What is a spirit animal?

We all have our own ideas and definitions of it, mine has evolved. A spirit animal touches us in a particular way, opens us up to new experience, marks the passages of our lives, appears as a magical helper on the hero journey. A spirit animal changes us, we feel differently about them, they affect us in particular ways – evoking feelings that are poignant, steadying, puzzling, powerful. They seem larger than themselves, they evoke something that is timeless in us, perhaps something that is ancient, that we aren’t even consciously aware of.

My spirit animals:

Orson. I so connected and identified with his troubled and broken self. I couldn’t fix him, I could begin to fix me. He began the process.

Elvis. He came to teach me what I could do in my animal life, and what I could not do. He humbled me, helped me to see the parts of me that had lost all perspective.

Rose. She was a strength dog, she never wavered or failed, she was tireless and brave, she did not save me, I did that, but she steadied me, she bought me time, she taught me much about strength and determination. She always did her job, and this helped encourage me to always do mine.

Frieda. She walked Maria through the dark woods and brought her to me, and made me prove my love to be worthy of them both.

Lenore. She kept love alive for me when it was gone from my life, and I felt I would never know it or see it again. She was the ray of light in the darkness.

Simon: A spirit animal of great power, he symbolizes the will to live, the meaning of acceptance and forgiveness, he changed me from the moment I first laid eyes on his very piteous being. Maria says I was never the same after that.

Rocky: A spirit animal for me, and for Maria, he led us to our new home, he forced us to confront the meaning of mercy and compassion.

Red: I don’t know yet where Red is taking me, what part of me he is opening up, you perhaps can see it more clearly than me, I will not know what it is until I can look back on it. He is a powerful spirit animal, he touches everyone he meets.

Kim: I don’t know much about Kim yet, except I see that she has affected people, changed some already, touched the imaginations of many. I don’t understand this yet, it will reveal itself.

Spirit animals are not just pets, they walk with us through the world.