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So I know animal spirits/totems play an important role in Native American spirituality, but is the concept found elsewhere as well? If so, what's their importance?
In the shamanic traditions I'm aware of, people have 4 or 5 spirit animals, and not all share the same purpose. Some are messengers, some are guides, etc but I think their role depends on the individual tradition.
From what I understand, dreams are one of the most important ways of finding them. They often manifest themselves in dreams, and I believe dreams where you yourself are characterized by an animal are especially important. There's also personal connection (animals you're particularly drawn to or feel a special connection with, be it positive or negative), meditation and hallucinogenic drugs that facilitate religious experiences. I've heard of so many people that have taken psychoactive drugs and during their high they "transformed" into an animal.
Does anyone here know of one or more of their spirit animals? I once tried a meditative method and came up with a crow and after thinking about this and discussing it with others for the past few days, I've started to have animal dreams. One that's come up multiple times is a snake, which is understandable to me because I've always liked snakes and felt particularly connected with them.
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