What is your totem?
 

A few weeks ago we had a friend over for dinner and after a few drinks, she allowed, in a bragging, yet sub rosa kind of way, that her "totem animal" was the Eagle. She then proceeded to sound for us her eagle call.

Oh, it was chilling.

Actually, it was not the least bit chilling. SWMBO and I exchanged that special kind of glance and nodded politely.

Later, after our guest left I asked SWMBO why everyone who has a totem animal always chooses eagles, or bears, or some other heroic, or cuddly, or industrious animal. Now I say chooses, because that is really what is going on, despite all the weekend journeying workshops,or three day vision quests where you pretend that your totem presents itself to you.

Why does no one have the sewer rat as a totem? Or the siphillis spirochete? Or the sea cucumber? Or for fuck's sake the lawn grub?

It's the same as past lives. No one ever wants to own up to the fact that in a past life they were probably a wife beater or child molester. No, No, they were queens or kings or even specific queens. I've personally met no less than three women who told me that they were reincarnations of Cleopatra. Why don't these people swap genders? Why were they always some lofty, spiritual, noble person who, now in this life, is down on their luck, riding the subway with commoners?

You don't ever hear people say "Whew, boy I am glad I'm not a sex slave any more. It sure is great to be free and white and living in the U.S.A. and having a college education to boot. You'll never hear me piss and moan AGAIN."

Color me skeptical, however I want a totem animal. Not squirell nutkin either. I want a totem with some teeth,
MY TOTEM IS THE EBOLA ZAIRE VIRUS.

I'm proud of it. My totem will kick your totem's ass.

What's your totem, shrimp?

The Water Bear. The water bear dines on a delicious treat of barbequed ebola virus on a stick.

Along time ago I had a dream I was running in a forest on all fours. I don't think I was a runnaway dog :P I know that is weird but it was an awesomley cool dream all the same.


but don't think me too serious.


A couple of years ago I had a dream of war. People came and were taking people out of their houses. I could choose one thing to take. I chose my toothbrush.


so @ footfoot ....people have really told you that? I don't know if I believe in regressions either.


IF I were to guess I was some stuck up person who beat her maids. Now I am stuck in a place of servatude OR just too damn lazy and didn't want to leave heaven at all.

Beestie, Damn! the waterbear. I forgot all about the waterbear...

skysidhe: maidbeater, I bet you knocked a couple up as well, and then threw them out in the street.

Why would I do that? Who would run my bath? Massage my feet ect..ect.


oh, and you know what? My feet are SO ticklish I can't even stand it.Oh it's all making sense now. :)

Several researchers of reincarnation have pointed out that the great majority of people who claim past lives choose illustrious persons rather than the dregs of the earth which certainly outnumbered them during all times in history. It rather makes the whole thing sound ridiculous when you read how many people, including Shirley McLaine, say they were Mary Magdalen in a previous life.

But as for totums, you do not pick them. They choose you. To do anything else would be like the Shore Patrol guy who accompanies Jame Caan in Cinderella Liberty, babbling about how - being a Scorpio - all kinds of impressive traits can be attributed to him while the audience laughs at the boring reality. Deciding that your totum is the majestic national bird when you are more Mr. Peepers than Chuck Norris does not exactly increase your status. If you really have a totum, people will tell YOU what it is, not the other way around. Too many people have been reading comic books or seeing movies based on them, and they think a totum is some supernatural spirit that comes to your aid, filled with impressive special effects. Nothing could be farther from the truth ;)

watch out prey

http://www.scuda.com/Gallery/3Toed_Sloth.jpg

I enjoyed being a sex slave.

My totem is the bunny. It's not very scary or heroic. It hops, though.

Does anyone have a house tomte?

http://static.flickr.com/6/75595812_9b8a90d4f0_d.jpg

My totem is a pink and yellow mechanical dragon/dinosaur thingy (sort of t-rex shape). I dreamed that some years ago... :)

My totem must be the hyena, because I always find myself amused at completely inappropriate/inopportune times.

Totems aren't about wanting -- it is very possible to have a totem and not desire it.

You took the rant out of my mouth. Of the billions of lives lived, they were mostly lived in fear and starvation. Many people have a gross misunderstanding of the crossover between their perceptions and their expectations, and when you throw a mish-mash of spiritual principles gleaned from bumper stickers at head shops, what you end up with is a useless distraction. Don't get me started.

