What's Your Spirit Animal?

All cultures since the dawn of time have had a deep and meaningful relationship with the spirit of animals - not necessarily one individual animal but the essence of a species, manifest as a familiar, a totem, a guide. Some people are particularly drawn to a type of animal or the energy of a species and find it most healing to tune into this energy.

Some people wonder, "What's MY spirit animal?"

As with so many questions of spirit, there are many levels to what your personal spirit animal is.

Some people are born with the gift of a spirit animal that has always been there - if you are one of them, you know exactly what I mean!

There was never a choice - it was ALWAYS the bear, the wolf, the horse, the snake and it could be no other.

That's a wonderful thing if this is so, and a great resource for a person if they have their own personal spirit animal that seems to have come into this incarnation with them somehow; but there is more than one animal in creation.

Even someone who knows exactly what their spirit animal is doesn't just have one spirit animal friend.

As we go through life, we acquire more, and more spirit animal friends.

They come from real life - animals we have lived with and loved, and they died and now walk with us in spirit.

But that is by no means all.

As we grow and develop as people, we EVOLVE through different frequencies; and as we do, we move into sync with certain types of animals and their energies.

Someone may have started out with a snail for a main friend, and now they also have a rabbit, then a cat, and now an eagle!

I'm joking of course; there is NO HIERACHY in the animal kingdom. One is not better than another, for all are needed to make the great spiral of life continue on its everlasting glorious journey, so how could one be higher or mightier than another?

Take out all the "lowly" cows and see how long a lion will last ...

Still, animal spirits have different frequencies, and so different kinds of these animal friends are needed, and will come to us, in different situations in life.

I think of it as having a full deck of cards eventually - alright so you start out with a horse or a wolf, but eventually, ALL of the animal kingdom will be "your" spirit animal, each and every one special, a place and a use for each, and every one.

• So the question is then not, "What is my spirit animal?" but instead, "Which spirit animal can help me the most where I'm at, right now?"

You can look at the list of spirit animals here on this site and simply let yourself be drawn to one; or you could say, "I need the courage of a mother wolf defending her babies right now," or, "I could really do with the cleverness and quickness of a fox," or, "I wish I had the power and speed of a horse ..."

You can also simply follow your heart and go with the animal you're drawn to most - if you had the choice of all the animal kingdom, which one do you WISH was YOUR special spirit animal, right now?

See spirit animals WILL gladly come to you.

They won't say, "Well, I'm a proud eagle, a strong bear or a beautiful salmon and I won't have anything to do with you, you're beneath me!"

They will simply come, but for the asking, and they'll be glad to be with you, because to be chosen by a human is an honour, if only we knew and understood that in all ways.

So be brave - adopt a spirit animal!

If you already have many, adopt a few more.

Go outside your comfort zone, and open yourself up to the wisdom and HELP that is available from animals that aren't cute, or fluffy, or both!

In spirit everything is beautiful.

Everything is perfect.

EVERYTHING has its place, and every spirit animal, large or small, can help you on your way.

Silvia Hartmann

February 2009