Spirit Lodge - Totem Animals - Page 56

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Totem Animals

Page 56

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Some of the links for the 197 pages in this Totem Animals section are below. For the rest please go HERE

Bear Medicine	Birth Totems	Coyote Medicine	Dragon Ranks	Dragonfly Medicine	Eagle Medicine	Four Animal Helpers	Grey Wolf Medicine	Hawk
Heron Medicine	Horse	Magpie	Raccoon	Salmon Medicine	Spider Medicine	Swan Medicine	Thunder Being Medicine	Totem Loss Disc

ELK
By CinnamonMoon

Elk Medicine represents strength, stamina, nobility, and protection of women.

Elk teaches the camaraderie of one's own gender. It mingles with the opposite sex only during
mating season and shows the importance of attunement to those who understand you as well as
the support of numbers. Elk will watch after one and other's young so they demonstrate the
ability to call on others when help is needed. Its horns are a protective barrier and it has long
been the symbol of protection for women as well as good luck.

The ability of Elk to endure a steady pace for a long period of time teaches the art of endurance.
Elk will change its pace when necessary teaching you to be adaptable to shifts along your path. It
will speak to you of turning to your own gender to gain understanding of what you are going
through either emotionally or mentally. Its great strength leaves it few enemies and it will show
you how to take a stand and fight for what you believe in every time. The warrior in you, male or
female, will be brought to the fore when Elk appears. Through this teacher you will learn
endurance and stamina as you make your way consistently along your path. You will learn the
value of friendship and need for others in your life. If your path is dull it will show you how to
change it and find excitement, examine your life, and push ahead when you feel the need arises.

SisterCyber:
The Elk
www.sayahda.com/cyc2.html (no longer active)

Elk have tremendous stamina and can run for a very long time. They are powerful animals with
strong reflexes and respond quickly to anything that appears on their path. They are also
unpredictable, passive one moment and aggressive the next. Elk can sense danger the moment it
arrives and can teach us how to become more observant of subtle energies.

Elk live in large herds and are seldom seen alone. Although they enjoy the company of their own
kind they do need space to roam and if cornered they can become quite dangerous. Those with
this totem need a sacred space to retreat to from time to time in order to keep their energy balanced.

The elk, like the deer, have contests to see who will mate with the does; but unlike the deer, elk
will fight very aggressively and frequently draw blood or worse. Those with this medicine need
to keep their aggressive tendencies under control and seek fairness in all that they do. These
tendencies may not be evident to the conscious mind, although when provoked they can often
surface unexpectedly.

Elk never graze at night. An attacked herd will bolt in all directions so as to confuse a predator.
The art of survival is part of its teachings. Majestic in their bearing the elk demands respect.
Adult bulls with a full set of antlers are a match for any animal they would encounter, including a bear.

There is no more impressive a sight than a full grown elk, with its winter coat, standing tall and
looking fierce. Elk shares with us its regal demeanor and those with this totem often find
themselves on center stage both in their professional and personal lives. If Elk medicine is fully
developed within a person a strong self-image is expressed. Those with this totem usually have
past life associations connected to royalty.

When elk appears in your life, it may be telling you to polish your act and carry yourself with
pride and power. That does not mean you should be egotistical, however, for elk knows that its
true power comes from Great Spirit. It shows off the gifts it has been given and uses them to its
advantage.

Elk holds the medicine of strength and empowerment. If you need to be impressive in a situation,
it would be good to connect with elk and learn from it. If you are shy or unsure elk can show you
how to become more confident.

From Jamie Sams' & David Carson's "Medicine Cards" (Revised, Expanded Edition)
Elk...
Your antlers reach for the Sun.
Show me that strength
and stamina are one.

ELK: STAMINA
Elk wandered through the forest looking for a partner. The mating season was in full swing, and
the bucks that usually traveled with the other males had dispersed to find mates for the seasons.
As Elk bellowed his mating call through the forest, his bugling alerted Mountain Lion that a
feast could be in the making.

Mountain Lion circled Elk, getting closer to his prey moment by moment. Elk sensed the
impending danger when the forest grew suddenly silent. He broke for the high country when he
spotted his pursuer, but Mountain Lion was far behind. As Elk made a running leap for the
timberline, Mountain Lion gained on him, but Elk continued to run onward, displaying
tremendous stamina. Finally, Mountain Lion gave up, having spent his energy in spurts as he
tried to jump over boulders to reach Elk. Elk paced himself, making headway as he climbed
skyward toward the high country. Elk had no other defense except his ability to go the distance,
setting a pace that allowed him to utilize his stamina and energy to the fullest.

Elk Medicine teaches that pacing yourself will increase your stamina. Elk medicine people may
not be the first ones to arrive at a goal, but they always arrive without getting burned out. If you
have taken on too much recently, it might be a good idea to look at how you plan to finish what
you have started without ending up in the hospital.

Elk have a curious kind of warrior energy because, except at mating time, they honor the
company of their own gender. They can call on the medicine of brotherhood or sisterhood. In
discovering the strength which is gained from loving the gender that is your own, you will feel
the comradeship that arises from similarity of experience. This is a special medicine that allows
the friendship of others of your same sex to overcome potential competition or jealousy.

If you have picked Elk medicine, you may be telling yourself to seek the company of your own
gender for a while. You may need a support group to realign yourself with the stamina of the
warrior/warrioress energy that you are a part of. This communication with others of your own
sex allows you to air your feelings in safety and to get feedback from others who have had the
same experiences. You may need a new sense of community ~ communication in unity.

Elk could also be telling you to look at how you are holding up physically to the stresses in your
life, and to pace yourself so that you maintain an equilibrium of energy over the distance you
plan to cover. Vitamins or high-energy foods may be one solution, along with some personal
quiet time for replenishment.

CONTRARY
If Elk as appeared in the reverse position, you may be stretching the rubber band to the breaking
point. Be careful of undue stress levels, or you might just create an illness to force you to take a
break.

On another level, you may not be honoring your desire for companionship with the opposite sex,
and you may have forgotten the excitement of mating season. If this is the case, you may find that
your best option is to invite friends of the opposite sex for dinner or an afternoon outing. This is
not to say that you would be sexually interested in these friends; it is merely suggesting that the
exchange of opposite energies could be rewarding.

If you are in a relationship, it may be that the honeymoon is waning and that you need to stir up
some excitement. Persistently creating a "change of pace" is the kind of stamina needed for any
relationship to last.

In all cases, Elk is telling you to look at how you choose to create your present pathway, and
how you intend to perpetuate it to reach your goal. Your best weapon is the same as Elk's: to
st6op when you need to, to persist when you need to, and to allow room for change and exchange
of energies.