Black Panther Symbolism & Meaning
Do you need help with reclaiming your power? Are you a single mom seeking the strength to make it through, or is it time to face the darkness without fear? Black Panther, as a Spirit, Totem, and Power Animal, can help! Black Panther teaches you how to embark on these heroic journeys. Delve deeply in Black Panther symbolism and meaning to find out how this Animal Spirit Guide can illuminate, support, and guide you.
Black Panther Table of Contents
- Black Panther Symbolism & Meaning
- Black Panther Spirit Animal
- Black Panther Totem Animal
- Black Panther Power Animal
- Native American Black Panther Symbolic Meanings
- Black Panther as a Celtic Animal Symbol
- Black Panther Dreams
- Back to all Mammals
- Back to all Spirit Animal Meanings
Black Panther Symbolism & Meaning
Black Panther speaks to our soul with the shimmering energy of the Moon; this big cat is the ultimate shapeshifter and the master of disguise. Panther’s sleek black coat cloaks its true identity in the shadows. It isn’t until you are close to a Panther that their illusion falls away and who they really becomes visible.
But, good luck getting close to this elusive animal and any human for which Black Panther is their Totem Animal.
The Black Panther is actually a Leopard or Jaguar (usually, though it can be any big cat) with a genetic difference that gives them a black coat. It isn’t until you get very close that you can see slight color variations – mostly spots. So, while the old saying of “A leopard can’t change its spots” might be true, they can hide them. In this ability to masque its authentic nature is where we find the Black Panther’s deepest symbolism and meanings.
Egyptian priests wore a Panther tail to give them strength and safety during sacred rituals. It was also a Panther who diligently protected IO, Zeus’s beloved heifer.
In nature, Black Panthers can move over short distances very quickly, leading to the symbolic meaning of swift, graceful action. When you find yourself seeking out Panther Medicine, you may find yourself likewise having to make fast choices. After making that move, however, don’t maintain that pace as Panther cannot go the distance for very long.
Black Panther is a loner. This Spirit is one of solitary study who often walks alone; this is not a lonely life, rather one of choice that develops Panther’s senses especially to psychic abilities and magic. They hunt silently, seeming to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye; this means that Black Panther people can be very elusive. You may have to wait for them to find you.
Because Panther has lunar ties, they hold the power of mysticism and the safety of darkness. Her wisdom and knowledge are a deep as the night itself. She is sensitive to vibrations that others cannot process, and very in touch with her sensual, sexual self. When Black Panther walks with you, your love life is about to take on whole new intensity.
A Black Panther’s stare is intense. You cannot avoid its piercing awareness. This Spirit Animal strips away all facades and understands others down to a cellular level. It is a very powerful guide, and one worthy of deep respect.
Black Panther Spirit Animal
Black Panther as a Spirit Animal often comes those who need protection. Panthers, generally speaking, is smaller than lions or tigers – yet far more fierce.
This Sacred Mother watches over those She chooses with great courage, often chasing away our own fears of those things we don’t understand with her proactive bravery.
See, the Panther Spirit Animal helps us navigate darkness within and without. As we follow Her lead, we transform doubts into strengths so that we may inevitably be birthed into a new level of awareness.
Women who need help leaving toxic relationships or working environment often find Black Panther appearing as their Spirit Animal. For more on this, see the Panther Power Animal below.
Black Panther Totem Animal
Those born with a Black Panther Totem Animal have a natural understanding of life’s cycles. They are graceful individuals who move in and out of our lives, often with little notice. Panther People typically seek out other solitary souls who value a brief connection.
Panther is cautiously curious. She has deep-running passions that beg for expression. If your Totem Animal is a Black Panther, this is part of your power. You need that release, but frequently without commitment.
It’s said that the most powerful form of communication available to humans is complete silence. Those with Panther as a Totem Animal know when to be silent and have the strength to do so. Additionally, Panther people rarely reveal too much about themselves.
Black Panther Power Animal
Invoke Black Panther when you need to see beyond superficial reality. Panther is also an excellent partner in psychic work, for connecting with Moon energies, developing sensitivity, and for discovering your personal truth. Divination systems with a tactile element pair very effectively with Panther medicine.
