I don't know if it's the right place to post about this topic but anyway here I give a try. How do we know which animal is our fetish or totem I don't know the right way to tell it because I'm french...!
Usually from a book or a dream. Supposedly my totem animal was the Beaver (work hard like a Beaver) and now is supposed to be the Otter (learn to have fun). Someone else told me that mine was a white wolf...
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8793/totems/totems.html There's a decent site explaining it. Basically, it's an animal (or animals) that you've always felt a draw to or even had dreams about. I know mine are an elephant and a dolphin. My most vibrant memory ever is being a little kid and having dreams all the time about elephants, which I never knew where it came from. I would even wake up in the morning and ask my parents where my elephant was. At the zoo, my parents would have to pry me away from the elephants. I found this about the elephant: Sometimes seen as a symbol of great sexual prowess in the Asian countries, the Chinese portray the elephant as representative of royalty, strength of purpose, and discretion. In the widest, most universal, and most obvious depiction of the elephant it is a symbol of strength. At various times in Medieval Europe, the elephant also became an emblem of wisdom, moderation, and eternity Then, accomplishing a complete change of cosmology, there appeared the elephant-headed demon, Behemoth, a favorite in Dark Side sorcery. If you have accepted the elephant as your totem animal, it may not be long before you are asked to assume a role of great responsibility in the workplace or in your community. If you feel attracted to the elephant as a totem animal, it is likely that you are involved in social work, public service, or politics. You may also feel a strong commitment to caring for the ill, the very young, and the elderly. Whenever you sense an injustice, you will be there on the side of the underdog. As your spirit helper, the elephant will be able to draw you back to a greater appreciation for the ancient mysteries than you have previously experienced. You will soon discover that your guide is extremely concerned about your maintaining always a solid balance of body, mind, and spirit. Under the tutelage of this spirit helper, you will place your time in the Silence as your top priority. You might find yourself wishing to burn some incense while you are meditating with this totem animal in order to help create an environment in which exploration of other higher levels of consciousness will be the rule, rather than the exception. So that's all pretty true to me, especially my ambitions towards politics. Also, the dolphin is a symbol of intelligence, playfulness, compassion, and spiritualness which I seem to fit under nicely, as well as always having been attracted to dolphins. Totem animals are a cool concept if you think about it. Alot of people meditate to their spirit animals but I haven't gotten there yet, still just learning.
Well physically my totem/power animasl are horses and kitties (I call all ctrs kitties). My familar though is an emerald green tree snake.
I found a great book called 'Animal Speak' by Ted Andrews. He explains the meditative process of finding your totem animal, and provides ideas on how to honour it. The book also encludes a tomen dictonary, explaining each totem animal or bird and how they effect you. My totem is the bobcat - simply put, being able to spend time alone without being lonely. I won't speak much about it, because talking alot about your totem lose some of it's magic. But yeah, I'd recomend the Ted Andrews book to anyone who wanted to learn more about totem animals. I got mine form Amazon
