What is a spirit animal in shamanism?
Many people today use the phrase spirit animal to describe an animal they feel drawn to, guided by, or spiritually connected with. In Therapeutic Shamanism, we use more precise language.
You may meet many Animals in journeys. Some may appear once. Others may return from time to time. Some may become regular companions for weeks, months, years, or even for life. These may be animal helpers, guides, teachers or totems. They can be important and deeply loved, but they are not necessarily your Power Animal.
Power Animal is a different order of relationship: a much deeper bond with the Oversoul of an Animal species.
This article explains the difference between spirit animals, Animal guides, Animal totems and Power Animals, why language matters, and how Therapeutic Shamanism approaches relationship with the Animal People.
Glossary
Spirit animal
A broad phrase people often use for animal relationships, symbols, guides or helpers. Therapeutic Shamanism uses more precise language.
Animal helper, guide, teacher or totem
An Animal met in journeying who may help, teach or accompany you. Some appear once, some return intermittently, and some may become regular or lifelong companions. These are sometimes called animal totems, but they are not necessarily Power Animals.
Familiar
An individual Middle-World animal companion, such as a beloved cat, dog or horse.
Power Animal
A deep, primary shamanic relationship with the Oversoul of an Animal species, not an individual animal and not simply any animal guide.
Power Animal as Oversoul
Oversoul is a branch of Mother Earth in the lower world, that represents the whole of the species.
As humans, in surface reality, we largely experience ourselves as being separate individual beings. If we look deeper though, into shamanic reality, then we see that we all emerge from a common branch, meaning, that on another level, we are parts of a larger whole.
Of course, this does not only apply to humans. From a shamanic point of view each individual dog in surface reality is similarly like the tip of a twig that goes back to a common branch ‑ Dog with a capital D. Similarly, this is true of everything.
In conclusion, the lower world (where spirit animals are from) is a world of unity and of the transcendence of separation. It’s only natural, then, that what we encounter there are the Oversouls and not individual beings.
Oversoul is a branch of Mother Earth in the lower world, that represents the whole of the species.
Why language matters ?
For example, my power animal is Panther. If I think of it as an individual panther, if I think of it as being either a male or a female, and particularly if I were to give it a name and an individual personality, then what I would be doing is relating to it as an individual, middle‑world being. As such, it would have all the limitations in terms of awareness and abilities that this brings.
However, if I think of it as Panther, in terms of being all panthers, the sum of all the individuals in the species, what we call the Oversoul ‑ the lower‑world Panther that all middle‑world individual panthers spring from ‑ then I am relating to an infinitely wiser and more powerful being. So, I refer to my Power Animal as Panther.
Why work with an Oversoul?
It is not the shaman that does the healing, but the guides. Shamans invite the helpful spirits to work through them. Your first and foremost guide working through you should be your Power Animal.
Power Animal is your principal teacher
If you have ensured that you are working with the Oversoul, lower‑world being, then your Power Animal is infinitely wiser than you are. In other words, if you develop the habit of you leading the journeys and you being in charge of the healing, rather than your Power Animal, then your Shamanic work will always be severely limited.
Above all, developing any depth to your shamanic work means cultivating the practice of getting out of the way and allowing your Power Animal to lead the journeys and work through you.
You are the apprentice and your Power Animal is your principal teacher.
You need to develop the habit of constantly asking your Power Animal what to do next; of constantly checking in with it and watching its behaviour and reactions.
Your job is simply to ask spirit animals and your Power animal for healing and then to watch, remember, do as instructed, and learn. If you do this then you will realise just how wise and knowledgeable your Power Animal truly is, and that you can trust them utterly.
Can you have more than one Power Animal?
Working with more than one Power Animal, for me, again depends on what one means by the term ‘Power Animal’.
How many deep, soulful and committed relationships can you have?
Of course, there are no rules, and you have to answer that question for yourself. But for most people, the answer is that they can have lots of friends and friendships, of varying degrees of closeness. However, the majority of people though, in terms of being able to sustain a truly deep, connected and intimate relationship, most people find that doing that with one person is enough. Moreover, many people would say that doing that with even one person is hard enough!
Primary relationships are time‑consuming, and take working at. They need tending, nurturing, commitment and dedication.
So, if we are defining the term Power Animal as being a deep, soulful, committed, primary relationship (as opposed to a friendship), then, while you can have several spirit animals, most people find a single Power Animal is more than enough.
