“Bear Spirit Animal”

 

“In the kingdom of  the bear is emblematic of grounding forces and strength. This animal has been worshiped throughout time as a powerful totem, inspiring those who need it the courage to stand up against adversity. As a spirit animal in touch with the earth and the cycles of nature, it is a powerful guide to support physical and emotional healing.

Bear Meaning

The bear has several meanings that will inspire those who have this animal as totem:

• The primary meaning of the bear spirit animalis strength and confidence
• Standing against adversity; taking action and leadership
• The spirit of the the bear indicates it’s time for healing or using healing abilities to help self or others
• The bear medicine emphasizes the importance of solitude, quiet time, rest
• The spirit of the bear provides strong grounding forces

The bear, an ancient spirit animal worshiped in many traditions

The bear as a spirit animal or totem is one of the most ancient worshiped animals. Remains of bears have been found in many archeological sites in Europe especially, where bear bones and skulls were found together with human bones dating back to the Neanderthals.

It is said that the Vikings would wear bear skins in times of war to scare off their enemies. They would appear as powerful as these wild animals. Bears symbolize warrior spirit and courage to fight. The bear’s spirit would be invoked to help the warriors in the battle.

In ancient Greece and Rom, the bear was a totem animal associated with the Goddess Artemis and Diana, goddesses of fertility. In contrast, for the Celts, the bear would represent the sun.

The spirit of the bear as healer and teacher

Interestingly, in Siberia, the name used to designate women shaman is the same as the word “bear”. In Northern America, in the Inuit tradition, the bear spirit animal is also connected to the shamanic tradition and women.

For the Inuit people, the bear is a strong power or totem animal. In some beliefs, it is said that if an Inuit hunter accepts to be eaten by a bear, he may reincarnate as a shaman and carry the spirit of this animal. The polar bear is considered as the “Wise Teacher” as it shows how to survive in harsh conditions.

The bear, a spirit animal symbolic of strength and courage

The spirit of the bear is a strong source of support in times of difficulty. It provides courage and a stable foundation to face challenges. When the bear shows up as a spirit guide in your life, it’s perhaps time to stand for your beliefs or your truth. This power animal will provide for support and strength.

The bear is also a guide to take leadership in your life or in other people’s lives. This animal is feared and admired for its strength. Its presence inspires respect. Its strength and powerful stature will inspire you to step into a leadership role in your life and take action without fear.

When you invoke the power of the bear totem, reflect on the qualities of inner strength, fearlessness, and confidence in yourself and how you can project them in your world.

The spirit of the bear and healing

Since the bear is often associated with shamans in many traditions, this spirit animal can symbolize healing abilities and stepping into the role of the healer. If the bear shows up in your life, it may also be time to take care of your own needs for healing, whether it’s at the physical, emotional or spiritual level.

Be sensitive to where you are at and reflect on where you would most need healing. You can call on the bear spirit guidance to direct your energy in a more conservative or focused way.

Bear spirit animal and grounding forces

The bear is an animal that lives a solitary life. Having a bear as a spirit animal can mean that you find balance and comfort in solitude. The presence of this power animal could point to the need to “regroup” and set up boundaries, so you feel comfortable in your own space. It may be a call to find time away from the crowd or busyness and favor quiet time and rest.

The bear spirit can also be a great helper to dedicate time and energy to more introspective practices, such as self-inquiry or meditation. Call on the spirit of the bear to help you find your center and ground yourself in a strong foundation that will support you in more busy and noisy times.”

 

Author of this article is unlisted at this time, that I can see but others of the same content type are by By Elena Harris, SpiritAnimal.com Editor

 

Look for more articles here on the same subjects. I hope to gather as many articles on various and same subjects from amazing websites and blogs as I can find in time. If there is nothing else at the moment, check back later. It just means I hadn’t gotten to it yet.  😀 

 

Check out the website where this comes from and take the quiz… find out your spirit guide. :3

Original source: http://www.spiritanimal.info/bear-spirit-animal/

 

Moro

 

 

Though I can not find the original source for the pic, it is also an amazing and popular wallpaper now. It can be found here: http://animalspirits.wikia.com/wiki/File:Free_Grizzly_Bear_Pictures.jpg

 

 

 

“How To Tell the Difference Between…”

 

“How To Tell the Difference Between Your Ego, Logic, Spirit Guides and Intuition

A question I am asked frequently is how to know if you are receiving guidance or advice from your intuition, your spirit guides, or just your own logic or ego. It can be difficult to discern the difference if you don’t know what signs to look for. Let’s go over the differences between them.

Your Ego

I like to think of the ego as a little imp that sits on your shoulder and whispers in your ear when it has something to say. Usually it’s saying things like, “You’re gonna fail. Who do you think you are?” Or, “He totally hates you, and if you do that he’s going to find out and hate you more. I’d keep that little indiscretion to yourself!” It’s a little subversive and usually broadcasting on the fear and anxiety channel. On some level it’s trying to protect you from embarassment and failure. It has a job to do, it has its place, but you’ve got to learn to recognize it for what it is. It only serves you to the extent that it is trying to keep you safe, it’s looking out for #1 which is you. It’s only care is to keep you safe and happy and off the front page of the newspaper. Many people find comfort in listening to this little imp and, technically, it’s a valid way to go through life. It’s not out to hurt you, only to protect you and keep you comfortable.

