Magickal traditions across the world honor the wisdom and power of the animal world. Animals
have almost nothing separating their instinctual wisdom from their higher divine self. They are not as impeded by the middle self since they do not work through the ego in the way humans do. They have not forgotten the natural wisdom of the world.
As the other worlds are populated with all manner of spirits, animal spirits are found there, too. Some animal spirits are the spirits of animals who died in the Middle World. Others never incarnated in the Middle World. Many encounter the overarching spirit of an animal consciousness, its archetypal being. When they encounter a raven, it's not simply a raven, but Raven, the originating spirit of all ravens. These archetypal spirits are much like the elemental rulers to the elemental realms. They embody the accumulated wisdom and power of a species.
You can interact with individual animal spirits, with individual names and personalities, as well as with the overarching animal archetypes.
Just as many in conventional religions believe that each person has a guardian angel or protective spirit, most shamanic traditions teach that each shaman, and in fact each person, has a primary animal spirit. This animal is connected to the lower self, our instinctual wisdom, and acts as both a protector and guide. Some think of the animal spirit as the personification of the lower self, while others think of it as an entirely separate entity. Siberian shamans consider the animal spirit as one of the many shamanic selves, or souls, and believe that the animal spirit resides within the body of the shaman, coming out when called.
In the shamanic worlds, animals act as intermediaries between the human world and the divine. They act as guides, protectors, and teachers on our shamanic journeys. Our primary animal teacher is usually called a totem or power animal. In the Aztec traditions, the animal totem is the nagual. In Norse shamanism, this tutelary spirit is called a fetch, referring to a being that can take an animal shape, along with a human or abstract geometric form. The animal term common to witchcraft, popularly cited during the medieval period, is the familiar, though the word causes some confusion because of its many interpretations.
Medieval European witches were said to have a familiar spirit, an animal that helped them do magick. This extraordinary helper spirit might have lived in a physical animal accompanying the witch. Common familiars include black cats, dogs, stags, toads, rabbits, bats, snakes, and crows, as each has strong Goddess associations. By the time of the Witch Trials, the image of the helping spirit was transformed into a demon gifted to the witch by the devil.
To modern witches, the word familiar means many things, but does not include demons or pacts with the devil. A familiar usually refers to a spirit living within a physical animal or even an object. The spirit itself may or may not be an animal spirit. It could be another type of spirit ally that blends with the consciousness of a physical animal. The spirit chooses to do this to live and work more closely with you in the physical, and then sends its awareness out with you when you journey. The process is similar to spirits residing in statues, stones, bottles, rings, or the like in ceremonial magick traditions. I honestly haven't come across too many spirits who have asked to "live" inside my pets, but I know witches who have had spirits make this request.
Many witches refer to their special pet as their familiar, particularly if they have an unusually magickal or psychic relationship with that pet. I know witches who feel their animal is a particularly evolved spirit visiting in the form of a household pet and is here to do spiritual work with them. If the pet shows up in meditations or dreams, perhaps it is an animal spirit ally or familiar.
Most witches use the word familiar instead of the terms power animal or totem animal.
Familiar is one of the few surviving witchcraft terms not borrowed from another culture, so many witches prefer familiar or fetch to the more Native-sounding totem.
Your primary animal spirit guide resonates with your own nature in this lifetime. The animal's qualities are those you either embody or are learning to embody. In fact, clans, tribes, or spiritual orders dedicated to a particular animal spirit are common. Certain tribes consider themselves "bird people" or "cat people." The spirit lessons of the animal are said to embody its "medicine" or healing quality that will bring us back into alignment with our divine nature.
Shamans heal using animal spirit, bringing the client back into alignment with his own primal, natural self.
Animals resonate with the divine world. Gods and goddesses are frequently merged with animal forms, or have strong animal associations. Your primary animal spirits can give clues to the divinities most strongly associated with your spiritual path. I work closely with Spider and Crow, and two of my primary goddess patrons are the Weaver and the Irish crow goddess Macha. Each guides the path I am on, but supports me in different ways. In turn, I assist them in their work in the Middle World.
Unlike many distant gods and non-human spirits, humans can relate to the wisdom of animals because we see animals in the physical world. For those aspiring witches and shamans who don't easily resonate with the mythic stories of the gods or the realms of the elements, animal spirits become the first spirit teachers. Our fairy tales with talking animal guides are the remnants of the European shamanic wisdom.
In our global culture, animal allies can now be from any part of the world and not just the animals native to your homeland. Even "mythic" animals are alive in the spirit worlds and can be your totem. Animals like dragons, griffons, and unicorns partner with the shamanic witch. We each have a primary animal ally, in our center or heart, but as you explore the spirit worlds, you may find animals that you associate with each of the directions, creating a team of animal allies.