However, for a smaller number of people, it has been my observation that a second Power Animal may then turn up, but this is usually several years later. But in the end, I can only offer my personal experiences and observations; there are no rules and it is up to you and to your guides.
Key takeaways
In Therapeutic Shamanism, more precise language is used for different kinds of Animal relationships, including Animal helpers, guides, teachers, totems, familiars and Power Animals.
Many Animals may appear in journeys. Some appear once, some return intermittently, and some may become regular or lifelong companions. These may be helpers, guides, teachers or totems, but they are not necessarily Power Animals.
In Therapeutic Shamanism, a Power Animal is a primary relationship of much greater depth, intensity, loyalty and love than other Animal helpers or guides.
Your Power Animal is not “a wolf”, “the wolf” or “my wolf”. It is Wolf: the Lower-World Oversoul of the species, rather than one individual Middle-World animal.
A beloved cat, dog, horse or other individual animal companion may be a dear day-to-day companion. But a familiar is a Middle-World individual, while a Power Animal is a Lower-World Oversoul.
Saying Panther, Wolf, Horse or Bear, without “my”, “a” or “the”, helps keep the relationship with the Animal Oversoul clear. The language we use shapes what we are relating to.
Frequently asked questions about spirit animals, Animal guides and Power Animals
Is a spirit animal the same as a Power Animal?
No. “Spirit animal” is a broad phrase people often use for animal guides, helpers, teachers, totems or symbolic animal relationships. In Therapeutic Shamanism, a Power Animal has a more specific meaning: it is a much deeper relationship with the Oversoul of an Animal species.
What is the difference between an Animal guide and a Power Animal?
Many Animals may appear in journeys. Some appear briefly, some return from time to time, and some may become regular or even lifelong companions. These may be Animal helpers, guides, teachers or totems. A Power Animal is different: it is a deeper, primary relationship of greater depth, intensity, loyalty and love.
Can an individual animal be my Power Animal?
No. An individual animal you have known in ordinary life, such as a beloved cat, dog, horse or other companion, is a familiar rather than a Power Animal. A familiar may be deeply loved and may even accompany you in journeys, but it is still an individual Middle-World being. A Power Animal is the Lower-World Oversoul of the species.
Why do you say Panther rather than “my panther”?
Because language shapes what we are relating to. “My panther”, “a panther” or “the panther” makes Panther an individual animal. In Therapeutic Shamanism, Panther means the Oversoul of all panthers: the Lower-World being that individual Middle-World panthers spring from.
Should a Power Animal have a name, gender or age?
For the same reason we don't say a panther or my panther, we also don't individualise Power Animal with a personal name, fixed gender, age or personality. Doing so pulls the relationship towards an individual Middle-World being. Referring simply to Panther, Wolf, Horse or Bear helps keep the relationship with the Animal Oversoul clear.
Can you have more than one spirit animal?
If by “spirit animal” you mean Animal helpers, guides, teachers or totems, then many Animals may appear in journeys. Some may stay briefly and others may be long-term companions. If by “spirit animal” you mean Power Animal, the question is different. A Power Animal relationship is about depth, commitment and bond.
Can a Power Animal change?
There are no absolute rules, but what you cultivate matters. Some Animals may come and go, and some may be present for weeks, months or years. But Power Animal relationship is intended to become deep, committed and potentially lifelong. The relationship deepens through attention, practice and commitment.
POWER ANIMAL RETRIEVAL
So, working with Power Animal is a crucial part of developing a shamanic practice. Therefore, the important question is, how do we find one?
Power Animal belongs to the Lower World, so it is met through a Lower-World shamanic journey.
If you’d like to learn how to do a shamanic journey and find your power animal, we teach that in the first steps course.
The reason we don’t share the process in a blog is simple. Absolutely central to the college is to teach people a safe and step-by-step process to get into journeying. It’s at the heart and soul of it and the main reason it was set up.
Learning shamanic journeying and working with spirit animals is not that hard. You don’t need any special talents or powers (just an open mind). But it requires an understanding of some fundamental concepts and the process. Otherwise, you could end up being freaked out by the middle world or working with middle world beings. And I have already pointed out all the reasons against it above.
THE FIRST STEPS COURSE
The First Steps course covers everything you need to start with shamanic journeying, including:
- What is shamanism?
- The history of shamanism and animism
- How to do a shamanic journey (a step-by-step process)
- How to do Power Animal retrieval journey and find your own Power Animal
- Why we nearly lost shamanism, why we need it back and how psychotherapy fits in the process
- The basics of how to do shamanic healing for other people