Logic

Logic is the mental voice that uses past experience, statistics, probability, and reason to communicate ideas to you. It is based on knowledge and facts, not ethereal hoo-haw. Besides drawing from your own experience you can use logic to draw from other people’s experiences, i.e. “Frank said Costco is always crowded on Sundays at noon so I should probably go on Monday when it opens instead.”

Spirit Guides
Spirit guides are celestial beings who are assigned to you to help guide you through life. They’re very aware of your life plan, which is the plan you concocted for yourself before you incarnated. They are volunteers. Their job is to keep you on track and help guide you through life. Their primary care is your growth and learning. That sometimes means discomfort for you. For example they might see that the best way to teach you to value money is to send you through a bankruptcy. On the other hand, your ego would never let something like that happen to you if it could help it. Your spirit guides carry the big picture, whereas your ego is involved only in the moment.

Intuition

Your intuition is not a conscious being. I like to think of intuition as a concentrated blast of Source energy designed to help you avoid catastrophe or steer you in a really important direction. It’s more like a message than a messenger. I believe intuition stems from your higher self, angels, and God or Source energy. Intuition is there to guide you in the moment, to help you make decisions that will have a positive impact on your overall human experience. Intuition is connected to spirit guides in the sense that intuitive information usually follows your life plan.

How They All Sound

Here are some examples of how ego, logic, spirit guides, and intuition sound when they communicate with you. I think you’ll be able to see the differences pretty clearly.

Ego

“Don’t go out with that loser, he’ll ruin your reputation.”
“That piece of pie is going straight to your thighs, honey!”
“No way we’re taking speech next semester. I’ll find a way to kill us first.”
“She doesn’t love you so you might as well cheat on her.”

Logic

“Last time you tried doing that you broke your ankle. Chances are good you’ll hurt it again.”
“Speaking in front of 30 people won’t actually kill you, so agree to do the speech and just practice until you can recite it from memory.”
“He’s geographically desireable, good looking, and his parents are still together. You should agree to date him.”
“There’s a traffic jam coming up ahead. I know a shortcut that will get us there faster.”

Spirit Guides

“You’d be wise to accept the job in Los Angeles. It’s what you’ve been waiting for your whole life.”
“Don’t be afraid to do the speech. It’s not going to be nearly as bad as you fear.”
“You know in your heart that he’s not right for you.”
“Remember what happened the last time you ate the whole pizza? Do you want to experience that again?”

Intuition
“Run!”
“Go left, now!”
“He’s the one! Introduce yourself.”
“Stop at the gas station on the way home.”

Do you see the differences? Again, your ego is out to protect you from failure and embarrassment. While it seems like it has your best interest at heart I wouldn’t say it’s the most encouraging growth-oriented voice in your arsenal. Still, it serves its purpose.

Logic is a wonderful tool of information. Developing your logic can certainly help you in life, until you run into something you didn’t see coming or have no information in your mental database to sift through. That’s when you have a failure, er, I mean learning experience, you update your file and move on.

Spirit guides won’t tell you what to do, but they will help you feel and/or understand your choices better. They’re coming from a higher perspective than you are, and they’re following your orders (your higher self’s orders that is). You can trust that your guides have your best interest at heart, but you can’t trust you’ll be totally comfortable following their guidance. They’re in it for the long run and sometimes see minor setbacks as necessary for your overall success.

Your intuition has but a moment to make an impression. It’s got to get vital, sometimes life-altering, information to you in a split second. Its general goal is to notify you that you are in danger or at a vital decision-making moment in your life. When you become adept at listening to your intuition you’ll start getting information about less life-threatening situations. Until then, you get snippets.

Now sometimes all four of these voices overlap. I can imagine a situation where this is possible. Your ego might say, “Why would that guy be interested in you?” and your logic is saying, “Look, this guy wants you to get in his van parked behind the alley. That is probably not a good idea. The chances of you going home in a body bag are pretty high right now. I say pass.” At the same time your guides are saying, “Do you really think you can trust this guy?” and your intuition is screaming, “Danger, avoid him!” If you ever get agreement from all four voices, I highly advise you to listen!

Getting to know the voices in your head can really help you manage your life. Identifying which one is speaking to you can help you determine how much power and credibility you want to give it. I have found that I prefer to listen to my guides and intuition over my logic and ego, but I know people who do quite well listening to their logic and ego so what can I say? It’s a question of where you want to go in life and how comfortably you want to arrive. In my experience if you opt for a faith, trust, and love strategy in life, you’ll listen to your intuition and guides. If you opt for a control or fear-based strategy in life you’ll probably prefer your ego and logic. There really is no right or wrong choice, just preferences. You might try developing the ability to hear all of them and then decide what works best for you.

The best way to develop the ability to discern them is awareness and practice. Whenever you consult that inner voice try to figure out if it’s a guide, intuition, or your ego or logic talking to you. Or consult all four before you make a decision. You could try 30 days with each as your primary inner voice and see which one gives you the best results.

