Np Avani.
I have been working with animals ( physical and otherwise) for...
*counts on fingers*
....eleven years now. A lot of that has been in the last year ( it's been an intense year for me with animal messages and energies). I'm glad I could help out some in that department.
Momster -
Horses represent many things one of which is travel ( go figure right?). Not just riding across the plains travel though. They also represent astral travel as well as journeying within oneself. They also represent power ( physical/earthly as well as astral/spiritual). What else?
*thinks*
Horse is also supposed to be a means of changing ones perception ( which would make sense with all that travelling right) and also deals with communication as well as communication with other species.
Horse is also about freedom and endurance. Faithfulness, awareness achieved through cooperation, friendship, expansion of your own abilities as well as being a guide to overcoming obstacles are also part of Horse's medicine.
Question about Horse here....I have heard that you have to feed a horse ( like say some of an apple) with your hand TOTALLY flat otherwise the horse will chomp right through your hand......is that true?
Dogs are about loyalty. Serving others ( or humanity) in some way. Dogs can be your best friend AND your protective body guard. Protectors, Guardians, Guides, and totl lovebugs with an unending well for unconditional compassion. Dogs also represents the duality between faith and doubt. Dogs are also intelligent, are keen watchers, have a good memory and teach us to use other senses other than our eyes in order to gain more information about our situation or environment.
If you look at the eating habits of dogs, you'll notice that they will eat most anything ( at least mine do
). Symbollically this relates to taking in just about anything with little thought to what one is taking in. This can be good and bad.
More on cats- I already went into cats on my last post ( keen observation, sensuality, indepedence, seeing in the dark clearly, patience). A bit more on cats would be noting their ability to hold their own and fight fiercely if they are cornered. Their ability to take food to the trees (symbolically this would be taking information to a higher ground of thought process). Cats are also said to help aid in meditation. Cats are natural predators and usually stick to meat ( in the wild). Domesticated cats can differ in diet ( one of mine loves muffins). They can be piiiiicky and they like to play with their prey first ( some say its because adrenalin adds spice to the flavor of the dish to be eaten). This indicates a personality that KNOWS what it wants and will take the time to get it. Another note about cats is that they self medicate. That is they will deliberately eat grass to clean out their stomachs.
Snakes - Tranmutation. whoo hooo! The power of this animal is represented in it's venom. A person working with Snake may be asked to transmute some form of toxicity ( emotional, spiritual, mental, physical) into something that works FOR you not AGAINST you. Rebirth in a sense ( shedding the old skin to grow anew).They represent primal energy ( such as the Kundalini which is the "fire serpent" one experiences when opening up all the chakras). Snake also represents psychic and Goddess energy. Snake is also about being careful about striking out ( if it misses its mark and bites itself by accident it will die.....it is not immune to the poison it carries). Also look to how it eats. It digests things in whole, and then takes a lot of time to digest what it ingests ( again eating habits symbolically relate to information, emotions, etc that we take in and how we process that).
Snakes have a strong core ( they HAVE to as they've no arms or legs) and it is from here they operate.
Snake represents the death/life cycle with it's shedding and so in a sense represents a universal balance ( which it always has to keep a handle on as they are cold blooded).
Snakes also represent dreams, desires, creation, resolution, passion, procreation, and fire energy.
*takes a breath*
Bats represent rebirth through ritualistic death. Old rituals dealing with bat and rebirth were very harsh on the mind body and spirit in order for the person to be broken down and stripped to the persons true core. Mind you this dealt with shamanic initiations. It was to get the participant to let go of what one thought as oneself. In doing so it was a way to deal with, confront, and expunge fears and any negative thought processes or habits that went with that. Sort of like gaining a clean slate in a really intense way.
Bat also deals with the pollination of new ideas ( did you know that bats are also responsible in pollinating flowers?) and transition. Bat can also be used as a way of viewing past lives ( past ideas of the self, etc).
Bat asks us to use other ways to see such as vibration and sound. There is more than one way to view the world, ourselves, and ourselves in the world. Bats are actually well adapted to their environment and blend in REALLY well so they also represent camouflage, invisibility and the ability to observe without being seen.
Bats have to eat many times their weight in insects per night to keep going. This could (symbollicaly) represent taking in much more than others do. This may indicate that you don't have to ingest as much daily in order to function ( or maybe you are filtering too much out).
As you know Bats are mostly nocturnal and come out at Twilight. This is probably why they are associated with Death ( comes out twixt the times and death like the dark is scary and unknown).
Okaaaaaaaaaaay. I think I covered all of that. This time I had my animal medicine card deck book and a my "big book of everything" in front of me ( I'm still looking for that book's link to share with others....the info from it is from a WONERFUL site).
I too have cats that are doglike as in they are fiercely protective of me, follow directions, come to their name, etc.
!
As for familiars.....I guess the working definition is an animal ( insect, etc) that works with you. It's not just a pet or companion. There is a special bond where it guides you, protects you, gives you something to learn from, warns you, is a companion, and is a participant in any magical/spiritual activities that you endeavor ( etc etc).
They can be physical and live or disembodied ( spiritual/astral). They may be active ( like say your hamster getting all upset over a new friend that you brought over and later you find out your new friend is a rip off artist) or passive ( I have one animal spirit helper that crops up as a neutral reminder of things....that is all he does....however his message keeps my butt in check).
I hope that makes some sort of sense.
Soz for the long post ya'll. I hope it was worth it.
C.S.
3 He missed his mommy.
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