The Wisdoms of the Animals

Long, long ago, God invited all the animals of the planet to a gathering, all the animals, great and small travelled from near and far to the gathering. Once all the animals had gathered God said: I decree that all animals, great and small, shall assist man in his life purpose, support him and, if needed, give up their lives for man. This shall be so.  

All the animals bowed down and accepted the will of God.

Once upon a time there lived a shaman, gifted with the wisdom of the animals. He could look at you and see who your spirit animal was. He could see the animal spirit standing next to you or on your shoulder or in your hands.  Everyone comes into the world with animal guides whether you are conscious of them or not. The shaman helped many people to connect to their animal totem.  

One day a traveller became lost in the Amazon forest, the dense forest had completely disoriented him. He spent hours looking for a way out but could not. He wanted to remain calm but he was beginning to feel afraid. He thought one of the animals might kill him, he would be bitten to death by a poisonous snake. He was sure that if he didn’t find his way out by nightfall he would die. As the sun was setting he tried to think of a way to survive the night. He thought: It’s best to stop moving. There is no point moving from a place of being lost, rather than a place of clarity. If I continue to move I will be just getting more lost.  

So, he stopped moving and just stayed in one place. It became obvious that he would need to spend the night in the forest, so he collected some dried leaves and made a bed in the hollow of a tree to wait till morning. He tried to calm himself by saying things like: Dear animals, please do not harm me tonight, please allow me to share your home in this forest for this one night. Please protect me from harm as I have not harmed you. He kept repeating this prayer during the whole night. Keeping watch, he barely slept, hands wrapped around his knees rocking back and forth, always repeating: Dear animals please do not harm me tonight, please allow me to share your home in this forest for this one night.  By morning he was relieved to find himself unharmed. With the morning sun he felt lighter in his heart and he felt his steps guiding him out of the forest. After walking in this way for some time, he came to a clearing and saw a wooden hut with a man on his knees digging up or planting something in his garden. The man got up and with a surprised smile started walking towards him. As the man approached him he could see he was an indigenous man, wearing a loincloth. The man said he was a shaman and then gave him a bear hug. He welcomed him to his hut and offered him food and drink that warmed his whole body. The man explained how he was lost in the forest, how he asked the animals to not harm him, and finally how his feet guided him out of the forest.  The shaman explained that each of us has several totem animal spirits that guide and protect us throughout our whole life:  All animals are our friends, it’s only when we show aggression towards them that they harm us. It’s only when we threaten their home or their young that they attack us. When you ask the animals for protection, you will be protected.  The man thanked the shaman for his wisdom and asked him: so what are my totem animals?  The shaman told him: Well you have a few but last night your totem animal the lion was right beside you protecting you from harm, he also guided you out of the forest.