Totem animal?

[JuniperBerry]

For heathens there's the Hamingja:

In Simek's words, hamingja is "the personification of the good fortune of a person. It is understood not only abstractly but also as a kind of soul-like protective spirit...The idea of mobile spirits who "hovered beside or near a person in life" were the common property of Nordic peoples, according to Thomas DuBois..... It is compounded with hamr (skin, shape), which is occasionally used to mean '"fetch".

It is told that one night Glúmr had a dream. He thought he was standing outside the house, and looking towards the firth. He thought he saw a woman walking across the country, and coming towards Þverá. She was so huge that her shoulders touched the mountains on each side. He thought he went out of the homestead to meet her, and asked her to his house. And after that he awoke. All thought this dream strange, but he said ‘This is a great and remarkable dream, and I would read it thus: Vigfúss my grandfather must be dead, and the woman who was higher than the mountains as she walked must be his hamingja, for he was nearly always above other men in honour; his hamingja now must be seeking an abode where I am’ . http://heathen.wikispaces.com/Hamingja



And also the Dsir:

Literally "sister" though in ON it also appears as a term for "woman". The dísir are female guardian spirits of the home. They are the sals of departed kinswomen who out of love for their kindred remain on Middle -garth and watch over their descendants. It is from these spirits that the Christian conception of guardian angels stems. Simek calls them ä kind of female (fertility?) deity"and notes that "both Swedish and Norwegian place -names suggest a belief in dísir in heathen Scandinavia and a sacrifice associated with it." H.R. Ellis-Davidson says of them:

Evidently such female guardian spirits are not linked with the land like the Vanir or land-spirits, since they may travel over the sea to reach the men they are protecting. Their link is rather with a particular family, and they seem to symbolize the luck which can be passed on from one generation to another.

I dreamed that dead women
came here tonight
they were sadly clothed,
and wished to take you,
they bade you come quickly
to their own home
I say that powerless
are the dísir for you
http://heathen.wikispaces.com/Hamingja


And also the Fylgja:

In Norse mythology, a fylgja (Old Norse, literally "someone that accompanies," [1] "who follows", with "fylgja" being related to the English verb "follow", [2] plural fylgjur) is a supernatural being or creature which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune. Fylgjur usually appear in the form of an animal and commonly appears during sleep, but the sagas relate that they could appear while a person is awake as well, and that seeing one's fylgja is an omen of one's impending death. However, when fylgjur appear in the form of women, they are then supposedly guardian spirits for people or clans (ätter). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fylgja

Fylgjur are personal guardian spirits in the shape of an animal. A fylgja follows its human and prevents danger and accidents. When seeing a guest out, it is a tradition to follow him out the door, giving the guest's fylgja, if it should still be in the house, a chance to catch up to its human. By banging on a door or wall, the fylgja may notify its human of a friend's arrival, or of an accident about to happen. When a fylgja shows itself, it is most commonly in the shape of an animal. A fearless man might have a brave animal, such as a bear, as a fylgja, while a fearful person might have a hare or bird. Seeing one's own fylgja is a sign that death is close at hand.
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/article ... Beings.htm

[MsMollimizz]

I found out who my spirit guide is by
using my pendulum and asking questions.
I wound up with a pair or white tigers,
One male and one female
Gentle Light
MsMolli

[staranashannon]

DancingWillowTree,
The Panther represents your own view of yourself, the kangaroo represents the image you project to others, and the gorilla represents your true nature. You cant tell someone what the animals represent beforehand or it defeats the purpose. This was told to me by someone with a psychology degree. When I was asked to name three animals I immediately thought "totem pole", even though I never read anything about totems. I think they're psychology's version of totems. When I was told to name animals, I said "Cat, owl, goat."

[Lost_Demise]

I think your wrong^^; After all I only have two, and my second is my shadow totem, if he represented any part of me its the one I hide away. Yes, I always hide away the part of me that could be considered the wolf so people wont get scared of me and I wont fear myself.. though it comes out at certain times anyway, when its important.

