Spirit Animals

For today’s post, I have decided to take a look at the concept of spirit animals.   I have always had a deep connection to many animals, and as I have a deep connection with the Fae this makes sense.   While I personally feel my most potent spiritual guardian is a Faery guardian, I still believe that I have a series of nine animal guardians.   The reason that I have a nine-spirit animal totem is that I am Avalonian.   Three and nine are potent numbers to Celtic cultures, seven is also potent to Faery, and thirteen is potent to Goddesses in general!   Those all happen to be my favorite numbers for these reasons.   Now that I have gotten past these side notes, I will state that nine being a powerfully Avalonian number (the nine sisters of Avalon) makes having a series of nine spirit animals a very magical thing!

I will list each of the nine animals below and explain a little about their meanings.   I will note why I think these animals appear to me.   I see them either in person, in dreams, or visions more often than any other animals.   I will note that at one time I questioned whether wolves, dolphins, or horses would be included on this list.   They do not appear, because although I love those animals, I do not feel the spiritual connection, or feel that they appear to me as guides such as the others on this list do!   So your spirit animals can be many (some have one primary, others a set) and they do not necessarily reflect your favorite animals.   Without further ado, let’s get to the list!

~Black Panther~

~Strengths are beauty, grace, strength, skill, feminine power, intuition, and independence.   Weaknesses are secretiveness, ruthlessness, and unsociability.   I certainly have much in common with this description, even in some ways that I am a bit ashamed to admit.   This totem animal is one that shows my absolute embracing of my feminine nature, which makes sense that it was one of the first to appear to me in visions! 

~Bat~

~Strengths are intuition, flexibility, and fearlessness.   Weaknesses are obliviousness, phobias, and oversensitivity.   I certainly see myself as intuitive and flexible.   Intuition is listed for many of these animals, so that shows a theme!   I can certainly also be oversensitive, so I even see that as a common point.   

~Fox~

~Strengths are ingenuity, intuitiveness, grace, and beauty.   Weaknesses are dishonesty and superficiality.   I certainly value the cunning nature of this often trickster animal, largely this is why it gained a place on this list over the wolf.   It is much more often that a fox appears to me in a dream or vision to guide me!   Although I have had white dog-like animals appear, which I originally thought to be wolves, I now realize they were likely albino foxes, as they were too small to be wolves.

~Crow/Raven~

~Strengths are intelligence, vision, loyalty, vigilance, and sociability.   Weaknesses are pessimism, aggressiveness, and argumentativeness.   I adore these birds!   I definitely see the sociability and loyalty in myself and it balances the fact that some of the other animals in my totem are seen as unsociable! 

~Owl~

Strengths are intelligence, intuition, vision, and accuracy.   Weaknesses are secretiveness and aloofness.   My other favorite bird is featured here.   I have always seen these appear to me, especially snowy owls, as they are symbols of wisdom!

~Swan~

~Strengths are beauty, grace, loyalty, balance, imagination, and longevity.   Weaknesses are idealism and oversensitivity.   I am in the month of the Swan in the Celtic zodiac and having these birds appear as Otherworldly Faery messengers is a regular occurrence in my life!

~Butterfly~

~Strengths are flexibility, beauty, cheerfulness, and sociability.   Weaknesses are superficiality and fickleness.   Butterflies have always appeared to me, even regularly landing on me when I see them.   This makes them an obvious spirit animal of mine.

~Scorpion~

~Strengths are resilience, inner strength, sex appeal, and good defenses.   Weaknesses are skepticism, aggressiveness, jealousy, and vindictiveness.   I have always been fascinated with scorpions.   In the more traditional zodiac, I relate more to Scorpio than Virgo in many ways, which makes sense given I have Scorpio in my birth chart in a big way.   This may be why the scorpion has often appeared to me!

~Snake (Non-Poisonous)~

~Strengths are creative energy (kundalini), spirituality, wisdom, sexual prowess, and healing power.   Weaknesses are duplicity and promiscuity.   The snake appears to me often, even coming to me through my discovery of kundalini-style yoga ten years ago, which radically altered my yoga journey!

~I hope you have enjoyed this countdown.   Do you know your spirit animals?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Further Reading

• The Secret Power of Spirit Animals by Skye Alexander (This is the book where I found the strengths and weaknesses of each.   So I was directly quoting the book there.)