Now, if you’re hearing other voices in your head like, “She looks tasty, let’s carve her up and eat her,” or “Jump off the barn because you know you can fly,” then you’re listening to something entirely different! Seek professional help immediately. ”

by Erin Pavlina @ http://www.erinpavlina.com/blog/2008/05/how-to-tell-the-difference-between-your-ego-logic-spirit-guides-and-intuition/

Moro

Art title: ‘::OUR MONSTER::EGO’ by artist: meisan @ http://www.deviantart.com/art/OUR-MONSTER-EGO-94304130

“What is the difference between a Spirit Animal, a Totem Animal and an animal ‘Familiar’?” ” What is a Totem Pole?”

“What is the difference between a Spirit Animal, a Totem Animal and an animal ‘Familiar’?

” What is a Totem Pole?”

A “Spirit Animal” is the one who will present life’s lessons. The Spirit Animal is the one who comes to you in order to show you, through its own unique nature and skills, how to deal with the manifestations of your Spiritual Journey. Spirit Animals do not necessarily guide you, but they come to teach you that which you need to learn, in order to know how meet the challenges of your Spirit Walk.

Each Spirit Animal has certain powers and skills to teach and certain knowledge to share, for each Spirit Animal has its own methods of overcoming the many challenges it must meet in order to survive.

The Spirit Animal’s appearance signals a time to connect with your true Self and your life’s purpose. Pay attention to the repeated appearance of this animal and of repeated patterns or themes. Awakening to the recognition of these seemingly synchronistic occurrences teaches you to be aware of the hidden messages in everyday experiences.

There are many ways by which your Spirit Animal may make itself known to you and many ways by which by which it may pass on its message. Do not let your perceived image of the animal prejudice you as to the significance of its message. You will meet with the Spirit Animal whose lesson you need to learn.

You do not choose your Spirit Animal, it chooses you. Do not try to “compel” your Spirit Animal to manifest itself just because you want it to. True Spirit Animals will appear only at the time and place in your life when you are ready to accept them and the wisdom the come to offer.

And … they always turn up at exactly the right moment.

A “Totem Animal” is an animal spirit that you call upon or invoke, as an individual or a tribe, for its special powers and survival skills, to serve as a guardian or protector when facing adversity.

It is customary for many Native American tribes (as well as others) to be made up of smaller groups or “Clans” united by actual or perceived kinship and descent and formed around a founding member or “ancestor”. Often this ancestor is an animal spirit which becomes the Clan Totem. The clan totems are often the animals that inhabit the local area, (The wolf, bear, turtle, and deer are common clans of the Great Lakes area.), and which have a unique relationship to the tribe and its heritage.

Some of the clans of the Six Nations are the turtle, bear, wolf and the heron and often within these clans there are different “sub-clans” represented by such animals as the Snapping Turtle and the Painted Turtle in the example of the Turtle Clan.

The “spiritual powers” of the various totems help each clan to carry out its own special duties and responsibilities within the tribe in accordance with the attributes of that totem. (The Turtle Clan usually being the tribes “Keepers of Wisdom”, the guardians of the legends and mysteries mysteries within the tribes ceremonies and practices.)

Again, never let your perceived image of an animal effect how you see its ability to serve as a “Totem”. Though it may seem incongruous to invoke a rabbit as a totem for battle, remember the wisdom shown by “Bre’r Rabbit” in defeating an enemy.

Totem Poles

The Totem Pole is an arrangement of symbols representing animal totems from the tribe’s ancestral past. Totems were a form of communication for the Pacific Northwest Coast Native Americans as they had no written language and thus the Story Poles were used to convey their legends, stories and events. Totem poles may also be messages passed on by those that carve them. The pole’s symbols may often tell a very personal story of the carver himself, as well as that of his own family, clan or tribe.

Totem Poles

The Totem Pole is an arrangement of symbols representing animal totems from the tribe’s ancestral past. Totems were a form of communication for the Pacific Northwest Coast Native Americans as they had no written language and thus the Story Poles were used to convey their legends, stories and events. Totem poles may also be messages passed on by those that carve them. The pole’s symbols may often tell a very personal story of the carver himself, as well as that of his own family, clan or tribe.

“The Familiar”

A third type of Animal Spirit, little heard of outside of Shamanism and Witchcraft is called a “familiar”. The familiar is a spiritual entity that will appear as a facilitator in the communion of the human, animal and spirit realms.

The true shaman or witch does not just decide to walk the “Path”. They must first be chosen by and then accept a spirit being or deity as their mentor. Usually, this mentor will send forth an animal spirit to guide the initiate to them, or in many cases, they themselves may take the form of an animal spirit, only later revealing their true nature.

One example, in the case of shamans and witches who come from the background of the European Celtic traditions, the Goddess Morrigan will often appear to the initiate in the form of a raven or crow as their familiar and she will reveal her true self only after the initiate has actualized as an “enlightened being”.”

http://www.spiritwalkministry.com/spirit_guides

Moro

Photo/art from: http://www.crystalinks.com/totemanimals.html