Working with Spirit Guides: TOTEM Animals
New TOTEM Animals emerge with new seasons and rhythms
The name TOTEM Readings is a reflection of my deep, deep love for totem animal work. And, as the seasons change and our life rhythms shift, totem animals tend to emerge to help us navigate our new energetic landscapes. They help us establish new wellness routines, reframe our work/ life balance, and even connect the more mystical and occult aspects of our reality.
Evil dragon? Or joy-giving valley girl?
There are a lot of misconceptions about totem animals- particularly when it comes to working with them in a shamanic context. While there are some high-quality reference books that provide basic meanings of animal appearances— like Ted Andrew’s compendium, featured on Amazon HERE- the ultimate goal is to go inward and find a personal connection and meaning to the totem in lieu of relying on an outside source. In other words, while snake as a totem may have a general set of key themes or meanings, the appearance of snake for you might be something much more specific and meaningful- if not downright surprising!
Take, for instance, one of my first experiences while studying shamanism. I was attending “Shaman School” in Chicago and encountered a terrifying, large, black dragon raising its head out of Lake Michigan during our first Shamanic Journeying Meditation. My immediate feeling? This must be evil or bad or foreboding in some way. I judged the dragon, my experience, shamanism, and even myself. After all: what’s so wrong inside of me that I got that totem animal from the jump?
But, as per our coursework, I went back into a Shamanic Journeying Meditation on my own time prepared to ask my totem animal three key questions:
What is your name?
What are you here to teach me?
Why are we working together?
The. answers. were. awesome.
First, she said her name was Esmerelda- a hilarious name that made me smile. And she said it in a legit, high-pitched valley girl voice, ala the movie Clueless or an Episode of Paris Hilton’s Simple Life TV show. Then, when I asked her what she was supposed to teach me, she answered, “I’m here to teach you to have FUN!!!” and she swooped down and picked me up and took me to the moon. I remember panicking that I couldn’t breathe in space, but she emphasized that I was safe and that I needed to let go and surrender. She assured me that she would never put me in harm’s way. When I asked about why we were working together, and she responded: “You never got to be a child, so now you don’t know how to just go with the flow. I’m here to help you with that!”
Digging into deeper meaning
Now, if I had looked up “dragon totem” on the inter webs, I would NEVER have gotten any of that detail! So, long story short: the written meanings and explanations for totem animals are a great start, but they are just a start.
When I did in-person guided Shamanic Journeying group meditation workshops, I know that I regularly annoyed my clients by seeming to avoid answering totem animal questions in a direct manner. Generally, I would first answer them with something like, “Well, what did it mean to you? What do you think its significance is?”.
I did this for a few reasons:
To ensure that we were capturing the rich spiritual data that came through to the client during the session. We all have a tendency to dismiss our initial thoughts as being “made up” when we’re tapping into our unconscious mind and energy body. By emphasizing the client’s initial hit or personal feelings, we’re ensuring that the full data set is included in our analysis of totem animal meaning.
To help the client build their intuitive muscles and develop confidence in the spiritual space. This confidence is built bit-by-bit over time, and every experience can help to contribute to the client’s ability to do this work on their own moving forward. If I just give an answer, I’m training the client to depend on me and those like me instead of growing their own innate capabilities.
How do I know if or when it’s a totem animal?
I get this question A LOT. And there are a few answers:
Anytime you notice unusual animal behavior, such as an owl hooting during daylight or a badger wandering into an office lobby in the downtown district of a large city. Something out of the ordinary, very noticeable, and contact that captures your attention in a significant way.
Whenever you get a flurry of references to a single species in a short amount of time. These references can include dreams, waking life, symbolism (i.e. a bear on the logo of a restaurant), and even advertisements. The general rule of thumb is three direct references indicate a totem animal.
If you are presented with the totem animal in a dream, vision or meditation. And you don’t need to “see” the whole animal in these other states of consciousness: some clients hear a wolf howling or see a single eye or get the impression that it’s a wolf. All of these count.
What’s the point of working with a totem animal?
Totem animal work is rich, varied, and dynamic. To help break this down in a human-scaled way, I’ve included below a few recent examples of totem animals emerging in my own life. In fact, I paid particular attention to these critters because they ALL presented themselves to me in one day, in an unusual/noteworthy manner, and all emerged precisely when I was contemplating something meaningful.
The season of the slug
The first totem animal appearance of that particular day came from, as I call him, “Mr. Slug”. I was out in the garden, looking at the planters now empty and waiting for spring. I noticed what I first thought was a large snake. But the snakes in our garden are usually small and move so quickly to tuck away at the very sight of us. This guy was just….there. So, being me, I grabbed a long stick to just gently probe the area around it for a reaction. No reaction. So I got closer, and realized…it was the biggest slug I’ve ever seen in my life- and he was very much alive! This guy (or gal- hard to tell) was about six inches long and at least one inch in diameter. ‘Twas the King of the Slugs! I was amazed, and immediately started to evaluate the totem animal meaning. Slugs are synonymous with being slow, and right when I noticed the critter I was reflecting on slowing down from the big push of the TOTEM Flower Essence program this year. Our yield was so much larger than I had thought, and keeping up with making the tinctures by hand has been a unique challenge.
Mr. Slug was giving me permission to be slow, something that I really struggle with but had set the intention to embrace as we head into fall and winter. What’s more: slug has a lot of significance in witchcraft, particularly herbal witchcraft. When I realized this, I went inside and ordered several herbalism books. One of my lovely coaching clients expressed an interest in becoming an herbalist, and when she said this I realized that I, too, had always been curious. So, Mr. Slug was encouraging. me to pursue these studies as I slowed down with the yang work of it all.
