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    spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

    just wanted to know anyone's thoughts on differentiation between the terms, how you define them, how they affect you, how you learn of them, etc.

    I look at it like this: spirit guides are one's guide down whatever section of the path one is on. some guides stay for a short time some lifetime. I've currently a crow acting as my main guide.
    i see power animals as a driving force, a spirit which will make up for your weaknesses with its strengths and help build those spiritual "muscles" until you no longer need them.
    i see the totem as one's own person. what one is down deep through all the layers.
    and i see familiars as.. well the typical thing, assistants, companions, guardians on occasion, channels for power to the astral realms.

    anyway, point being, what do you all think of these things?
    There's always something left.

    #2
    Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

    I have not thought on these things overly, and certainly not shared much about them with others. It seems somewhat personal to me. I will share that what I perceived as my totem changed of late, and what you have posted makes me wonder about this. I have undergone personal transformation, but what you have written makes it sound as though the totem would be a lifetime partner. Am I understanding what you written correctly?

    "No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

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      #3
      Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

      yes, thus me having mine tattooed on me.
      There's always something left.

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        #4
        Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

        Spirit guides I think are beings on the astral realm (animals) who interact with you. That being said, I don't think I actually believe IN spirit guides. I've never heard of a power animal before, and a totem to me suggests something animistic, like in native american art.

        Familiars, well...that's a witches way of saying she has a pet


        Mostly art.

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          #5
          Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

          Originally posted by volcaniclastic View Post
          Spirit guides I think are beings on the astral realm (animals) who interact with you. That being said, I don't think I actually believe IN spirit guides. I've never heard of a power animal before, and a totem to me suggests something animistic, like in native american art.

          Familiars, well...that's a witches way of saying she has a pet

          haha i guess that's one way of looking at it. you don't feel like even something as simple as a household pet can hold very strong spiritual energies for you?
          and why, if it's not too prying, don't you believe in spirit guides?
          There's always something left.

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            #6
            Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

            In my vocabulary, it goes like this..

            Spirit Guide: Any spirit, animal or otherwise, lifelong or short term, that in someway guides and assists me.

            Spirit Animal/Totem Animal: Both the same thing. Some folks prefer not to borrow terms from other world faiths and spiritualities if they can avoid them, so prefer Power Animal as it is less frequently associated with Native American spirituality. It's kind of mascot in a way. A spirit who's energy you identify with. A specific spirit animal representing your totem, might become your spirit guide, or you may simply identify with the collective spirit of the species.

            Familiar. Like V said, it's a pet. We can have (or believe we have) a spiritual relationship with our pets, but generally, a familiar is a living, breathing creature!
            夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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              #7
              Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

              so do you feel like one can have multiple spirit guides at once, a bit like having different teachers for different subject?
              There's always something left.

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                #8
                Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                When I was younger, I had four human guides, owl, cat and magpie. Now I still have my main human guide and magpie. If the others are still around, I am not aware of them. I also work with an egregore spirit and.suspect that my partner's dad, who died a year before we met, may have had his hand in our 'chance meeting'. So yeah, they can come and go and some seem to stay forever.
                夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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                  #9
                  Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                  I just had this discussion with my cousin. I view a spirit guides as a more permenant fixture. Guardian angels so to speak. Spirit animals and totems I view one in the same. I think a totem can be a spirit guide but not all spirit guides are totems. Totems are spirits you can call upon to help with magic or to learn from. They can also come to you to teach you what you need to know at the time. Familiars I think are animals or spirits that we keep around us not so much to use magic but to identify or amplify or attract it.

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                    #10
                    Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                    Originally posted by Jembru View Post
                    When I was younger, I had four human guides, owl, cat and magpie. Now I still have my main human guide and magpie. If the others are still around, I am not aware of them. I also work with an egregore spirit and.suspect that my partner's dad, who died a year before we met, may have had his hand in our 'chance meeting'. So yeah, they can come and go and some seem to stay forever.
                    so do you suppose that any spirit can be a guide, or does it take a specific sort?

