To believe in totem animals, you need to have a belief that our world is one; meaning we are all energetically and spiritually connected. Plants, insects, fish, water, fire, animals, birds, air, soil - everything is one. We cannot live in this world without understanding we are all connected.
That being said, you also must have the understanding that you are energetically tied to everything you interact with, be it a person, plant, body of water, or the spider in your house. Sounds flaky, I know. You need to understand that you have the ability to possess certain qualities these totems are showing you in order to better your life or your self. That is the key.
I find that when I am struggling with an issue in life, animals or birds will appear that I suddenly start to notice more. At the time of this writing, the peacock has fascinated me for the past month or so. I have always thought the bird was pretty, but never really paid much attention to it. However, at the beginning of the month, I went shopping in Pier 1 imports and saw an absolutely beautiful peacock statue. Since then I have been obsessed. I have a peacock theme Christmas tree, complete with real peacock feathers. I have been wearing a peacock necklace, I have been reading about the peacock. It suddenly resonated with me this must be a new totem for me.
When you realize your totem, and you can have several over your lifetime, you need to realize the qualities of the bird/animal in general. Is it a timid animal or strong and brave? Do they have any physical features that help them in their day to day lives? What is the general nature or personality of this animal?
Ok peacock. All I know is that the male gets all arrogant and shows his feathers to the girls. Maybe this means I need to be less arrogant, or does that mean I need to be more 'out there'? In my current situation, being more out there is probably more appropriate. I also thought about the feathers; how they look like they have eyes. I thought this was telling me to be very aware, to use my eyes, both physically and intuitively. Not necessarily looking for danger, but I am at a crossroads and I have the sense that there is a major opportunity coming for me soon that I need to be aware of.
I then read a little about the peacock. I had no clue peacocks ate snakes, including giant cobras! Also, in nature, they have a loud (rather annoying) call to alert the others of Tigers being in the area (remember peacocks are from India). So peacocks can be viewed of as protectors, in terms of eating those snakes and alerting everyone when a Tiger is around. Strong, caring, and protecting qualities. I can see how I could use those qualities in my life at the moment.
So now that I have the knowledge that the peacock is my current totem, and what message I need to understand from it I need to honor the animal. You do this by saying a short prayer each time you see one, going to feed the ones you see in captivity, or adorning your home with statues or pictures of them. Some people do this unintentionally- you look around their home and can tell the duck is a totem for them because the entire house has ducks everywhere!
Totems come and go, and some stay for life. You will know when your totem is no longer effective to you, and that's ok. Totems also sometimes come in ways you would never really think of. I've had totems appear very often in dreams, where I often have amazing physical encounters with them, and then I wake up and very vividly remember the dream. They can also appear in meditation, or just in your thoughts. The point is that if an animal/bird/insect is making you think about them a lot, then likely you can learn something from how they interact in the world and they wish to make this to connection with you.
What a wonderful gift!
I find that when I am struggling with an issue in life, animals or birds will appear that I suddenly start to notice more. At the time of this writing, the peacock has fascinated me for the past month or so. I have always thought the bird was pretty, but never really paid much attention to it. However, at the beginning of the month, I went shopping in Pier 1 imports and saw an absolutely beautiful peacock statue. Since then I have been obsessed. I have a peacock theme Christmas tree, complete with real peacock feathers. I have been wearing a peacock necklace, I have been reading about the peacock. It suddenly resonated with me this must be a new totem for me.
When you realize your totem, and you can have several over your lifetime, you need to realize the qualities of the bird/animal in general. Is it a timid animal or strong and brave? Do they have any physical features that help them in their day to day lives? What is the general nature or personality of this animal?
Ok peacock. All I know is that the male gets all arrogant and shows his feathers to the girls. Maybe this means I need to be less arrogant, or does that mean I need to be more 'out there'? In my current situation, being more out there is probably more appropriate. I also thought about the feathers; how they look like they have eyes. I thought this was telling me to be very aware, to use my eyes, both physically and intuitively. Not necessarily looking for danger, but I am at a crossroads and I have the sense that there is a major opportunity coming for me soon that I need to be aware of.
I then read a little about the peacock. I had no clue peacocks ate snakes, including giant cobras! Also, in nature, they have a loud (rather annoying) call to alert the others of Tigers being in the area (remember peacocks are from India). So peacocks can be viewed of as protectors, in terms of eating those snakes and alerting everyone when a Tiger is around. Strong, caring, and protecting qualities. I can see how I could use those qualities in my life at the moment.
So now that I have the knowledge that the peacock is my current totem, and what message I need to understand from it I need to honor the animal. You do this by saying a short prayer each time you see one, going to feed the ones you see in captivity, or adorning your home with statues or pictures of them. Some people do this unintentionally- you look around their home and can tell the duck is a totem for them because the entire house has ducks everywhere!
Totems come and go, and some stay for life. You will know when your totem is no longer effective to you, and that's ok. Totems also sometimes come in ways you would never really think of. I've had totems appear very often in dreams, where I often have amazing physical encounters with them, and then I wake up and very vividly remember the dream. They can also appear in meditation, or just in your thoughts. The point is that if an animal/bird/insect is making you think about them a lot, then likely you can learn something from how they interact in the world and they wish to make this to connection with you.
What a wonderful gift!
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