If you follow an earth-based tradition (religion/spirituality/path/etc.), one of the things you probably work very closely with are Animal Totems or Spirit Guides. Different traditions have different structures and guidelines for working with totems and there is more than one "index" of animal qualities, but if you look closely at all the systems in place, you will see many common threads running between them. To a certain extent, it's a matter of semantics, as what one calls "Spirit", another may call "Soul"; what one traditions defines as "Enchantment", another may define as "Magic(k)". The commanalities are there; it's up to the individual to seek them out and apply them as s/he sees fit.

I began working closely with Animal Spirit Guides about two years ago and I found something very interesting when I began my studies - in all reality, I had been working with these guides nearly all my life; I simply had not known it. (Like this was a surprise. <grin>) Here's a bit of an example: I'm a Taurus, born in the merry merry month of May. Further research into my natal chart shows that not only is my Sun in Taurus, but my Moon, Mercury, and Mars are s well. That makes me a quad-Taurus. It's a wee bit unbalanced for a natal chart (okay, more than a wee bit), but that's part of my life's lesson(s) - to be in balance. So what does all of this have to do with Animal Spirit Guides? Well, for years now, I've had a certain affinty for elephants. It's something I can't really explain, but I've always felt very connected to them - in tune with their grace and agility (despite their massive size), respectful of their social structure, etc. What I found when I began some of my research is that the elephant is akin to the bull in some Eastern traditions. Now, elephant's lessons are a bit different from that of bull's, but there are many commanalities as well. Perhaps, what I was having difficulty learning from bull, I was, instead, learning from elephant. When I couldn't embrace my horns, I chose to embrace my trunk (or something like that).

Another "surprise" came to me just the other day. A couple years ago, when I was having difficulty recognizing my Animal Spirit Guides, I spent some time meditating on the issue. My meditation led me to believe that I have a total of nine Spirit Guides that reside in different places within my "world". (Nine is a very good number for a Witch with an alignment to Brighid.) It became clear to me that five of these Guides directly correlated to the five directions defined within the pentagram - East, South, West, North, and Center. The remaining four were a bit closer within my circle - one each directly above and below me and one each directly to my right and left. Beyond my meditation, I did not seek any confirmation of whether this was correct or not - I simply knew it to be true. The real "surprise" came just the other day when I was doing a bit of research for work. What I found were several published web documents stating that we have a total of 9 Animal Totems (Spirit Guides, as I call them - see... semantics). My first reaction was a that of elation, sort of an "I was right!" feeling. My second reaction was that of the gentle but firm smack upside the head, saying "Of course you were, you dolt!" These are the conversations that go on in my head.

The whole point is to tell you that much of what is written here is (as it is everywhere else) not so firmly rooted in research and "fact", but is something that I have developed using my intuition and connection with the Spirit World. Take what you find to be useful, discard what you find inhibits you.