Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 how do you find out what your power animal is? -carla > > Every animal has its own special gifts, and some of > them are very > unexpected. When I do a retrieval for someone or > guide a retrieval journey > for a group, people are inevitably surprised if they > didn't get the fancy > totems, the eagles, bears, wolves, etc. But I have > never seen a person get a > totem that did not offer them something valuable > that they needed at that > moment to work with. In many cases it can be a > lifetime alliance, but in > others an animal comes along for a short time to > help someone get a leg over > an issue. ===== _______ X is the answer! _______ Get email at your own domain with Mail. http://personal.mail./ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 Hi Carla: Traditionally, a person would discover their power animal by conversing with nature, either by doing a vision quest or paying attention to the animals that manifested to them. In some cases, a person would develop an affinity with an animal that they hunted, or that attacked them, such as a wolf or a bear. A person would make a good relationship with their power animal by honoring the animal in their home, carrying a fetish relating to the animal (maybe a feather, fur, teeth or claws, or a carving of it). Their likeness would be painted, sculpted, worn as costumes in ceremony. In our modern life, we have less access to the opportunity to interact with nature in a significant way, but we can still make an effort to connect with animal medicine, since I believe they make an effort to connect with us if we are open to the idea. A simple way to do it would be to have a person who does journeying to take a journey for you with the specific aim of bringing your power animal back for you. If you would like to learn to journey yourself, that is not difficult, either. I'm working on a page of instructions for a simple journey of this kind that I'll have up soon. There may be a group near you that does shamanic drumming circles, and if so, they may also do journeying. In a journey to retrieve power, the shaman goes into an altered state by drumming or dancing and takes a journey into the ground to the lower world, holding their purpose in their mind. When an animal appears, the shaman asks if they are the power animal they are supposed to bring back. Many animals may appear and disappear, but a particular animal will continue to appear, and when it has appeared three times, the shaman will ask permission to bring it back to share its medicine. Embracing the animal, the shaman returns, blowing the spirit of the animal into the crown and heart of the person (unless they have been journeying for themselves, of course ;-) (Jane, this seems like an interesting attunement correlation to me, and the energetic shift is palpable) After this ceremony, it is the responsibility of the person to maintain the connection with the animal by honoring it. I suggest researching the natural habits of the animal; watch nature shows, read encyclopedias, obtain figures and pictures of the animal to have around. The internet is a great resource for this. Talk to the spirit of the animal. It also helps to look up the animal in a resource like the Animal Medicine Cards, " Animal Speak " , or " Totems " . If you can, try to observe them in nature, or at the very least, in a habitat environment. Find out what you can do to support them ecologically and spiritually. All these things will help you understand the great honor an animal spirit is giving you by agreeing to support you with its power. Many people have a natural affinity for a particular animal for some reason or other, and if they don't have the opportunity to have an animal retrieval, that is a good place to start, and you may find when you finally do have a retrieval that animal's spirit has been speaking to you all along. In traditional societies, there are aspects of the relationship with one's medicine animal and guides that is not shared with others, to keep it a sacred and powerful thing. I think that may be for some of the reasons we spoke of before... others may inadvertantly or deliberately minimize your relationship by denigrating your power animal in some way. No one's animal has more " clout " than anyone else's in the circle, so there aren't any superior or inferior animal helpers. Something I haven't mentioned in all this; though they don't seem to occur as often, occasionally someone's animal is a domestic, such as a pig, dog or rooster (the Chinese horoscope is full of domestic animals, isn't it?). When I retrieve an animal like that, I encourage the person to research not only the domestic version but the wild version of the same animal... for instance, if a domestic sheep comes through, also look at longhorn sheep; if a domestic goose comes, also look at their wild geese kin. Hope this is helpful, I hope to have that page up soon. Blessings, Crow >Carla Romaine <oelcirac > > > power animals >Tue, 10 Apr 2001 18:02:46 -0700 (PDT) > >how do you find out what your power animal is? > >-carla > _______________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 Hi Crow, Caroline Abreu wrote: > Embracing the animal, the shaman returns, blowing the spirit of the > animal into the crown and heart of the person (unless they have been > journeying