I must not be 'cool' then, because no totem ever chose me. I do love animals and have had lots of pets though :) .

If you were reincarnated and in your past life you were Jack the Ripper, would you admit it?

Stormie

I so totally would.

Admit it?

Hell, I'd write a book.

Sorry kitsune, I didn't have my sarcasm hand up. I couldn't agree with you more. I was basically bashing peole who go out and shop for a totem that they fancy.

I also wonder if a person could have a totem and not deserve it, which is what I thought you posted at first glance.

How about if you weren't someone famous, but rather a nobody bum, a scumbag, thief, drunkard, and all around loser? Would you admit to that?

Stormie

Could be. I don't know. I certainly don't claim to understand much about it. I'm a huge skeptic about this kind of stuff, but I have had experiences in my own life that conflict with my thoughts on this kind of thing. I will say that if you subscribe to the idea of a totem, I think it is very possible to be placed in a position you don't enjoy and one you did not want.

I am a part time medicine man, so.....always willing to give and give.....i am willing to give you your totem, and waive the usual fee.....just because i like you.

footfootfoot: Otter

Undertoad: Badger

Brianna: Wasp Queen

SteveDallas: Giraffe

Kitsune: Paul Simon

Wolf: duh.....a Raven

Jinx: Killer Whale

HappyMonkey: Ocicat

Flint: Chipmunk

MaggieL: Great Walrus

Bruce: Clydesdale

Griff: Cougar

Dar512: Horned Owl

Pie: Osprey

Beestie: Whitetail Deer


I know mine too....I'll give you a nickel if you can guess it.

Ass.

Sure, I could still make a good book out of that. What are they going to do, prosecute me for crimes committed in my past life?

Wrong. Rooster.

Where's mine, since you're waiving your fee today?

I was going to mention that, despite years of waiting patiently, my totem has not yet presented itself to me. Either that, or I've been too stupid to notice. I'd like to think that it is the common housecat, but I'd like to be *sure*, I think.

I can't be too easy, though. Even Lumberjim the Mystic didn't peg one for me.

Oh, and BigV...LJ's isn't a rooster...its a peacock.

A WASP
queen? Why? Why?

Does my Izod Collar show so much?

http://tinyurl.com/p2tm

http://members.aol.com/zwonpresentation/imp.jpg

Hint: Not the one on the left. Pay up. :)

spode....sorry i forgot you

Platypuss

BigV: Squirrel

I just got one of these as a familiar in Kingdom of Loathing! He digs up mushrooms that let you go on "trips".

That would explain the existence of republicans, now wouldn't it?

Ah-hem, LJ. What's mine? It had better not be rodent related.

y' can have mine.

oddly enough, yours is a gorilla. i was surprised too.

LJ, i would be honoured if you gave me a totem.

You don't know yours? It's so obvious.....I just assumed that you already knew. It's the Sperm Whale.

aw, are you pissed about yours? I thought everyone knew you were a fox spirit. I think you've said as much. I just think you look a little like a young Paul Simon. This is not a knock. Paul is a God.

But, but, she hates the ocean, doesn't she?

I like Clydesdale, I'll take that as a compliment. BUT, from the time I was about 14, all though school and even to this day, to a lesser extent, my close friends call me Bear.

I'm pretty sure Wolf's totem, despite her name, is the moose. :elkgrin:

what's wrong with a squirrel? you're industrious, playful, and have a bushy tail, are you not?

dark, dangerous...and oddly alluring.

A giraffe? Fascinating. I'm not that tall. Maybe it has to do with the tongue?

What about me LJ ??

doh how could i forget you?

Roadrunner. meep beep!

these things do not always make sense.

No, I was certain you were a beast of burden. ;)

are you just saying that because my head is full of an oil that resembles semen?

not so much.....mainly, it's your blowhole

touche LJ

That he may be, but LJ's totem is the chinchilla.

NO.

My girlfriend = chinchilla.

yes. good. all is well. carry on. nothing to see here.

stop staring at me!

Mine would be an owl. I see that Dar512 has already taken that as well.

Bruce is indeed about the beariest bear out there ... anyone who has met him can certainly confirm that.

Moose is one of my totems ... you can have more than one, you know, especially if you're a magick-worker or shaman. You end up with a whole peanut gallery of helpers, some of which are more closely associated with you than others. I have also learned from crow and fox and coyote. (Moose is about patience and balance, the kind of balance necessary to understand and appreciate your enemies).

