Tags
Animal Dreams, Cernunnos, Dream Symbolism, Egyptian Gods, Familiars, Fetch, Freyr, Kemetic, Norse Gods, Norse Polytheism, Set, Seth, Spirit Animal, Spiritual, Sutekh, Totem
I’ve noticed a trend among Norse Polytheism and other European Polytheist traditions that there is a particular fascination, and emphasis on, the possession of some special, powerful totemic spirit. And I’m certainly not the only person who finds this suspect. As a very dear, valued, and wise friend brought up in conversation recently:
Why is it, whenever someone is declaring their Spirit Animal, or that they’re a particular type of Otherkin or whatnot, it’s never anything unglamorous. There are far more insects than mammals on the earth, some of which have very complex behaviors indeed, but nobody ever gets chosen by those because . . . they find them ugly or gross. No, it’s always wolves, bears, lions, something cool and bad-ass and predatory and sleek, with the occasional rabbit or stag thrown in. It’s never a hippo, despite hippos being bad-ass and ‘evil’ and dangerous, because hippos are regarded as aesthetically displeasing.
She makes an excellent point-in-observation.
To add to hers, I find that there are overwhelmingly Eurocentric schemata plastered over these various concepts of “animal guides” (and, yes, before anyone asks, there were formerly many species of European lion which have long since been hunted to extinction by the Medieval and Early Modern Periods). And certainly, if one were to know that the fly, flea, moth, cockroach, snail, crab, or mosquito were their Animal Identity, who would want to admit that publicly? I can imagine a great deal of shame would be felt by most Modern Polytheists, to own such an association, and a feeling of not being as “special” as other braggarts touting wolf, lion, bear, and Gods spare us all, DRAGON Spirit Animals, familiars, Fylgjur, and so on.
One would almost never expect to hear someone say “my totem is the koala!” or “my Spirit Guide takes the form of a rhinoceros,” or “I’m a were-giraffe.” Because — exempting the rhinoceros, since rhinoceroses are brutish, masculine, and obscenely strong, and who wouldn’t want to own that? — those examples would sound ridiculous, wouldn’t they? No, it’s far more posh to say “I’m a lycanthrope,” and “my Fylgja takes the form of a giant, mean wolf.” Not knowing, of course, that werewolfism factors more prominently into Hellenism than most other Mediterranean and Northern European traditions (see also Lycaon, King of Arcadia, and the etymology of the word “lycanthropy”)!
It seems as though every bro-questing, Vikingdude Norse Polytheist wants to cast himself in the likeness of the Úlfhéðnar and Berserkir — particularly when very, very precious few of them have ever been to war, much less have blood on their hands or waistlines below 45 inches of beergut, and truly know the Battle-Madness (I can count exactly one friend in the US Army Rangers who has done several tours in “the Stan,” who comes close to that description, and has earned and proven his association with the bear in nearly every respect — in stature, attitude, lifestyle, and deed).
Many people want very much to be tied up in the identity of the creatures tied up in the identity of their favorite Gods, plain and simply. Rather than admit to a mundane fascination and relationship, an earnest desire to be closer to their Gods and what-have-you by focusing on and “working with” the spirit or essence of those creatures in order to gain a higher, more complete understanding of Deity (i.e., exploring the nature of the stag, its life and behavior and fate within the greater chain of being, in order to become closer to and achieve greater understanding of, say, Cernunnos, or Freyr) . . . no, it must be an overinflated, artificially important, mystical, tremendous relationship. They have to be Gods-given totems or Spirit Animals, not something one takes any conscious, prosaic initiative on.
I’ll say it in plainspeak. It’s nonsense. Pure, unadulterated nonsense. The reality of the situation is that most people consciously, actively choose their Spirit Animals. I wager that very few people came into the world with a wolf, bear, or lion spirit attached to or meant for them. I suspect there are far more moth, dung beetle, cedar waxwing, piliated woodpecker, siren, toad, groundhog, and chipmunk people in the world. It seems a bit unrealistic, trite, and contrived, that practically EVERYONE would have a lupiform Fylgia hanging around, even by Spiritual/religious/”metaphysical” standards.
