I am flabbergasted that this little blog had reached anyone. I just wanted to make a quick post that I am in the process of answering (years late) as many comments as I can. Even though it never blew up I feel I owe it to the few people it did affect that I will make an effort to at least react to all the wonderful messages I’ve received. Not sure if I have the gumption to come up with new posts, but I’m curious to try and the very least.
-Your friend on the trail ~Rio
The Dragonfly in and of itself is a gorgeous magical creature, moving as if teleporting around lakes, rivers and puddles. Being a flying insect strongly tied to bodies of water makes Dragonfly almost impossible to grasp fully for our land-based, mammal sensibilities. These extreme unique biological characteristics play into its power as a totem. Adaptable, mysterious and ephemeral, Brother Dragonfly isn’t easily defined and doesn’t teach just one lesson.
Bear of the Family Ursidae has always been a unique Totem to me. He is a big deal in many many cultures and a lot is put upon him. We all know how strong they are, that they sleep in the winter, and that you have to be careful of them. While Bear is definatley no slouch in the power department if you look closely at bear behaviors an odd thing happens. Bears have giant teeth and claws that can rip open mini vans, and yet they are scavengers, foragers and occasionally fishermen. With a few exceptions (the Asian Black bear and the polar bear) these creatures don’t hunt like the predators we see them as. They climb trees to eat copious amounts of acorns, climb mountains to seek out high fat moth eggs. Even when they fish often they wait in the shallows for something to jump into their mouths. These traits are what inform me as to the greater spiritual secrets of Bear, and the metamorphosis it undertook when I meditated on him.
Oddly if you look for myths and legends about bears you run into several stories about people being cruel or hunting bears only to be punished by various beings. Rarely is the bear a violent antagonist, unlike say the Wolf or Tiger. The Russians have strong ties to bear representing Family and strength, the Christians used the bear as a sign of triumph over the pagans. He played a large role in Native American and Asian dogmas, but again in a peaceful strong Unitarian sense. Until modern times there were very few ( if any) references to demon bears, which is odd as many of the ancient cultures had demonic entities in almost all forms imaginable.
Salmon are anadromous fish with a few subspecies to call their own. The Salmon is well known as that one fish that travels upstream to the place of its birth to lay its eggs They share this folklore with certain sea turtles. Ten-foot waterfalls, bears, birds of prey, otters, fishermen, and other hazards lie between them and this singular goal. Being as both the adults and the eggs are delicacies, more salmon are raised in captivity then exist in the wild, This makes it a hunted species whose numbers have actually grown in the wild, a rare exception in our modern world. They have a complex lifestyle filled with seven separate life stages and upon spawning they promptly die.
I’ve been trying to run a Post every week, and last week I’d asked my facebook friends whether they would like to hear about Tortoise or Moth and tortoise won out. This was unfortunate for moth as the next week I had my Cosmetology Licensing Exams. At the time of this writing, I’m still waiting for my results. So this post is a bit late. However, I’ve been trying to keep up with them.
First off, I must insist to you that there is a difference between the Turtle totem and the Tortoise totem. Though they have a lot of similar medicine to teach, they are far from the same thing. That being said lets move on, Tortoise is a land based reptile with an incredibly long lifespan, slow movements and a flair for leafy greens and fruits. He is reclusive and sure in his actions, watching the world around him fly by. Crepuscular by nature, they are neither truly Sun nor Moon aligned. though they tend to be more active during the day then night. In some species there is a bit of sexual dimorphism but, for the most part, male and female Tortoises are nearly identical. The Oldest Tortoise was guessed to be around 250 years old. its hard to gauge how old one is when it first comes into captivity so, it’s really anyone’s guess.
Spiritually the facts are different. Tortoise almost always is thought of as male, from Vishnu to the Chinese Longevity legends of ground turtle shell. Strong Sun and Earth elements (an element ruled by the sun anyway) which tell us that its a strong growth and grounding totem. Perfect for those times you feel like tomorrow will never come. Patience, assurance, and joy from simplicity are all strong lessons we gain from tortoise. If Turtle has answered your call, you should be happy and also prepared to take it slow. The universe sends Tortoise when you need a lesson in patience.
When the system I use for choosing random totems came up with Tiger, I was at first elated, then stumped. It’s a Totem I have always wanted to write about, but, in all honesty, I only knew a paragraph or two off the top of my head. This can be the case with some of the more obscure totems (like the Grouse), but I didn’t expect such a lack of knowledge about such a powerful celebrity of the animal world. But as I ruminated on it, I started to understand the mystery behind Tiger. Popular culture, and to a lesser extent, conservation has murkied the water as to what tigers are. Its almost impossible to think at length about tigers without Tigger or Tony popping up in the back of your mind. In cases like this I like to read about Tigers and get my juices flowing. Even as I read, I met roadblocks, in the form of almost all information being heavily littered with extinction guilt or lack of concrete research material. So I looked to some books I have on Animal Totems from when I was younger, which showed me the information I already had. So lacking a better source I turned to the “Dreamtime by Companion Totem” and the Tiger that lives in my house, who is not super happy with me.
As a Dog shaman myself you would think that I am at odds with the Cat totem, and in a way this is true, but in an other way couldn’t be further from the truth. Essentially the only difference between the two is the method in which they guard humanity. Sure Dog is a strong, masculine, sun energy that everyone recognizes as our partner and stalwart protector, but like with most things of this nature Cat goes unsung because it protects us in ways we can’t perceive.
Very Long, one I’m disappointed with myself about. I had planned a long time ago to do a post for a friend of mine, and am just now getting around to it. Writing it now as i type this was just making a pronouncement of my intent to start blogging again. Also i’m attempting to obtain the services of a proofreader as to avoid the sloppy nature of my posts. I’m hoping to have the new post up by Sunday. and then do weekly posts. Kind and encouraging words always make this easier. Ciao for Niao
The Noble Duo of Crocodile and Alligator has existed for longer than man can remember. Often seen as a pair of siblings, or interchangeable, not much is know about the origin of the creatures even to them. They are marked by great power. In the places they live even greater caution is taken by those around them. The Order Crocodilia is unique, and predates most living creatures on earth, closely related to birds, and their dinosaur cousins. They are aquatic predators that show very family oriented tendencies.
Urban Sprawl Wanderer 