By: J Nighteagle
We can use animal imagery and other nature totem images as a way to learn about ourselves and the invisible world. We do not have to believe that these images and totems are beings of great intelligence, but there are archetypes powers that reside behind and oversee all manifestation in Nature.
These archetypes have their own qualities and characteristics which are reflected through the behaviors and activities of animals and other expressions of Nature. When we pay attention to and acknowledge a nature totem, we are honoring the essence that lies behind it. We are opening up and attuning to that essence. We can use it to understand our own life circumstance more clearly. We can share in its power or “ medicine”. Nature totems- –especially animals– are symbols of specific kinds of energy we are manifesting and aligning with in our life.
The animal becomes a symbol of a specific force of the inevitable, spiritual realm manifesting in our own life. The characteristics and activities of these totems will revel much about our innate powers and abilities. By studying the totem and then learning to merge with it, we are able to call upon
its archetypal energy when ever we needed. Terrestrial animals have always had a strong symbology associated with them. They have represented the emotional side of life, often reflecting qualities that must be overcome, controlled, and or/ expressed. They are also symbols of power–powers associated with the invisible realm that we can learn to manifest within the visible..
Birds have always been considered symbols of the sole. There ability to fly reflects the abilities within us to rise to a new awareness, bridging the earth and the heavens. As totems, birds have their own peculiar characteristics, but they can all be used to stimulate greater flights of hope, inspiration and ideas.
Aquatic life can also be a totem. Water is an ancient symbol of the astral plane and the creative element of life. Various fish and other forms of aquatic life symbolize guidance to specific expressions of intuition and creative imagination. They can reflect the feminine side of our essence