for themselves, of course ;-) > > (Jane, this seems like an interesting attunement correlation to me, and > the energetic shift is palpable) This is awesome and something I did not know about the journey...that the person is actually attuned to the spirit and essence of the power animal. This would have to bring in the animals qualities to the person's energy fields and life. Where the person has the responsibility to maintain the connection with the animal by honoring it thereby strengthening those particular qualities, I see a connection with energy work in that one must do the work to maintain a strong connection to the energy. The more you do energy work, the stronger it gets and following that, the more one honors their power animal, the stronger the qualities are brought to the fore. And holding on to this connection between shamanic journeys and energy work, do you (the shaman) bring back the power animals only in the presence of the person - or can it be done distant :-) Now I am more intrigued and will have to do a medicine wheel layout with the cards, lol. -- Janie Walk softly, Live gently ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Usui Reiki Ryoho and Seichem Classes In person - New Jersey ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others. ~ Buddha ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 You do a lower world journey (in the Native American tradition). This typically done to what is known as 'The Shaman's Horse', or rythmic drumming while one lies within a sacred wheel of images (such as the hawk, eagle, or bear). You basically envision yourself walking along a cliff face, and then you see yourself taking a stairway of sorts down from that cliff face... into the lower world. You simply let your mind go and allow the images to come to you. When you see the image of the animal, you must ask it three times if it is your power animal. Power animals often change over the course of people's lives according to what they need. =), Anne-Louise. > Carla Romaine <oelcirac > > Tue, 10 Apr 2001 18:02:46 -0700 (PDT) > > power animals > > how do you find out what your power animal is? > > -carla > >> >> Every animal has its own special gifts, and some of >> them are very >> unexpected. When I do a retrieval for someone or >> guide a retrieval journey >> for a group, people are inevitably surprised if they >> didn't get the fancy >> totems, the eagles, bears, wolves, etc. But I have >> never seen a person get a >> totem that did not offer them something valuable >> that they needed at that >> moment to work with. In many cases it can be a >> lifetime alliance, but in >> others an animal comes along for a short time to >> help someone get a leg over >> an issue. > > > ===== > _______ > X is the answer! > _______ > > > > Get email at your own domain with Mail. > http://personal.mail./ > > **************************************** > Visit the community page: > For administrative problems -owner > To , - > > All messages, files and archives of this forum are copyright of the > group and the individual authors. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 Jane: I'm going to cut this post in half. It looks like I've run on again <LOL> I have never attempted to do shamanic work at a distance, though I have done Middle World journeys for healing work, and the results come out very similarly to remote viewing. I think I would prefer to teach a person at a distance to do their own journey, unless they are very weak (often dispiritedness, depression, grief or weakness is a reason to need power retrieved). And again, I suppose there could be a " dual journey " format for that, going to the Lower World for the spirit of the animal, then journeying into the photo negative Middle World to deliver it. Hmm. I have not had training in that, but I don't see why it couldn't be done, even for Soul Retrieval. Distance Attunements are done for energy work, though I have never done them, either. I like the physicality of the breath and touch, but I might be willing to experiment! Have you done Distance Attunements? >Jane Berrigan <reikiskhm > >Hi Crow, > >Caroline Abreu wrote: > > Embracing the animal, the shaman returns, blowing the spirit of the > animal into the crown and heart of the person (unless they have been > journeying for themselves, of course ;-) > > > > (Jane, this seems like an interesting attunement correlation to me, and > the energetic shift is palpable) > >This is awesome and something I did not know about the journey...that the >person is actually attuned to the spirit and essence of the power animal. >This would have to bring in the animals qualities to the person's energy >fields and life. > >Where the person has the responsibility to maintain the connection with the >animal by honoring it thereby strengthening those particular qualities, I >see a connection with energy work in that one must do the work to maintain a >strong connection to the energy. The more you do energy work, the stronger >it gets and following that, the more one honors their power animal, the >stronger the qualities are brought to the fore. > >And holding on to this connection between shamanic journeys and energy work, >do you (the shaman) bring back the power animals only in the presence of the >person - or can it be done distant :-) > >Now I am more intrigued and will have to do a medicine wheel layout with the >cards, lol. > -- Blessings, Crow " Look for Rainbows in the Darkness " -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 Crow, I'm hoping that you will let us know, when you have this page done and where we can find it. I'm looking forward to it a lot. Audrey , " Caroline Abreu " <nrgbalance@h...