Animal Spirits and Totems
I am researching a lot of info on animal totems-as the Native Americans have strong beliefs in animal spirits and their meanings due to many reasons. It is a fascinating thing to explore-and there are lists online about the meaning of several 'common' birds and animals we may come into contact with on a daily basis. Is there 'meaning' behind these appearanaces of certain animals to us? I do believe this. Squirrels are common in rural areas-but I have had several other 'critters' as listed below making random and somewhat 'strange appearances' over the recent years. I've seen gaggles of geese to a herd of sheep that appeared from out of nowhere from miles away!
I recently this week observed in the early mornings-deer grazing as the
sun came up. One had a rabbit rambling in the grass just beneath it.
Later on in the same week-I spotted a turkey strutting across my
backyard-near a wooded area. I thought I was seeing things-but lo and
behold it WAS indeed a turkey! *S* I'd seen it once a year ago--and
also my neighbors-and we had laughed about seeing a turkey-as it a rare
sight indeed! I do believe in animal spirits-and to me these are
signs of 'blessings'-and lately I've had deer, a pair of rabbits, a turkey-and
flocks of doves everywhere!! If anyone KNOWS what a turkey
means-please let me know! I'm still researching that one! All I could
find was 'a sign of abundance'! I'll gladly accept that one! *S* Crows are known as 'spirit messengers' in Native American beliefs. Over the last 2 summers-I found a huge Praying Mantis-and didn't have a clue what it was! It was 3-4 inches long and gigantic! I had to call a farmer who came over and said "welp; you got yerself a prayin mantis there'-and it won't hurt a thing" I got curious and discovered an article where a Praying Mantis means "the Prophet"! Even the most 'common' (and uncommon*) insects you see around your home-DO have meanings in case you didn't know this! This includes bees, wasps, grasshoppers and the common ants. If
you've never explored what these creatures mean--the NEXT time you
encounter a 'cardinal', a common bird or ANY animal wandering around your hometurf--DO
explore or research the meaning of what they hold for you! You will
find some wonderful info that will help you maybe to understand
something that has been bothering you OR a way that Spirit has of
showing us something we NEED to 'see' for ourselves! You'll begin to study what animals tend to wander in your path going to work-and also pay more attention to those at home.
Here are several good links that I found quite informative on Animal Spirits/Animal Totems-and you can research for more on GOOGLE!
http://www.animalspirits.com/http://www.sayahda.com/cycle.htmhttp://www.animaltotem.com/find-your-totem.html