                    - - - Updated - - -

                    Originally posted by Djnn View Post
                    I just had this discussion with my cousin. I view a spirit guides as a more permenant fixture. Guardian angels so to speak. Spirit animals and totems I view one in the same. I think a totem can be a spirit guide but not all spirit guides are totems. Totems are spirits you can call upon to help with magic or to learn from. They can also come to you to teach you what you need to know at the time. Familiars I think are animals or spirits that we keep around us not so much to use magic but to identify or amplify or attract it.
                    do you keep a familiar for your magic? and I'm not sure if I fully understand your differentiation between spirit guides and totems, could you expound?
                    There's always something left.

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                      #11
                      Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                      I feel that totems are spirits you can call on that can aid you with magic or self growth. Each totem having different scopes of practice in which they can aid you with. Fox's can help with hiding and blending your aura, and spiders can help with writing or drawing etc... for example.

                      I also feel that these totems can attach to you and stay with you much like a guardian angel. When this happens they are your spirit guides. You can still access them as totems, but they are also your guardian spirits. Also I feel some guardian spirits may not be totems at all. I had a friend that had a guide that he explained as a tall faceless man in a suite, with a mirror as a mask. He couldn't call on it like one can a totem. But I can still call on my guides guidance, or as totems. (I have a fox and hawk)

                      While I have a fox and hawk with me, that doesn't limit what totems I can work with or what ones come in and out of my life. Just the other day blue jays were all over my backyard, and they had a lesson to teach. But after the lesson was spoke to me, they were gone and I haven't seen them in the backyard since.

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                        #12
                        Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                        I like to say I have a couple different totems (depending on who you are talking too ^__^)

                        As for spirit guides I had one guide (who took the form of a buck but really wasnt) who was not all too thrilled about "being assigned to me" granted I was in my late teens and durring that time...well I dont blame him. He was always siging when he spoke to me as if he were chronically depressed. He said to me once (quite sarcastically) "Everyone's got one, I'm stuck with you..." o.0 wtf?

                        he remined me of Clarance from "Its a Wonderful Life" except he was a clinicly depressed little snot...

                        Yeah welcome to my world...


                        Recently I've had an old pagan wizard-like guy as my spirit guide. But spirit guides dont really help me (unless I speciffically ask them) because I'm the quitisential Aries and I dont do anything unless its MY idea. :P

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                          #13
                          Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                          Spirit guide discussion is an interesting one. I joined this site for the very cause of finding out some stuff about what I think is an animal spirit guide. I'm pretty sure I have an owl spirit guide. I spoke to three people knowledged in this and they all said it was my animal spirit guide. I've always had an affinity for Athena since I was a small girl. Her animals is the owl and a sign of the wise. Though I have always been a fan of Athena it never really attracted me to owls in particular. I thought they were neat birds but never felt a connection or anything with the owl outside of Athena.

                          When I turned 18 I got a tattoo of Athena holding her owl. Ever since it seems I attract owls like crazy. Sometimes I see them but most the time I just hear them but can never find them. Since this summer I have been hearing an owl non-stop but can never find it. Others can hear it as well but it seems I'm more sensitive to it and can spot the noise quicker than others. The weirdest part is I moved from one side of the country to the other. Two opposite sides, three time zones away, two very different climates and even here I hear that exact same owl. I'm curious to find out what I'm being told!

                          As for anything outside of animals, the only guide I have is Athena. She has always been my one and only. if I have more, I have not spotted them.

                          Spirit guides are a very interesting topic with much mystery!

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                            #14
                            Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                            Would Dragons work in the place of spirit guides? Reason being... Best way to describe my relationship to them. As far as animal Totems go... Ich weiss nicht. I know that Eagles, hawks, and songbirds seem attracted to me, and I have an affinity for the Thunderbird totem. Corvids hang around my family.
                            Any link or advice on how to best strengthen interaction with them?

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                              #15
                              Re: spirit guides/ power animals/ totem/ familiars

                              Originally posted by Lawtan View Post
                              Would Dragons work in the place of spirit guides? Reason being... Best way to describe my relationship to them. As far as animal Totems go... Ich weiss nicht. I know that Eagles, hawks, and songbirds seem attracted to me, and I have an affinity for the Thunderbird totem. Corvids hang around my family.
                              Any link or advice on how to best strengthen interaction with them?
                              Dragons are indeed spirit guides! read this here, it discusses European and Chinese dragons. This article explains in detail what the dragon spirit is and how to connect with them. You are lucky, I love dragons. Having one as a spirit guide would be awesome.

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