For mothers who need aid with gathering the courage to leave toxic marriages, Black Panther energy can support them during this time. Black Panther mommas raise their children as single parents (usually). They establish dominance shortly after mating and push the male away.
Native American Black Panther Symbolic Meanings
Native American symbols and meanings for the Black Panther center on Jaguars, a word that roughly means “kills in one blow.” This creature’s original habitat was North American, but it slowly moved southward, which is why we find stories in Mexico and Peru. Both these regions uplifted Jaguar as a God (often associated with the Underworld), and this divine cat played an integral role in coronation rites.
Generally speaking, Native American tradition associates Black Panther with successful hunts, leadership, strength, honor, aggression, fearlessness, clear sight, instinct, and calculated movement.
Black Panther as a Celtic Animal Symbol
Celtic lore speaks very little about Black Panther, but we do know that Freya, the Goddess of fertility, fate, and love in Norse tradition, had a chariot manned by two huge black cats.
Black Panther Dreams
Black Panther dreams can have a wide variety of meanings and symbolism depending on the way in which She appears. Generally, dreams about Panthers represents personal power and shrewdness. For example, a wounded Panther represents a meeting with an adversary that you will overcome, and petting a Panther portends good luck.
Learn more about Panther Spirit by reading Black Panther Dreams Interpretations on WhatIsMySpiritAnimal.com!
Black Panther Symbolic Meanings Key
- Aggression
- Elusiveness
- Instinct
- Leadership
- Movement
- Power
- Sensuality
- Solitude
- Strength
- Strong
Awesome, I had seen a black panther in my dream with a bunch of other similar animals drinking rain water. They were on the sidewalk drinking the water they haven’t had in awhile.
close family or friends being relieved of difficult times
When i was six walkin home school path wooded area a black panther ran to me not touching ground i froze it disappeared stops in front of me and was gone right when i thought it would pounch on me it wasnt there to hurt me …what did it mean to a young child like me?
I saw one too. I was older than you though. One came to me in meditation last night and suddenly I realised what I had seen wasn’t a physical animal it was a multidimensional animal . It didn’t hurt you, because it’s a protector . Maybe you just saw it because you were able to . I used to see much more as a child xxx
I had a dream I was in a concrete pin with a huge jaguar laying in the center. I was afraid but when he turned his head I recognized him and threw myself on him. He embraced me and we layed in the single ray of sun shining through the windows at the top. I could still smell and hear him when I woke.
he is your spirit guide
About more than a decade ago, while watching TV alone in the living room during daytime, I saw something in the hallway but I didn’t pay attention. All of a sudden I realized I saw a big black cat like a panther or jaguar. I missed seeing its face. All I saw was a big beautiful black body with its long tail when it was walking into the bathroom on the main floor. Without thinking, I rushed to the bathroom through the hallway. Nothing was there. I really know what I saw! Several months later, my daughter saw the same cat (panther or jaguar) in her dream. It lie down on the carpet in her bedroom. Strange but true, the cat was located at the same spot where the bathroom was under the floor – the one I saw. I am curious what does it mean? The more I analyzed and it seemed the panther is my protector, right? I really love any kind of cats, domestic and wildlife. From time to time, I am still seeing a tiger through meditation and even it showed up while I was sleeping during my Reiki appointment several months ago. I also saw several panther and tiger signs like words, images or icons. I haven’t had a chance to have a panther or tiger talking to me. They are just silent. How can we communicate?
I saw a black panther being sacrificed in my dream. It was in a cage and being lowered down into a pit of fire. I did not stay to watch but i heard it roar i think. While it was in the cage it was moving around but not fast. Almost as if it knew it was going to be sacrificed. This was a ritual of some sort. The people there were that of african decent i believe and it happened at night. I also noticed many other animals dead like cut in half on the land but seperate from where the panther was. Then received other vivid messages that don’t want share.
