BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Wicca Totems

Does any one know anything about Totems..?? I'm clueless of how to find mine..I read somewhere that a woman had a lion for a Totem and it went for walks with her and sat with her on her sofa..(and it even purred) !! ...If I had one, I don't think that would be for me..something smaller maybe..

LMAO!!! your so funny!!! I have no idea about the totem thing....sorry but you are still funny!

A woman once told me an Owl was my totem because I use to get images of them during meditation. I personally think mine is a wolf or fox. I always dream about them (of course it could be because I have a giant photo of a fox in my bedroom.)

lol Moe your funny to!!! I have been told that the bear and Dolphin are my totems but that was a looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngg time ago before i new what they were and I thought she said Tote them! I was like 8 and thought I she thinks I am carring a bear and Flipper she nuts!! they have probly changed sense then but I always remember that when this subjuct comes up.

I believe you can have more than one though.

MM,
As I have been taught & experienced, you can have many animal totems but you usually have 9 that stay with you thru life, the others may come & go as they need to give you a message. I do Animal Spirit Guide readings. & I have alot of success at giving people their totems, some for life , some for a message.


SapphireMoon

I have always had a thing for horses (freedom) and dogs (loyalty). I usually use these animals for my screensavers.

Isn't there a difference between totems and familiars? The way I understand it, a familiar is the animal in your life that you connect to... call it an animal soul mate if you will. A totem is an animal that represents you or watches over you. Or perhaps the animal that represents your character the most.
Is that correct?

Bylen

Familiars and totems are one and the same.

In the classical sense however a familiar is a messenger sent by the person to do their bidding. However that would be in old english and relate to the story book kind of witches.

As for finding your totem, think of animals that you see most often in your dreams or meditation much like Moe, or what animals are you most drawn to like Robin. Often people in the know will tell you what animals are following you, I went to pow wows for years when I lived in NH, I remember walking into a booth and someone looked at me and said "Who brought the bear in here?" (Obvious to say but my main totems are Bear and Dragonfly)

There are also some totems that will follow you for a while when you need the message. There ws a time when I was getting nothing but black panthers for nearly a month. Dreams, books, television, conversations, panther panther panther. I finally took the hint and looked up it's meaning. It is thought to be maternal in nature and I cried when I realized it was the anniversary of my Nana's death.

Lately I have been getting foxes and lots of them, in stories from others, shape-shifting from leaves to a fox face, real ones on the road side.

There are many internet guides that can give you a basic meaning to the animals surrounding you. My favorite is a book by Ted Andrews called Animal Speak I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone's book shelf. It also has guided meditations if you need help reaching your totem animals.

Good luck!

I agree. I think there is a difference between a totem and a familiar. My understanding is that a familiar is an animal that exists in the "mundane" plane and can assist with magickal workings. A totem, to me, is an animal (either actual or mythological) that aids you solely in the astral realm. Or perhaps sends indirect messages by flying by in the "mundane" realm.