I’ll use myself as an example. I identify heavily with the boar. Masculine, raw, impatient, stubborn, fierce, earthy, grounded, pragmatic, fights to the death, dangerous when wounded, a leader animal, a territorial and protective beast. I share many personality traits with the boar, though there are certainly attributes the boar possesses that I seek to cultivate within myself. The boar is also a chief symbol of both Freyr and Set, two Gods with Whom I have longstanding devotee-to-deity relationships. I have a black boar tattoo on my right arm to commemorate my devotion to Set (Who took the form of a black boar in one myth to devour the moon — an Ancient metaphor for lunar eclipses), to Freyr, and my affinity for the boar.
This identity was, and is, largely self-imposed, something done under my own power, with my own sense of initiative. Sure, we share “character traits,” though it ought to be understood that these are anthropomorphisms that humans give to the boar. I’ve had a few powerful boar-dreams. Does that mean “Glory Tusks,” as I affectionately dubbed my dream-boar, is my Fylgia? Not necessarily. I can only assume; I can never be certain. To err on the side of rationality and caution, I can only confine it to the realm of dreams, and refrain from making some huge mystical drama out of it. Having a few cool boar dreams doesn’t make me a Svinfylking (which refers more to the wedge shield wall attack formation, but some mistakenly use it to refer to “boar warriors”). It doesn’t mean my Fylgia is some bad-ass monster-boar, or indeed, that I’ve ever seen my Fylgia before.
I just really like boars. It’s not the only symbol of my “chief” deities — Freyr features more prominently with the horse, and to some degree, the stag. Set has the crocodile, the hippo, the bull, the hawk, the Oxyrhynchus fish, the Sha, the donkey, and according to R. T. Rundle Clark, the flea. The boar I chose because it fits best with me. The boar by no means “chose” me.
The boar is not the only animal I identify with. The bull, the bat, the bee, and the snake are also animals whose qualities I share, and possess others that I wish to take into myself.
Even if the creatures I’ve dreamt of and associate myself with are not my “totems,” animal dreams or “visions” aren’t useless by any stretch of the imagination. Our brains problem-solve in sleep, and in trance-like states. The human brain, in these states, is able to peel back the layers of trauma and conscious mental construct to access the recesses of one’s being that are in trouble, need to be heard and heeded, what-have-you. Various animals can be symbolic of changes occurring in one’s life, changes one needs to make, among other life lessons. In visions, an animal appearing often means “be like me to overcome this, or to accomplish this,” or “you’re being like the negative aspects of me; stop it.” It could also be (in what I deem far rarer cases) a “Godsign;” that is to say, a God wants to convey something to the individual visually and symbolically, or wants the individual to come to Them in-shrine. And, as is frequently the case, it could just be a matter of the brain toying with popular images in one’s head at night or in-trance.
Ultimately, not everything is an omen or a portent. Not every relationship has to be Gods-given or mystical. As unattractive as prosaic explanations are, a cigar is often just a fucking cigar. It’s okay to do things under one’s own power. It’s okay to be normal, and to let things just be as they are, without making a major production out of it. And, above all else, NOT EVERYONE IS A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE. EVERYONE BEING SOOPER SPESHUHL TAKES THE MEANING OUT OF UNIQUENESS AND SPECIALTY, DOESN’T IT? Not everyone is a spirit-worker, not everyone is worthy and capable enough for the title and office of “priest.” Most people are normal, honest-to-goodness people, not shamans or Goðis with superpowers and beastly Spirit Animals or whatever else. And that’s perfectly okay. Embrace it. Be yourself.
OMG I JUST WROTE ABOUT CIGARS TOO!!!!!!
