Spirit Lodge - Totem Animals - Page 82 - HOW DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR TOTEMS? DISCUSSION

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Bear Medicine	Birth Totems	Coyote Medicine	Dragon Ranks	Dragonfly Medicine	Eagle Medicine	Four Animal Helpers	Grey Wolf Medicine	Hawk
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HOW DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR TOTEMS? DISCUSSION
By BanjoSally

How did you discover your first spirit animal? I found my first--and main--totem when I woke
up in a motel and saw a huge mountain lion (cougar) walking toward me. (I knew she was a
spirit, so I wasn't scared of her.) Then she entered my body by crawling through my third eye.

CS:
I never explored Totems until I started exploring Shamanism about 6 years ago. After learning
about them, I discovered Eagle was with me all the time. As a child, my parents called me
"Eagle-eye" because I could always find something on the floor that others couldn't find. One of
my favorite songs was "I Want to Fly Like an Eagle" and the college I chose had an Eagle for the
mascot. When I journeyed for my animal, Eagle is who came to me. So, I guess my "discovery"
happened through reflection and journeying.

EagleSinging:
Hey Banjo Sally. Well it wasn't as dramatic or exciting in my situation. For me it wasn't about
discovering them per se. I had relationships with certain animals where I understood their
messages. For me, it wasn't about discovering them; it was about acknowledging and honoring
them and from their our relationships have grown deeper.

CinnamonMoon:
I recently talked about this in another thread, for me it was Wolf coming forward, she came as a
shadow and I could feel the presence of the pack with her, they camped under my bed while she
sat at the foot. I was 5 yrs. old at the time and terrified at first because she would follow me
around the house if I got up at night. Her shadow showed everywhere I went and looked. That
was spooky stuff for a little one to take in and she would not go away. My fear was the threat of
the 'big bad Wolf', not her. She didn't just come once though, she came night after night until I
settled down and was able to lose the fear. She and the pack have never left and have shown me
the greatest of patience over the years. At first she was not acting or speaking, just letting me get
comfortable being aware of her. Today I adore her and the pack that travels with her. They have
brought me through so much, what blessings they are!

BanjoSally:
Cinnamon, I didn't think to browse the boards for a similar topic before I posted this. I apologize
for leaping before I looked.

Treasa:
The ones I know about, physically came up to me and either told me outright or did something so
totally out of the ordinary for their kind that I HAD to pay attention.

CinnamonMoon:
Sally, no need to apologize it's fine. The topic isn't quite the same as the other thread I was
talking about and you've done nothing wrong. Keep it coming. *Smiles*

Northernwolf:
To be honest I don’t know. I found it with the animal tarot by Jamie Sams. there is an exercise
for finding you totem, a kind of guided visualization. I think it was in that book. And there I saw
Wolf. In a way I would not have it any other way LOL. I don’t know why, I've been fascinated
with wolves for a long time. This makes me think about the favorite animals I had while growing
up and wonder if at some point they might have been totems in the background.

Mouse:
I was 14, doing a meditation in an intuitive development group. It was a guided visualization and
we were to receive gifts from Mother Earth. Well, since I was such a good student, and so open
and highly evolved, I would be receiving VALUABLE gifts, yes? Of course. Well, I came back
with a little Johnny Jump-Up, and a wee little white mouse. I was steaming mad. P*ssed off
beyond all means. WTF??? ME??? I guess I wasn't worth anything after all then. It slipped me
into a serious questioning of who I was and what I was doing.

Over that next year I learned how hardy little mousies are, how they survive major hardship, how
they survive on little nourishment and are so agile and versatile that they will find nourishment in
most unexpected things. They are such strong survivors because they can hide so well, move into
the little corners that are overlooked. They know those little corners too. Hm. Perhaps little
mouse wasn't as useless after all. And lookie here. Perhaps Johnny Jump Ups are those hardy
little flowers that are indestructible in the forest. No matter how dense the forest - a Johnny Jump
Up will grow when there's a shimmer of light that comes through into the moss. And well, ever
come across the flower essence of viola tricolor? Whew!! That's good medicine!!

So two tiny little hardy survivors, creative and curious and mobile organisms. What a lesson in
humility. In unity, creativity, acceptance, love and mostly, LIFE. It wasn't until I came to Spirit
Lodge that I started to really allow Mouse to come out, and there was a huge breakthrough when
that wee lil mouse first openly ROARED instead of squeaked. So that's me... Mouse Who Roars.
I think that's the one that stands out most and that wants to be shared. The other journeys were
more private, and more of a slipping into step kind of thing.

Wynsong:
Tiger came to me, the way that wolf came to Cinnamon. He stalked my dreams, and in my child
way, I thought he stalked me. It was a bit frightening. Those dreams stayed with me until we
moved from that home (age 14) then disappeared. It has only been recently that he has come
back to stalk my dreams again, but now I understand that he never stalked me, but always
walked with me. With the honoring of that relationship have come the awakening to other of my
animal totems, and how they have been with me through my life. And just of late...the unexpected
realization that I actually become them for moments. The most startling , was the first time, when
I went to greet the father of (one of) my son's girlfriend...and I didn't extend my hand, but my
paw....and I didn't shake his hand with my paw, but his paw....he walks with lion. Since then I
have found myself inside one of my totems on several occasions. It is a very new experience.