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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

HYENA MEDICINE
By CinnamonMoon

Animal-Wise/Ted Andrews:
Keynote: Formidable instincts and abilities. Develop clan and communal life.
Hyenas are dog-like creatures of Africa and Asia and are often scorned for their funny looks and
their scavenging habits, but they are in reality formidable hunters, taking on formidable prey.

They have keen noses for hunting, and actually hunt more prey than scavenge. They will chase
off lions, and a fully-grown hyena is capable of tackling a wildebeest on its own.

Spotted hyenas do almost everything together in packs. Still, the females give birth alone,
staying away from their clan for at least a week before moving the litter into the communal den.
It is safer, for adult males will eat the young. It also enables time for the mother and young to
bond. It is often a reminder in our modern times of a need to have time alone with our children,
especially in the early days. It will make them stronger, more confident, and formidable adults.

In more ancient times, the first month or so after a new birth was a time when only the
immediate family had contact with the mother and child. This sheltered the young from outside
disease and influence, and it strengthened the bond of the family.

For those to whom the hyena appears, the clan, be it biological or otherwise, will become more
important. Tasks will be accomplished more easily and effectively. Protection and safety will be
found in clan-type alliances--especially in business.

All females in the spotted hyena clan breed and they will suckle their young for up to 18 months.
In order to feed her young for such a length of time, there must be a gorging at pack kills. In a
single year, a nursing mother may travel up to 4,000 miles to and from her pups. The mother
usually only raises two pups on her own and each mother has her own call to her pups, which
will respond in kind.

The jaws and stomach of the hyena are extremely strong, so strong that it is capable of devouring
a whole wildebeest carcass. This includes the bones, hooves, and horn. When the hyena appears,
our ability to digest more, to take in more experiences and opportunities, will increase.

Our jaws will become stronger in the sense of our words and communications. Things said more
softly and lovingly will be felt more lovingly. Things said more harshly and cutting will cut more
deeply. We will need to be careful of what we say, how we say it, and to whom we say it.

Hyenas have extremely highly developed noses: The nasal membrane surface is 50 times bigger
than a human's. This gives it a sensitivity to smell that allows communication approaching the
subtlety of human speech. From a single patch of urine, a hyena can tell what type of animal
secreted it, even if the patch is several hours old. And if the urine was passed by one of its own
clan, it can tell which animal it was.

The sense of smell is associated with discrimination and discernment. When the hyena appears
as a messenger, we will find our ability to discern and discriminate growing stronger. We will be
clearer on what to do, when to do it, who to trust, who to believe, and more. We will learn to
trust "what smells right" as opposed to "what smells fishy." Our inner sense of smell will be
more acute than what we see or hear, and it will be important to trust it.

The hyena is a truly formidable animal, but we should examine our present situation when it
appears. Our instincts will be strong and accurate and our clan support for our endeavors will be
so as well.

Do we trust our own perceptions?
Do we need to be more discerning and discriminating?
Are we not acting on our impressions?
Are we not pursuing the opportunities that "we smell" in the offing?
Do we need to help our family and friends?
Are we getting help from them as well?

*Encyclopedia of Signs, Omens and Superstitions/Zolar
The shadow of a hyena brushing past a dog will make the dog mute, according to an ancient
Egyptian belief. Folklore holds that the hyena changes its sex every year and can imitate man's
voice to attract its prey.

*The Secret Language of Signs/Denise Linn
This is a sign of noise and merriment out of proportion or perhaps not appropriate to the
situation. Are you or is someone you know acting like a hyena? In nature, hyenas are ferociaous
and have very powerful jaws. Is this the time to activate your power and ferocity?

*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Hyena implies a lack of seriousness or a vicious nature. Surrounding dreamscape details will
clarify which meaning is inferred.

BeWater:
I was watching Animal Planet (what else is new...?) and can't remember the show I was
watching ~ Growing Up Hyena, I think... Anyway, something stuck with me and I thought I'd
share it here, maybe to be added to Hyena Medicine if we have a thread on that ~ I haven't
checked. Grossed me out, actually.... As they displayed the Hyenas doing this, the commentator
said that Hyenas have a hierarchy and the leader is female. When a female "up in rank" lifts her
tail, subordinates must lift their leg and allow themselves to be inspected by the dominant
female. Their hierarchy is very strict, with the highest ranking male being subordinate to the
lowest ranking female. That's all. I thought it was interesting, because I didn't know that.