When discovering totems you must first understand if the totem is a Life  Totem, A Journey Totem, or a Message Totem.  All totems are powerful but the meaning that the totem brings will vary on your action depending on what type of totem has come to you.  You must learn what your Life Totem is.

Your Life Long Animal Totem works with you throughout your entire life.  Always there when you need it's powers.  Always reminding you of your power and connectivity.  You may have only one or a few Life totems.  They may become your Life totem at any time.  The messages that your Life Totem brings are a hard reminder from Mother.  Your Life Totem is always there for you and generally reflects your inner spiritual nature.  For example if your Life Totem was a Penguin you would be a person who should be very spiritual since the penguin moves better in water (the symbol of the astral plane - which is were we go when we dream) than it does on land.  Being able to leap out of the water (up to six feet) represents the ability of out of body experiences.  It is also important to understand which type of penguin is your animal totem since some have additional characteristics that are important to consider.

A Journey Animal Totem reflects a period of time.  Not just a day but weeks, months, or maybe a year - the time it takes you to walk the path that the Animal Totem is reminding or guiding you on.  During this journey you will find that this animal is always showing up in your life or that several animal totems will appear in your life all to guide you on the path.  When you find two or three animals all of a sudden making an appearance and their nature all has the same basis then you have found the basis of your path.  The difference between the Journey Animal Totem and the Message Animal Totem is a period of time.  A Message animal Totem will bring itself to you quickly and strongly where a Journey Animal Totem will slip in and out of your life over the course of a period.

A Message Animal Totem usually is bringing you a self growth or spiritual message - like a wake up call or slap in the face.  It will usually be a very unusual experience making it very powerful at that time and very impractical (the animal will do something out of the ordinary).

A Shadow Animal Totem tests us. They have great power for us but will put us through tests before they will let their power work with and for us, instead of against us.  In all of nature there is prey and predator.  In the spiritual or Shadow World there is the same.  A Shadow Animal Totem is one that initially you fear.  The Shadow Totem often represents inner fears that you must overcome.  You may have even been attacked by the animal; a very vivid test to see if you are ready to accept the power of the animal totem.  Until you face the fears of the Shadow Animal Totem it's powers will work against you, not letting you soar high.  When you overcome the fear of the Shadow Animal Totem you bring it into the Light World as your Spirit animal totem and they become one of your most powerful Animal Totems.

Answer these questions to help you discover the Animal Totems in your life.  For Journey and Message Animal Totems you will have to often ask yourself the same questions.  Remember that you may not currently have a Journey or Message totem.  And finding out your Life animal totem is not always easy.  When answering these questions you may have more than one answer per question, just don't start listing out all animals - only the ones that are really important to you.  Follow your instincts when answering the question - when in doubt, don't.

Life Long Animal Totems

When you were a child, what animal did you collect or obsess over that you are still attracted to today?

Of all animals if you could have any animal as a pet or companion what would it be?

When going to the zoo, which animal do you spend the most time with or are drawn to?

If you could be any animal what animal would it be?

What animal is in your dreams that you have had since childhood?

What animal are you afraid of that you have no idea why you are afraid of it?

Of all animals what animals are you most attracted to?

When you are out in nature, do you often seem to run into the same animal?

What animal have you bumped into over and over throughout your life?

What animal have you watched for hours?

Does art work or jewelry with a certain animal always attract you?

Your Life Long Animal Totem will be the animal that you answered at least three times out of the eleven questions.  The more time the same animal is listed in your answers the more important and stronger it is in your life.

Journey Animal Totems

What animal have you started to see occasionally that you never saw before?

What new animal are you attracted to?

Are you dreaming of an animal lately?

Are you thinking about an animal lately?

In the past two weeks what animals have you seen or dreamt of several times?

If you have a Journey Animal Totem you will have answered at least two of the questions with the same animal.  Blessings on your new path.

Message Animal Totems

What animal surprised  or startled you today?

What animal that you don't usually see, have you seen a couple of times today?

What animal entranced you today?

If you only answered one question then this is a message you should consider.  If you answered the same animal to two questions then this animal is your Message Totem with a very important message.  Heed its word quickly for the message is for now and today.

Shadow Animal Totems

What animal attacks have you been in?

What scary or traumatic animal situations have you been in?

Does seeing a certain animal bring up feelings of fear?

What animal do you run from?

What animals do you have reoccurring nightmares about?

Does just watching TV with that animal appearing scare you?

Answering two questions with the same animal means you have a Shadow Totem you must address.  Remember that the Shadow Totem will continually test you and work against you for you are its prey.  You must embrace the lesson of the animal totem and conquer your fear, accept the power of the Shadow totem, and bring it into the light as your spiritual totem.

An Animal Totem is an important symbolic object used by a person to get in touch with specific qualities found within an animal which the person needs, connects with, or feels a deep affinity toward.  One can have several animal guides through out life.  Sometimes an animal guide will come into one’s life for a short period of time, and then be replaced by another depending on the journey or direction one is headed toward.  Our guide will instruct and protect us as we learn how to navigate through our spiritual and mundane life.  When one finds an animal which speaks strongly to them, or one feels they must draw more deeply into their lives, they fill their environment with images of the animal to let the animal know they are welcome in the person’s space.  Animal guides can help us get back to our Earthly roots, and reconnect with nature by reminding us we are all interconnected.  To first do this we need to know what our Animal Totem is.

If you don’t know what your Animal Totem is there are several questions you can ask yourself.  All of the questions below are designed to get you thinking about a prominent animal in your life, so there are no right or wrong answers.  Only you can truly know which Animal Totem(s) are right for your journey.

1. Since we are drawn to that which resonates with us, what animal, bird, or insect are you drawn to?

2. When you go to the park, forest, or zoo what animal are you most interested in seeing?

3. What animal do you most frequently see when you're out in nature or in the city?

4. What animals are you currently interested in learning about?

5. Which animal do you find most frightening?

6. Have you ever been bitten or attacked by an animal?

7. Is there a recurring animal in your dreams or do you have one you have never forgotten?

If you are still uncertain which animal is your totem, here a few exercises you can do to come closer to the answer.  One must not try and force the animal to come, it can pick up on that energy and be put off.  Being patient and doing the following exercises will draw your animal totem to you.

1. Ask yourself what animal has played a meaningful part in your world?  If your unsure make a list of animals that have drawn your interest or left a deep impression on you from paintings, photographs, stories, movies, carvings, etc.

2. Which animal shows up in your life most frequently?  Keep a journal of the animals present in your dreams or that you encounter through the day for the next month.  How did the animal behave?  Did you interact with the animal?

3. Find a place where you can be alone and meditate.  Sit quietly and ask your animal to make its nature known to you.  Feel free to use tools such as incense, smudge, and candles to help you.

4. Don’t give up, sometimes your animal totem is near by watching to see if you are serious about connecting with it.  Keep doing the above exercises until your animal totem makes itself known to you.