What is your spirit animal?

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by jazzabel, May 16, 2014.

  1. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    17,674
    Likes Received:
    19,889
    Location:
    Scotland
    Ah, perhaps the photo I chose gave the wrong impression of what launched itself at me (in the dark) and came inches from my face... teeth.jpg
     
  2. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2012
    Messages:
    4,255
    Likes Received:
    1,688
    @jannert ; Ok, that's creepy :eek:
     
  3. Garball

    Garball Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2013
    Messages:
    2,827
    Likes Received:
    1,337
    Location:
    S'port, LA
    Looks like an alligator slept with a frog.
     
  4. HelloThere

    HelloThere Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2014
    Messages:
    294
    Likes Received:
    250
    image.jpg
     
    Andrae Smith, Mckk, KaTrian and 4 others like this.
  5. Burlbird

    Burlbird Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2011
    Messages:
    972
    Likes Received:
    294
    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    I'm another lazy cat :)

    Actually, I think that's just about everyone's impression of me - I used to be ashamed, a bit, but now I couldn't care less. People I just met tell me I'm a cat. A big, yellow one. It's cool.

    Additionally, when i served in the army (as a librarian) my sarge used to call all three of us nerds "cats". Which was the most military thing we were :D
     
    jazzabel likes this.
  6. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    17,674
    Likes Received:
    19,889
    Location:
    Scotland
    :rofl:
     
    HelloThere likes this.
  7. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2006
    Messages:
    19,150
    Likes Received:
    1,034
    Location:
    Coquille, Oregon
    the second quiz's questions were too far off the mark to be able to answer with any relevance, but per the first quiz, my spirit totem is the bear... according to the description of its attributes, it's quite accurate...
     
    Andrae Smith and jazzabel like this.
  8. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    17,674
    Likes Received:
    19,889
    Location:
    Scotland
  9. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    Well, according to those quizzes, I'm a deer and a wolf.

    But if I had to choose something, it would either be fish - because I grew up around fish and the idea of having fish still makes me smile, it's peaceful somehow. In terms of animals I'm drawn towards, it's always been sharks and snakes.

    I'm terrified of spiders but find them fascinating at the same time.

    But if we're talking about animals that gravitate towards me - then it's nothing. I've never had animals gravitate towards me.

    I do, however, have children gravitating towards me all the time. Every child I've ever taught seems to love me. I've had several parents tell me that their child gets very excited when told it's time for their English lesson with me. And I don't even know why because sometimes I don't plan and I know the lesson is a bit crappy, yet the kids seem to love it.

    They seem to love me. Just the other day, one of my regular students, little 7-year-old, came up to me in the classroom and hugged my legs and said, "I like you, I like you very much." Lol. A different student's brother, upon my entering their house, came and hugged my legs warmly and greeted me with a nice big grin - the kid's 3 and I don't even teach him, I barely talk to him. His sister, after the lesson on the same day, wrote something on my arm - it was this invisible ink that you can only read when you shine a special light on it. Guess what she wrote?

    "I love you. [Child's name]"

    I've also since become friends with my two teenage students. One of the girls keeps saying, "You're not our teacher. You're our friend who teaches us stuff."

    Now, I don't even believe in spirit animals and I don't think children counts as a spirit animal? But to be honest, I'd have to say Children, if I'm assessing it according to what gravitates towards me.

    The concept is very interesting I gotta say - I might use it in a novel. Sometimes I do think I might have been Pagan if I weren't already a Christian - this spiritual stuff feels like stuff of fantasy and it's fascinating.
     
    jazzabel and HelloThere like this.
  10. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2013
    Messages:
    3,545
    Likes Received:
    2,083
    Location:
    Denver
    Finally! Someone who knows what they're talking about. You don't find your spirit animal from a fucking internet test. That is a deeply spiritual process.
     
    Andrae Smith and jannert like this.
  11. HelloThere

    HelloThere Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2014
    Messages:
    294
    Likes Received:
    250
    As a self respecting atheist and funny guy I cannot go by without making reference to the potential of a joke within these lines which involves the the key ingredients of "Christianity" "Fantasy" and "irony" but I feel bad for even implying the joke...

    *sits on the naughty step*
     
    Andrae Smith, minstrel and Mckk like this.
  12. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2012
    Messages:
    4,255
    Likes Received:
    1,688
    @jannert : Well I for one did not see that coming! :eek: :rofl:

    @Mckk : That's very sweet, you are very lucky to have so much pure love come your way, children really are wonderful, aren't they?
     
  13. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    17,674
    Likes Received:
    19,889
    Location:
    Scotland
    I do think we're all just joking around here. Of course an internet quiz isn't going to determine a spirit animal, any more than it's going to determine your best choice of job or life mate or whatever. It's just silly stuff.

    I understand from reading lots of Native American history, what that kind of thing involves, and how deeply its spiritual power is felt. I wouldn't presume to seek it myself. My background is totally different.
     
    Mckk and jazzabel like this.
  14. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    @HelloThere - lol. Well, I appreciate you not actually making the joke :D *pats you on the head*

    @jazzabel - yes, they are :) and it's true I feel blessed. I sometimes think of the day when these children will leave me, and how I wish they wouldn't, that somehow I'd keep these relationships forever, and I'd know what they make of their lives. Sometimes I think about not being a teacher anymore and then I think, "Then I'd never have opportunity to be with children again." That's a sad thought. How I wish I enjoyed lesson planning... :rolleyes:
     
    jazzabel likes this.
  15. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 11, 2013
    Messages:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    2,007
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    Slugs are flexible and can mold themselves to fit the mement. But they are also incredibly vulnerable and... Well... Sluggish! :p

    If you go by the belief, and think that a slug is your shadow totem, it's probably not telling you to be more vulnerable or sluggish, but that you're afraid to be that way. The two biggest negative qualities of the slug are your two biggest fears.
     
