Meeting an Animal Spirit Guide Part 1

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When one makes the conscious decision to meet an animal spirit guide, there is a period of time between making the decision and actually meeting the animal spirit. As I reported in the last post, I am in the process of reading “Shamanism as a Spiritual Practice for Daily Life” by Tom Cowan. It is not about becoming a shaman as much as it is about learning the core practices of shamanism and how to balance the spiritual and non-spiritual parts of our life.  Personal balance is a key aspect of being able to effectively manifest using the Law of Attraction.  It is for this reason that I am exploring and reporting on the subject.

A key part of Shamanism is connecting with an animal spirit guide. I had heard of people connecting of spirits but it never really occurred to me to try to connect with the bear spirit, or the raven spirit, for example. Believing that God is in all things and that we are here for a reason, it makes sense that all forms of life have a certain spirit to them, and connecting with those forms of life in some fashion could be beneficial to both parties. It also makes sense to me that one can watch a bear or raven and perhaps learn a lesson about of life through the observation. At the very least we can learn about living in the moment and having patience.

The second part about connecting with an animal spirit guide is that there are tons of lessons about life that we can learn by observing and connecting with other species on various levels. Therefore although one first tries to meet a single spirit guide, there are most likely many more to follow.

Third I would like to point out that the author of the book explains there are typically three ways to meet a spirit guide. The first way is the most extravagant. One goes into the woods for a day or so and fasts so as to make them more sensitive to their environment. They call out to their spirit guide and they may meet the animal physically or in their mind. During the encounter you ask the animal if they are your spirit guide and they will give you some sort of sign if they are. The second way to meet an animal spirit guide is while in a dream state. You basically imagine you are in the forest or on a beach in the middle of nowhere and you allow yourself to slip into a dream-like state of consciousness. You pay attention to all the sights and sounds that your mind plays for you and watch for any animals that may appear. The third way is to grab a drum and start playing a rhythm that feels natural to you. It is probably not the rhythm of some pop song on the radio but rather something that comes from deep inside yourself. During this drum session you can burn candles or incense (but be sure the candles are in a safe place in case you enter a dream-like state for a little while).

Finally I wondered why people would try to connect with animal spirit guides as opposed to any other type of spirit guide. The author explains that animals were here on earth a lot longer than people and they have maintained their spiritual connection whereas people have tried to break everything down logically and scientifically to the point that some of our awareness of the spiritual connection has been lost. According to Mr. Cowan, at one point in time animals and people could actually communicate with each other to the extent that they even spoke the same language.

Once you have met the animal spirit guide either in real life or in a dream-like state, they will continually offer you insights about life that you may otherwise overlook occasionally when you happen to meditate or dream. I assume guidance from such a guide is somewhat similar to most guidance we get from our dreams. Typically most Americans don’t pay much attention to our dreams, but they are a helpful guide, especially when we write them down afterwards.

Waiting for an animal spirit guide to appear can be a little frustrating. I would compare it to most other spiritual advancements one tries to achieve. At times during the waiting period it feels like we are powerless and we just need to wait until we are ready on some unconscious level to progress. At other instances we are confident that it will happen in due time. Luckily I grabbed another book about small business advertising to distract me until I am ready for the encounter. I think more guidance and insight from the subconscious mind will be quite helpful. I will keep you posted as the story unfolds.

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