Relating to Animals in your Path

[Starlock]

Many Neopagans incorporate the animal kingdom (especially mammals and birds) into their personal religious practice. There are many different views on how you can go about doing this and I was curious how you all incorporate critters into your craft.

arrow What do you think working with animals brings to your path? In other words, why do you choose to work with them? If you don't work with them, why don't you?
arrow How would you describe the relationships you have with various animals? Is it like totemism to you? Is it more like a spirit guide? Something else?
arrow Are there specific animals that are particularly special to you? In what way and how do you work with them?  

[AiRune]

What do you think working with animals brings to your path? In other words, why do you choose to work with them? If you don't work with them, why don't you?

Does trying to keep from being mauled by hungry cats count? Haha, then I suppose I don't. Suburbia has cut me off from a lot of wildlife, so it makes it hard for me to connect. Before, when I lived close to fields and forests, I worked with animals to ground myself and to dispel feelings of loneliness.

How would you describe the relationships you have with various animals? Is it like totemism to you? Is it more like a spirit guide? Something else?

Servant, if you ask my cats. Otherwise, hard to say. They seem attracted to me and I to them, though that's on the mundane level. Spiritually, I definitely have certain totems I rely on, but only a couple individualistic spirits. And I really don't know why they stick around. I'm boring and don't actively practice magic.

Are there specific animals that are particularly special to you? In what way and how do you work with them?

Cats, but that's because I've got my own little clan. Otherwise, I'm drawn to small birds and mammals. I think it has something to do with my size, haha. In any case, I work with them by observing them and gaining trust. There's just something about the connection that teaches so much that words can't describe. I know. I'm a horrible sentimentalist.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

Starlock

What do you think working with animals brings to your path? In other words, why do you choose to work with them? If you don't work with them, why don't you?

I don't really work with animals in my practices. They're just not important to me in my path. Asatru have a sort of fetch/guide called a fylgia, but that's the closest I think I get to expressly working with animals. I keep meaning to find mine, but I just keep pushing it back xd

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How would you describe the relationships you have with various animals? Is it like totemism to you? Is it more like a spirit guide? Something else?

I think it would be closer to having a guide, but I'm not for certain. Sometimes I feel like the lines between spirit guide and totem animal get blurred.

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Are there specific animals that are particularly special to you? In what way and how do you work with them?

Not that I can think of.  

[Kyreie]

Starlock

arrow What do you think working with animals brings to your path? In other words, why do you choose to work with them? If you don't work with them, why don't you?

Many of my beliefs stem from shamanic practices, so I work with animals on a regular basis. I find animals to be uncomplicated and wise. They have a connection to the earth that most humans have lost, by working with them, I'm hoping to reconnect.

Starlock

arrow How would you describe the relationships you have with various animals? Is it like totemism to you? Is it more like a spirit guide? Something else?

I don't really distinguish between totems and spirit guides, like Ultraviolet said, the lines get blurred. I believe I am protected and guided by the animal spirits, as long as I listen to what they have to say!

On the physical side, I've met very few animals (domesticated) that I didn't get along with. One of the greatest joys of my life was watching my dog turn from a suspicious, fearful creature (she had been badly abused and beaten) into a loving, trusting soul. And there's nothing quite like the feeling I get when one of my cats cuddles up with me, falls asleep and starts to dream. There's a lot of trust between two creatures when one of them is willing to put their life in your hands. Wild animals are a little different, they are beautiful to see and their raw power is fascinating. As long as I respect them, they respect me.

Starlock

arrow Are there specific animals that are particularly special to you? In what way and how do you work with them?

I work with all animals, but my own personal totems are very special to me. I work with dragons as well, they are ancient and wise and have a lot to teach, if you can prove yourself to them.  

[WitchyBoy]

i personally look at it like totemism and i call on Brother Raven, Grandmother Owl, Brother stag, and Grandfather Ram. each one teaches there own lesson and aids me in there own way. For instance Brother Stag gives vigor and strength, and teaches that to think on your feet gives you an advantage, where as Grandfather Ram teaches that the hardy who hold there ground will last out in the long run.  

[blindfaith^_^]

question What do you think working with animals brings to your path? In other words, why do you choose to work with them? If you don't work with them, why don't you?