The baby toads
Just a little while later, I headed back out into the garden to water the plants that are still thriving- including our marigolds and peppers. When watering, I saw a bunch of strange movement and leaned in closer to assess what was happening under the leaves. I saw no less than three tiny little toads of all colors, and was so into how cute they were. They totally reminded me of Grogru from the Mandalorian Star Wars series!
So, once again, I reflected on their unusual appearance on the same day as the slug visit. I had looked up toads previously when discovering several fully-grown toads living in our TOTEM Flower Essence planters, discovering that they are an ancient and cross-cultural totem animal indicating abundance. I had taken this as a good omen for our TOTEM Flower Essences, and now that I came upon these three little guys I realized they represented the start of new abundance with my Flower Essences. The day before I had created our TOTEM Etsy Shop, and I’ve also been working with two local retail locations- Calyx Healing and the Herb Bar- to carry my essences in their physical stores. Three new shops. Three new toads. Coincidence?
The fact that they were babies was an important reminder to be patient and give my new ventures time to grow. It would start small but continue to develop, just like these little guys.
The raccoon bandit
So, I had already had some poignant visits from slugs and toads, and had yet another unusual encounter on my afternoon dog walk. While passing a local home that has a few outside kitties that tend to linger in the front yard, I noticed a large bandit stealing cat food- it was a raccoon! I stopped walking and it stopped eating, and we just looked at each other in shock. The raccoon grabbed a handful of the dry food and booked it, apparently not into hanging around by my large and very wolf-like dog.
I haven’t seen a raccoon the whole time I’ve lived in Austin, and with the other animal appearances I took some time noodling on the meaning of this particular totem. Raccoons represent a very high form of healing in shamanism, and Ted Andrews noted that their emergence as a totem can indicate a time of dexterity, physically and otherwise, as well as embracing various roles in the various areas of our lives. They are incredibly resourceful and clever, and can survive and thrive in any ecosystem. This was comforting to me as a small business owner heading into a recession in a new city, giving me the reassurance I needed to trust myself to be flexible, pivot, creative, and make it work.
The flicker of a flicker
On the same walk, still marinating in the raccoon’s totem animal meaning, I noticed a large flicker swooping low right past me, landing on a nearby tree. Flickers and woodpeckers have always been buddies of mine, but I hadn’t seen a flicker for years. I recalled that flickers always represent new rhythms in life. When I had been visited by them in the past, it had consistently indicated an upsurge in rhythm: more work, faster-paced days, new ventures, new side-hustles, or big projects that gave me eminence at work.
Now, with all of the other totem animal visits of the day, I understood that my new rhythm was going to be slower and more intentional. In all honesty, this gave me an initial feeling of panic, an indication that I had gotten so used to pushing and grinding and hustling that the idea of taking my foot off of the gas pedal kind of freaked me out. But then I reminded myself: I had been working so hard for so long to get to this point- the point at which I could go slower and enjoy the rhythms of my day in more personal, meaningful ways.
So, what’s the so what?
These are just a few of thousands of examples I could provide across my personal experiences and those of my clients. The upshot is that totem animals are a great tool for reflecting on changes: changes in season, changes in work, and changes within us as we develop and grow spiritually. As we head into fall and winter, keep your eyes open on walks. Keep a dream journal and note any animal appearances. Or just stay aware of repeating patterns around animals in logos, brands, commercials, or mentions from friends. These totem appearances act as insights into what is around the corner, and offer us support in their reminder of new skills, resources and talents we now have at our disposal.
Totem animals are little spiritual helpers, reaching out through the matrix to reconnect us to nature, to spirit, and to our inner selves. It’s some of the most pragmatic and meaningful work we explore in shamanism.
TOTEM Readings fall/ winter updates
After almost a month of taking time off of 1:1 psychic client work, I’m back to scheduling sessions in November and December. I’ve taken October as a time to do some crucial housekeeping- setting up Etsy shops, meeting local Austin-based practitioners, updating the TOTEM website, and making some flower essences- and am eager to get back in the saddle and connect with all of you. If you want to book a session, please email me anytime: rachel@totemreadings.com
And keep an eye out for upcoming online workshops, events and “virtual retreats”. Taking a bit of time away from almost daily psychic effort, I’ve found myself full of ideas, inspired, and wanting to be of service. Starting next week, I’m hosting a three-part weekly FREE series around myth-busting the business of spirituality. This Tuesday, October 25th’s workshop is focused on the red flags to watch out for while exploring and seeking in the spiritual space. Check it out and/or register HERE.
In November, we’re launching a virtual retreat series that features incredible, ethical practitioners in a variety of modalities across meditation, trauma recovery, adrenal fatigue healing, acupuncture, reiki, breath work, Ayurveda, Feng Shui and so much more. Our first virtual retreat is Reclaim Your Darkness, designed to help us all slow down, restore our nervous systems, get out of fight or flight stress responses, and reconnect to our slower, yin rhythm as the days get darker, shorter and colder. This season is a great excuse to take a minute and re-set, and after Covid and the world just being EXTRA as hell the last few years, I think we all need a moment. Learn more and/or register for this workshop HERE.
A new rhythm is coming. Get yourself ready. And, if nothing else, take a nap. You’ve earned it!