Animal Totem: How to Identify your Spirit Guide and Protector

Thanks to your Animal Totem, divine messages can come in dreams and meditations. In fact, a panda bear visited my sleep 2 times this week, inspiring me to write this post about spirit animal guides.

Dreams and meditation aren’t the only venues in which Animal Totems might visit you. Their real-life counterparts may show up in trees; the shapes of clouds; magazines and postcards; and street signs.

For instance, I lived in a borough named, “Fox Chapel.” To this day, I keep a plush fox on my bedspread. I consider the playful, clever Fox to be a personal spirit guide, especially when I need to laugh at myself and find a solution to a nagging problem.

Animal Totems Will Surprise You

If you stay alert, guardian Animal Totems will find (surprising) ways to make their presence known. For instance, I was guided to wear my favorite Lady Bug sweater when I was scheduled to perform private psychic readings at a local crystal shop. When I entered the building, another psychic hugged me, exclaiming, “Oh my gosh, I had a vision that I would be seeing Lady Bugs today!” 

When you’re beginning to welcome Animal Totems into your life, you’ll probably start with a pet. Many people consider a dog or cat their spirit guides. But so many other animals can bring inspiration and protection. Why limit yourself to two domesticated animals?

More to the point, why limit yourself to animals that are native solely to your little corner of the world? Some people consider unicorns, dragons, centaurs, and phoenixes their totems!

Other extremely popular totems include:

• Owl (it ranks #1 for Internet searches!)
• Deer / Stag 
• Wolf
• Rabbit
• Frog / Toad
• Fox
• Hawk
• Dolphin
• Bear

How to Identify Your Animal Totem

Start by noticing what animals are attracted to you. Are ring-tailed marauders digging through your garbage each night? Do squirrels try to gorge themselves at your bird feeders? Are owls hunting bats in your backyard?

Maybe you’ve been purchasing animal symbols and haven’t thought much about it: frog inflatables for your pool; turtle soap dishes for your bathroom, dolphin wind chimes for your porch, etc.

Another way to determine an animal totem is to recall children’s books that you liked to read. Children’s literature is rife with non-human teachers. Remember The Tortoise and the Hare? The Ugly Duckling? The Three Little Pigs?

Wisdom from the Shamanic Tradition

Here’s some great news: You don’t have to limit yourself to one Animal Totem!

In the Native American tradition, Shamans believe that each Human has a total of nine spirit animals, who take turns, teaching you lessons.

In the beginning, the first 1-2 Animal Totems that appear in your dreams may wind up introducing you to other spirit animals. You might consider these first Totems the “icebreakers,” who are helping you develop animal relationships.

On the other hand, these first 2 guides may stick around, becoming your most important Animal Totems. When this happens, you may notice that one of these creatures walks on your left (feminine) side during your dreams. Your other primary totem will probably walk on your right (masculine side) in your dreams.

In other words, you may have different animal protectors for your feminine psyche and your male psyche.

Interpreting Messages from Your Animal Totem

There are many ways to interpret a message from your Animal Totem. To get started, it helps to understand that animal’s behaviors in the wild:

• Is it a herd animal or a solitary hunter?
• When does it search for food? (Day, night, or dusk?)
• Does it tend to be silent (like swans) or vocal (like crows)?
• Is it crafty at building its den (like beavers) or does it “borrow” some other creature’s home (like hermit crabs)?

Next, study the habitat in which your totem lives: desert, wetlands, forest, tundra, etc. Also be sure to study your totem’s prey so you can understand the “shadow side” (vulnerable side) of your totem. For instance, Lynxes exist solely on a diet of Snowshoe Hares. When the Hare population declines, so does the Lynx’s.

Once you gather all this information, you can use it to enrich your interpretation of your dreams or visions.

When an Animal Totem Disturbs You

Sometimes, you will be afraid of, or allergic to, the Animal Totem that shows up in your life. In such cases, you may be tempted to reject the Totem.

However, dismissing or ignoring the totem won’t stop the uncomfortable vision. Spirit will simply work harder to make you accept the lesson represented by that Totem.

A perfect example of a misunderstand Animal Totem is the Snake. Among Christians, Snake has earned a bad reputation, thanks to the Garden of Eden. Caucasians are especially squeamish around snakes, due to their fear of venomous bites.

Ironically, in the United States, snakes bite fewer than 7 Native Americans each year. Caucasians are the ones who usually report snake bites. Why the disparity?

Well, when a Native American sees a snake, he doesn’t scream, poke it with a stick, or try to kill it. Native Americans are taught to respect animals like “Little Brothers.” Thus, when a Native American encounters a snake in the wild, he is likely to nod politely to the reptile and continue peacefully on his way.

In fact, Native American healers revere Snake because:

• Snake Totems represents change or metamorphosis (ie, snakes shed their skin); and
• Snake Totems symbolize the ability to transmute — or remain impervious to — toxins (ie, snakes are not poisoned by their own venom.)

Never doubt for a moment that animals sense your fear. They know when you’re resisting the lessons they’ve come to teach. I suspect that’s why cats rub the legs of people who are allergic to them.

Consider this: if you can accept that the root cause of all illness is an energy imbalance, then you can understand that Cat is not “deliberately” trying to hurt you. Instead, Cat is trying to bring your attention back to your imbalance.

In this way, a Cat Totem may be reminding you to focus your energy on personal healing.

An Encounter with One of My “Real Life” Totems

Recently, I had an unexpected encounter with a Harris Hawk near my house. It was perched in a low-hanging branch — level with my eyes — in an oak tree. I was stunned. I had never faced an Apex Predator in the wild, much less in my backyard!

Needless to say, that Hawk was majestic, awe-inspiring, and a wee bit terrifying too. Why do I say it was terrifying? Because I was absolutely clear that Hawk did not fear my Humanness.

Nevertheless, the Hawk didn’t try to lord its power over me (like a Human bully might have done.) The Hawk didn’t attack. It didn’t stare me down. In truth, it had little interest in me, even though I was standing 10 feet from its fierce beak and deadly talons. As a result, I was able to admire its magnificence for 6 whole, breathtaking minutes. 

What was the hawk doing all that time?

Scanning the yard for smaller prey. 🙂 

If you need help identifying your Animal Totems — or interpreting their messages in your Dreams — I offer totem readings by phone. 

Learn more about my services as a psychic reader.

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