Animal Spirit Guides are our Guides in animal form who teach us, inspire us, and heal us. They are our Spirit Guides. Our Animal Spirit Guides appear in our awareness in the form of animals we encounter in our lives. They may appear physically or as symbols in images, visions, and dreams. Our Animal Spirit Guides are there with us, holding and supporting us. If we ever feel stuck, all we need to do is ask for their guidance, and the answers will come.
Amongst all other beings with whom we share this universe, humans have always had an affinity towards the animal kingdom. We share similarities in physical anatomy, and there is emotional and mental reciprocation. In many cultures and societies, animals have also been associated with local deities and worshipped on occasion.
Is it any wonder that our Spirit Guides are often other animals?
Have you ever heard of Spirit Guides, also known as “helping spirits” or “guardian spirits”? They are non-physical beings that exist in non-ordinary realities. Interestingly, Spirit Guides can also come in the form of animals, which we refer to as Animal Spirit Guides. These beings are here to help us achieve our soul’s purpose while living in harmony with all of creation. But how do we connect with them?
It’s important to understand that our Guides are not here to make decisions for us. We have free will and the right to choose our own path. However, if we ever need assistance, our Animal Spirit Guides are always available to provide guidance, healing, encouragement, and protection. Some of our Guides have been with us since birth, while others may appear during significant moments in our lives to help us navigate challenges.
Remember that with awareness and openness, we can learn how to connect with our Animal Spirit Guides. They are here to assist us, but it’s up to us to invite them into our lives and trust in their guidance.
Ancient Shamans talk about non-ordinary reality – a dimension that coexists with ours. All it needs is our awareness and openness to access and communicate with this world. In this dimension of non-physical beings, you will find helping spirits or Guides in the form of ancestors, fairy beings, deceased loved ones, and also Animal Spirit Guides. They, too, are extensions or projections of the Source or Great Spirit or the Divine or whatever name we use.
In Shamanic traditions, the non-ordinary reality is divided into the upper, middle, and lower worlds. And our Animal Spirit Guides can be found by Journeying into the lower non-ordinary reality. Shamanic practitioners know how to Journey between the worlds.
We are more accustomed to working with the material and the tangible. Accessing non-ordinary reality requires heightened awareness, much greater openness, and a consciousness that accepts the existence of Animal Spirit Guides. One simple metaphor is the world tree, which acts as a bridge between the worlds. Shamanic Practitioners Journey to these non-ordinary realities by altering their state of awareness. It is also an initiation into the ancient ways of walking between worlds.
Our Animal Spirit Guides exist energetically. For instance, when we connect with Hummingbird as an Animal Spirit Guide, we connect with the energy of Hummingbird as a species. We are not connecting with an individual physical being. However, I have noticed that the ones who are with us for long, like our Power Animals, do acquire an individual personality like a dash of humor.
Recent developments in the field of quantum physics have just about scratched the surface of what the ancient ones have known for long. There is more to life than what our sensory perceptions lead us to believe. It is possible that this is a non-ordinary reality beyond the bounds of our sensory perceptions and beyond the bounds of what machines calibrated by humans can detect. Are we so arrogant to deny the possibility that such realities can exist?
Our Animal Spirit Guides can come into our lives at certain defining moments with a specific message we need to hear at that point. And then there are those who are with us for long and sometimes an entire lifetime. Of these, Power Animals need a special mention.
A power animal is a specific Animal Spirit Guide. This one comes to Shamanic practitioners when we get initiated into the path of Shamanism. Power animals accompany practitioners when they Journey to non-ordinary reality. It is also possible to work with a Power Animal, even if someone is not a shaman or a shamanic practitioner. Power animals can also show up in meditations, dreams, visions, or Journeys. This is a profoundly sacred and bonded relationship. The characteristics of a power animal are typically aligned with the practitioner’s personality traits. Power animals also bring their unique gifts for an individual, what is sometimes referred to as the medicine of that animal. For instance, Deer brings the medicine of compassion and healing. And Dragonfly medicine is one of an ethereal lightness of being and connection with the faerie realms.
Often people ask if domestic animals be Animal Spirit Guides too. Any animal can be a Spirit Guide. And this includes our insect allies too. It is however, more common for a wild one to show up as a power animal. Some believe that the domesticated ones have lost their connection with their intrinsic wild nature. But your cat can be a powerful teacher too, though it is possible that she is your link to a wilder feline.
We have animal symbolism all around us. Our Animal Spirit Guides can appear to us visibly in unusual sightings or in the form of symbols and imagery. When an Animal Spirit Guide wants you to pay attention, you will have unusual or repetitive encounters.
For instance, suppose Whale is calling for your attention. You are out for a walk, and suddenly you see a truck pass by with a whale image or logo on it. You get into public transport and hear someone talk about a whale sighting trip. And on your social media, there are suddenly whale photographs, even though it is not something you typically follow. It is quite easy to recognize an Animal Spirit Guide when one wants to show up for you. They are very present in our field of awareness – if not physically, then as symbols.
