UNDERSTANDING POWER ANIMALS

By Asaiah Hanif-Saeed

Much has been written about shamanism over the past ten to fifteen years and this literature is rich with information on power animals. There are differences of view points concerning power animals and these differences, like shamanism in general, lie in the difference of the tradition itself. There is no standard shamanic practice and the belief systems and practices are as diverse as the geographic locations and the people themselves. So it would stand to reason for there being a lot of conflicting or at the very least, different view points on the issue of power animals. What I present here is the Khemetic or Egyptian tradition which remarkable similarities are found in other African cultures.

Everyone has a power animal and usually more than one at a time depending upon personal need. Power animals represent the psycho-spiritual qualities that are needed by the individual at a particular time. So just what are power animals? Power animals are spirit teachers that dwell in the spiritual realms or we may say that they dwell within our unconscious minds. These spirit teachers take on the form of animals and serve as our constant guides and companions to help us along the path of our life journey.

Our power animals know us intimately. They are well informed of our personal habits and quirks, our circumstances as well as our personal psychology or psychological and spiritual landscapes. They are well aware of the personal symbols we may use to describe and understand our personal inner landscape.

Power animals are profoundly sacred spiritual guides that help sustain our subtle as well as physical bodies. Our power animals have the ability to open gates to higher consciousness for us. They help us on our daily journey aligning us with our spiritual path and higher consciousness by lending us there power in an effort to help us grow on our path. Unlike totems, your power animals may change as you need them. You may have a different power animal that come to your aid as you need their medicine or help with a particular period in you life and when you have made it through this point; they may not stay with you. If you are no longer in need of their medicine they will remove themselves an allow another to come forth as you need it.

Power animals can reveal themselves to you in deep trance states, dreams or omens of which the latter they are particularly fond. You do not need the High Priest shaman or Babalawo to determine your power animal, just someone who is skilled and knows how to help you retrieve this information through trance. Power animals are excellent for protection and guidance. With all clients I may work with, helping them retrieve their power animals is an enjoyable and mandatory part of my practice for long after our sessions have ended; the client retains the skills to commune with their power animals for any and all situations; a valuable technique they will always be able to use.

All humans are connected to one another through the collective unconscious and what this means is that everything that a human being has lived, thought, expressed or experienced exists in the indestructible form of energy and therefore is available to every other human to tap into and experience. In Egypt, this phenomenon was expressed in the twin sister goddesses Nekhbet and Uadjit.

By tapping into this energy, we have access to eternal knowledge that we otherwise would not be able to access. This gives us help and answers to any situation we may experience.

Power animals are not only able to tap into the landscape of our personal unconscious minds but also what Carl Jung called the genetic memory which is our ancestral memory or our unconscious ancestral imprint. It is here where we may find stronger images or imprints within our unconscious landscape. It is here where we may also find power animals that have a stronger influence upon our lives based on our racial heritage or background. For example, a black American may have a particularly strong affinity for the king cobra and this may appear as his/her power animal.

Although the individual may have never been to Africa and know very little if anything at all of the home of their ancestors, and in conjunction, the king cobra is not an animal found in the natural habitat of North America, this animal may show up with great strength due to the individual's African heritage. This may occur because our ancestors were intimately linked with the environment and the animals within it. Out of this close relationship, powerful myths and legends were born of there interaction and experiences with these animals and from this, a powerful link has been made which gives us access to thousands upon thousands of years of collective energy and power from which we may tap.

By linking with your personal power animals and following their instructions you enhance your personal power; you increase your connection to nature and spirit and enhance your personal relationship to the Divine.

Asaiah is a Transpersonal Shamanic Psychotherapist and initiated shaman in the Egyptian/ Vodoun systems of Africa. Email him at Contact@TwinSpiri ShamanicCounseling.com