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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in totem animals

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Animals and the Divine

Since prehistory, people have desired more intimate connection with animals.  Cave paintings in France and animals carved into the landscape in Peru demonstrate the depth of feeling and intimacy towards our animal relations. Study religious symbols, and you get a glimpse of how close humans’ relationship to animals is.  Moslems call camels, “God’s Gift,” and Incas refer to llamas as “Children of the Great Mother.”  In Christianity, Christ is called the “Lamb of God.”

The religious pantheons of many cultures feature the merging of animals and people.  In Egypt, Bast is depicted as a woman with a cat’s head, while Horus is symbolized as a hawk.  Zeus of the Greeks could transform Himself into various animals for his own purposes. The Hindu God Ganesha is depicted as an elephant, while Cernunnos, the Celtic Lord of the Animals, is shown with a stag’s horns on his head.

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Warm-Blooded Ones: Friendship and Nourishment

Warm-blooded Ones live on the land, fly in the air, and swim in the sea. What makes these animals unique is that they have a constant body temperature. This enables them to live in cold, hot, and temperate areas. Warm-blooded Ones also give birth to live young (except for the platypus and echidna, who lay eggs). However, all Warm-blooded Ones nourish their children with milk. Their other defining characteristic is that they have hair; even whales sport one or two hairs.

Of all the animal groups, most people feel the closest to the Warm-blooded Ones. People have a natural kinship with these animals, since as humans, we are fellow mammals. Warm-blooded Ones live invited in people’s homes as companions and members of the family. They are raised by people for food, clothing, and shelter. People have been nourished by their friendship with Warm-blooded Ones for ages.

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Using Animal Oracle Cards to Discover Your Animals

A popular method for finding your Animals of the Heart is with animal oracle cards. While there are many fine decks, they are all limited in both the types and number of animals that they feature. Moreover, most decks are mammal-centric. Birds are usually represented by “Crow (or Raven),” “Eagle,” “Hawk,” “Hummingbird,” and “Owl.” Reptiles are limited to “Lizard,” “Snake,” and “Turtle.” Insects (and related others) are “Bee,” “Dragonfly,” and “Spider.”

Therefore, I would recommend a world-oriented deck since they will feature a wider range of animals. The methods that I suggest can work with most decks. Many popular decks tend to be North American specific, with a sprinkling of world animals. There are special themed decks which focus on Australian animals, birds, pets and other related topics. If you feel strongly about a certain grouping, then use those specialty decks.

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