Animal Spirit Guides When developing a meaningful relationship with your spirit animal, prepare yourself to explore a world where you can rely more on your imagination and intuition, rather than only using your intellectual abilities and rational mind. How To Find Your Spirit Animal There are many different ways to find your spirit animal: Meditation Going in nature and observing Calling the animal Process of self-inquiry Writing about it in your journal Imagination Journeying with sound These are a few methods among many used to find the animal or animals you have a special connection with. >> Learn more on how to find your spirit animal. Spirit Animal Symbolism Animals are omnipresent in our lives whether they are pets or live in the wild, yet we often lack a clear understanding of their symbolic nature and what they could mean. When we relate to the spirit of animals, they may offer us powerful insight. In the world of spirit animals, animals can symbolize: Aspects of your personality Skills or traits that we have cultivated successfully or have yet to develop A situation or emotions that have recently arisen Spirit animals can also offer guidance, an intuitive understanding Search the spirit animal meanings list for more information . How to develop a meaningful connection with your spirit animal When we bond with an animal spirit guide, we are encouraged to: Discover ourselves, get a felt sense of our strengths and weaknesses, the skills we have developed and our potential Loosen up our personality and habits and open up to transformation Open up to new perspectives on our relationship with nature and the earth as a whole Feel the power of the animal and be inspired by its qualities Call on the animal spirit to get support and guidance Connecting with spirit animals brings new understanding about ourselves and our relationship with our world. When we cultivate our connection with animals and their spirit, we form powerful bonds with allies and guides that can help us in learning more about ourselves, engaging in life more fully and facing challenges. The Purpose of Spirit Animals Spirit animals carry meaningful messages and lessons for those who are listening and know how to decode them. A function of your spirit animal to guide you and bring to your attention something that needs to be acknowledged, dealt with or a skill you could use or develop further. Spirit animals can provide guidance on: An aspect of yourself that is already strongly developed or needs to be explored more A situation or environment in your everyday life that has a strong emotional impact A life direction you could consider or reflect on. What is the Difference Between a Spirit Animal and a Power Animal? The terms “spirit animal” and “power animal” are often used interchangeably, even though they have slightly different meaning depending on the context in which they are used. Spirit Animal Definition Spirit animals are typically associated with traditional as well as modern Western shamanic practices. During initiations or shamanic journeys, the shaman would find one or several animals that she or another person is associated with. Traditionally, the spirit animal is used for guidance. Think of your spirit animal as a guardian spirit or spirit guide. It can play the role of protector and provides guidance. It’s like a “personal guide or protector” that has a personal affinity with the person it’s associated with. Power Animals In addition, the spirit of the animal could unite with the person it “chose” in more personal ways and one will often find similarities in traits of personality, characteristics, and synchronicity between the two. As such, the power or essence of the animal can be felt or communicated. In that sense, spirit animals can also be referred to as “power animals”. How To Find Your Spirit Animal, a more in depth look. There are many ways to finding out what this special animal is. When starting on the path of the world of the animal spirits, it’s important to remember that a spirit animal cannot be chosen. It “chooses” you. In most cases, spirit animals can appear to you when you journey out of your conventional state of mind, such as during meditations, day dreams, night dreams, or other altered states of consciousness. Spirit animals can also come into your sphere of perception in their physical form. You will notice them because of an unusual behavior or multiple encounters in a short time span. Ways to introduce yourself to a spirit animal Finding your spirit animals can take many shapes. Here are some starting points: Look in nature and observe Be attentive when an animal appears in your life in a way that is noticeable, when it has an unusual behavior; it may be a spirit animal trying to grab your attention Watch for repetitive encounters with the animal either in its physical or symbolic form (as object or image) Read books on animals and reflect on an animal that is standing out Meditate either with the general intention of finding a spirit animal or on a specific animal you’ve found ealier Be attentive to dreams featuring animals Process of journeying (for instance visualization accompanied with sound, shamanic drumming) How to find your spirit animal through meditation Meditations provides an effective way to connecting to your spirit animal. We use the term “meditation” is a loose way to designate means of relaxing and using active imagination to visualize and “journey inwardly”. Set your intention for this inner journey to connect with one or several spirit animals. Using meditation to find what your spirit animal is allows you to drop into a different state of mind or altered state where you are more receptive to the energy and intuitive wisdom of the animal spirit world. Finding spirit animals in dreams Animals in dreams are common manifestations of unconscious imagery, but also guidance. If the animal in your dream is one of your power animals or a spirit animal that has guided you in the past, pay particular attention to the message your dream delivers. Animals in dreams whether they are spirit animals or not typically represent: feelings that have not been fully acknowledged yet by the dreamer aspect of the personality or feelings considered as “wild” or hard to control; basic instinctual drive or emotions; an event or person’s influence in the dreamer’s life intuitive guidance using the shape of an animal spirit guide What to do once you have found your spirit animal Here are a few things you can do once you think you have found your spirit animal or know what your spirit animal is. Learn about your spirit animal as much as you can: Observe it when you see it in physical form, learn about it in books or in other media, feel it, imagine it. Quickly list the qualities or attributes of the animal you feel could be your spirit animal. Don’t think about it too much, just respond to these questions as quickly as you can, then ask them again and see if you can find more associations: How do the animal traits relate to you? How does the animal and what it represents connect to experiences you have or had life? If your spirit animal had a voice, what would it say to you right now? Spirit animal questionnaire Here are a few possible directions to find your spirit animal and figure out what kind of connection you have with it or what message it’s conveying to you. The following questions are applicable to any animal. How do you feel about the animal and its presence? If you met your spirit animal in person, how did you feel then? Go back to the roots of the emotional charge of the moment: Were you scared? Did you feel threatened? Were you happy to see your spirit animal? Are there connections between your spirit animal and situations or events in your life? Are there connection between how you feel about your spirit animal and feelings you have in other areas of your life? Observe if new emotions or associations emerge, as they may have been out of your awareness until now. The spirit animal could represent your feelings, but also a person, an event or a situation from your past or present life. What qualities do you personally associate with your spirit animal? Look at the characteristics or traits or imaginary qualities or symbols you typically give to your spirit animal. This is a good starting point for the creating meanings and developing a stronger connection with your animal spirit guide or guides. How is the animal typically portrayed by society or spiritual traditions? You can also look at conventional images or general cultural meanings that are typically attributed to your spirit animal. Spirit animals can be imbued by this generic meaning. Include this perspective in the exploration to find your spirit animal or use it to complement your understanding. Spirit animals often offer puns or a play on words to reveal a deeper message. Be sensitive to this type of association when you try to find the meaning of power animal. Daniel & Chell
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 03:51:28 +0000
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