(no subject)

[lupagreenwolf]

Real quick--I was working on writing the Bioregional Totemism chapter of Neopagan Totemism, and I realized that in working with totems, totemism, and totemists over the past 15 years, there's a weird trend--not only do many people not ever see the physical counterparts of the animal totems they work with, but they often don't even live in the same geographic area. (Wheee, globalization!)

So, indulge me with a few quick answers. These will NOT be in the book (beyond maybe "I asked this to corroborate my previous experiences); I'm just curious for curiosity's sake.

--What totem(s) do you work with? Not just "life" or primary totems, but those that may drop in for a time.

--Where do you live? (You don't have to be any more specific than you're comfortable.)

--Where are the physical counterparts of your totem(s) found?

Comments

[finch]

1. I don't know that I have any relationships I could call life totems - I'm not serious enough about this stuff. XD But I've worked with European Starling, Society Finch, Brown Rat and I'm poking around with Golden Eagle.

2. The Pacific Northwest. ;P

3. Society finches don't actually live in the wild, so they're found wherever bird owners keep them. European starlings and brown rats are common throughout the US and Canada, and golden eagles are common in the western US and Russian/eastern Europe.

[starstrider]

I guess I'm pretty "old fashioned" when it comes to my totems; I've always let totems come to me, so the vast majority of the time they're animals that I directly observe in nature, especially when I'm up North in the middle of the little-known woods.

I've worked with White-Tailed Deer, Chipmunk, Bald Eagle (yes, we actually had a nesting pair up north one year, and they turned up EVERYWHERE I went practically), Horse. I did work briefly with a bird or two, but at this particular moment I cannot think of them. DX

I live in WI. (And I kinda answered 3 first, lol!)

[urbanimal]

--What totem(s) do you work with? Not just "life" or primary totems, but those that may drop in for a time.

--Where do you live? (You don't have to be any more specific than you're comfortable.)

--Where are the physical counterparts of your totem(s) found?

Maned wolf (South America, met in person), Grey Wolf (extinct in Scotland, but found in Europe), Domestic Goat (Saanen Valley in Switzerland, but found here, met in person), Reindeer (Northern Europe, met in person), Polar Bear (Arctic Circle), Brown Bear (Russia, I think, maybe Eastern Europe). My hands are starting to hurt.

I live in Scotland, and I think I have been lucky to have met "local" totem animals as well as global ones.

[moonvoice]

--What totem(s) do you work with? Not just "life" or primary totems, but those that may drop in for a time.

There's too many to really list, because the of nature of my artwork. But I would say the current totems in my life are Australian raven (also my personal totem), grey kangaroo, emu, mistletoebird, redtick coonhound, dog (general) and jewel beetle.

--Where do you live? (You don't have to be any more specific than you're comfortable.)

Ellenbrook, Western Australia.

--Where are the physical counterparts of your totem(s) found?

Barring the redtick coonhound - which are not found in Australia at all, everything else is found locally to me, and I see them if not regularly, then from time to time. I do have extra-geographical totems work with me, but out of about six or seven, it only tends to be one or two at a time, everything else is local. I think that's because I walk the land so often, and so I really do just engage locally in a really intense way; and maybe it's because I need physical proximity more than the average person in that respect. I don't know.

[hellsmedic]

Not totally into the totem thing, but I work with Loon a LOT. There aren't many of them where I'm originally from (California), but I've been up to Canada several times and thats where I first encountered them. I remember waking up pre-dawn one morning to hear them calling out to one another. I was staying up in a cabin in Northern Saskatchewan. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and went outside. The lake was COVERED in mist, and it was blue because the sun hadn't come up yet, and everything else looked black, and I could hear them trilling back and forth. It was very surreal, very eerie. When I came back home, I dreamed about them all the time: still do. A little research told me that Loon was a totem of in-between places, dreams, and madness. So. . I didn't find Loon, he found me. And I'm very fond of him. He shows up to me a lot when there's a dream I really need paying attention to. Ironic, I guess. I had one about him last night. o.O

[drgnhlr]

I have 8 'life' totems - but only Hawk, Horse, Owl and Snake live near me. I work (and have worked) with Spider. (Spider is not a life totem; the rest are Dragon, Tiger, Penguin, Wolf)

I live in the piedmont of North Carolina.

The physical counterparts of my totems are found in a variety of places - most horses are kept on surrounding farms; hawk, owl, and snake are decently wild, and I encounter way more spiders than I am normally comfortable with. I see hawk only at the times that are normal - dawn and dusk. Tiger, penguin and wolf are only seen via tv, zoos and books. Dragon, only on the astral. (I do not associate lizards with dragons)

I hope this helps.

[baphnedia]

--What totem(s) do you work with? Not just "life" or primary totems, but those that may drop in for a time.

For the totems that have biological counterparts, some that I've worked with:
Honey Bee, Cat, Orcinus Orca ('Killer Whale), Wasp, Snake, Grey Wolf and the African Elephant and Eagle.

--Where do you live? (You don't have to be any more specific than you're comfortable.) Pacific Northwest.

