04/16/2025
Ok yโall, letโs talk about animal spirits. (AKA โspirit animals.โ)
I write all this as a magician AND as a Choctaw person, whose culture has a tradition of knowing animal spirits: ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐, ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ โ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌโ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ .
Most of these sources have lists of animals, then something about what the animal โrepresentsโ or โmeansโ and what it says about Who You Are. This is a colonial take. The colonial approach to knowledge is to name, list, and categorize; to control nature by naming and defining it. This is not the indigenous way, and it is not the way to know an animal spirit.
The idea that every animal โmeansโ something or โrepresentsโ something about Who You Are is, at best, a misunderstanding. At worst, spiritual bypassing.
This is because every spiritual encounter with the natural world is about *being in relationship.* To know an animal spirit, you have to build a relationship with the animal spirit that comes into your life, and learn from it. Like any relationship, itโs going to be individual and unique to you and this animal.
The colonized, ego-driven take is that your spirit animal says something (always flattering) about Who You Are. In reality, it's more about ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง . An animal spirit comes to you because they have something to communicate to you or teach you, something to share with you. And again, that is going to be individual to you and that animal.
Think about it: before colonization, did indigenous people have books or websites to categorize and look up spirit animals? Of course not. These charts and lists are written by people who cannot possibly have a relationship with every single animal spirit, so theyโre making s**t up based on their preconceived, ignorant assumptions about animals. (Thatโs why thereโs so much emphasis on large predators: Colonialism mistakes violence and aggression for strength and power, but in reality, every animal has its strengths, powers, and role to play on earth.)
Going to a website or a book to look up "the message" is a form of spiritual bypassing. Because you're avoiding building a relationship with that animal spirit. Avoiding intimacy, avoiding the scary work of time and space and clarity. Avoiding the truth.
Animal spirits are not *symbols* and they are not *tools.* What any animal spirit says to you, isn't the same as what it says to someone else.
๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ, ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ?
Wait. Be open. Listen. Invite the spirit to share their wisdom with you. Keep yourself clear and spacious, with meditation, movement, and self-care, so you will be able to hear them when they do. And if you donโt understand what it is saying to you, consult a medicine worker for interpretation. Thatโs what we are here for. This is the traditional way. No website or book can tell you what an animal spirit (or any spirit) is communicating to you, because its communication will be unique to you, but an experienced intermediary, like me, can help you to understand.
