The Power of Power Animals

The Power of Power Animals

New Idea – national weekly magazine

Want guidance for your problems and physical healing? Dr Steven Farmer, a shaman and psychotherapist from LA, says forging a relationship with your power animal will help you do this.

“A power animal is a spirit guide in animal form. They help us deal with both the material world and the world of spirit by offering us guidance and healing, and are a source of spiritual power,” he says.
“You can ask your power animal for a healing, for you or on behalf of another. They may heal you directly or give you instructions as to what to do in order to heal. They help us heal from emotional and physical ailments. People have called on Raven for example and have experienced relief from an emotional torment – a spiritual healing. Or your power animal may tell you what to do in order to heal. Mine gave me a very specific remedy for a skin condition I had. I tried it, and it worked!” he says.
In his book Power Animals: How To Connect With Your Animal Spirit Guide, he provides a CD meditation to discover yours, explains their purpose, gives messages from 36 animal guides and information on how to work with them.
They are different to totem animals, which Native Americans incorporate in a similar way to astrology or which may be used by a sporting team or organisation to represent everyone involved, such as the Sydney Swans or the Brisbane Broncos.
“Power animals are highly personal – they aren’t shared with your family or immediate community, tribe or group. The concept of a power animal comes from shamanism, although you don’t have to be a shaman to make use of this concept.”
So how do you meet your power animal? Steven says the most powerful way is through a shamanic journey, and he uses these principles on the guided meditation journey he created to accompany his book.
“I show you how to find and retrieve your power animal in a similar manner – it’s a very powerful way to initiate this relationship. There are four basic modalities of receiving spiritual input, including finding your power animal. These four are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and cognitive. Some people will see their animal visually. Some are more auditory, in that they hear messages or the roar of Lion. Others get a sense of the animal spirit, maybe actually feeling their skin, smelling their breath. Others get a clear thought that is stronger than any image, and ‘know’ their animal. Any and all of these will be triggered when you use the CD. Most people have one dominant modality, with a secondary one to fall back on. You can develop the modalities that are less familiar to you – they open up with practise.
“People have also discovered their power animal through vision quests, repetitive dreams, ecstatic dancing or from the animal itself showing up in their lives in a dramatic way.”
A friend of mine has noticed that magpies turn up around her when she is going through a stressful situation or looking for guidance, so she is learning to work with this animal in order to learn what it is trying to tell her. Sometimes it will appear in her garden as a physical warning to her, at other times she knows she needs to go within to ask the spirit of the bird to help her.
“They guide us by showing up in the physical world, especially when they appear repeatedly in a short period of time or in an unusual way,” Steven says. “Sea eagles aren’t unusual at the ocean, but what about if you’re closer to the outback and they show up? Or a kangaroo crosses the street right in front of you, where they don’t ordinarily roam. That’s definitely a sign, and it’s up to you to determine what the message is. One of the best ways is to stop, close your eyes, take a breath, and imagine that animal’s spirit in front of you. Ask the question, ‘What is it you’re trying to tell me?’ then observe everything in your experience. The message may come visually, auditorially through a thought or statement, or in feelings or sensations. The answer may seem cryptic, and if so you can ask your power animal for clarification.”
You can also go to them in the spirit world through meditation for guidance on important questions about your life. Or they may show up in your dreams and give you a message that way.
“We don’t choose our power animal. They choose us, or even more accurately, it’s a soul agreement between you and your power animal,” he says.
Although Steven’s work is based on Native American shamanism, it doesn’t matter that we are geographically distant from the US. While he says you’re more likely to have an animal spirit guide you’re familiar with show up, he has found that it’s not constricted to that. A friend of his discovered she had Elephant as her power animal, even though the only elephants in the US are in zoos. And he has worked with Kangaroo as a spirit guide despite living in LA.
“As we’ve become more of a global community, the animal spirits seem to reach us from anywhere on the planet. For some people, perhaps these connections are past life memories of some sort.”
For Steven, working with power animals is a labour of love, and he has dedicated the book to the animals of this planet. An environmentalist, he believes working with power animals will bring us closer to the animals of our world, and spur us to action to save them. We can honour our relationship with them by donating time or money to organisations that support the species, such as OCEANA for Dolphin or Whale.
“Many of us are hearing the call to do whatever we can to restore our relationship with the natural world. Working with power animals helps us along that path of restoration. As we do, we manifest this magical and powerful relationship in the way we treat the earth and all of her children, especially the animals.
“I want to draw from the earth- and spirit-based tradition of shamanism those elements that are useful for making our lives and our planet better, and an important element of this is to discover and work with your power animal. They will remind you in so many ways of your more ancient self, a self that simply knows that we are part of the web of life. They will teach you how to love this incredible earth, and help you increase your respect and even motivate you to action. They are truly a blessing.”

Some of the animals you can call on
In Steven’s book, he’s detailed 36 different animals and the more outstanding traits that each has that we can call on for particular needs.
“For instance, Fox is a shapeshifter. We usually associate cunning and wiliness with a fox, yet a deeper characteristic is that they have this ability to sort of blend in when necessary. So at a party or gathering, when you want to observe and not be noticed, call on the spirit of Fox, and see what happens.
“If you’re feeling a lack in your life of goods, money etc, then call on Kangaroo. One of her most predominant characteristics is abundance, and she’ll not only remind you that life is naturally abundant, she’ll actually help you create more goods or money in your life. Cougar, also called Mountain Lion, is one to call on when you have been handed a position of leadership and need the intense focus and strength that Cougar can give to you, even if only temporarily.”

Butterfly: Transformation
If Butterfly is your power animal, you appreciate the seasonal nature of life; you’re very spirited, full of vitality, with exotic taste in clothes, art and even friends; you’re drained by toxic environments; you’re a visionary, and go through life changes very smoothly.
Call on it: To organise a project; make a life change and get the courage to break out of your cocoon; get through a divorce or career change; go with the flow in life with more ease.

Beaver: Productiveness
You love to work and are the consummate “doer”; you’re a great team player; your work helps the community or the world, but you’re humble; you’re very resourceful and know where there’s a will there’s a way; you’re extremely loyal.
Call on it: If you feel trapped and don’t know how to extricate yourself; you want to manifest a dream but aren’t sure how; you’re experiencing difficulties with your partner, friends or coworkers; get rid of the clutter in your home.

Hummingbird: Joy
You’re full of joy and have a positive attitude; you’re sensitive and are affected by negativity; your freedom is critical to your health; your best choice for work is self-employment or being outdoors; you appear fragile but are very powerful.
Call on it: If you feel depressed or overwhelmed; you need to protect yourself from emotional harshness; you’re distracted and can’t focus on the present; you feel guilt, anger or shame about your past.

Panther: Passion
You do your best work under pressure, yet you allow time for play; you keep quiet about a goal to avoid dissipating your motivation; you’re tactile and sensual; you have extraordinary insight, a gift of inner knowing.
Call on it: If you feel frightened or threatened and need protection; you’re going through a period of suffering and need to reclaim your power; you’ve been wounded physically or emotionally and need help with healing; you’re ready to face a shadow aspect of your self.

Dolphin: Communication
You play in life and with life, and live in the now, but can focus well when needed; you can easily enter altered states if consciousness; you’re an instinctive and inspiring leader; you’re highly intuitive and even telepathic; when you’re happy you make everyone around you happy too.
Call on it: If things have gotten too predictable; you’re feeling overwhelmed and know you have to lighten up; you’re restricting your breathing and need to unconstrict your life force; you need to release pent-up emotions; you feel stuck in a relationship.

Visit Steven’s website for details.