Do you have a spirit animal? That’s the blog prompt for today: “What is your spirit animal?” I have no idea how to figure out what mine is. Aboriginal Americans found their spirit animal through a vision quest, some spiritualists find theirs through a dream, other people are lucky enough to have their spirit animal find them.
Me? As far as I know, I don’t have such a guide, and if I do, it hasn’t made itself known to me. At one time I wanted to do a long-trail hike, thinking it would also work as a vision quest, but that didn’t work out. I did try to do some of those quizzes that supposedly introduce you to your spirit animal, but the very first question on a few of them stymied me: “What is your favorite element — water, earth, air, fire, wood, space?” How the heck does one answer that? I mean, you need those to live. Without wood (trees) there would be no breathable air. Without space, there would be no Earth. Without water, earth, air, fire (energy) there would be no life.
I did manage to find one quiz that asked different questions, but most of the questions did not pertain to me, such as what sort of television programs I watch — news, reality TV, documentaries, and a few others. Since I don’t watch television, it was a bogus question, as were several others. Still I did stumble through the quiz, and according to them, my spirit animal is a raccoon. Supposedly, the racoon embodies creativity, discretion, and keeping your ideas close to your chest until you’re ready to unveil them. Sounds feeble enough to apply to almost anyone.
I also found a site that linked spirit animals to one’s birthday, so depending on what culture I espouse — Western, Chinese, Native American, Celtic — my various spirit animals are fish, rabbit, wolf, snake. Not exactly a unanimous consensus, or even a general consensus!
The only dreams I ever had that could possibly be considered a vision quest or a way for my spirit animal to make itself known were both white dreams. In the first, I was walking in the white sands of the desert, with a white sky above me and a white path stretching before me. As I walked, three white horses sped across my path, then four white bunnies in a bunch, then two small white squarish creatures I could not identify, and finally, one immense white owl. For sure a mystical dream! All of those creatures are powerful totem animals, except perhaps for the small squarish animals. Another time I dreamt of a white tiger, a spirit animal that is drawn to a soul with inner strength.
So there you have it — all I know about me and my spirit animals. Since there is such a plethora of them, it could mean I need a whole lot of help. It could also mean that at different times, I was influenced by different manifestations of spirit. Or it could mean nothing at all, which, to be honest, is what I tend to believe.
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One. “Grief: The Inside Story is perfect and that is not hyperbole! It is exactly what folk who are grieving need to read.” –Leesa Healy, RN, GDAS GDAT, Emotional/Mental Health Therapist & Educator.
Bertram's Blog 
January 24, 2023 at 1:46 pm
Raven and Horse are mine.
January 24, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Cool!
January 24, 2023 at 6:25 pm
Funnily enough, tigers are my spirit animal. I like their power and regal grace, their ferocity and their warmth. I even have one tattooed on my chest, and I love it.
January 24, 2023 at 6:44 pm
Cool!
January 26, 2023 at 5:08 pm
I think of the concept of “spirit animal” as some sort of bionics but applied to human behaviors instead of technology. It’s a spiritual term to express human mimetism.
In times of challenges humans try to find solutions through inspirations and we learn a lot by observing how animals behave in these situations. Because they act out of instinct we do not have. Only after we rationalise their actions through our mecanism of understanding the world.
As you progress through life, you adapt to new situations constantly. Through time your spirit animal changes. Just like seasons pass you grow; you cannot remain an animal that thrives in the summer when winter comes.
You have to adapt to keep yourself on the move.
January 26, 2023 at 8:45 pm
That’s a great assessment! We do have to adapt to keep ourselves on the move, though I hadn’t seen that in the spirit animal context.