Arrroooooo, Wild Ones!
OK, you’ve done the Spirit Animal Meditation a dozen times. You’ve poured your heart out to the Great Spirit. You’ve called in 4 directions AND Father Sky AND Mother Earth. And you’re certain you have the right Spirit Animal.
But do you? Really?
Before you answer, let me warn you that you may have the wrong Spirit Animal because you might suffer from “Sexy Spirit Animal Syndrome” and not even know it!
What is “Sexy Spirit Animal Syndrome”
Though nobody knows for sure how many species of animals there are, the estimate is between 2 million to 50 million. Even at 2 million, that’s a whole lotta Spirit, Totem, and Power Animals!
But, ask someone what their Spirit Animal is and they’re most likely to respond with one of the Top 10 Spirit Animals – these are some of the ‘sexy’ Spirit Animals;
- Wolf
- Lion
- Tiger
- Eagle
- Raven
- Snake
- Spider
- Owl
- Dolphin
- Bear
Yes. These are ‘sexy’ Spirit Animals. Who doesn’t want to a powerful Lion as a Spirit Animal? Or a shamanistic Snake? Or a wise Whale? Of course these Spirit Animals (and more) can come anytime you might need them. But, often times, it’s not the popular Spirit Animals that will produce the best medicine for healing. Often times it can be the overlooked, misunderstood, and underrated Spirit Animal that can offer you the most love, support and healing during troubled times.
2 Examples of Not-So-Sexy Spirit Animals Who Made Magic Happen!
NUMBER 1 ‘Non-Sexy’ Spirit Animal Example
On WhatIsMySpiritAnimal.com, there are thousands of comments. Below is one of my most favorite. Why? Because this Wild One (CosmosEchoes) didn’t dismiss the Insects/Roaches who were trying to get her attention. Before you say, “ROACHES?! No WAY they can be Spirit Animals! And, if they can, I don’t EVER want them to be MY Spirit Animal!” – read CosmosEchoes’ question and my reply…
CosmosEchoes
Hello! I am also getting some strong messages from roaches, and insects. One night my got spiritually stung by something, it was painful. That day i had sprayed some repellant around my apartment and they were very angry about it, especially the roaches. I always been very compassionate about them, but it started to get out of control so we took those measures. But i have been very intrigued about those messages i keep getting from them. What would it mean? I know they are angry, but there’s this darkness about them, and sometimes i get this very scary thoughts in my head, i am not used to think about it. I have even decided to move from this place because of this, i feel there’s a strong swarm and presence from the insects spirits in this area. I am trying to think beyond duality and not think of it as a bad thing, but there’s always a negative pattern that follows this presence that is not very welcoming. If there’s any help, please let me know.
Bernadette
I LOVE that Roaches are your Spirit Animal! Like Buzzards, Cockroaches are misunderstood and maligned. This is a terrible thing because the world desperately needs both these beautiful souls! Cockroaches and Buzzards are the janitors of our world. They clean up decay. Who among us wants that job yet they choose to serve humanity in this fashion.
Roaches are the ultimate survivors! They’ve been around since the Dinosaur age. We can learn a great deal from Cockroaches. Check out this article and learn about how amazing Roaches are.
So, absolutely! Roaches and Insects can be your Spirit, Totem, and Power Animal. Fighting our deepest fears is very much like battling for survival because our fears can kill off our hopes, dreams, confidence, and more. Once we conquer our fears, we can not only survive – but thrive!
Now, nobody wants to have a Cockroach infestation in their home. But, I believe there are no coincidences – they are there for spiritual reasons. Though not ‘sexy’, Cockroaches have powerful messages and medicine to share with us if we will remove our negative judgment and listen. Based on that comment, I’ve gotten a number of emails thanking me for the info provided. That one person’s interaction with Cockroaches provided much needed clarity for others. Magic!
NUMBER 2 ‘Non-Sexy’ Spirit Animal Example
Recently I gave a Shamanic Spirit Animal reading for a young man who’d never had a reading before (other than a drunk shell “reader” in New Orleans LOL). Most times, a person’s Spirit Animal simply shows up – psychically. This time, the Great Spirit told me to pull an oracle card for him – kind of a ‘seeing is believing’ move on Spirit’s part.
As much as I surrender to and trust in the Great Spirit, when I saw that a Stick Insect was this young man’s entrée into the psychic and Spirit Animal world, even I was like, “Well, this should be interesting.”
In beginning his reading, I told him of pulling the Stick Insect as his Spirit Animal for this moment in his life. He had zero reaction. He just stared at me.
I went on to explain the complete symbolism of a Stick Insect – some of which can be seen on the card (Stillness, Awareness, Discernment, Composure).
Other meanings for Stick Insects include:
- Having the patience to wait for the right moment to leap.