I took your spirit animal quiz and I dont feel like it fit me. I got a bee with my first choice of answers then a dog for my second set. My zodiac totem is snow goose. But I’ve always been drawn to the black panther and wolves. As far back as I can remember, I’ve felt a pull towards both animals. The black panther more than anything. The color black and the darkness of the coat mesmerize me and the eyes captivate me. I’ve always been more of night person. The moon calms me. Can you tell me what it means to be drawn to the panther? Also my fiance has a wolf for his spirit animal. It is very clear to both of us. He has had that pull towards wolves and has taken his spirit journey and found his animal. How do I find mine?
I found this description to be pretty accurate, I sometimes bounce through sites to get a clearer insight when battling problems or even just to see why I have a specific tendency, it usually leads back to me being a leopard spirit. thank you kindly
I recently had a dream, I seen a black panther I happened to be 10-15 ft up in the air I think I was on a gate or a wall, I remember being freightened but at ease at the same time, As I was looking down at the panther I seen it pacing back and forth it wasn’t angry or anything…
I was sitting in the back of a car with a young black kitten. All of a sudden it grew up into a large black panther sitting right next to me. She was staring at me with her green eyes. And I was softly petting her back. I felt safe and protected
Dream: I was trapped in a tight cube of bricks that prevented movement. I was on my knees with my arms wrapped around the front of my chest…shoulders forward. I was trapped. The landscape around me was orange brown. The bricks were golden. My face transformed into that of a panther. Dark black radiating purple. With great effort I was able to break out of the brick box with a big explosion of energy that formed into an elaborate pattern of lines and geometries across the sky and landscape. I was free and very energized and the feeling of being born anew.
i had a dream, it was so real. i was in an empty white bedroom… and the black panther was there by my side. i touched it and pet it. and it was peaceful. that was just my hole dream. just sitting side by side in silence. and it was so real i can’t get the dream out of my head. wat does that mean…
Hi, Everyone:
I had a dream last night in which a black panther engaged me in a physical confrontation. We began wrestling, and I was able to control it. My two dogs (pit bull mixes) came to help me, but they saw I didn’t need any help, and they just stood there silently watching.
It felt like I was scared of the black panther, but then was not in real danger because of my abilities. It may also have been that I misinterpreted the black panther’s intention, or that it was not the threat it claimed to be. Either way, my fear was not warranted. I was more powerful, and I opted not to hurt it when I had the chance.
What do you think this means?
I think it means that you feel physically stronger than but not emotionally stronger than a woman, and you have a fear of being overcome emotionally by a woman. I think the dream is trying to teach you to relax and you will be ok, also that you chose not to hurt the panther even though you could is how you feel towards women. You are battling between protecting yourself emotionally from a woman but not wanting to harm her.
I was getting ready for bed one night and it was about 2 years after my horrible divorce. I noticed a shadow of a large cat jump into my room at the doorway. It was a black shadow/black panther slowly sneaking up the side of my bed and I just pretended that I was sleeping because I was scared. It jumped up with its paws smelling my face. I could feel and smell its breathe, whiskers, fur and paws. I was terrified! I got the courage to pull the covers back and look up. Then I noticed it went back down and walked back towards the end of my bed and jump out of my room as if the doorway was a portal to another realm. I was not dreaming as this was really real! After this encounter, all of my spiritual gifts started coming to me. I knew what I was doing without knowing what I was doing if that makes sense. Its been 12 years now and I haven’t heard from The Black Shadow panther again. Why is this?
I had a dream a night ago I was in blackness for a while just sinking and falling slowly it felt as if I was just still in that moment when I had realised I was sinking in dark black like water with a boat or something above me two black panthers came swimming from both left and right to me and they looked me in the eyes with passion and concern they nuzzled up to me and let me hug them as if they loved me I woke up feeling so attached and loved .
I have a question of a strange dream I had a while ago, before knowing about spirit animals.. Un my dream, I was at my great grandmother’s house and she told me that she had a new pet. When I went to meet it, it turns that it was a beautiful black panther with green eyes.
At first I was scared of it, but my great grandmother told me not yo be scared, because ir wouldn’t hurt me, but that I had yo become it’s fríend. Then she just locked me outside with the panther. But I run to the door and enter the house.
