Animal Symbolism

As I was sick in bed all last week, I had to post-pone the Vision-Action Board (and dancing) get together last night until next Saturday.

But when I wasn’t sleeping last week  I continued to read a variety of books, one of which is The Happiness Project that I mentioned in the last post.    In one short section the author writes about symoblism and animal totems.  And that got me thinking about what animals I am drawn to.  Besides my wonderful cats and my recently passed dog, what types of animals draw my attention more than others and why.

Although as a child when asked what animal you’d like to be I would always say either a Cheetah or a Falcon.  But reflecting on their qualities and passions, they didn’t seem to fit me today.  Both of those animals are a bit more solitary than I like to be.

So I googled some keywords and found a few sites that offer quizzes indicating your animal totem.  The animal that I had the most likeness to is the Wolf.  It is a social, caring, protective animal that according to Native American Legends is considered to be loyal, has perseverance, is successful, has intuition and spirit.

That sounds nice.  Although I love furry creatures and wolves are majestic, proud and strong, I don’t feel a strong connection to them.

So then I started thinking about animals that I have seen in the wild that draw my attention more than others, which ones give me a thrill every time I see them, and those that I seek out.

After going through the exotic animals, monkeys in particular, as I have had some lovely experiences with them in the wild, I looked closer to home, to the exotic (at least to me) in my area of the world.

And I have to say, as I did so my animal flashed before my eyes.  In my mind, but it was there hovering quietly and I could see it as clear as day.  It was thrilling.

Every time I see them I get a tingling, a jolt of happiness, a must-stop-and-stare moment of pure pleasure.  I just knew this had to be my animal.  So I immediately got back online and looked up Hummingbirds.

And to my happy surprise they hold wonderful meanings – depending on which site and which culture you read through – but the general, over-arching belief is that they bring, offer, exude the following:

Joy

Happiness

Timelessness

Energy

Vitality

Playfulness

Sincerity

Their wings beat in a figure 8 motion – or the symbol for eternity.  They are very social, strong minded, independent, work hard… and they build the cutest little nests that they camouflage with lichen or moss.

Photo Credit: birdsandbloomsblog.com

So I feel good about my totem.  The symbolism surrounding Hummingbirds resonates with me.  So with that I decided that I would start to bring hummingbird images into my life.  Slowly, choosing only the ones that I simply can’t resist.  I’m not into clutter, so a collection over a long period of time, that adds rather than fills up.

It just so happens that my first piece came to me yesterday.  I was out, feeling a tiny bit more energy for the first time, and was early to meet a friend for a movie so decided to wander through some shops.  I am attracted to beautiful, rich colors ( I really should live in Mexico) and was looking through some fun dishes and couldn’t believe it, but I found this:

So my collection and devotion has begun.

Every thought about what animal is your symbol, your totem, your guide?  I would love to hear.  Write a comment and let me know.