I give reiki to animals sometimes, does this count as working with them? Beyond that I really like animals and they generally really like me. I think it's mostly because of all the things I have fear, stress, or anxiety about, it's never been animals that have worried me.

When my bf isn't around I'm usually an animal favorite even before the reiki. Most animals seem to react to that the same way people do.

question How would you describe the relationships you have with various animals? Is it like totemism to you? Is it more like a spirit guide? Something else?

I have several guides and angels, two of them are animals. One of them is a tiger that I started to become aware of my sophomore year of highschool and the other is a wolf who came fairly unexpectedly into my practice and aid in my senior year.

The tiger for me symbolizes independence, strength, confidence, the ability to be self sufficient, a focus on the present, and general she appears when I'm looking for those kind of energies or ones similar.

The wolf symbolizes movement, journey, newness and so on. When I need to move me a** or when I'm overly hesitance, spent to much time brooding, or just need a new perspective he tends to show up.

I'm not sure what it says about me that these are the forms and combinations these strengths are viewed by me, but it is as it is.

question Are there specific animals that are particularly special to you? In what way and how do you work with them?

Real world animals? All of them are special to me. I don't generally work with them in rite, but I like them and respect them a whole lot.  

[Starlock]

I've been having a lot of fun with the winged ones lately. In spite of living in an apartment building, I have a balcony and therefore I can have a bird feeder. I feel like it's a service to the critters to provide them with a bit of extra food in the winter since we silly humans keep reducing the habitats where they would ordinarily forage during the winter. Because I picked an apartment building that is close to a woodland, I sometimes get woodpeckers visiting the suet block. There's this male Red-Bellied Woodpecker in particular that seems to visit every day. I always know when he does, because he is very noisy and loves to announce his arrival. It's neat to get to know these winged ones. Each of the birds has unique calls and unique movements; that sort of knowledge can be incorporated into a practice to make much more powerful correspondences. whee  

[Mirenithil]

Speaking of totem animals in the classical sense, I've been chewing over the whole thing for quiiiite a while.

The thing that concerns me is that people's totem animals are nearly invariably one of a select set of glamorous carnivores (with a few noncarninvore exceptions, such as Horse.) It's not often that you encounter people with totems like Skylark or Groundhog. Wolf, Eagle, Horse, Bear, those are easily the most popular ones. You run into a lot of people with Dragon or Unicorn as a totem too in certain circles. I have never met anyone with Raccoon or Beaver as a totem.

Then again, I am guessing that each animal totem works with human energy in a particular way, and that these totems are popular not only because they're chosen as the 'coolest' animal (consciously or not) but because they are the most effective. My totem is one of those large carnivores - Bear- yet it is emphatically -not- one I would have chosen since I do not much like bears and to this day I am surprised my totem animal is what it is. I would have chosen something like Sea Turtle, since that makes the most sense and I think sea turtles are absolutely lovely creatures whose family lives are exemplary. My totem animal chose me, made its presence abundantly clear, and I have been aware of Bear now only since last ... April? But there is no doubt Bear is my main, permanent totem animal, despite the fact that as I noted I don't much care for bears and still don't.

The fact that I acquired a large glamorous carnivore totem profoundly shook my previous assumption that many, many people with such totems deliberately chose them only for the coolness factor. *laugh*

Still, I would like to hear from people with, say, a creature like Muskrat as a totem, but the caveat is this: it's important to me that that totem revealed themselves to that person and wasn't chosen just to be oh-so-Different and Original. XD I don't discount animal relationships where the human practitioner initiated the connection, but I'm more interested in cases where the connection was made totem to human.  

[doistu]

What do you think working with animals brings to your path? In other words, why do you choose to work with them? If you don't work with them, why don't you?

I think it brings me closer to things that, as a human being, I have lost through evolution and things that have a deeper knowledge of the world than myself. Animals are accutely attned to the happenings all around us and I believe that, through negelect, many people have lost that. Intergrating animals into my practice helps me listen to the earth.

How would you describe the relationships you have with various animals? Is it like totemism to you? Is it more like a spirit guide? Something else?