I don’t know if I have an animal totem. I think fish are important- particularly the koi/carp family. I dream about them frequently, and the state they appear in my dream seems to potentially mirror the state of myself in waking life.
My SO says I’m like a koala, so I guess I’m an honorary koala- GO FIGURE YOU MENTION THAT.
I personally don’t understand the totem animal thing. I think it’s interesting to see what you can learn from animals, and what animals might reflect you- but I never really sought mine out. FWIW, I have read a few threads on TC where people did have random ass and less appealing animals as their guides. But they are few and far btwn.
To associate with an animal, IMO, it doesn’t have to be some major WOO thing. It can be a more mundane relationship, which is perfectly normal and commonplace and fine. Fish and birds and such appear in dreams all the time, and are very important instructional, meaningful symbols.
None of what I said is to say that there are NO “wolf people” and “bear people” and “lion people,” but the frequency of the adoption of those and similar Eurocentric animals among many Euro Polytheists is to me very suspect. It seems like they want a “token Spirit Animal” as part of their little “gift bag” when entering into Polytheism, Paganism, New Age-y stuff, etc. They want to feel powerful, and like they’re *somebody*, even when (and especially when) they can’t get their pants on straight into their day-to-day life.
With the less-common, lesser-known and under-appreciated animals, it’s in my mind more likely that a person who says they’re, say, a “stag beetle person” didn’t pull it out of their ass to seem impressive, or for the purpose of making themselves out to be some uber-powerful Grand Magus of Fluffernuttery.
That’s something that’s always bothered me. That the less-than-glorious creatures often get overlooked. I work with moths, and sometimes a grub worm form during Shadow work (and sometimes even maggots!) But think about it—bugs do some really crazy awesome shit. And from a shadow perspective, their qualities really shouldn’t be overlooked but adopted. I mean hell—ants have some serious perseverance, and when their tunnel systems get knocked down, they get right back to work rebuilding them. That’s some strength qualities right there.
But alas, they don’t have cool fangs or bear claws. Nor are they pretty (to most people). Hardly anyone works with them or admires them–whether through self-declared admiration or actual god-given work. A lot of people just want to cherry pick their qualities and “totems”.
Exactly! All of this.
And bees. OMG BEEEEESSSSS. They’re amazing, though tiny and frail, creatures. People don’t appreciate them nearly as much as they should in day-to-day life, much less in Spiritual life.
I identify with animals that are considered both glamorous and non-glamorous. There is the leopard and the wolf (both of which I have tattooed imagery of) that I link specifically to Apollon Lykeios(in the case of the wolf) and Artemis (in the case of the leopard since images have her with such). But I think that these identifications have more to do with the gods I have an intense level of devotion to….and gods I likely have followed in other lifetimes which may have something to do with the carryover traits and associations and both have played significantly in dreams. Yet there is also the frog for me, which is pretty unglamorous I would think ;) But I do agree that it likely is a bit more of a complex issue than what folks give thought to.
I have endured the babblings of a few people who claim to be “lone wolves” without understanding the reality of what being a pack-less wolf means in nature, so thank you for saying what I’ve been saying to my friends for years: why does no one ever claim that their totem is a sheep, a housefly, or a sea sponge?
I’ll admit to feeling drawn to two creatures that could be considered “spirit animals,” but they aren’t very glamorous or impressive, and mostly they remind me as much of my weaknesses as of my strengths. I didn’t consciously choose them as role models, but neither did I have some vivid experience with a live specimen that chose me. It’s sort of a gray area where I feel uncomfortable calling these animals “totems” (which is a word that originally meant the guardian spirit of a clan line, I believe) or “fylgja”. They’re just…what they are, if that makes any sense.
I agree there – my family’s ‘totem,’ if you want to use a Native American word – is the Bee. Nothing special there.