> wrote: > A simple way to do it would be to have a person who does journeying to take > a journey for you with the specific aim of bringing your power animal back > for you. If you would like to learn to journey yourself, that is not > difficult, either. I'm working on a page of instructions for a simple > journey of this kind that I'll have up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 You can get to the Lower World in various ways, and the landscape is somewhat different for everyone, though also somewhat similar. The way I learned to access the Lower World is to darken the environment as much as possible (you might even try a blindfold) and use a monotonous rhythm, whether drumming, rattling or singing/chanting, to prepare, then enter through a hole of some sort, whether a hollow tree, an animal burrow, a cave, or plunging into a body of water and coming out into the Lower World. A good rule of thumb is not to set yourself up to expect anything in particular; while Anne-Louise is walking along a cliff face, I climb through a high, porthole-like access and fly out. Interesting, Anne-Louise, that we both enter at the cliff face. Others emerge on hills, inside mountains, under water, and other places. Perhaps it makes a difference what " portal " you use to get there, where you come out. If you are successful with a particular entrance in reaching the Lower World, though, and it proves reliable with further use, it might be better to stick with it for continuity, since you also have to use it to return. Blessings, Crow >Anne-Louise Lasley <rosebud76 > >You do a lower world journey (in the Native American tradition). This >typically done to what is known as 'The Shaman's Horse', or rythmic >drumming >while one lies within a sacred wheel of images (such as the hawk, eagle, or >bear). > >You basically envision yourself walking along a cliff face, and then you >see >yourself taking a stairway of sorts down from that cliff face... into the >lower world. You simply let your mind go and allow the images to come to >you. When you see the image of the animal, you must ask it three times if >it is your power animal. > >Power animals often change over the course of people's lives according to >what they need. > >=), > >Anne-Louise. > _______________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2001 Report Share Posted April 11, 2001 Crow, I'm ready! When does class start? Audrey , Caroline Abreu <crow@c...> wrote: > I think I would prefer to teach a person at a distance to do their own journey, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2001 Report Share Posted April 13, 2001 Thanks for the thorough response! This is really interesting. -Carla --- Caroline Abreu <nrgbalance wrote: > Hi Carla: > > Traditionally, a person would discover their power > animal by conversing with > nature, either by doing a vision quest or paying > attention to the animals > that manifested to them. In some cases, a person > would develop an affinity > with an animal that they hunted, or that attacked > them, such as a wolf or a > bear. A person would make a good relationship with > their power animal by > honoring the animal in their home, carrying a fetish > relating to the animal > (maybe a feather, fur, teeth or claws, or a carving > of it). Their likeness > would be painted, sculpted, worn as costumes in > ceremony. In our modern > life, we have less access to the opportunity to > interact with nature in a > significant way, but we can still make an effort to > connect with animal > medicine, since I believe they make an effort to > connect with us if we are > open to the idea. > ===== _______ X is the answer! _______ Get email at your own domain with Mail. http://personal.mail./ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2001 Report Share Posted April 19, 2001 Hi Crow, Sorry I've taken so long to get back to you...really has been a busy week. Thanks for all the journeying info...it is great. Caroline Abreu wrote: > Hmm. I have not had training in that, but I don't see why it couldn't be > done, even for Soul Retrieval. Distance Attunements are done for energy > work, though I have never done them, either. I like the physicality of > the breath and touch, but I might be willing to experiment! > > Have you done Distance Attunements? Yes I have both done and received Distant Attunements for both Reiki and Seichem/SKHM. I find distant attunements as powerful as in person attunements, both giving and receiving. Want to try it out? :-) Just an aside, Crow, I'm doing a happy dance here because I was approved today as a provider by the NJ Nurses Assn. to teach my Reiki I & II classes for continuing ed for NJ nurses. Bet you know that process, lol. -- Janie Walk softly, Live gently ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Usui Reiki Ryoho and Seichem Classes In person - New Jersey ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others. ~ Buddha ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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