Working with Totems & Allies - Introduction
 

Greetings Friends!

 

Welcome to the New Year. May it be the best year yet of ever-deepening awareness, broadening freedom and increasing joy for each of us as we continue to practice walking the way of beauty and gratitude.

 

Living the shamanic life is about relationship and inter-dependence: how we are all connected; how we bless or hinder each other in the web of life. And, as we all know, that connectedness does not start and end with humans. Our animal buddies, mineral friends, and plant allies all have gifts to give, lessons to teach, and wisdom to impart to those who dare to listen. That is why, this year, Spirit has led me to dedicate my blog to Shamanic Earth Medicine and its lessons for us throughout the cycles of the year. So, without further adieu, let’s get to it!

 

 

How to Honor and Work with Animal Spirits

 

Since I’ll be writing all year about seasonal allies, I thought I would begin with a little about how to approach the work. I’m assuming if you’re reading this that you have a rudimentary knowledge of shamanism, so this will be brief. There are uncountable ways, of course, to work with the spirits of nature and many good books on the subject. These are just a few.

 

1. Start by looking up information on the plant, animal, mineral. Find its habitat, seasonal patterns (migration, hibernation), dietary needs, and other facts about its formation and/or life cycle. Cut out a picture of it, draw it, listen to recordings of its voice, etc.  When you know a little about it, do a ritual to encounter it on the spirit plane.

 

2. Always start your ritual by calling in the four directions, spirit guides, or any Higher Power(s) that have meaning to you personally. Ask that they bring you wisdom, knowledge, and protection as you perform your ritual. I always light a candle representing the light of Spirit, asking Source to shed His/Her light on my sacred time.

 

3. Center yourself. This could be through drumming or toning, visualization, going into silent meditation for a few minutes – anything that brings you to a place of receptivity and connection. What’s important is that you establish a pattern that works for you and stick to it so that, with practice, you can instantly shift to that place.

 

4. When you have entered a peaceful state, tell whatever animal, plant, or mineral is your focus that you seek to come into its presence and to learn of it. You may find it helpful to visualize or journey to a place that you know is its natural habitat. Once there, ask that it meet you there, then wait patiently to see what happens. You may have a vision, hear a sound, or just have a sense of a presence. If this occurs, ask that it reveal to you whatever lesson it will for your higher good and those around you.

 

5. Accept whatever you see, hear, of sense without judgment. If it doesn’t make immediate sense to you, don’t try to instantly interpret it. Don’t go into your mind or ego. Just sit with it. Ask the plant, mineral or animal, as well as your guides, to make the message clear to you in the coming days. Ask for other signs in your life that will clarify and verify the message.

 

6. Always close your time with thanksgiving: first to the totem spirit you have encountered, then to your guides and allies who have held you on the journey. Thank Great Spirit and close the directions, blowing out the candle last.

 

7. Some people are better at working in the unconscious, rather than conscious realms. If so, another approach is to request the desired totem visit or send you messages in your dreams. Be sure to affirm, before falling asleep, that you will understand and remember all relevant information and experiences that come to you in your dreams.  

 

8. If possible, get outdoors and connect with nature. Take walks on the beach, hike through the woods, staying open to physical encounters with the totem you have visited in spirit. If you see one, observe it as much as possible. How does it walk, crawl, fly, grow? How many have appeared? Sometimes numbers can have meaning.

 

9. In the following days, be aware of synchronicities. Are you suddenly seeing the creature show up all over the place -- such as in ads, on TV shows, magazine covers or articles; in conversations? Are you suddenly meeting people with traits similar to the totem’s? Are you seeing loads and loads of things in its color? These may be signs the animal is showing up for you. You may also have synchronicities around the message you received or the question you asked. Whatever the synchronicities, if you are paying attention, they will begin to tell a story and the meaning of your message will be revealed.

 

10. When you discover the wisdom you sought from the totem, do another ritual to thank it. If it has appeared to you in numbers or multiple times, ask it if is willing to be your ally, a permanent helper and guide. If it agrees, you will get a sense of that. Rejoice, you have gained a new friend. If this happens, be sure to honor it in some way (donate some time or money to conservation, work in an animal rescue mission, etc.) and journey to it often. Once an animal, plant, or mineral agrees to be an ally, you are entering into a relationship. Like any relationship, it requires some commitment and investment to grow. So give it some attention on a regular basis and it will be with you always.

 

But what if the totem doesn’t show up on your journey? Don’t be dismayed. Sometimes spirits will test your commitment before showing up. Sometimes, they can be quite close but prowl around unseen, like a jaguar or snow leopard, checking you out. If this is your experience, it’s a good idea to take an honest look at yourself and your lifestyle. Sometimes, we may be doing something offensive to the plant, mineral, animal that we’re not aware of. If you are seeking a plant spirit, do you put herbicide on your yard? Do we waste electricity, running lights and computers when we’re not using them? Do you work for a company that is destroying wilderness areas for trees, gold, oil? Are we protecting or polluting its habitat? When seeking to connect with the spirits of nature, we must raise our awareness of how we conduct ourselves with regard to it. If you feel you’re respectful of nature, or have righted yourself with respect to the offense, then be patient, and remember the old adage, “if at first you don’t succeed…” If you persist, you will have rewarding experiences – probably sooner than you expect -- with beings that, previously, you may have even doubted exist!

 

As always, feel free to contact me through my website about any questions or concerns you may have. I will answer them where appropriate in upcoming blogs.

 

Peace and prosperity for the coming year,

Ashandra-Aah

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