Finding Your Spirit Guide Animals

The most common questions people interested in the shamanic path ask me relate to spirit guides and particularly what their spirit guides are and how to find them.

First it is important to have an idea of what the spirit guides are and are not. Spirit guides are just that – guides to assist us in our spiritual journey. In general they are not something we turn into in times of need, although there are shamanic elders who have been known to be able to shape shift into their spirit animal. And they are not some form of demonic presence conning us into thinking they are from the spirit world. If anything spirit animals remind us of who we are and where we fit into the grand design of the Universe, as their partners in the Oneness or Circle of Life. Spirit animals generally conform to three types.

The first, commonly known as the Head Animal Spirit helps define us in terms of the world. Like the head our head animal looks out at the world through our eyes to find our place. Since our place in the world is generally with those of our own type, just as wolves pack with wolves, the head animal also relates us to our group in the world, or our Clan. The Head Animal Spirit will remain with us for life.

The second type of spirit animal guide is commonly known as our Heart Animal Spirit and helps define ourselves in terms of ourselves. This is our character rather than our personality as defined by the Head Animal. The Heart Animal Spirit is the one most new shamanic travellers are interested in primarily, since they know it by its’ other common names, Dodem or Totem. The Heart Animal Spirit will remain with us for life.

The third and final type of spirit animal guide is transitory, entering our life at certain times to help us or to help us with a life lesson we have been avoiding, overlooking or unaware of. Unlike the Head or Heart Animal Spirits above it is not uncommon to have one or more of these Helper Spirit Animals working in our life at any given time.

There are two basic ways to discover your Spirit Animals. If you are lucky enough (rare) to be in the presence of a clan elder or shaman you trust (important!) you may request their help in finding your Spirit Animals. The elder then may suggest ways for you to find your Spirit Animals or may be able to actually tell you your animals.

If you are without a shamanic elder or find that you do not feel comfortable asking their help fear not, as finding your Spirit Animals is actually quite a bit easier to do than you may realize, although it does require a certain amount of effort on your part.

In finding your Spirit Animals it is important to remember that your Spirit Animals are also looking for you! We are after all part of the great Circle of Life and it is as important to them as to you to create your connections.

So how do we find our Spirit Animals? The simplest tried and true method is simply observation. For this you will need simple tools – a notebook and a pencil. And your eyes of course!

What I want you to do is the following. For a goodly period of time, perhaps 3 weeks or a month, carry your notebook about with you. Your briefcase, shirt pocket, purse etc will work fine. At night leave the notebook and pencil on your nightstand or close at hand. Then every time an animal crosses your path make a note in your notebook about what the animal was, where and when you observed it and (important!) your thoughts about the animal.

At night when you go to bed be aware of the animals that appear in your dreams, then first thing on arising in the morning, make a similar note in your notebook.

Finally when you are sitting in your house or at work be aware of how you feel about certain animals, say your reaction when you see a cheetah on TV in a commercial or wildlife show. Make a note in your notebook about this as well.

After about 3 or 4 weeks your notebook will be pretty full. The observation stage is nearly at an end. What you want to do now is to take out a large piece of paper and go through your notebook noting the animals especially those animals that keep reappearing. Soon you will notice a pattern forming and by the time you reach the end of your notebook you should see 3 or 4 animals that reappear more than the rest. It is most likely that you have found your Spirit Guide Animals.

But which is which? Now comes the tricky parts, figuring out what each animal means spiritually and whether they are head, heart or helper.

Researching the meaning of your Spirit Guide Animals is not that difficult. On the Internet there are several decent definition sites (do a search on Google for ‘spirit animals’). You will also find a number of definitions on Deosil Works.  I would also recommend Ted Andrews’ excellent book Animal Speaks! (beg , borrow or buy!) which should be available from Llewellyn books (http://www.llewellyn.com).

Take your time and learn about each of your Spirit Guide Animals in turn. Soon it will become obvious to you what type of Spirit Guide Animal each is.

For example: one of my prevalent Spirit Guide Animals is the Eagle. Many times Eagle has appeared to me in dreams and real life (I live on coastal British Columbia where there are hundreds of Bald Eagles). Eagle is the direct messenger to Sky Father and is known for his ability to see ‘the big picture’. Through my life I have often worked in large scale planning projects and management positions. Thus it is obvious that Eagle is my Head Spirit Animal, the way that I relate to the world. I am Eagle Clan.

Another animal that has appeared to me many times in dreams and real life has been the Black Bear. Black Bear is a healer and teacher. Now I have never worked as a school teacher or doctor but I do like to teach people new things and to mediate when people are in crisis or just need someone to talk to. Thus Black Bear is more like my personality and is my personal Dodem.

The Helper Animal Spirits are similar. In your notebook you may notice that a certain animal that was not trying to connect with you at the beginning of the observation period seemed to be everywhere around you later in the month.

The chances are good that that animal was connecting to you for a special purpose or lesson. Think back over your life in the past month and try to relate the observances of these animals to events in your life.

For example a few years ago I was living in the United States, in a terrible working situation that had the potential to blow up in my face at any time. In the middle of this period I was visited several times on my evening meditations by a single Possum.

Possum teaches us to be wary and secretive, moving by night to avoid detection. I heeded Possum and quietly wound up my affairs. No sooner had I left but the company imploded. I haven’t seen a Possum since, which tells me Possum was sent by Earth Mother to help me in that situation.

So where are we? For a month or so we have observed the animals around us and narrowed down the field to 3 or 4 that seem to reappear in our lives. We have looked up on the net or in books to find out what each means and have an idea what type each is. Can we be certain we have found our Spirit Guide Animals?

Well, in the Universe there are only three certainties – birth, death and rebirth. Chances are that you have correctly identified your Spirit Guide Animals. But for greater certainty now would be a good time to consult a trustworthy shamanic elder or discuss with another shamanic traveller. And if you are still uncertain there is always one sure way to find out.

Pick a quiet time, when you are not rushing to and fro in your life and can spend a goodly hour by yourself. Take your tobacco pouch and go outdoors, preferably barefoot and preferably somewhere as close to Earth Mother as you can find. A meadow or forest near you home works well. Or if you are in the city even a quiet corner of the local park.

Give an offering of tobacco to Earth Mother, thanking her for her help in your life and for sending you Spirit Animals. Then sincerely and forthrightly ask her if these are your Spirit Animals!

After all if anyone knows She does!

Megwich!

Kwee Cha-La Atsay, ULC
Eagle Clan

(p.s. If you would like assistance with finding your Spirit Guide Animals please e-mail me at: kwee.cha.la@gmail.com .