Animal totems

The word Animal is from the Latin Animalis which the root is "Anima" the soul or breath of life. The English word "totem" was first known and used around 1776 and originally come from the Anishinaabe word odoodeman or the Ojibwe oto·te·man, which means "consanguine kin" or a "kinship or familial relationships". Almost all cultures have forms of animal totem. Whatever terminology is used for these animal partnerships, the totem represented the connection and relationship as a symbolic expression to the clan and individuals who adapt the animal energy for spiritual guidance and insight. Regardless of culture, the variety of animal totem terminologies around the world, reflect our sacred kinship with animals which pervades linguistics.

 

Animals emanate the breath of our lives by showing us certain qualities and behaviors that we should emulate somewhere in our daily lives. Our kinship with them teaches many things such as patience, endurance and the balance of our male/female aspect or sometimes called yin/yang energy or polarities. Subsequently, Carl Jung's concept of male/female in the "collective unconscious" concept is animus/anima respectively. Is it through the archetypal energy that we are able to communicate with this collective unconscious a gateway to our true selves. Animal wisdom emits these fundamental truths if we are willing to learn and understand their language. As humans we can learn and remember our connection to animals and the knowledge that inextricable links us with them. Nature is an amazing teacher that breathes new life into our spirit. 

Our knowledge and connection to the animals have expanded considerably over the last few decades. Since there is widespread knowledge at our fingertips spanning globally personal animal associations have become broadly adapted to animals from other regions. Animal symbolism has progressed beyond cultural and national boundaries to encompass a broad spectrum of animals over many continents. In this new age of knowledge, power animals are not subject to nor can the belong to one culture. Our animal kin speak to our hearts and souls from across the land to guide and instruct our personal pathway. Animal Totems should not be looked at only as symbols but rather as a way of life, as a way of being connected to The Great Mystery. 

Depending on the various world wide traditions, one may have a set number of animal totems present in one's life. Of the vast array of animal species in the world, biologists think between 2 and 50 million, our symbolic references to the animals is likewise infinite, especially. The key is not in the counting of the animal guides but more importantly learning from each over our lifetime.

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