Spirit animals are guides that present in animal form. The notion of a spirit animal is rooted in indigenous beliefs, where they serve as guides and guardians—supernatural beings in animal form.
But what is your spirit animal? Do you even have one? Although there is no shortage of tests out there that can claim to help you find your spirit animal, most simply ask questions about your favorite color and other personal preferences before generating a random answer.
There is a better way to find your true spirit animal; it just takes a little more work.
Understanding Spirit Animal Concepts
The concept of a spirit animal is often confused with power animals and totem animals, but there are clear distinctions:
- A spirit animal is a guide that will protect you.
- A totem animal is a symbolic animal that represents a specific group.
- A power animal can give you strength and wisdom.
Spirit animals are mainly associated with Native American tribes, where they serve as guides for individuals and totems for tribes. Native tribes believe that spirit animals can impart wisdom through various life lessons while also offering protection.
However, the spiritual significance of animals goes back much further than that. In many ancient cultures, certain animals represented strength, wisdom, fertility, and fortune. Many Egyptian and Sumerian gods had hybrid animal forms that represented their attributes, while Greek gods had animal sidekicks or adopted animal forms when revealing themselves to humans.
To our ancient ancestors, animals weren’t just spiritual guides; they were omnipotent, omniscient gods that possessed animal characteristics.
Methods for Discovering Your Spirit Animal
Finding your spirit animal isn’t simply a case of choosing your favorite animal or picking one with similar traits. It’s a journey that includes:
- Meditation and Visualization: Meditation will access a deeper part of your subconscious and could be the trick to discovering your spirit animal. Find somewhere free of distractions, sit still, and focus on your breathing until the distractions—random thoughts and worries—fade away. Once you reach that point, try to call your spirit animal with a personal mantra or through the power of visualizations.
- Observations: Pay attention to what’s happening around you. Do you keep noticing the same type of animal? Do they seem more attracted to you or you to them? How do those animals make you feel?
- Intuition: The more you meditate, the more you will understand about yourself. Eventually, you’ll start picking up on subtle signs. As your intuition develops, you’ll notice more signs and can decipher more information from them.
- Dream Analysis: Your dreams will display your subconscious thoughts and deep-seated emotions. They could also present messages from your spirit animal. Keep a dream journal and write down any emotive experiences as soon as you wake up. You may notice that certain messages or animals keep making an appearance.
Interpreting Your Spirit Animal’s Message
Once you have discovered your spirit animal, you will start receiving messages. The messages will rarely be clear. You’re probably not going to receive direct instructions from your animal. More than likely, they will come in the form of visualizations or symbolism, something that hints at a meaning but doesn’t spell it out for you.
It’s on you to figure out what those messages mean. Seeing your spirit animal acting chaotically in times of great stress and disorder could be a sign that you need to focus and get things in order. Seeing them in pain or distress could be indicative of a problem that you’re not addressing or an issue with a loved one that you haven’t spoken to in a while.
They will be there when you need guidance, but you’re the one who needs to decipher that message. As above, meditation can help, and you should also continue with your dream journal. The message might not be clear right now, but if you record the visuals, words, and feelings and then add to them with future observations or dreams, you may be able to understand it better at a later date.
Living in Harmony with Your Spirit Animal
Your spirit animal can help you to find harmony in your life. They can also awaken dormant skills, vanquish vulnerabilities, and unlock more purpose and direction. To maintain a strong connection with your spirit animal, make sure you continue your practices—meditation, intuition building, dream journalling—and connect more with nature.
Keep receiving and deciphering those messages, and make sure you’re actually following your spirit animal’s guidance and aren’t simply trying to justify your own desires.
After all, it’s easy to decipher an abstract message any way that you want. Visuals that hint at change and evolution may suggest that you’re heading down the wrong path and need to make a U-turn. But, with a little confirmation bias on your side, you could also decipher it as needing a new wardrobe without changing anything about your current habits.
Listen to them. Stay true to the message, and don’t force a meaning just because you want things to go a certain way.
Conclusion
Once you integrate your spirit animal’s wisdom into your daily life, you can start evolving and improving, tapping into your guide’s wisdom and power while continuing your journey of discovery.
It’s an ever-evolving relationship. You will see them more, understand them more, and learn how to better integrate their teachings into your life. It can be slow going in the beginning, but by meditating, observing, and paying attention to your dreams, you will discover your spirit animal and open the door to a world of possibilities and personal growth.