- Stick Insects can jump over 20 times their body length. So, when it’s time to take the jump, have to confidence to know you’ll be successful at the long game.
All through the explanation, this guy never moved a muscle. In fact, I had to ask him if he could hear and see me because he was SO still I thought Skype had frozen.
Once I finished explaining about his Spirit Animal – and making sure Skype hadn’t had a conniption – I asked if any of the message resonated with him.
LOL Are you ready for this? Here’s what he said…
“I wanted a reading from you because I’m a semi-pro poker player. I want to know if I’ll be able to leave my job and be successful as a full-time, professional poker player. And, if it looks good, when is the right time for me to leave my job.” – Client
The dude makes part of his living by being still and using discernment about whether to make a play or not. Further, he was waiting for the right time to take a BIG leap in his life.
The Great Spirit sent him specific messages via a unique and somewhat unusual Spirit Animal. Does it get any sexier than that? Boooya! And that’s how Spirit Animal magic and medicine is made!
Don’t Be a Sexy Spirit Animal Snob
OK the word ‘snob’ might be a bit much but I was going for the alliteration. Nonetheless, through my years of working with folks and their Spirit, Totem, and Power Animals I’ve found precious few who don’t list one of the top 10 or 15 animals – the ‘sexy’ ones – as ‘their’ Spirit Animal. This is unfortunate because they could very well be missing out on some majorly powerful medicine.
As the two examples above prove, the world of animal spirit guides is always working for our highest and best good. If you think maybe you haven’t gone deep enough into the spirit world and perhaps your Spirit Animal may be the ‘wrong’ Spirit Animal, take a bit and read “How to Have Powerful Breakthrough Spirit Animal Experiences”
That soulful Elephant you’ve come to trust as your Spirit Animal may just show up. Or, you may find that a Blobfish (recently and cruely named the ugliest animal in the world) may make an appearance.
If the Blobfish shows up – don’t judge. Though the Blobfish may have a face that only a mother could love, the Blobfish teaches us that often times we don’t have to work as hard as we think we do. We can be still and trust that what we need will come to us at just the right moment. The Blobfish also teaches us how to stay cool and collected even when under tremendous pressure. What wonderful medicine!
As you walk you spiritual path and call in your Spirit, Totem, and Power Animals keep your heart and trust that the Great Spirit has magic in store for you!
Stay wild,
Bernadette
I keep seeing a squirrel and a sloth recently…. :/
Hi my name is Julio from Palm Beach, FL I am a Coahuiltecano native and truly believe in mother earth and our father sky and also give my respects to the 4 directions before I start my Energy cleanse with white sage. Lately I’ve been seeing falcons out of nowhere i can be at a store and once I look up for some odd reason there is a falcon even at my job ( I work outside near a big reservation area and I also see a falcon there but majority of the times when I see it a Blue Jay is trying to scare it away. I tried the Spirit Animal quiz and it says my spirit animal is a honey bee but my birthday is Sep 29 and my totem animal shows as a falcon. Lately I’ve been at war with my own mind trying to figure things out in my personal life because I am a tattoo artist i have gone through some things that temporary had me stop tattooing and drawing all I want is to get back to my tattooing be happy with my Wife and stop my mind from thinking negative and pushing me down with the negative. I just want to feel peace in my mind
I swore my spirit animal was a moth at one point. I was happy to learn about this beautiful spirit animal.
My Birth Totem says that I am a Beaver, but I do not have most of those characteristics. I am terribly afraid of snakes, but since I was a little girl I have dreams of snakes and I have them so frequently, I know if I see a black snake there will be a struggle in my life and if there are other colored snakes there are different meanings. All of my characteristics are that of a snake, I dreamed of a black snake and it led me to this site. Could my birth totem based on my birth date be different?
Lonnie… that is real interesting about your dreams of snakes. There is a blog entry that talks about backs: Black is formal, forcible, traditional, grounded and lacks tolerance for avoidance or trickery… There is primal spiritual energy here – black can put us in touch with our secret longings and desires.
https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/animal-spirit-guides/color-meanings-symbolism/
I would be curious as too what the black snake was doing in your dream.
On your question of birth totems, probably it could be different. Do you know the birth horoscope is not that simple. It is looking at all the planets and where they existed in the heavens from the specific location of where you were born on the earth and what zodiac they are in. So you are made up of several zodiac symbols… if that is so, the Birth totem is probably not so obvious unless all planets lined up in that zodiac symbol when you were born.
I think different animals can come to you at different times of your life with messages for you depending on what is going on and what you are thinking about.
Love the spirit animals, is it possible to have a human spirit as a guide?
Hi, Bill;
Since humans are animals, I completely believe one can have a human ‘animal’ spirit guide.
Stay wild,
Bernadette
I saw. Buzzard it was standing with its wings apart and didn’t move it said it was my power animal.
What is the meaning of this