I am not familiar with some of the terminology there- but the animal I end up being is the black bear. I’m still struggling with it, and I too have been to combat, with enough
‘life’ added in that I’m still digesting all of it. It isn’t glamorous, at all. I can’t tell you how many ‘bears,’ I’ve met in the last five years. At least 80. Working to know who and what you are isn’t easy, fast, or what you expect. Am I a bad-ass Grizzly? Nope, I’m more liable to raid your cooler. Whew, takes my breath away. I think in part is the romanticizing of the animal – I’ve had dozens of bear encounters, and they are NOT what the new-age books write about. Same thing with the fox, raccoon, coyote, and yes, I think there is a griffin or two.
It has taken the meaning out of it for me at times, and keeps me questioning it. I’ve had this same issue with Pagans for so long I quit talking about it. I think maybe they want that ‘special,’ uh, I guess ‘special thing,’ to them – but the reality is vastly different. I’d rather be grouse. There, I said it.
Therein lies the rub – I did impose my own ‘totem,’ on myself – I love corvids, more specifically the crow. I have since I was young. I love their sounds, their flights, their folklore, their habits with people – all of it. I always will. There are parts of the crow I would LOVE to see in myself. I just would. I don’t work with any though I’d love to, though I’ve accepted that chances are good I never will. I can still admire them though, for their beauty, ingenuity, and intelligence.
No, I work with the wasp and mink. Ant to a good extent, turtle, and coyote only as a link to one of my Gods. Do I admit it to other Pagans? In the rare instances I meet one. I’m the only one out here for miles, and the closest one is, yes: A Dragon. Married to a Unicorn. No, I shit you not.
Thank you for posting this, I will chew on this for the rest of the evening.
Reblogged this on Mountain, Path, and Pool and commented:
Ahhh, it’s so very true, I’m afraid.
But it’s made me think about the animals I’ve had an affinity for over the course of my life… sharks and cats as a kid, wolves and vultures as a teen, llamas, and now in my (nearly) self-sufficient adult years, insects. Bees, moths, mantises. (I saved a mantis from the middle of a road a couple weeks back on one of my trips around the Rose Bowl, and was duly rewarded a couple nights ago with a very beautiful and intact mantis shedding outside my door.)
Vultures and turning into vultures/having vulture parts featured very prominently in my dreams when I first got started with pursuing paganism, though it hasn’t come to me again for a good number of years. I think about those dreams sometimes, and they did have a power over me… but it never occurred to me to pursue that relationship or explore it with magic/ritual/whatever it is that I was doing in those days.
I’ve always loved birds, and identified somewhat with the larger ones that are native to California, but my pull toward raptors (symbols of war and honor to many Mesoamerican peoples) always felt superficial. And now I can safely say that it’s because I’m not a warrior. It’s not in my nature to be part of that transition from living to death, facilitating it. Aftermath I can handle. I tend to find my place after the dust has settled.
I think I’ll be looking more into the symbolism of the vulture (and the bee, as it has a very potent role within my reconstructionism)… and through that I may find that I have two very suitable animal symbols for the turning of my year. :0
I got spiders and insects, does that count for “unglamorous”?
In all seriousness, I can see both sides of the issue. Yes, it’s cool-sounding to have a wolf and I do think it’s that factor that makes most younger people claim a special relationship to such, for reasons many have already stated. Though I have noticed a trend (outside of the “Northern Traditions” at least) away from the usual wolf and finding lesser known “totems”, even when they ARE wolf-people because they’re afraid the internet will shame them for doing so. It’s gotten more complicated than it needs to be.
However, mammals like wolf, bear, eagle and deer did factor more prominently in the daily lives of humans since the dawn of time compared to insects. They are more visually prominent, and both biologically and behaviorally, they are more like us because we too are mammals. Wolves in particular have an especially close relationship with many cultures that other mammals, or animals in general, didn’t (aside from maybe the bear).