Animal allies make themselves known to witches, even if they are not currently practicing a shamanic path. When I began my path, I found many crow feathers. Wherever I went, I found these feathers. Crow medicine became a very important animal ally in my life. Crow medicine is about magick and sacred law. Sacred law is doing what is in alignment with the sacred world, even if it is not in harmony with humanmade rules and laws. Those lessons have been paramount in my life. I didn't originally come from a shamanic witchcraft tradition, so I didn't realize that Crow was making a spiritual contact with me. Then I found myself attracted to the Celtic crow goddesses, and called upon them during my rituals and meditations. Since learning more shamanic techniques, Crow spirit arrived to guide my journeys and meditations.
The appearance of spider animal allies was fiercer. I had just recognized Crow as a potential ally, and began my shamanic training. For me, the shamanic training began my shadow work, and the spider spirit helped that process along. Wherever I went in the physical world, I would see spiders. They would be hanging out in my room, at friends' houses, at work, wherever I was.
I hated spiders. I was bitten by one as a child, and had an allergic reaction and was rushed to the hospital. Though I liked other creepy-crawly stuff as a boy, spiders always worried me.
Then in adulthood, after completing my witchcraft training, they would meticulously crawl to the ceiling above my head and drop down upon me. The first time this happened, I thought it was unusual. Then it happened repeatedly. It happened a few more times, and I got concerned.
When it happened over twenty times, I got seriously freaked out. The situation got worse as time went on. The spider frights culminated with an eyes-wide-open vision of a giant spider.
While watching television, late at night, home alone, I felt a presence. Slowly it drew closer. I thought I was imagining things. Soon I saw a shadow in the hallway, like the shadow of a spider. I tried to put it out of my mind and chalked it up to being overtired and up too late. Then I had a strong flash of a giant hairy spider, six-feet long from front to back. Before I knew it, I felt like it was on top of me. With spirit vision, I "saw" the spider. I knew it wasn't physically real, but energetically it was very real. Basically the spider said to me that I needed to get over my fear of spiders, of death and pain, and ultimately of fear itself. It asked, what is the most horrible thing a spider could do to me? Bite me. And if the spider were poisonous, I could die. If I really believed in my path-I believe in a life after death, and reincarnation-it would not be the end of
"me," just the end of my middle self, my ego. My spirit would continue, and that is what is important.
Once I acknowledged the spider's message, it disappeared, and no more eightlegged friends dropped in on me. But in my journeys, Spider became a new guide. The webs would help me climb the World Tree. I shapeshifted into a spider form and eventually met the archetypal spirit of all spiders, Grandmotherfather Spider. Later I met the Spider Weaver goddess.
If an animal makes its presence known to you in the waking Middle World, seek out its wisdom before it has to take more drastic action. Learn to listen to its subtle signals before you have a more dramatic experience.
EXER C I S E 11
Lo we r Wo rld Jo urne y t o Me e t a Po we r Anim al
1. Start with the Shamanic Smudging Ritual from chapter 3. Use it to create your sacred space. If you choose to journey inside a magick circle, cast your sacred space. Start your journey music, and assume your trance posture. Have any power objects or tools you desire at hand, and wear your blindfold.
2. Do Exercise 1: Entering a Meditative State, counting backwards to focus your thoughts.
3. Call upon the gods and spirits to guide your journey:
I call upon the Goddess, God, and Great Spirit, all my guides and guardians, to help me on this journey, for the highest good, harming none. So mote it be.
4. On the screen of your mind, conjure up the World Tree, the great tree with its branches holding up the heavens and its roots digging deep into the Underworld. With each breath, feel the tree become clearer in your perception.
5. Imagine that the screen of your mind is like a gateway. Step through it, and stand before the great tree. Touch its bark. Hear the wind blowing through its branches. Smell the earth. See the World Tree. Feel the World Tree. Know the World Tree.
6. State your intention:
I ask to journey to the Lower World and meet with my power animal. So mote it be.
7. Following your intuition, go into the roots of the tree, and follow the tunnel into the Underworld. Traditionally any animal you see more than four times in a friendly manner is considered your totem. The experience may be in flashes, or you may have a direct experience with the animal, where it is completely clear that it is a power animal for you.
Some people experience verbal communication with the animal spirit, while others are taught and guided through inner experience or intuition. Let the animal ally take you on a journey.
8. When done, hearing the callback, return the way you came. Thank your animal guide, knowing it will respond to your future journeys. Come back to the base of the World Tree, and thank it for this journey. Thank the gods, spirits, and your power animal. Step back through the screen of your mind, and look at the tree from a distance. Let your awareness of the tree fade away. Bring your awareness to the physical world. Do any necessary closing rituals.
Many traditions say you should not speak about your spirit allies or guides in public. It's a personal experience, so I can understand why. Revealing something about your power animal reveals something about you. Some say you will offend or lose the animal spirit if you reveal it, but I don't agree. My particular allies have told me to share their stories, because I teach through story. Other teachers feel that allies should be kept to oneself until they independently reveal themselves to another. If someone were to see my power animals, spirit guides, or patron gods around me psychically, and then mention it to me, that would be a signal that it was safe to talk about those particular beings with this person. In the end, it is a personal decision and entirely up to you and your own allies. I find sharing to be difficult but ultimately rewarding in the right circumstances. It can bring people together and help them understand each other.