Animal Medicine Powers The wisdom of the native, tribal and ancient peoples of the world teach us that Wolf and Ant, Eagle and Mouse, Dolphin and Sparrow have great medicine powers. Animals will share these spirit gifts with us, if we but ask. Many tribal peoples consider the animals as our wise grandparents, for they evolved before us and witnessed our own evolution. The last few hundred years prove how destructive we humans become without the guidance of our animal forebears. It is now time to renew our ancient bond with the animal clan, and to walk once again in the protection of their wisdom and their guidance. Native and tribal peoples call upon particular Animal Spirits to fill them with their empowering energies. We can do this too. This is often called "invoking." Invocation is a form of prayer we use to call the powers of various animals into ourselves. When we invoke, we actually invite the spirit of the animal to live within us or be very near us for a while, so that we might share their power. When we pray to or invoke an animal, we are actually appealing to the spirit of the entire species. For example, when we invoke Wolf, we call in the wisdom, experience, power and understanding of all wolves who are living or who have ever lived. A very simple way to invoke an Animal Spirit is to simply visualize and call upon it. For example, perhaps you need to become more adaptable and clever. You might visualize Fox and say something like, "Fox Spirits, I am calling to you. Live within me and fill me with your cleverness." Some people find it helpful to look at a picture or statue of the animal they are invoking. We can also invoke animals by emulating them. for instance, if you are invoking Wolf, you might Howl as Wolf and then call upon Wolf to live in you.

Finding Your Sacred Name When you begin to study about, meditate upon, invoke and honour animals you may find that a particular animal keeps showing up in your life in one way or another. For instance, you might find that wherever you move, Crow is always around. Or you might find Crow feathers on the ground quite often. Or you might find that Bear comes to you often in your dreams. When this begins to happen, it is not a coincidence. All humans belong to an animal clan. However, our culture does not realize this, and so we go about our lives unaware of our animal totem. Begin to pay attention, because your animal clan has been calling to you and inviting you to join them all your life. When you do think, by knowledge of the heart, that you have discovered your clan, you can try on their name. If it feels right, then that will be your sacred name. For example, all my life I have dreamed often of dolphins, been very attracted to them, read and learned all I could about them. Then one day in Florida I found myself swimming with two wild dolphins. By this time I had studied the medicine teachings of tribal peoples and knew that this was an important event. I opened my heart to get a message from the dolphins, who told me I was of their clan. That is why my sacred name is Dolfyn. The biggest mistake people make when trying to discover their animal clan is to ignore their own clan in the hope that a more "romantic" animal will invite them into their clan. As I hope you will see in this booklet, all animals have great medicine powers. Do not ignore Sparrow in the futile chasing after Wolf or Eagle as your clan. You do not choose your animal clan, they choose you. Once you have taken on a clan name, then you will receive all the medicine powers of that animal. But with power and medicine gifts come responsibility. Your animal clan is your family and you must protect it any way you can. And, of course, never eat your clan members! Native peoples sometimes acquire more than one clan membership in a lifetime. If this happens to you, you might change your sacred name, but you never stop belonging to your previous clan namesake. You belong to both clanes, deriving benefits and taking responsibilities from and for both. Finally, it is alright to try a sacred animal name if it feels right to you, and then to realize you were mistaken and drop the name. For instance, a friend of mine was convinced that he was invited into the Coyote clan. He briefly took on the name Coyote, but he was wrong. It just didn't feel right. He is still mesmerized by Coyote, and perhaps some day he will be honoured by membership in the Coyote clan. In the meantime, he is quite content to realize that he is a member of the Beaver clan. So try on an animal name if you have a strong feeling that this could be your clan, and be open to dropping the name if it doesn't quite fit. Then try on another when the feelings are strong that this might be your clan.   Giving Thanks ~ Giving Back Finally, when we use or tap animal spirit powers it is important to give thanks to the animals we have invoked. It is also very important to treat animals on the earth plane with respect and caring. We do not tap the enrgies of Eagle and then do nothing to protect Eagle. For instance, farming pesticides destroy Eagle's offspring by weakening the eggshells. We can buy or grow organically grown food in order not to support the pesticide industry that threatens Eagle. We are missing the point if we invoke Fox and then buy a Fox fur coat. We must educate ourselves about how we can give back to the animals. For we seek true friendship and alliance with the Animal Spirits, and we realize that we are part of the circle of life -- of giving, receiving and giving again. At the end of this booklet you will find addresses of groups and associations that help animals.