In addition, we didn’t know that much about insects (and other small organisms) until recently, when we gained the scientific tools to find and organize them. Few oppurtunities to learn about insects (and non-mamalian or avian animals in general) exist even today for the average person. MAYBE, if you are lucky, your bio department in college will have an entomology course (I couldn’t get one until my Master’s), or MAYBE there will be a documentary in the odd hours on a science channel somewhere, if you happen to have cable to begin with.
I don’t really see it as a problem; at the most it’s just an image annoyance (though the use of the term “totem” can be an appropriation issue). If someone claims to be wolf and is just all talk, it doesn’t affect my practice anyway.
Ultimately, true, it doesn’t effect my personal practice. But, as an overall community, I personally believe it prevents others from taking us seriously, which can be a problem in the realm of “reasons why others would deny us rights we should already have unabridged access to.” To a reasonable extent, we kind of ought to care how society-at-large views us.
The idea that wolves, bears, lions, etc., are more relatable does not make much sense to me. For much of our history as a species, we were essentially
“cat food.” As mentioned in my entry, it’s not just about insects (and there are predatory and beastly arthropods, like bat-eating centipedes and the particularly scary-looking sea scorpion, though those are, again, “recent discoveries”). But we’re talking about Modern people within Modern Pagan/Polytheist religious disciplines who conceivably have free access to knowledge of these creatures, not people centuries-dead (even though Medievals had a surprising amount of knowledge regarding what kinds of animals inhabited the world, real and imagined, if one looks at documents like the Aberdeen Bestiary) — and I honestly don’t think that a person’s actual “totem,” if they have one, is limited to that person’s knowledge of the Natural World.
In Nature, “prey animals,” scavengers, etc., outnumber the instance of large predators. European cultures even had knowledge of and placed importance upon animals like the rabbit, the stag, the fox, the ram, the goat, the raven, the eagle, cattle, snakes, domestic cats and dogs, geese, salmon, the bee, the beetle, and so on, for those looking for more Eurocentric religio-historical precedents. Wouldn’t it make more sense that the people with predatory animal “totems” would number in the minority, while the prey, small mammal/bird/insect, and scavenger animal, etc., “totems” would be a lot more common? I could very well be wrong, but I would think that the Spiritual emulates the Natural World in many ways. Not everyone is a hunter or a warrior, much less an entirely independent, self-sufficient survivalist or a pack leader. Most people, as per my personal observations, tend to fall in better with herd animals, smaller mammals, and domesticated animals and their behavior, and tend to more readily display behaviors intrinsic to those creatures than that of wolves, bears, lions, etc.
Again, none of this is to say that there are NO wolf, bear, lion, etc., people. It just seems to be an overwhelming trend that Polytheists enter into an alien and wondrous Theology, expecting a complimentary gift bag of all kinds of cool “spirit guides” and “special snowflake powers.” I really do not think that the actual number of “wolf people” and “bear people” is nearly as high as the number of claimants would make it seem.
And, of course, the people with the “unglamorous,” underrepresented “spirit animals” ought to feel just as worthy as the “ermahgerd, I have a dragon spirit” people make themselves feel.
Pingback: On Having a Super Cool Spirit/Power Animal | Per Ma: House of the Lion
I wrote a post on this very topic on my blog in which I remarked that the same Vikingdudes who treat the wolf as some kind of ultimate hunter completely ignore the fact that species like the African wild dog (painted wolf) out-hunt wolves and lions on a regular basis.
When I was a child, I went through a horse crazy phase and had a thing for skunks, as a teenager, I was dolphin crazy (I still am), but I see myself as more fox-like than anything. I like snow leopards, spotted hyenas, and giraffes, and I am scared to death of bees, it would be terribly ironic if it turned out my fylgia was a bee.
TBH, I’ve never really felt that connected to any of the animals usually associated with any of the Vanir. I’m actually allergic to cats, and I like stags and boars, but I don’t feel a particular connection to them. I’m one of those eccentrics who thinks that snakes and lizards are cuuuuute and doesn’t understand why so many people scream bloody murder if they come across one.