Totem Animals
What are Totem animals? Everyone has at least one totem animal, even if they don't realize it. A your totem animal is an animal whose species personality is similar to your personality. Interactions with your totem animal will happen sometime in your life, and these interactions will have some spiritual consequences for you, probably spiritual growth. What kinds of animals are Totem Animals? They can be any kind, even "fanciful" kinds such as dragons, but the most common totem animals are intelligent predators or omnivores. One of the most common totem animals is the Wolf, for reasons outlined in this link. Predators!!!, some think, recoiling in partial disgust, but it is true. Our favorite species of pets are predators and omnivores, because the kind of goal-directed, curious intelligence inherent in the lifestyles of most predators is much more like the human type of mindset than the type of intelligence seen in herbivores (who seldom have to do much more than eat, run away from danger, and stick with the herd), which humans often find dull and uninteresting in pets. Thus we surround ourselves with pet cats, dogs, ferrets, and many more predators.
The more common Totem Animals are (in no particualr order): Wolves, Jaguars, Panthers, Coyotes, Foxes, Lions, Hyenas, Cheetahs, Ravens, Hawks, Eagles, Owls, HouseCats, Lynxes, BlueJays, Tigers, Jackals, Bears and Dogs.
As you can see the Cat family and the Dog family accounts for a large amount of animal totems. Even though dogs themselves are common pets and many people have a rapport with them, dogs are artifical beings with much of the Wild in them destroyed. Since Totem Animals are concerned with The Wild and Spirituality, the dog as a totem animal is actually uncommon when compared to other predators. Wolves, Foxes, Coyotes and Jackals are the members of the dog family which commonly become totem animals. When the dog does appear as a totem animal, it is rarely in the form of a familiar breed of pet dog, but is a truly wild dog, such as an African Hunting Dog, or Something Jackal-Like or Pariah-Like.
Wolves: by far the most common totem animal. See the following pages:
The Cat Family: The second most common type of totem. Well, there are others who can explain this better than me, and I'm currently awaiting their input and essays.
Bears: There are others who can explain this better than me and I'm currently awaiting their input and essays.
Foxes: Awaiting input from those who can explain better than me. Here is a little something:
The fox is a very good "starter" totem animal, a way to start learning about totem animals without as many adjustments and growing pains. There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is that the fox is so small (people find small animals less threatening). Another is that the fox is so beautiful and almost makes you forget it is a predator. One of the biggest reasons, however, has to do with the fact that the fox, while technically belonging to the dog family, has a good mix of characteristics of both the cat and dog family in it, both physically and spiritually. Since the cat family and the dog family are where most #1 totem animals occur, and since nearly everyone has at least a little bit of both the dog and cat family in them, the fox makes an ideal starting totem, as it is the most feline of the dog family. Foxes (except a few obscure species) have a radically different number of chromosomes than the rest of the dog family (Wolves, Coyotes, Jackals and Dogs) and thus are much less closely related to the rest of the dog family than most of the species in it. Biologists almost classified the fox as part of the cat family, because how it relates to the rest of the dog family is obscure and because many species of fox have retractable claws and/or eyes that have "vertical slit" irises. Mentally and spiritually, in behavior and in myths, the fox is a mix of cat and dog family non-physical characteristics.
Many Shifters do not know what their Totem Animal(s) is. Many think they know, but are not sure. Some have experienced a change from one Totem Animal to another, or have once thought their Totem Animal was one thing, but on learning more about it decided it was really another thing. Many are aware of One central totem and one or more lesser totems. Some have two or more animals occupying first place equally. Some have totems that cycle, i. e. bear is #1 now, but later Wolf will be #1, ect.
How you percieve your totem animal depends on your level of psychic and spiritual awareness, what you think about various animals, regardless of whether it is true or not, and so on. Reading books about what you think might be your animal can help clarify it. But it can also make things worse, as many books are full of misinformation on animals, and even scientific books usually focus on the animal in a very sterile, artificial way and often disagree with each other on even the basic details of how such-and-such animal lives it's life. One of the best ways to find your phenotype is to watch nature documentaries of it being filmed in the Wild, look at pictures of it, especially ones that allow you to look into it's eyes and see it's facial expressions, and imagine yourself as that animal vividly while in a meditative state and see if it "fits". Actually, just go to The Page of How to Become a Shifter and try the excercises there with a number of different animals and see what fits. Also make sure to read about what native peoples, such as Native American Indian Tribes, think about the mental and magical and spiritual characteristics of various animals. The native peoples decription of the animal that seems most like you is likely your #1 Totem animal. However, many Shifters start out with a "Starter Totem", somthing which connects with the Wild, yet is easy to handle and accept. The Fox is a very common and good "Starter Totem".
Animal Links
Animal Links Index
What's New
Animal Information Search Engines
Conservation Organizations
Pet Resources
Information about Specific Animals
Other Animal Related Resources
Return to The WereWolf
HandBook