Journey to Discover Your Power Animal

The very first journey in this series is to find the power animal who can guide you through this next phase of your life.

Power animals appear at critical times in our lives to help us shift something or to guide us. Their medicine is powerful. They can help us soften, strengthen, slow down or seize opportunities. These animal guides show us the way at an instinctual, visceral level that helps bypass the mind and its limitations.

Note that the intention of this journey is not to find your lifelong spirit animal. If you’ve always felt an affinity for a particular animal, please let it go. That may be an animal totem who somehow represents you and your unique spirit, or simply what you aspire to. A completely different animal may be waiting to guide you at this particular time, with wisdom fitting what you need in your life right now.

Know that the animal who appears to you today carries with it instincts and qualities that you will likely need moving forward. I’ve had the sloth, raccoon, jutía (a large wood rat from Dominican Republic) and hawk come to guide me through various phases in the past several years. Seeing which animal appears for you at this time can even help you get a sense of what will be asked of you in the coming months. 

The Journey

We will journey into the earth to find your power animal. When it appears to you, take the time to observe it. Get a sense of how it moves, where it lives, what its strengths are, and how it can help you in the coming months. These things will continue to become more clear after the journey.

Understanding Your Power Animal

Be sure to write down everything you noticed about your power animal during the journey. What qualities does it represent? Why is it with you at this time? What is your animal’s habitat like? Where are they most at ease?

Understanding which element your animal is most closely associated with may offer insight into which domain of life it is here to guide you with. For example:

• Winged Ones. The birds primarily represent the element of AIR, which corresponds to our consciousness. They may be here to guide us in our spiritual path, expand our understanding, uplift us, offer new perspective or help us rise above challenges.
• Four-Legged Animals. These animals are associated with EARTH and the physical world where we work, eat, create and interact. They can help us to track, prepare, tend our soil, or reorganize our lives.
• Sea Creatures. Those who inhabit the WATER help guide us in the realm of emotions. They can help in navigating, cleansing, transforming and expressing our emotions.
• If the Serpent or similar type of reptile appeared to you, they are often associated with the element of FIRE, representing passion, drive, ambition and creativity.

Working With Your Animal

I recommend getting a strong instinctual feel for your animal and then observing how you react to it. Do you readily embrace this guide or does it create some resistance? To get a strong sense of your animal you can watch YouTube videos, research its habits, and try to understand its habitat and social structures.

Because the animal has appeared as a guide, be sure to ask it for guidance at critical times. Do you have important decisions to make? Ask your animal. Challenging situations? Consider how they would react. And if you’re unsure, ask. One way to do this is to write down a question on a sheet of paper, then call in the essence of your power animal and ask them to reply. You’ll be surprised what comes through.

Remember that this guide is temporary. If you have another major shift in your life, repeat the journey. Or wait six months and see if a different animal appears – by then you may be ready to embrace a new way of seeing the world.

Tell us about the power animal who appeared to you or post any questions you might have in the comments below.