Once you realize that a particular animal is calling out, you can then find out what your Animal Spirit Guide is here to teach you today.
We have animal symbolism all around us. Our Animal Spirit Guides can appear to us visibly in unusual sightings or in the form of symbols and imagery. When an Animal Spirit Guide wants you to pay attention, you will have unusual or repetitive encounters.
For instance, suppose Whale is calling for your attention. You are out for a walk, and suddenly you see a truck pass by with a whale image or logo on it. You get into public transport and hear someone talk about a whale sighting trip. And on your social media, there are suddenly whale photographs, even though it is not something you typically follow. It is quite easy to recognize an Animal Spirit Guide when one wants to show up for you. They are very present in our field of awareness – if not physically, then as symbols.
Once you realize that a particular animal is calling out, you can then find out what your Animal Spirit Guide is here to teach you today.
Once an Animal Spirit Guide has entered into our awareness, it is natural to be curious about what message they have for us. Here are a couple of ways to establish that connection and find out what our Animal Spirit Guide has for us.
Start by reading more about the animal species. For instance, if Deer is here for you, find out her characteristics. Is she a solitary animal or a social one? What are her food habits? How does she protect herself? As you keep reading, some aspects will start resonating with your current situation. Once in the middle of a rather hectic work schedule, I started spotting snow leopards. Curious when I started reading about Snow Leopard and realized that, just like her, I was being asked to spend time in solitude. Solitude was the medicine I needed that day.
There is also an enormous amount of information freely available about each Animal Spirit Guide and their symbolism. I will, however, caution and stress the importance of finding reliable sources. For decades, I have made profuse use of my copies of Animal Speak by Ted Andrews and Animal Spirit Guides by Steven Farmer. Their dog-ears have dog-ears now.
While I still use Ted Andrews and Steven Farmer to know an Animal Spirit Guide better, I ask them when it comes to finding out what medicine they have for me. In a Shamanic class, my teacher told me to stop running for those books every time I had an encounter. She said, “Just ask them, and they will tell you.”
And there it was. It was that simple. When you want to connect with your Animal Spirit Guide, simply quieten your mind, drop into your heart, and ask them. You will get an answer, and they will tell you. There was a time when Kite started flying by my car. It was too close an encounter to ignore. After this happened a few more times, I stopped my car to ponder what was going on. I quietened down and asked her what was going on. Kite said, “You are distracted and have lost your grounding. You cannot drive when you are not alert. We are reminding you to be alert.” I soon realized that, indeed, I was distracted and took some time to ground myself before returning to my car.
Our Animal Spirit Guides are there to support us on our life’s path and soul’s Journey. Each animal brings their own unique medicine that will support us. Some Spirit Animal Guides remind us that we are protected, especially if we are feeling vulnerable. There are some who remind us that healing energies are available and can help us heal spiritually. I have had Animal Spirit Guides who keep reminding me of who I am, and their appearances have helped me stay on the path at times when I have felt like giving up.
Once when I was out on travel and worried about whether my cats will be safe with their new sitter, one such Animal Spirit Guide showed up. She reminded me that all was being taken care of and I could continue my trip without the worrying.
We can also ask for specific guidance. For instance, if you are navigating a tricky phase and trying to balance too many aspects of your life, you can call on someone like Mountain Goat so that she can teach you how to walk in balance.
Our relationship with our Animal Spirit Guides is one of the most sacred, profound, and intimate ones that we will ever encounter. Andean Shamans teach us about “Ayni” – sacred reciprocity. We return the help our Animal Spirit Guides have brought into our lives. And by entering into a bond of sacred reciprocity, we strengthen and deepen our bonds with our Animal Spirit Guides as well as their representation in the physical realm.
Find ways of honoring the one who showed up for you. Suppose you have been working with Hummingbird. Consider putting out water and feeders in your yard and welcome hummingbirds into your life. For the wild ones, you can consider getting involved with a sanctuary or conservation center, spreading awareness of their challenges, and devoting time to ensuring their future.
Next time you find yourself assailed by either a physical sighting or repeated imagery, I hope you will delve further and ask what that Animal Spirit Guide wants to tell you. And I hope your life gets touched by this wondrous world of energy medicine that your Animal Spirit Guides have for you. Life will not be the same once you truly welcome them into your awareness.
When we honor an animal, we are honoring the creative essence behind it. When we open an attitude to that essence, it manifests more strongly. The animal then becomes our totem, our power, and our medicine. It is a symbol of a specific expression of archetypal energy we are inviting and manifesting within our life. Though most humans in today's world have lost or ignored the instinctive tie we have to the rhythms and patterns of nature, we can still develop an intuitive tie to enhance our lives. Every animal reflects specific energy patterns. By aligning ourselves with animals, we align ourselves with the energy pattern that works through it. When we use the animal and its imagery in something as simple as in meditation, we are asking to be drawn into harmony with it.
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