I did a meditation years ago based on some reading I’d been doing (Feeding Your Demons by Tsultrim Allione), and up came some highly anthropomorphized animal manifestations of my “demons”–my critics, my derailing cautionary babblers, my fears….
and, to honor them, I searched for totems… in so doing, I stumbled across the stupendously fabulous animal photography of Sharon Montrose .
There I found my porcupine.
My vulture.
Alas, no crow, no raven.
Today I realized I no longer remember who was what. What were my demons? Who were my porcupine, my vulture, my crow? (See? even my demons are evolving!)
Instead of spending more energy resurrecting my old demons, I’ve decided to re-assign meaning to these creatures using more positive attributes (no longer demons, but guides), and embrace their energy into my current journey.
Crow for cooperation and ingenuity…for expression, voice, and community
Vulture for finding fodder where others might not, for taking advantage of opportunities, for the ability to be patient, taking the long view, the ability witness, and finally feast.
Porcupine for self-protection, the kind of protection that is visible *enough* so it does not need to be tested. This could be protection of the self, of dreams, of time, of resources, of hope….
How about you? What animals are calling you today?