In a word, surprising. Through meditation I've come to know animals I never thought I would and through hobbies I've come to own wonderful creatures like snakes. I have an animal spirit guide who visits me regularly. I think I'm currently in the process of meeting new ones too but I'm testing the waters.

Are there specific animals that are particularly special to you? In what way and how do you work with them?

Yes. Though I recognise all if they come to me. I work with them via meditation mainly but also physically.  

[Starlock]

Mirenithil

The thing that concerns me is that people's totem animals are nearly invariably one of a select set of glamorous carnivores (with a few noncarninvore exceptions, such as Horse.) It's not often that you encounter people with totems like Skylark or Groundhog. Wolf, Eagle, Horse, Bear, those are easily the most popular ones. You run into a lot of people with Dragon or Unicorn as a totem too in certain circles. I have never met anyone with Raccoon or Beaver as a totem.

Yeah, that bugs me too. There are a variety of possible explanations for this; in the end we can't know for sure why this is the case. It could be a genuine byproduct of energetic relations/similarity. It could be that people simply aren't open to non-charismatic critters and ignore them or can't hear their messages. It could be that many people are self-picking their totems rather than discovering them on a journey. It could be that few are spiritually tied to the land they practice in, so they end up with critters that aren't native to their area instead of ones that are. Who knows?

Personally, there are a lot of creatures I identify with, but only one I consider to be my spirit animal. While that one ended up being 'charismatic' too, it came to me in a very vivid dream vision, so I had a hard time arguing with it especially given I received knowledge in that dream that I in no way knew before that dream. It honestly gave me the creeps for a while; then I got over it and started working with the animal who had come to me. There are other local species I work with too, though, that are considerably less charismatic. Like Squirrel or Magicicada.  

[AiRune]

I dunno, squirrels have a certain charm to them. Personally, I'd hoped the squirrel would be one of my totems when I had someone else do a reading. Not the case. Instead, I had a hodgepodge of surprises. Three of my totems had revealed themselves in several different ways but I ignored them because they were popular totems: fox, cat, and dragon. Their favorite method was in dreams, but I chalked it up to just liking the animals enough that they popped up. Though, I never dream of animals unless they're protecting me or talking to me. Unfortunately, I don't work often with my totems because I'm not sure how to work with them. They all make sense for different aspects of my personality, my goals, and what I need to grow, but I'm still a little apprehensive because I still think I should had more totems that were less glamorous. I'm just not an "over-the-top" kind of person that can handle those energies. So the only ones I have an easy time relating to are the chickadee and the porcupine.  

[Starlock]

Aww... Chickadee is adorable! They get the prize for 'cutest bird that visits my feeder.' Even when the humming birds come back I don't think that will change.  

[AiRune]

Haha! Would you believe that the chickadee is my "wise counselor"?  

[blindfaith^_^]

Mirenithil

Speaking of totem animals in the classical sense, I've been chewing over the whole thing for quiiiite a while.

The thing that concerns me is that people's totem animals are nearly invariably one of a select set of glamorous carnivores (with a few noncarninvore exceptions, such as Horse.) It's not often that you encounter people with totems like Skylark or Groundhog. Wolf, Eagle, Horse, Bear, those are easily the most popular ones. You run into a lot of people with Dragon or Unicorn as a totem too in certain circles. I have never met anyone with Raccoon or Beaver as a totem.

I'm not 100% certain what the traditional sense of a totem animal is. I've always assumed it's an animal guide who chooses the person instead of the person choosing the guide. I see it a lot like a non-corpral dameon from Pullman's Dark Materials.

I wouldn't really consider either of my animal guides to be totem animals, I'm fairly certain both of them are representations of energies and qualities that I lack and need help, support, and work on.

If we were talking about an animal that represents my personality or that is most like me, it would probably be a rabbit. I'm pretty nervous and suspicious of others attacking me, though I still desire some semblance of community. While I tend to hop around and loaf, I certainly could move quickly when the situation called for it. Then again that still seems a lot like the person picking the animal.

Whatever my totem animal might be, I'm fairly certain it wouldn't be carnivorous, though it could still be something glamorous like I don't know a deer or a peacock or something.

As a side note, I think raccoons are pretty glamorous as far as totems go and I'd think having a connection with one would be bad a**. Totems I'm not fond of would be toads and probably any kind of fish.