These animals that guide us

By Lydia Thunder Buffalo.

More and more people on the path receive visits from animals in dreams or visions and ask me to help them interpret these omens.

Here is a small text to share my experience on the matter.

These animals come as allies and guides for us. If they appear large, or animal-headed humans, it means they are emissaries of the Great Ancestors, sometimes Native American Nations or the Star Nation.

Each animal has its own medicine and according to our level of practice and evolution, they will come to us on different planes. In general, it is good to analyze our dreams in the simplest manner possible, that is to say with a reading in the first degree. The spirits always communicate in such a way that we can understand them! Sometimes their messages can be more esoteric. In this case, it’s not a problem to not “understand” the message as it will act on an unconscious level so that our cells integrate the teaching and our intuition will then use it when needed.

Most of the time, the first animal that comes to the young initiate is the wolf. Like all canids, it is a guardian of the threshold and a faithful protector. It helps us step through the first door and if it chooses to remain with us as a totem, power or spirit guide, it will continue to perform this task at each stage of our initiation. In Ancient Egypt, the jackal god Anubis guides the departed souls through the Amenti, the world of the departed, he is the guardian of the portals to the other worlds and provides safe passage.

Another example of a recurring animal, the eagle:

It offers us the vision of the Great Whole. It allows detachment to have a broader world view. It invites us to enter into the invisible world without fear, it will guide us and allow us to expand our field of perception beyond the limited reality of our five senses. It is also a bird of prey, it can get us to seize opportunities that present spontaneously without us having payed attention to them in the first place. If we meet somebody new for example, we can invoke and ask the eagle to send us a dream or intuition to tell us if this meeting will guide us on a constructive path. It also plays a role in prevention. It can alert us to any danger if need be.

Another very active animal in the magical world: the owl. It is also bird of prey, but a night one. Its flight is silent. It reveals secrets and brings messages. It often acts as a messenger such as announcing the departure of someone in the Other World. It is also an important animal in the Celtic tradition, it informs that we possess magical powers or healing. It is very connected to the sorcerer Merlin and the elfic vibration, to the Devas, the spirits of nature known as the Little People. It is a fierce guardian, it has qualities of transmutation and transformation, it has the ability to digest the negative energies and transmute them into light, qualities, or personal medicines.

Regarding the felines, let’s take the example of the Black Panther. It acts in secret, in the depths, this animal is very connected to the goddess Kali in India, the goddess of destruction whose action then allows reconstruction. It calls for a deconstruction of the psyche, to let go of fears and old patterns, also to invite us into the invisible world where many treasures can be discovered !

It is favorable to make a small altar where one can meditate and pray quietly; depositing a white candle, incense-offering, sacred objects and photographs or drawings of the animals that visit us then find a time in the day to devote one’s time, talk to them, sing to them, thank them and make our requests to them. Nothing forces us to do this every day, maybe once or twice a week is sufficient. The key is a regularity in the manner of an appointment; it is how the spirits acknowledge that we want to communicate with them.. They will be present when we stand before the altar. At first we may feel a bit alone but by insisting, we begin to feel presences because our sensitivity increases considerably.

We can also joyfully perform a dance of these animals, preferably in nature, to the rhythm of the drum, alone or in groups and let their spirits enter us. We become the animal, feel its wildness, its senses that are way more developed than ours, it is a powerful and invigorating ritual!

Then it is wise to investigate to determine whether these spirits are our power, totem and spirit guide animals.

The power animal is at the level of the first two chakras. It is our strength, what animates us on our mission.

The totem animal is at the level of the plexus, heart and a little on the throat. It represents our first talent, our medicine quality.

The spirit guide is located on the upper chakras. It connects us to our ancestors and all their medicines.

As for me, the power animal is the snake. My strength lies in the ability to transmute the poisons. It is also the main spirit of the native tradition in which I was initiated, which allowed me to gain a solid foundation throughout my journey to the recovery of the Terma SIBA.

My totem is the anteater, talented detective who goes in search of the source of the problems.

My spirit guide is the black bison (Thunder Buffalo in its Tantric dimension) that has this ability to take on burdens and responsibilities, hear the voice of wisdom but also channel the Nation of the Stars and its language in an alchemical purpose of service for the planetary regeneration.

These spirits can shift along our journey and our evolution. The time comes where they settled permanently. I recommend doing a visualization exercise or a shamanic journey, accompanied by drum or singing and “see” what animal appears on these areas of the chakras then allow them to let their vibration fill us. We can then invoke them to help us perform certain tasks.

The rituals allow us to channel these spirits, recognize them “officially” in some way and integrate their medicines. This is also the principle of the traditional teaching diets in the Amazon.

The Warrior-Healer then has a large totem tree where many animals come to live and work with her/him, but the three main ones are the most active and their medicines are the most appropriate for the life mission that our Higher Self has chosen for us.