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Have you ever been curious about connecting with your spirit animal?
From symbols of strength and courage to messages about personal growth, connecting with your spirit animal is a powerful tool for spiritual exploration and reflection.
While “spirit animal” is a relatively modern term, its concept is one that has been around for thousands of years. Spiritual animal medicine or spirit animals are a source of support and inner healing. Believed to be a person’s teacher and protector through the cycle of life, they are here to help you navigate the ups and downs of life on Earth as you learn to discover and embrace your inner power.
According to ancient wisdom, each of us has a spirit animal that serves as an ally and guide throughout our lives. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of spirit animals or want to learn more about how to connect with yours, then read on!
Understand Your Animal’s Habitat & Behaviour
If you’re looking to connect with your spirit animal, it’s important to understand its habitat and behavior. Understanding the physical features, personality, and natural environment of the creature can help you learn its message and medicine.
This is often one of the first steps in gaining deeper insight into your spirit animal. Many animals have a set of traits or characteristics that are associated with them due to their way of life (for example, lions are associated with strength, wolves with perseverance, and owls with wisdom).
By observing where your animal lives and how it acts, you can begin to learn more about its personality and how that might fit with yours.
Consider Your Own Connections
So, what does this look like in practice?
Let’s say you’re interested in connecting with a wolf. You can start by learning about where they live—do they live in the mountains or do they prefer the forest? Then, think about how they behave—do they hunt alone or in packs? Are they territorial?
Once you’ve answered these questions, try to draw parallels between yourself and your animal—do both of you enjoy being alone or would you rather be part of a group?
Once you’ve identified some qualities that resonate with your animal spirit, consider where else in your life those qualities might show up. Are there areas where these qualities are lacking? Are there areas where they’re already strong?
Wherever those answers take you will help guide you toward understanding how best to use those traits to connect with your spirit animal.
Analyze Your Animal’s Symbolic Meanings
Aside from learning about the natural habitat and behaviors of your animal, another way to connect with your spirit animal’s presence in your life is to take a look at the different spiritual and cultural meanings connected to it.
All spirit animals have their own unique stories, teachings, and wisdom that can be used for personal development and growth. Research your spirit animal’s traditional and mythical characteristics so you can better understand its messages!
The Archetype of Your Spirit Animal
Along the same vein of getting to know the symbolism of your spirit animal, it’s also helpful to identify the archetype your animal embodies, too. This can be done by simply analyzing the traits and characteristics associated with that particular spirit animal together with its ancient symbolism.
Look for an empowering relationship between your inner self and the psyche and archetype of your animal. By doing this, you will recognize feelings, abilities, and values that will lead to a greater understanding of yourself.
In general, there are nine different archetypes for spiritual animals: the healer, the nurturer, the trickster, the leader, the healer, the guide, the warrior, the sage, and the seeker. Which of these archetypes do you feel resonates with your spirit animal?
As Always, Use Your Intuition
To truly make the most of the messages from your spirit animals, you must use your intuition when understanding them- this means looking inwards and being mindful of how your spirit animal makes you feel inside.
Does it bring a feeling of joy or peace? Or maybe even fear or sadness? Listen to what feelings come up within yourself and apply those meanings on a deeper level with your connection with the animal’s message for you.
Also, start paying attention to your dreams. Your dreams are full of symbols that represent aspects of yourself and your life, so take them seriously! Sometimes spirit animals (and spirit guides in general) can use dreams to communicate with you. The next time you wake up from a dream and remember it clearly, write down everything you can remember about it and see if anything in the dream connects back to your spirit animal.
Create a Ritual
If it feels right for you, build your own ritual around your spirit animal(s). This could include anything from burning incense in honor of the animal guide(s) who are with you today, crafting an altar or sacred space dedicated specifically for connecting with them, creating art of them, etc.
There are many ways to build a ritual around your spirit animal. You can choose the level of complexity that feels right for you, whether it’s simple or elaborate. A physical ritual might be something like dancing or singing; an emotional one could be writing a song in honor of your animal; and a mental one might involve meditating on its teachings.
Rituals can also serve as reminders that there is more than what we see with our eyes; they help us connect with the unseen world around us and celebrate our connection with nature, animals and people alike!
Get a Totem or a Picture of Your Spirit Animal
There are many ways to connect with your spirit animals, and one of the best is getting a totem or a picture of them.
A totem is an object that you find or create that represents your spirit animal. Many people opt for traditional miniature animal statues made from wood, stone, or crystal, but a totem could be anything from a painting to a piece of jewelry or even a stuffed animal.
The idea is that when you look at this totem, it will remind you of who you are and help bring out the best parts of yourself. If getting an actual physical object isn’t your style, you can also try creating your own Pinterest board or Tumblr blog filled with photos that you associate with your spirit animal!
Meditate!
One of the easiest ways to connect with your spirit animal is through meditation. Take some time out of your day when you’re not busy and just sit down in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed by anything or anyone else. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and focus on nothing but your breathing for several minutes—or as long as it takes for you to feel relaxed enough for this exercise.
Once you feel calm, begin thinking about what your spirit animal or kind of animal might represent who you are inside. Don’t think too hard about this—just let yourself go with whatever comes naturally!
After some time has passed (about 15 minutes), open your eyes again and write down everything that came into mind when thinking about these questions: what kind of animal best represents my true self? What animal am I drawn to right now and why?
Journal to Tap Into Your Subconscious
Last but not least, journaling is a powerful way to connect with your spirit animal.
When you journal, you are tapping into your subconscious mind, which is where all of your inner wisdom lives. By writing down your thoughts and feelings in the moment, you are giving yourself permission to think freely and deeply about what’s going on in your life. This can help you make connections that might not have occurred to you otherwise.
Some questions to ponder…
- Why do I feel connected to this particular animal?
- What was life like when this animal came to me? When/how did I find my spirit animal?
- What traits and characteristics does this animal possess that I have within myself?
- What traits and characteristics does this animal express that I currently do not?
- What gifts, lessons, or inspirations does this animal offer me?
When you begin to explore and discover possible answers, it might just give you a better understanding of what your spirit animal’s purpose is in your life.
Conclusion
As you get to know your spirit animal, the more you will be able to connect with it. You can learn about its personality and what it says about who you are as a person. Spirit animals are a great way for people of all ages to understand themselves and others around them better.
Keep in mind that while there are many ways to connect with your spirit animal—and there are many different opinions on which way is best—there’s no right or wrong way. You can choose any method that feels right for you and that helps you feel at peace with yourself.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about your spirit animal and how to connect with it! To learn more, check out the meanings of common spirit animal omens and different spirit animals here!
DISCLAIMER:
Sage & Moon is a participant in affiliate programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to purchase through these links. Any product we choose is based on personal recommendations that we love and trust you will too. By using these links you are directly supporting us to keep writing + creating. Thank you!
