In yesterday’s Bonus Content! I talked about Gorillas, Monkeys, Elephants, Cougars, Jaguars, Dragons. Alligators and Crocodiles are also coming to mind right now.
I mentioned sensing the energy of animals when I enter into different spaces or even conversations with other people. I also lightly touched on the concept that these animals can and will choose to work with humanity beyond the physical dimension.
If you have an awareness of this, you probably call them “totems” and/or “spirit animals”. Spirit animals are extremely important to our development along the path of Know Thyself. They are working with us, whether or not we are initiated.
Before I found the Modern Mystery School, I was extremely interested in animal totems. I love animals and often found myself wondering what they represent. Maybe it’s because I got into Wicca that I wandered down this path to understanding symbolism.
If you’re like me, and you feel called to certain animals or certain qualities that may or may not be represented in the animals that you find yourself fascinated by, I want to share something from my experience with you.
Endless Google searches and books may or may not feed your curiosity, but I can tell you that you have a better tool on hand right now than what you can find online.
It’s the same tool I recommend when I talk about crystals, Tarot or other divination cards, Astrology, Numerology, Runes, Angels, and anything else you might turn to for answers.
Do you know what I’m going to tell you?
Trust yourself.
Meditate to find the answers that are hidden within you. They’re already there.
You can be caught in an endless cycle of searching and listening to what people outside you have to share. But how do you know you can trust it? Or that you should trust it? What if it’s wrong?
What if it fills the void with something worse than nothing?
Just because it’s fascinating doesn’t mean it’s helpful or correct.
So if you feel interested, connected with, attract to, or called to the Gorilla totem, or the Jaguar, the Puma (which is really just a Mountan Lion, or is it?), the Panther (just a Jaguar or not?), the Cheetah, the Mountan Lion, the Alligator, the Crocodile, the bird that sits on the Crocodile’s snout, or some other being seems to enter your awareness (and/or your physical space) constantly enough to spark your curiosity, here is what I recommend you do:
Meditate on it.
Turn within. Whether that means hands on your heart, your belly, your forehead, or palms up resting in your lap’; sitting in a chair, sitting on the ground, lying down, reclining, standing, walking; eyes open or closed; music on or off; candles burning or not; incense, diffuser, sage, essential oils rubbed into in the palms of your hand, or nothing; these are all variables.
Trust yourself to what you might want and/or need to connect with the essence of that which is trying to gain your attention.
Journal the following questions, whether you are doing this exercise focused on one particular being or just in general:
- What is this moment presenting me the opportunity of remembering?
- What is here for me to understand?
- If you have a certain animal or other symbol coming to mind right now (maybe a color, a shape, a place, a building, a letter, a number, a symbol, an Angel, a planet, a star, a zodiac sign, or another object), ask yourself “what message does this have for me now, at this moment in time? What is there for me to learn from this today?”
- Always remember to express gratitude after tuning in like this, even if all you receive from your attempted connection is a sense impression (aka a feeling you might not be able to put into words, or a vision with no explanation, a tone that you hear but can’t identify, a smell with no association to anything else whatsoever, or even a “random” taste in your mouth or your mind), still say “Thank you” to the guide that you were trying to connect with before coming back and ending your session.
Challenge yourself to ignore any previous associations you might with the symbol itself specificallly. UNLESS you are feeling a really strong pull to connect it with something from the past, keep your mind open to allow space for additional information and interpretations to flow in. Even if they make no sense, or don’t seem connected in any way. Give yourself permission for your mind to wander in this kind of meditation.
Do your best not to reject any ideas that are coming to the forefront of your mind as you practice this exercise.
The reason I am suggesting this is because it is one way to practice the presence I have been discussing over the last few days. Presence is a gift, and until you experience it fully you won’t quite understand why I keep driving this point home. But trust me, it’s worth every penny. All the marbles. It is worthy e v e r y t h i n g.
Including a few minutes of your time to close your eyes and ask yourself the meaning of symbols even when you feel like it might be a silly thing to try. Especially when you feel that way and push yourself to get past it. You have no idea the gift that will be waiting for you on the other side.
Maybe one day you will be fortunate enough to sit in a class where a meditation that helps you with this is being facilitated. One of the classes I highly recommend for this is part of the Ritual Master Path in the Lineage of King Salomon, as facilitated and taught by Sovereign Ipsissimus Dave Lanyon of the Modern Mystery School.
That is why I want to create this bridge for you to start honoring your connection with these totems and guides today by going within, rather than Googling and reading all of the things that are out there that might distort your ability to understand when you get to experience the real thing later on – if you so desire and choose to.
So hopefully by the time you finish reading this post, something or someone (could be a being of Light) has come to mind for you to practice connecting with in meditation. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it doesn’t have to be for a long time. Just get yourself settled, close your eyes, take three deep breaths in and sigh them out, and do your best to focus wherever you feel the connection start to happen. More often than not for me, I feel myself being guided by my heart rather than my head (my head being the place in my body where I associate my mind with). Maybe you’ll find your connection starts somewhere else. Your toes, your gut, your shoulders. It could be anywhere, and it might even be different every single time just due to the nature of what and/or who you’re connecting with.
Enjoy the process, and trust yourself no matter what comes up.
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