Later in my dream, I went outside again and came closer to the panther’s jail, but it was open. The panther came to me and cornered me between the wall and intself. Then, It stared at me and opened it’s mouth to bite me, but in a harmless way. Limé if it was just playing. A few seconds later I started to pet it and it leaned on me and began to purr with it’s eyes closed. Then I entered to the house where My family was and spend the rest of the dream hugging the panther con the flor.
I had a similar dream a few days after this one, but this time with a polar bear but I never entered to the house with it this time
What does that means?
Hi everyone
I had my daughter nearly 14 years ago, when she was 2-3 years old she came into the shower and appeared to be rubbing somethings head i asked her what was she doing she replied as a two year old ” patting the panther ” I replied with “ohh and where is the mummy panther” unbemused with my question she walked out.
One week later she came in to the shower and appeared to be rubbing something worth her both hands ” I asked her what was she doing” she repllied ” patting mummy and baby panther”
Feeling rather uensure of how to accept this information my daughter’s was telling me I still encouraged what she said she had seen and done with Panther.
Over the next couple weeks I noticed a rather large hole had been dug out under the shrub that was outside my daughter’s bedroom window where her bed was.
I become curious and did some research on Panthers and their living habitats and to my surprise Panthers dig a hole under shrubs for sleeping.
After a couple months of more extrodinary things happening it was a cool night and I was out side having my cup of tea and a cigarette before bed. Like every other night my dog buddy used to try beat me in the back door but this particular night to what I thought was my black dog buddy laying in the grass didn’t try beat me in the door instead a baby or little panther sleeked onto the rock table on my back verandah it appeared to be black from a far but once it appeared closer its actual color was a deep purple it was see through and had the most peering yellow eyes that stared straight at me in my total amazement I said out loud to the panther ” f*** me she really sees you, But your gonna disappear now aren’t you. And as I completed that statement it disappeared.
It was truly one of the most amazing thi ngs I had the privilege to see and experience.
Dreamed of a black jaguar peering at me on the tree far across from me. A large pit between us. Then I dreamed the jaguar turned into a man, and helped me slide down the pit. After I got down into the pit, he the jaguar-turned man, had physical sex with me. It was utterly sensuous and sexually fulfilling.
While home sick with a flareup of diverticulitis with chills, I had a dream about not one, but TWO black panthers. I don’t remember the entire dream, but it felt like the panthers kept reoccurring. They had caught a man and were dragging him off, I assume, for dinner. Yet they kept looking back at me, as if expecting me to follow them. They did not make any attempt to attack me. It seemed almost as though they expected me to try to save the man, as though they had grabbed him to see my reaction. In the dream, I think I did follow them, but I don’t remember what happened after that.
I have had dreams about a white Lynx once, and several dreams about mountain lions/cougars, but this is the first time I have dreamed about black panthers. I am also somewhat confused by the fact there were TWO of them, if then normally tend to be loners.
I had a dream last night I was walking with my husband and 3 kids around a building and I felt danger. I looked behind us and I saw a panther making its way towards us. I yelled to my husband to get the kids to safety. It was me facing the panther. It felt like a “he” to me. I felt scared but had a white round shield in my hand and faced the shield toward the panther. It came really close and I could hear it make those wild cat like sounds and we just locked eyes and and it gave up and ran into some bushes. Let’s just say that it was hard to get back to sleep. It felt so real.
I had a dream a black panther came to a window at my dad’s house and came at me not in violent way. I went to my mom’s house I looked back and saw the panther again. It was time to go to sleep, the panther slept in the backyard. What does that mean?
