So my topic for this entry is about power/spirit animals. Some people haven't explored this option, some have one that sticks with them their entire lives and some have several that come and go. I fall into the last category.
I met my first power animal during a meditation exercise as part of the Artemis Gathering a few years ago. I forget the specifics of the pathworking exercise, but I remember a tiger walking towards me in my mind's eye and sitting with me. I stroked her fur and stared into her eyes, feeling her strength and power.
I never realised I could have a second power animal until I did a meditation a year later. I was enjoying the sun in my back garden and thought it would be a good time to commune with nature and get in touch with my tiger again. After several attempts interrupted by my beloved cats, Salty and Pepper, climbing all over me, I met another creature. This time, a dog. I don't know what breed, as dogs aren't my expertise, but he was a mottled black and brown shorthair with floppy ears. He sat with his back to me but looked over his shoulder at me. I asked him if he was my animal spirit guide and he nodded.
Meeting this one was a strange experience. I was quite resistant at first, as I am not a dog person. I get on reasonably enough with my friends' dogs (aside from one who, sweetheart as she was to everyone else, really took a dislike to me), but I am a cat person through and through. Aside from a few months between the passing of Pip and our rehoming of Salty and Pepper, the family has never been without a cat or two. My in-laws all characterise me as a Crazy Cat Lady. The tiger, being a big cat, was expected. The dog was not.
I have learned since then that dogs are an animal sacred to Hecate, with whom I greatly identify. It wasn't long after meeting this dog that I found myself specifically addressing Hecate in a prayer that I would normally dedicate to the Goddess as a whole. Perhaps he was there to ease me into the idea that Hecate is my Goddess. I have found that I identify a lot with the Dark Goddesses: Hecate, Kali, Isis, Persephone. The dog being my power animal for that brief period was the universe's way of introducing me to that path, I think.
The third animal has become more prevalent and longer lasting. This one didn't come through a meditation, but by association. I believe this has become my permanent creature. The butterfly.
I spent my life associating butterflies with beauty and peace. I have many memories of walking through my hometown with the sun shining, flowers blooming and butterflies flittering around. As I got older, I thought of butterflies as a sign that everything would be okay. In fact, in the few seconds before I walked into the circle for my handfasting, I had a brief worry that something might go wrong... and two butterflies went past, twitterpated (if you forgive the Disney reference). I immediately relaxed and proceeded after my Maid of Honour. The handfasting went beautifully.
The butterfly is an animal of transformation and rebirth, which reflects the Dark Goddess quite well- the caterpillar descends into a period of great darkness and transforms, emerging as the butterfly. I think the butterfly reflects my life over the last couple of months, if not years. I started out on one path, with a certain mindset, and a lot of events plunged me into a long period of contemplation and self assessment. I feel now I am emerging as a new person. Honestly, I'm still opening that cocoon, but I'm getting there. The wings are unfurling.
My theory is that certain animals come to you when you need them. The tiger came to me just before I started university, when I needed that strength for living on my own for the first time and being so far from home. The dog came when my path to the Dark Goddess was beginning, and also teaching me to go with the flow, not to resist something I don't expect. And the butterfly is here during my time of transformation. I think the butterfly will always be significant to me, but who knows what the future holds? Who knows what my next spirit animal will be?
Blessings,
Raegan Shanti