"We can use animal imagery and other nature totem images as a way to learn about ourselves and the invisible world. There are archetypal powers that reside behind and oversee all manifestations in Nature. These archetypes have their own qualities and characteristics which are reflected through the behaviors and activities of animals and other expressions in Nature.
When we pay attention to and acknowledge a nature totem, we are opening up and attuning to its essence. We can then use it to understand our own life circumstances more clearly. We can share its power - or "Medicine."" --from Ted Andrews' Animal Speak
For a long time, the power of animals was revered. Each specific creature bears a certain design, given their way of life as well as essences while here on Earth. The winged hold powers of vision given their gift of flight; although extremely adaptable and ancient, the reptile is also extremely sensitive to its environment given its close relationship with the ground; amphibians lead double lives; insects remind us of the power of transformation as well as metamorphosis; and on we go. How do you know which animals are your totems, spirit guides and medicine? You simply pay attention. LISTEN.
In 2010, I was working with a local non-profit organization, helping it to break ground on its first 5-acre farm. While purveying Poway property, I was stung in the face by an angry worker bee whose hive had just been relocated to that land the night before. In that moment, I intuited that if I continued to charge forward in the direction I was headed (with that specific organization) then I was going to get "stung."
Yes, I ended up resigning my seat on the Board of Directors not long after AND, later that year, I dreamed about a hive of bees swarming around my lower legs as I drove my mother's car up the I-5. The morning after waking from that dream, the PROSPERITY HIVE was born and I dived deeper into the rich fertility, ancient symbolism and collective abundance that the Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) both represents as well as teaches.
Then, this year, there was my snakebite. I have yet to share that, just that day, I had set out on a new adventure with another organization and, again, I felt the hand of the Universe saying, "Cara, you are going to get bit!" "YES, And?" Sometimes in life, we need a penetrating sting, a swift bite or even a lightning strike to get us to "wake up" - to listen, pay attention, and act accordingly. Obviously, there is no need to blame the bee or the snake for acting from its natural defenses - it is simply bee-ing. And, here is where we can begin to see the power of MEDICINE - all medicines have the potential to cure or poison. Balance is always key.
So, after a phenomenal Thanksgiving weekend, some Animal Medicine that has been dancing around me is RAT MEDICINE. While biking home along the Harbor from Ocean Beach on Thursday, I enjoyed witnessing the city rats scurrying from their nightly hiding places. Then, Q & O were doing the same thing in O's car as they sat parked waiting at the Old Town Station for me to arrive, so that we could drive head north to a mask party in Solana Beach. Another new friend mentioned rats during this same time frame so, in my paying attention, I investigate what wisdom dear rat has to share with me now. (Of course, I like the Chinese way of honoring the rat as the first sign in the zodiac because it can represent fertility and wealth. ; )
And, now, this morning, as I pulled myself from a warm winter bed into a pre-dawn morning, I look to our house's Animal Medicine Cards (by Jamie Sams - her writing on Native American shamanism is prolific; she's the granddaughter of a Seneca Elder; and she's one of my favorite contemporaries). I "haphazardly" turned over the Antelope Card. It screams, "DO, Cara. JUST DO IT." It also speaks of how, when humans were in great danger of extinction due to their nakedness and hunger, the 4-legged rode in and offered to sacrifice itself for the 2-legged. When the great Ice Age came, taking meat for food, skin for warmth and more, meant that humans could survive the harsh era that was upon them. The Antelope reminds us of how in knowing our death, we can truly live. Antelope also forces us to act on behalf of self, family, clan, nation and Mother Earth. "Antelope knows the way, and so do you. Take courage and leap; your sense of timing is perfect. When Antelope has bounded into your cards, the time is now. THE POWER IS YOU."
YES!