I had a dream I was standing in a yard near a regular metal fence, looking at the yard next door. There was a shed in the yard– a building with a covering attached to the side. Under the covering there were random things stored, what you’d expect: a lawnmower, an old doghouse, bricks, and other random things. There was something on the doghouse that had my attention, I couldn’t tell what it was at first, but eventually I concluded it was a replica or maybe stuffed panther in a fierce, and aggressive pose. Under the shed there was a dark sort of energy contrasting to the rest of the surround, which was quite pleasant. It felt like it was night time when I focused on trying to figure out what the thing on the doghouse was, but when I finally realized what it was, I snapped back into the warm, breezy daylight that I was in before. Before I could even appreciate the tranquility of it, a black panther shot into my vision, not towards me, but over the fence. It caught me off guard, but I also felt like I expected it somehow. It was beautiful, but still invoked a sort of fear in me, I immediately dropped to the grass, laying flat, hoping it wouldn’t see me, but feeling it probably would. I felt it notice me and head my way, I could sense exactly where it was, and pondered running. I decided not to move. The panther then laid down on my back, and put both paws on my head. My heart was racing, but the panther didn’t hurt me. It’s started to sort of rub my head, playing with my hair. I was facedown, I couldn’t see anything, but it felt really nice, almost like it was putting me to sleep, my fear however, wouldn’t allow me to fully relax. The panther got off and walked away, not far, just to maybe stretch her legs. I decided to make a run for it. I ran towards a house across the street, the hill it was on was steep and I knew she was already chasing me, there was no way I would make it. She reached the top just moments before I did and stood in front of me. I knew she felt betrayed, I felt a great sorrow, but fear still dwelled slightly within. Despite that fear however, I immediately rubbed her head, she seemed slightly unsure of me at first, then nudged me with her head. I nudged her head back with my own, rubbing my cheek with hers, and we laid down together on the grass, looking down from the hill onto a beautiful scene, full of so much peace. I felt like we were one another’s other in a way, she was my partner, my best friend. I knew we loved each other deeply, the love i felt wasn’t like anything I’ve ever imagined. The entire dream we were both silent the entire time, and that felt important. As we sat together on that hill, it slowly faded as I began to wake up.
❤️ That’s was beautiful
Wow, that was incredible. Thank you for sharing
Interesting article
I received a painting of a black panther for Xmas. Talk about good timing haha.
I had a dream that i returned to my old family farm and was walking from the main yard and house towards the chicken coop theough fhe garden. The couple peopke i was walking with scattered when a big black form streaked across the garden in one direction. I stayed still and could sense it turning and walking up behind me. As it came close, i crouched down so my head and shoulders were level to its head. It put its nose amd face in my neck. I moved to nuzzle it with my face as i turned my head and then we both started cuddling/embracing or snuggling in the garden. The rows wers all bare the veggies harvested now that it was autumn, all dried up from lack of water. I felt so loved and so safe.
I have also had a dream of takng in a group of three baby and two mother cougars ( one wifh scars all over every inch of her body)., they looked like they were on the run, pushed out of a territory., or running from something. In the dream, the young mother showed up first, with the three cubs, followed, a while later by the battle scarred and bleeding older mother. The eldest lion had stayed behind to fivht off a male perhaps as the others escaped. My neighbor, a mom, brought her kids inside when she saw me offering the cougars milk outside the front of my house. I remember how I wrapped the poor cut up momma in a blanket soaked in milk to ease her wounds and help her heal. I drew a picture of the babies playing under their mom to remember.
Last night whilst in bed with my husband watching bbciplayer on my tablet, I heard my cat meow at something in the hallway. I said to my husband. Who the hell is the cat chatting to at 3am, when a giant black cat came into my bedroom, blacker than black. Did a little turn then looked directly at my with golden eyes and pounced. At which point. I moved my body back at speed away from it, bashing straight into my husband whilst yelling. Woah! He says “wtf scared you to jump back like that” put the light on. I said you won’t believe me, but a giant black cat just jumped at me. He said “just leave the lights on, so it stays away. I was awake watching something at the time. So not even a dream. This is after coming catching orbs with faces on. One of which is a female who looks native American even though I’m in UK and she’s a blue orb.
I went to see a channeled reiki master who told me a black panther kept appearing with me, it was the first I had ever heard of this spirit animal but everything they represent resonates with me
Had a dream lastnight I was in a car it was night time I was parked seen movement from my right side as I looked closer it appeared to be a black Jaguar it climbed on someone’s porch and just looked at me with yellow glowing eyes then it vanished. Didn’t seem harmful or anything. In the dream I was amazed of the beauty
of the black Jaguar and being lucky to see such a rare thing.