Today we fight tooth and nail to protect animals from senseless abuse all across the world.
But in ancient times, animals were gods.
Long before humanity began to picture gods in our own likeness, we worshipped totems.
The belief that every animal possesses certain personality traits and qualities is also at the root of the concept of a spirit animal.
What Exactly Are Spirit Animals?
Put simply, it’s the animal whose traits and perceived character resonate with our own.
Spirit animals can be worldly or mythical creatures. These animals represent our spiritual nature and are even believed to hold the key to our destiny.
They’re also considered to be mediators between the physical and the spiritual world.
Humans of old came to this conclusion because animals are much more sensitive to the unseen than we are.
A spirit animal may possess power, knowledge or strength. Connecting to it, one may also tap into these qualities and meet their true potential.
How to Connect With Your Spirit Animal?
Connecting to your soul animal takes patience and deep insight.
You’re the only one who can see which spirit animal you’re connected to. It’s recommended to meditate while placing all your focus on introspection.
You may keep a journal, where you can write down the things you uncover about yourself as well as the hints about which animal resonates with you.
For example, you may go out to sit in nature and observe which animal approaches you, if any.
Another option is to seek spiritual guidance from a mentor or a teacher qualified for this kind of work.
In the meantime, let’s look at some popular spirit animals. Maybe you can find your own!
Bear
Bear is one of the most popular totems around the world. It was worshipped by Scandinavians, Slavs and Canadian Native Americans among others.
It represents the raw power of the wild, primal strength and inner wisdom.
As outwardly aggressive as it is, this animal possesses inner mildness and the insight to honor its needs.
In certain cultures, the bear was considered a taboo animal because of its spiritual significance.
As a spirit animal, bear can teach you the following:
Confidence
Strength
Motherly love
Introspection
Courage
Healing
Dolphin
Unlike the bear, the dolphin is gentle on the outside. However, this is an animal with outstanding intelligence and inner strength.
They’re incredibly friendly.
To have a dolphin as your spirit animal means you look for goodness in everything around you, and that you’re kind and playful.
On a spiritual level, dolphin teaches us the following:
Harmony
Joy
Ressurection
Inner strength
Cooperation
Butterfly
Butterfly is primarily a symbol of transformation.
Although, it’s also strongly and rightfully associated with beauty.
This is a creature that has humble beginnings, but patiently and gradually evolves until it can tranform into something magnificent.
As a spirit animal, the butterfly can teach you:
Patience
Grace
Playfulness
Self-acceptance
Rebirth
Psyche
Wolf
Wolf is another powerful totem that’s been worshipped all across the world.
Most notably, Mongolians, Romans, Slavs and Native Americans upheld the wolf as their highest totem.
This animal possesses deep intuition, strength and cunningness.
On the negative side, the spiritual influence of the wolf may awaken distrust and greed within you.
As your spirit animal, the wolf may teach you the following lessons:
Strong instincts
Family values
Courage
Unapologetic freedom
Adaptability
Wisdom
Leadership
Fox
Fox is often considered a trickster, and this is reflected in many old tales and fables.
It’s possible that this spirit animal is warning you to look out for malicious intent in the people around you.
However, if we look beyond the role of the deceiver, we may find wisdom, quick wit and fast reflexes associated with this creature.
It can teach you to carefully consider your options and eliminate what doesn’t serve you.
These are the lessons to be taken from the fox as a soul animal:
Awareness
Wisdom
Quickness
Power of deduction
Emotional intelligence
Tiger
With its striking beauty and primal strength, the tiger was worshipped mainly across the Asian and African continents.
This animal acts spontaneously, it has incredibly sharp instincts. However, it also appears perfectly calm and regal.
Tigers are believed to ward off negative energy.
Their stripes are often looked upon as the symbol of expansion and growth.
With a tiger as your spirit animal, these are the lessons you may tap into:
Clarity
Passion
Protection
Independence
Transformation
Intuitiveness
Strength
Hedgehog
We tend to oversee hedgehogs as a spiritual guide because of their humble size.
It’s not fierce as a wolf, nor big as a bear, and it’s not even clever as a fox.
Hedgehog is a creature filled with symbolism and inner strength. It’s tiny and vulnerable, but uniquely equipped to deal with danger.
Likewise, it teaches us to be open and to pursue our goals.
Though, at the same time, it teaches us to follow our instincts and deal with issues in our own personal way.
These are the lessons to be taken from a hedgehog as your spirit animal:
Patience
Intuition
Adaptability
Self-reliance
Fortitude
Mildness
Bee
Bee is a fascinating animal, positively crucial for our ecosystem.
Aside from its meaning in the physical world, the bee is a very potent spirit animal.
It’s diligent, ambitious and highly organized. Bees function successfully in a highly demanding and complex society.
Here are the lessons to be taken from this spirit animal:
Communication
Authenticity
Sharing
Tenacity
Harmony with nature
Vitality
Lion
The King of the animal kingdom possesses incredible characteristics.
A lion is a fierce, wild and assertive creature.
As a spirit animal, it’s linked to our self-image, inner strength and dominance.
These are the lessons to be taken from the lion:
Personal power
Independence
Confidence
Courage
Assertiveness
Raven
This animal is associated with mystery above all.
Deep wisdom, death and magic are closely connected to a raven. Various witches, wizards and even the god Odin are presented keeping a raven at their side.
It’s a highly intelligent animal, equally admired and formidable.
Raven as a spirit animal can teach you the following:
Magic
Strong will
Wisdom
Reflection
Healing
Transformation
Scorpion
Scorpion is one of the rare animals that aren’t at all underestimated for their humble size.
It’s widely feared, both for its alien appearance and its venomous sting.
Scorpion is able to scare off or end any adversary. Likewise, as a spirit animal, it awakens our own ability to handle anything that stands in our way.
These are the lessons to be taken from a scorpion as your spirit animal:
Patience
Introspection
Isolation
Determination
Wisdom
Strength
Snake
Snakes are as admired as they are feared.
These creatures carry impossibly powerful symbolism through many cultures.
In Japan and Asia overall they’re considered the symbol of rebirth, and in Europe, they’re the very materialization of ancestral spirits!
Did you know that snakes were the inspiration behind the mythical dragons?
As a spirit animal, the snake can teach you the following:
Transformation
Healing
Protection
Desire
Inner power
Knowledge
A little Aquarius, devoted to writing and embroidery.