  16. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 11, 2013
    Messages:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    2,007
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    Centipedes represent balance, coordination, and the ability to survive stress. If you aren't very good at those things, those are the lessons the centipede is trying to teach you.

    Or centipedes are just fucking scary. And nothing can change that. lol
     
    Andrae Smith likes this.
  17. HelloThere

    HelloThere Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2014
    Messages:
    294
    Likes Received:
    250
    I can't think of many people who would express a desire to be sluggish and vulnerable - those are very broad and general fears that will apply to most people... Ooh, there goes my cynical side again. :D
     
  18. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 11, 2013
    Messages:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    2,007
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    Hey, I didn't say my theory was always accurate. :p
     
  19. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    @Lea`Brooks - I'm curious now. So I'm scared of spiders - what am I supposed to be afraid of becoming?
     
  20. HelloThere

    HelloThere Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2014
    Messages:
    294
    Likes Received:
    250
    trapped in a bathtub...
     
    Wyr likes this.
  21. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2012
    Messages:
    8,102
    Likes Received:
    4,605
    @Lea`Brooks So if someone is deathly scared of snakes it means that's their shadow totem? It doesn't just mean that person is a member of the homo sapiens species?
     
    HelloThere likes this.
  22. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    Oh don't even mention bathtubs - that's where my fear of spiders soared. I had never been keen on insects and spiders anyway, always found them slightly scary, but not half as bad as after this happened. I was 8 and we'd just moved to a brand new house, in a brand new country. I came from Hong Kong and lived in a concrete block of flats, yeah, so no gardens and what-nots. (back in HK they have cockroaches which are like a million times worse than spiders, but anyway)

    Anyway, so this new house - the lights are all off, I didn't know the way, hadn't even so much as been through the rooms yet, we'd only just entered and put down our bags. It was late at night, everything was pitch black, and there's a back garden. For a kid who's basically never seen trees and bushes in deep darkness, in a strange house, this was enough to give me the creeps already. Anyway, I needed the bathroom and asked my parents where the toilet was. They pointed me down the corridor to the back - the bathroom was the last door just before you went out into the garden.

    So I tiptoed down the corridor, found the right door and went in. Grope for the light switch and give the thing a tug. First thing I see?

    A freaking giant black spider staring up adoringly at me from the tub. I still remember it - it had a little yellow arrow pattern pointing up from its back towards its head. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs and cried for a good long time afterwards. I still remember how my mum was trying to soothe me and telling me how dad's killed it so it's okay now.

    Guess where I saw an even larger spider many years later? Also in the bathtub :rolleyes:

    *shudders*
     
    HelloThere likes this.
  23. HelloThere

    HelloThere Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2014
    Messages:
    294
    Likes Received:
    250
    Spiders have got to stay clean too.
     
  24. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    I can't quite imagine that. Although speaking of spiders and water, did you know there's a variety that actually fishes? :D They hold their little net between their legs and perch on the edge of the water.
     
  25. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 11, 2013
    Messages:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    2,007
    Location:
    Virginia, United States
    @Mckk Spider is my shadow totem, but I've been working on it and my fear of them is a lot less than it used to be. Spiders are weavers, so they're often related to building your life. With a spider as a shadow totem, the fear could be somehow related to that: not building the life you want, not building a stable enough life, building a life that is too restrictive and leaves little room for play, feeling as if someone else (a spouse or parent) is building your life instead of you. Some of them are also poisonous, which could indicate that you might be capable of brutal, venomous acts to get what you want.

    @123456789 I'm not afraid of snakes. :p I used to be, but I'm not anymore.

    But in relation to your question, when it comes to many things that I believe, I don't hold the idea that seeing is believing. I think believing is seeing. Meaning that it wasn't until I knew what totem animals were that I began to experience them. When I spoke of my moth encounter in my first post, I didn't see all those strange moths, look up what it could mean, and then happen to stumble across animal totems. I had discovered spirit animals and journey and message and shadow totems only weeks before my moth experience, so I knew immediately what message I was receiving.

    Do I think everyone has a message or journey or shadow totem? No. And it's my belief that if they don't believe in it, they never will have one. Same goes for number synchronicity or dream interpretation or anything else spiritual. It's only when they believe in it that they begin to experience it, because they opened up that part of themselves and have invited the energies to enter their lives. They've invited the energies to work with them. If you don't believe, then the animals trying to help you would be wasting their energy on someone that doesn't want their help. So they just don't bother with it. :)

    Could this being argued that you see what you want to see? Absolutely. But that's why it's a spiritual thing for me. Everything I do in life is done in an attempt to better myself and be the best me that I can be. Shadow totems, journey totems, spirit animals, dream interpretation, and other such spiritual things are the tools I use to do that. When I saw the moths appearing, it was a symbol for change. I wasn't supposed to be in the life that I was living, but I was resisting the change. Moths are all about transformation. So when I got the message, I reevaluated my situation, and I made a change. It was a long overdue change that I knew I would have realized eventually, after many more hurts, but my message totem sped up the process.

    Again, I'm not claiming it's fact. It's a belief, like anything else. But if you believe in it, it will start to work its magic in your life. "If you build it, they will come." :)
     
    Andrae Smith, Mckk, jannert and 2 others like this.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice