Power Animals
Power animals show up in our lives with messages. You may start to see more of a particular animal or have a unique encounter with one - like the playful squirrel who started showing up on my porch one day. You may also start seeing the animal on everything from mugs in your cupboard to sweaters on your friends (who happen to be carrying a mug with the animal on it!)
Pay attention when a special animal starts making regular appearances in your lives and start to ask what it’s there to teach you.
Power Animal: Whales
Photo: Cameron Venti
I am afraid of whales.
Strange, right? Because really, what’s a whale going to do to you if you aren’t Captain Ahab?
But, I grew up on the ocean and whale sightings were fairly regular. One day, when I was 11, I was heading home alone in my boat when a massive grey ‘thing’ silently appeared beside me. It was TERRIFYING!
As I tried to steer clear of it, another, bigger grey shape rose out of the water in front of me. I cut a wide birth and gunned the engine home. My dad, having heard from neighbours about the whales was waiting on the dock. I hopped out of the boat without tying it up and ran up to my room.
To this day, even just photos of whales give me shivers.
The other day, while working with my hands to create art during a workshop, I was asked to find the power animal that was emerging. I looked down at my braided creation and knew it was a whale (my creation looked nothing like a whale). It was later shared that this animal representative would help me to bring my leadership forward.
Kim Krans (author and artist of the Wild Unknown Tarot) writes, “Whale personalities are not afraid of emotional expression or traversing difficult terrain, as they have overcome many challenges in their lives. These experiences have enriched them, given them stability, strength, and a depth that is rare. Whale energy is usually linked to feminine forces of compassion and communication. We can on whale personalities when all else seems lost, and trust them to be a beacon in our darkest hour.”
In the book Animal Speak, Ted Andrews writes, ‘If whales are showing up in your life, you should examine your use - or lack of use - of your own creativity. Are you not simply mimicking what others have done or are you building upon it in new and dynamic ways? Are you applying your own creative intuition to old processes and life formulas? This and this alone is what imbues them with power and magic.”
It occurred to me that this was an opportunity to tell myself a better story about my past. What if this terrifying thing I’ve feared has actually my beautiful guide all along?
Power Animal: Bear
Photo: Olen Gandy
I spent a lot of time working with bear medicine last year, both in my Mesa and in my body.
Bears are a strong power animal that tend become quite active in spring and summer. With them they bring messages of awakening the power of the unconscious, beginning anew, and waking from spiritual slumber.
How often do you find yourself searching for or stumbling over the Big Dipper in the night sky? These seven stars are part of Ursus Major - The Great Bear - constellation.
I am part Finnish, and while I was working with bear medicine last year, and the Big Dipper seemed to be following me, I was also researching the practices of the Sámi people (a shamanic Finnish culture). I came across a piece of information that both deeply resonated and also made me laugh out loud.
The Sami people revered the bear so much, they didn’t have a word for it. If they hunted one (which was rare) they would immediately throw a huge feast in its honour. The whole point of the feast, of course, was to convince the bear’s spirit that it had died accidentally! They would also hang the skull in the tallest tree so that it’s spirit (presumably satisfied with the false story of its demise) could ascend through it to the heavens.
If this mighty creature is showing up for you - consider what part of you may be dormant, stagnant, or hibernating. What can be awakened?
Consider movement and exercise to get your energy flowing. With spring here, this is the perfect time to listen to this guide and emerge from your cozy den.
Power Animal: Turtle
Photo: Stephan van de Schootbrugge
During a mediumship reading recently, I received a message about turtles. I looked up their meaning and found that they represent motherhood, longevity, and awakening to new opportunities.
Kim Krans describes them in her Wild Unknown Animal Spirit book as the energy that is behind “all great writers and storytellers as they collect life experiences under their shells for later use.”
This message lands strongly with me as I am a writer. I also have a stooped posture that causes me to have a stiff thoracic. This shape in my body is common in people who has experienced challenges at young ages and are energetically pulled to shelter their hearts. I affectionately refer to it as my turtle shell. So, the idea that I have been collecting my life experiences here to write about later feels like a positive expression of something that I’ve always been embarrassed about (my posture.)
Another beautiful message about the turtle comes from Ted Andrews and his book, Animal Speak:
“Turtles remind us that the way to heaven is through the earth. Earth is all we need. She will care for us, protect us, and nurture us, as long as we do the same for her. . . We must see connection in all things. Just as the turtle cannot separate from its shell, neither can we separate ourselves from what we do to the Earth.”