[staranashannon]

^^^Well, to each their own. It's not gospel. The animals that come to mind don't have to be totems, but if you do have totems, they will be the first animals that you think of.

[DancingWillowTree]

Oh! wow thanks everyone! Now it makes more sense! -Willow!!

[Lost_Demise]

No they wont xD The first animals that come to mine for me is cat's, foxes, and dolphins. I met my panther before I knew what a panther was and I was very young, the closest to a panther I had seen or knew was the pink panther cartoons which obviously doesn't say ANYTHING~ The three animals I think of first changes all the time, but my totem animals never change. I bet you each person is the same, ask the animal question to them once a day or week or month, see how often it changes. I don't believe a totem animal can be predicted so easily as it suggests people are easy to predict. People are complex, even the simple ones. Usually the animals I think of first are ones I saw in art last or the small kinds near by but neither of my totem animals live anywhere near even the town I live in. When I saw my totem wolf I was very awake and very aware because I was very scared because it had been the first time I had seen a wolf ever, and I had been quite convinced he might try to eat me, though he was still and I should have noticed the one silver eye suggested it was a spirit and not a creature of the flesh.

Sorry, sorry, you can still believe what you want staranashannon! I suppose I'm just having far too much fun for my own good.

[WhiteOne]

I have always wanted to know what my totem animal was. I finally had a dream one night, while sleeping in the eastern side of the sierras. Unfortunately it didn't tell me what my totem animal was. I thought maybe, elk or horse--but that was just some assumption that I made in the dream, not an image or clear answer from the dream. My dream simply told me that my spirit was white. I hope it wasn't some Native American spirit joke --just because I'm pale!
Other animals I have suspected: I loved cats and especially tigers when I was younger. On the night of the Chinese new year of 2010 I had a dream in which a tiger came to me and stood next to me. I think it was suggesting that tigers are special helper animals to me (especially in the year of the Tiger).
When I tranced (I guess it might be called trance--but not really) I got the image that I was a decapitated bear paw in a past life (powerful but scary), but now I am a white dog. That is my Mayan zodiac.
Some techniques call for you to go on a fast, and see your spirit animal in actual form -- it will actually be standing there.
I haven't ever done this, but I have dreamed about rattle snakes a lot since I was a child, and one day I was walking on a hill, complaining, "its been a long time since I have seen a real rattle snake." In a couple minutes we came to a bend in the trail where there was a baby rattlesnake in the trail. I was amazed. We waited for it to slither into the brush, and walking down the trail more, I said "I've seen baby snakes before, I wish I could see a really big one." A couple minutes later I heard a rattling noise and jumped. I relaxed as I saw it was just a couple pebbles dropping down the rocky incline near to the trail. Then I looked to where the pebbles were coming from and saw that it was a full grown rattle snake slipping down the side of the mountain, towards the trail. I don't really know if this means that the rattle snake is also a special animal to me. Probably because I have overcome my fear of it in my dreams. I had a dream where I let one slide over my back, which showed me that I was no longer afraid of them because I knew that they would not hurt me if I did not harm them.
So, these are some techniques you can use to see what your animal relatives are. 1) What animal were you drawn to as a child--? You probably learn from it. 2)Ask your self to show you your totem in your dream. This might take years. 3) Go on a special walk, and see if an animal shows itself in an unusual way. 4) Overcome your fear of an animal that you are irrationally terrified of. Learn to appreciate that animal. Good luck! And you can always choose to connect to, or to learn from, any animal--regardless of whether it is your totem.

[deepseakitten]

... So, Just curious about this topic. When I moved into my apartment, I was told there was a spirit that lived here... 3 to be exact. One morning, I was watering my plants and cleaning up. I was talking out loud and asked the spirit to show a sign that it was there... I asked it to knock a silk flower over as proof or "Something".. Not 10 seconds later a hummingbird came flying around the corner making this high pitch chirping noise, stop mid air just above my 3rd floor balcony and just stare at me, then flew off. It was the CRAZIEST thing... I asked my friend about it (She's in the Thelemic order and VERY open to ALL types of paganism/ magic) and she said that was my animal totem. Would you guys agree????