So much
misinformation and disinformation has been sent out
regarding these concepts, I feel that they need their
own section for clarity. These are the subjects, of
totems, power animals, guides and spirit guides.
Most
importantly, having a spirit guide, power animal etc
is not a path of ease, releasing one from the effort
of learning! They will aid when appropriate,
but the old saying that, "God helps those who help
themselves." is still true here too.
Animal
and spirit Guides are representative of those
energies with whom you have found a deep simpatico.
Differentiated on this page are guides and power
animals, where the latter whilst important to any
shamanic work, are often transitory. Please
take some time to absorb what is said here as it is
truly important in understanding all that is to
follow.
Totems
- revelation of a person's totem is a powerful and
profound event which is a shaman's pleasure
(mostly). When a person is born, their
individual makeup, their chemistry, drives,
ambitions etc resonate most strongly with a specific
creature or thing,.. their totem. A person
with a Cape Buffalo totem may be belligerent and use
their totem as an excuse for that behaviour.
The shaman tells us that a person's totem shows
their lessons and trials, not just their strengths.
Understanding totems is central to understanding
many aspects of shamanic practice.
In the
next section, advanced concepts, we will explore the
three kingdoms, temporal distillation and
observation, and spirits and elementals and well as
demons and entities.
