Animal spirits

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Red raven	21 Apr 2002
gah.. I feel dumb asking about this type of thing. but you all seem to be kind people, so here goes. I was just wondering about animal spirits/guides. Has anybody here had experiences with this kind of thing? If anyone has, I'd be really interested in hearing about it. I've been trying to get in touch with my own guide, but haven't had much success. So advice would be appreciated too. Thanks.

zorya	22 Apr 2002
hi red raven! shamanism (and my animal guides) changed my life! you must, must, MUST read the classic; the way of the shaman, by michael harmer. if you have any questions feel free to PM me. :)

Liliana	22 Apr 2002
Sure, but Ive always kind of known which animals were my guides. Ift heres an animal you enconter in your life frequently, then its possible its a guide.Forme Idalways run into squirrels, I love them a lot and they seem to be around me frequently :) My husbands family is under the guardianship of the Eagle, his father and brothers and him often exchange Eagle gifts at Christmas, when I married him the Eagle started watching over me as well. I found myself drawn to white owls due to an experience in a roleplaying game(sounds lame). I also have the Fox, but that was a surprise. If I work with my animals its in meditation, once I went into my meditation and called them to me,after the first three came, Squirrel rightinto my lap, Owl watching from a nearby tree, and Eagle circling far over head, an animal came near me that I thought was a red dog, but that didnt seem right. After drawing strength from myanimals Ileft the meditation, and I tried to figure out what the red dog was, then I thought fox but wasnt sure since Ive never seen one close. I talked with some online friends and theys aid foxes do look like red dogs, so fox became a guardian as well. If you already know about meditation I can go into how I call my animals, but Im no good at describing how to get into the medatative state hehe :THP

Mystick Dragon	22 Apr 2002
Well, I have my dragons who I love dearly, but I also have the ladybug, I see them all the time, and the bluejay and sparrow. I also have a bigger guardian, a silver black wolf with glowing red eyes. He's absolutely gorgeous. I also work well with fish. I am a water, that's why. But let us know k? --Dragon

Malachite	22 Apr 2002
Hi RedRaven.... I asked the same question here a while ago, when I started wondering about totem guides... I discovered that my guide is the crow. They are always around, and I just feel what it is that they say to me. I have to say, I don't do as much working with my guides as I should. I don't often do much connecting these days, and less than I want to, but I still make a note of the first time I see crows in the day, and I never see a crow without thinking of what it might mean. Look for what animals you instinctively connect with. Which ones seem to notice you, follow you, or attract your attention... It might not be best to try and 'pick' one, because then you're basing a decision on what you think of an animal...you'll end up with 'lion', or 'wolf', or some heroic animal...which might not work with you... Try and go with what you feel.... and thats all i can say, really...;) Good luck hunting...

Butterfly	22 Apr 2002
The common theme is that they find you, you need to look.. I had a dream about my first spirit guides- dolphins, cliched I know. They told me they could never hurt me as I am one of them. Just lately amazing coincidences with grasshoppers keep occuring- just yesterday my little nephew brought me the complete shell of a grasshopper, the insides had been completely removed, and the symbolism was astounding. Shamans have ceremonies for this purpose so definately seek out that book.

amyel	22 Apr 2002
Red Raven, I've posted this here before, but check out this link: http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/4076/index1.html If you scroll to the bottom, you will find a list of all sorts of animals/reptiles/insect guide and if you keep scrolling down, you will eventually find the message board, which includes - apparently, although I have not checked it out - how to get in touch with your spirit guides. Good Luck!

Red raven	22 Apr 2002
wow! thanks you guys. this is great. :) I'll have to get doing some more research on the subject.

Angel Star	02 May 2002
I would have to say I met my first animal guide when i was about 5. It was a crow that had broken its wing and landed between our yard and the neighbors. It amazed me how black and blue its feathers were and one of the adults that lived in the neighborhood at the time got a towel and picked it up. It was absolutely fearless. And its eyes were so black. We got to pet it a bit it never tried to bite and I remember it kept looking at me right in the eye. I will never forget this experience. As when I started to open back up psychically all kinds of crows started hanging around my backyard. I have worked with other animals when I purchased the book Animal Magick by D.J. Conway. There are all kinds of techniques in that book on all kinds of animals and how to connect with them. :)

The Animal spirits thread was originally posted on 21 Apr 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.