or inspiration will come. Relationships require both parties to equally participate. Meet them half way and your journey has already begun.