Sometimes you stay with a single primary totem throughout your life, other times, they can switch on you ... which has happened to me. I spent a very long time with wolf as my primary guardian (thus my handle). A few years or so ago, somebody else stepped up to the front, and I am now a member of the hawk family, in a manner of speaking ... Black Storm Hawk is what I am now called.

Any creature can be a totem animal or guardian, they don't have to just be the large, cool popular ones. Each particular animal has it's own teachings and lessons to impart to us. One of my friend's totem animal is the cricket ... they aren't all celestial tigers and jaguars. You also, incidentally end up with both the good and the bad qualities of the creature that walks with you ... so folks with rabbit, for example, can be fertile (of body or imagination), very strong sense of community and home, but also can be timid to the point of immobility. Eagles fly highest and closest to Great Spirit, carry the messages of the Gods to Earth, see clearly and far, however, have such a huge damn ego that sometimes it's difficult for them to get over themselves and off the ground.

How the animal presents itself in vision also can tell you about your guardian ... walking, flying, swimming, smiling, hunting? What color variations/phase is your guardian ... White Bear, Ice Bear, Brown Bear, Smoking Bear, etc.

For a while the native circle I pray with was a little heavy on wolves ... Shadow, Silver, White, Flying, and Snow ... while it's more customary to refer to someone by the "animal" part of their name, in this case, we went with their "first" names, for obvious reasons.

Aw, shucks. Thanks.

Your whole post was very cool to read. I am intrigued and you answered my question. I did dream of BEING a wolf running in a forest. I don't feel any close affiliation though except for the running part.

I lean toward birds and cats and I dearly love horses. Is it hard to keep your love for animals seeping into the 'what I WANT' as a totum instead of what is drawn to me.

Having Native American blood in me I am drawn to these ways. I believe in visions but I have an analytical mind. ( spare the crappy spelling)

I found a test. It came up with the wolf as my totum. It could have been salmon if I had chosen the other toss up question the test threw at me.

haha @ salmon. Wonder what that means ? :) oh and oddy enough I have dreamed of swimming under water and being able to breath water which of course neither can I do :p

You scored as Wolf. You are the Wolf. When you are with someone, your allegience never falters. Your family is very important to you and you will protect that family with all you have, no matter what.
var img_str1="";img_str1="http://cellar.org/"; var result_str1="";

Wolf

100% Salmon

100% Bull

92% Dog

83% Deer

83% Stag

75% Eagle

67% Fox

67% Horse

67% Dragon

58% Snake

50% Ram

50% Bear

42% Crow

42%


actually those scores are wrong. Wolf 100% and Salmon 100% It is bull at 92% and adjusted in sequence like that all the way down.
I don't know why it messed up when I posted it. I don't know how to fix it either. ( simple sort here)

http://quizfarm.com/results.php

Salmon is a fish of great wisdom to the Celts, and great tastiness to just about everyone ...

Salmon medicine is about persistence and stick-to-it-ive-ness, and having a very strong sense of home (that whole swimming upstream thing, see). The downside is that salmon people can have a kind of tunnel vision about their goals and desires, such that they can miss on other opportunities.

I was unable to locate the animal totem test, however, I learned that I was of the geek/nerd clique in high school from that site.

ahh, spot on. Thanks :heart-on:

You answered my other question. I didn't have any idea of how that related but now I see it does. So true on the downside as well.

My son said sometimes people reminded him of animals. He is not mystical at all just a normal kid so I didn't understand what he meant when he said he thought we both looked like fish to him. I do have big eyes and lips.

lol


anyway, thanks again wolf. I learned so much from you this morning:D

Totem link - The cells didn't line up quite right on that last post. This link should work.
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=13435&first=yes

I found the totem test, it's on the fourth or fifth page of tests, near the top. Apparently my totem is the fox - comments, please, Wolf (or anyone!)?

Take as a given that the test may not be accurate ...

But fox is about invisibility, secrets, and the ability to hide in plain sight. Like many canids, she also tells us about maintaining a safe and stable home and relationship.

I thought my totem was the Pack Rat.

You scored as Bear.
You are the bear. You have a great strength in your limbs as well as in your heart. You enjoy being playful more than anything and love life.

Wolf
83%
Horse
83%
Deer
83%
Bear
83%
Eagle
75%
Dragon
75%
Bull
75%
Dog
67%
Fox
67%
Salmon
67%
Crow
50%
Ram
50%
Stag
42%
Snake
8%