Spirit Animals and Spirit Guides
The subject of our oracle draw for February is the Bee, from The Druid Animal Deck. This prompted questions about spirit animals, animals as spirit guides and animals sacred to the Celts. Here is a quick overview of the subject, in question and answer form.
Were animals sacred to the Celts?
Like with many indigenous cultures, the Celts were astutely aware of the interdependent web of all living things. Their folklore included magical beings that could shape-shift from god/goddess or man/woman, stories of everyman animals, birds and sea creatures whose attributes were honored, as well as an appreciation of the domestic animals that made day to day life richer. The wonderful bestial Celtic art designs that appear in hand-written medieval Biblical texts, the Book of Kells for example, show that this reverence carried over into Celtic Christianity. The Children of Lir who become swans, the salmon of wisdom, the dragon on the Welsh flag are examples.
Are spirit animals like totems?
Yes, they can be. Again, indigenous people had deeper relationships with Nature and were more attuned to the lives and habitat of the animals around them than most folks today. They saw the gifts of these beings and the “medicine” they could provide when their presence was evoked. Take the Crane for instance, which is my namesake. Many early cultures honored it not just for its beauty but for its longevity. Picture a string of origami Cranes from Japan. Luck and longevity are attributes brought forth to consciousness and memory by the crane. A person who wants to concentrate on health and a long life might well hold the image or spirit of crane to reinforce that connection or to ask for support from the Universe. Consider the rabbit’s tail on keychains that people of our lifetime bought to bring luck—fertility that was so important (also Easter bunny) translated into luck.
Are spirit animals the same as spirit guides?
Identifying one’s spirit guide is a part of shamanic practice where one goes deep into trance through drumming, meditation, guided visualization or other stimulant and asks for his/her guide(s) to appear. These guides may take the form of an animal. I recently followed a guided visualization by Jane Burns (whose Celtic Shaman webinar is available through Shift Network) where a fox showed up. In this and further journeys, it became clear to me that the fox was just there to lead me to the heart of the experience and back. I did not sense that the fox was my chief spirit guide---although I have seen foxes appearing a lot lately in facebook pictures, references and even one crossing the road in front of me. The fox is a wily creature. “Brigid and the Fox” is a tale of outsmarting an abusive king that I particularly like. Perhaps a lesson in problem solving without direct confrontation, perhaps just whimsical.
Some people have a clear sense of their spirit guide. I have a friend who has collected and loved owls since childhood. She went from stuffed animal toy owls to exquisite jewelry and pottery. On a visit to Greece, she found the owl represented the Athena and wisdom. She since added depictions of owls from Native American and Celtic traditions as well. More importantly, she says she stops to ask for wisdom when making decisions or sorting through a conflict by asking her owl spirit animal.
We know that domestic animals are also spirit guides. The most known example is a witch and her “familiar”, usually a black cat. Or the animal may be exotic like the White Lion of South Africa; or mythical like Pegasus, the flying horse. The being might appear in dreams or pop up unexpectedly. If so, note what happens and ask yourself what is the message? or the medicine?
A friend just told me of a story of fox running across the road and then turning and running back again. With some prompting from friends, she came to interpret its action as a message to her about the ambivalence she was experiencing regarding staying in her marriage.
The Celtic Zodiac
Remember too that the Zodiac uses animal signs to designate its houses. We are most familiar with the Middle Eastern/Greek depiction, but Chinese New Year reminds that other cultures have different animal configurations. The Celtic wheel is lunar, 13 months and has differing versions.
This is the one I first learned:
Jan 21 – Feb 17 - Cat
Feb 18 – March 17 - Snake
March 18 - April 14 - Fox
April 15 – May 12 - Bull
May 13 – June 9 - Seahorse
June 10 - July 7 - Wren
July 8 – August 4 - Horse.
August 5- September 1 - Salmon
September 2 - September 29 - Swan
October 1 - October 27 - Butterfly
October 28 – November 24 - Wolf
November 25 – December 23 - Hawk
December 24 - January 20 -S tag
See the website of the Irish Museum of Modern Art for great images and more information.
There is no right or wrong or proof for any of this. It is simply our own experience. Trust your intuition to draw you to what can inform and support you as our Celtic ancestors did so long ago. YouTube offers some great journeying music to explore finding your spirit guide or spirit animal if you are interested.
Have fun.