Dangers of Animal Totem Assignment

Last Updated on October 27, 2021 by Avia

Exploring the Dangers of Totem Assignment

No worries, nobody is waving magic wands around turning people into toads! LOL. Rather, this post is about the tricky business of label-slapping and animal totem assignment. Every week I always get several emails with a question: “Avia, what is my animal totem?” It puts me in a sticky wicket to answer, because of the dangers of totem assignment.

Avia’s Conflict About Totem Assignment

On one hand, I’m thrilled with these inquiries. It suggests a desire to re-connect with our animal guides. It’s a sign that folks are becoming more attuned to the wild and wonderful realms of Mother Nature, and that is wicked-awesome.

On the other hand, I’m often distressed by the lack of personal investment in re-connecting with our animal brothers and sisters. Connecting to our animal totems is a deeply personal act. Some of us have done a lot of self-work to form a bond with our energetic animal totems…me included! It took me years to process, identify and form a tight union with my totems.

I’m not sure getting a pat “Poof! You’re a toad.” answer from a psychic within 2 seconds is a healthy way to live a life with a totem was slapped on. It’s almost like labeling. Or slapping a totem on you when there has been no real investment made. Connections with Nature’s creatures are deeply spiritual. Animals are generous in their wisdom and messages…but they (on an energetic level) expect equal effort from us to understand and learn from them. Just thinkin’.

Why We Should Be Wary of Totem Assignment

What’s really irking is the idea that a virtual stranger can arbitrarily assign a totem to another person. I’ve watched and listened to many discussions about totems and neo-shamanism. I’m not naming names, but some presenters on the topic seem a bit flippant when they get a caller asking the inevitable question: “Can you tell me my animal totem?“

I’m floored when the totem-practitioner pops off a critter to the caller – essentially assigning a totem to him or her in the span of two seconds. How can that cosmic connection be gleaned from a distant second party? It feels like “slot-machine logic” – an answer spit out at random. I could be wrong. These totem experts could be mightily connected to their spiritual council, and so they are fed this totem information to the caller. Still, I have doubts.

On my most connected days, in which unification with my own Spirit Council is super-tight, I am fed information in terms of “seeing” woodland creatures or other critters scampering around my client’s energy. These visions give me a good idea about the inquirer’s totem affiliations.

Nevertheless, in the midst of these visions come strong admonishments from my Council. Admonishments like: “These are the animal energies communing with the human – but he/she must establish and nurture the connection.“

Getting in Charge of Your Own Totem Connections

The onus is on us. We must be the ones to invest the time to re-connect with our animal guides and guardians. Asking others to identify our totems isn’t a bad thing, but I’d be leery of pat answers from virtual strangers. It’s about self-investing and being commited to knowing our own animal totems instead of blinding following others’ assessments or snap opinions about our totem guides. Sure – an outside opinion is great. But at the end of the day, who do we live with? Ourselves. If we live and die with only oursleves, then that makes us the ultimate authority on our animal spirit guides.

Those who ask me what their animal totems often get frustrated with my round-about answers. I offer information that my Council feeds me, but not without belting out a few paragraphs about the importance of personal reflection , research and contemplation about the human-totem connection. If I get a clear “bingo” from my guides about a totem during a reading, then I’m definitely spilling those beans to my client. But at the end of the day, identifying animal totems is an extremely personal process.

Final Thoughts About Totem Assignment

Let’s face it. Most of us wouldn’t ask a stranger “Who is my life-partner?” and then marry the first person named Joe or Suzie just because we’ve been given a pat answer from a so-called qualified stranger. Same with re-partnering with our animal totems. We (and our totems) require more than slapdash labels.

Our animal totems are profound partnerships – indeed, a marriage. They deserve our time and attention to get to know them. We deserve the investment to familiarize ourselves with our connection to them.

So, be wary of the “poof! you’re a toad” syndrome. Lickety-split answers to complex questions like these should be approached with caution.

I hope you enjoyed this article on animal totem labeling and assignment. If you did like it, please feel free to share on social networks!

As always, thanks for reading!

Mighty brightly,