--Where are the physical counterparts of your totem(s) found?
Home: Honey bees have a colony in my backyard, we have seven cats, wasps and snakes are in the neighborhood.
Regionally: There are resident Orcas as close as Puget Sound, though some pods of transients may be found closer in the Pacific Ocean. Grey Wolves are still able to be found - though they may be further south and east of me, due to encroachment of civilization. Eagles are up here, though I saw many more in Alaska (where I just returned from).
No contact: The closest I've ever been to an African Elephant is at a zoo or a circus.

There are a couple other totems I have, but they have no direct physical counterpart at the moment (speaking of dragons among others).

[herlander_refugee]

Totemic animals are rare in appearance in my spiritual life, but there have been junctures where they DID appear, so I will answer your questions:

-What totem(s) do you work with? Not just "life" or primary totems, but those that may drop in for a time.

cougar, snakes, crows, all beings woozly (the weasel clan), American bison
(I'd call the cougar, weasels and snakes primary frequent types)

--Where do you live? (You don't have to be any more specific than you're comfortable.)
Pacific Nor'west --- and yes, all these animals exist here, several in my own yard at times.

--Where are the physical counterparts of your totem(s) found?
Here. Snakes here are limited to garter snakes, but I encounter them frequently. A cougar lives on the ridge scarce a mile away, and has come down to the yard in summer. Once, as I walked in my yard at night, it was right behind me unbeknownst to me. Bison live in protected zones here, and on ranches. Wild weasels have dwelt in my yard, I have pet ferrets, and wolverines are again being seen in the Cascade mountains.

[brock_tn]

I've been working with Badger for years. More specifically, in my case Badger takes the form of a North American badger, Taxidea taxis, rather than the Eurasian badger, Meles meles. Naturally, my life being what it is, it's been nearly forty years since I lived in an area which falls into my totem animal's natural range. Doesn't seem to matter to Badger, though.

I've been living in the South, (central North Carolina, northern Middle Tennessee, and now northeastern Alabama,) since the late 1970's.

The range of the North American badger includes the western two-thirds of the 48 contiguous states, the lower third of Canada, and a fair part of Mexico. The eastern limit of the badger's range is an arc with a radius of about 400 miles cemntered on my present home in Huntsville, AL that ends in the western third of Pennsylvania. Oh, and there is an eastern protrusion from that arc in Arkansas that roughly corresponds with the Ouachita Mountains. So I'm not never near no badgers at all, unless I should happen to be in a zoo, or I make it to the Pennsic War. Dosen't seem to matter to Badger, who is dry and acerbic no matter where I am.

[nicanthiel]

1. Raven/Crow, Horse. Have had brushes with white-tailed deer, cow and some sort of snake as well.

2. Lower Hudson Valley, New England, Mid-Atlantic shore areas.

3. 1 - everywhere I generally see 5-6 a day at work, and even at college in New Jersey, they would pop up every couple of weeks. 2 - No wild sources, but various rural areas around where I've lived have raised them. 3 - Most commonly encountered in NJ. Haven't seen any snakes in NY yet.

[paleo]

I try to cultivate at least a friendly status with a large number of totems and many will converse from time to time. For the sake of this I'll list only those that have decided on a teacher/student relationship with me.

I live in Houston, TX. At this time important teacher totems are Grey Wolf (northern parts of Europe, Asia, North America), Dire Wolf (extinct, once lived in most parts of North America), Cat (colonized the world alongside humans), Spotted Hyena (northern and eastern Africa), Black and Turkey Vulture (large section of southeastern North America), Coyote (most of North America).

I share my life with a cat. I have seen coyotes twice in the Houston area, once in a field near my neighborhood. Black and Turkey Vulture specifically contacted me through frequent real life sightings, letting me know the wanted a more formal relationship.

While they declined to become "teachers", I have a good relationship with Grackle and Pigeon, urban totems who are kind enough to give me their views on living in this city and navigating its spiritual landscape.

[spider_fox]

I've ended up only working with local "totems" and beings because I focus more on the physical and "real life" interactions than trying to do something spiritual. I'm already working on the land, so I get my interactions there.

-Spiders, Great Blue Heron, Rook, White Tail Deer, Raccoon, Butterflies and insects in general...all I can remember off the top of my head right now. And red fox, I suppose? Oh, and an attempt to connect to Caribou. Didn't work as well as I hoped, though I'm not sure if it's a location issue.

-I live near Chicago in NE Illinois, by Lake Michigan and the border of WI.

-The ones listed above, with the exception of Rook (the connection there is through my family name instead, which means "Rook"), all live where I live, as well as in other parts of the world. Especially the spiders and insects, they rule the world.

[spider_fox]

Ah snap, forgot snakes. The garter/rat types mainly around here.

[perlandria]

--What totem(s) do you work with? Not just "life" or primary totems, but those that may drop in for a time.
Lizard
Hummingbird
Squirrel
Raven
Mountain Lion
Fox
Do I HAVE to admit to Coyote?
only once or twice:
sandpipers
crows
domestic cats
bluebirds


--Where do you live? (You don't have to be any more specific than you're comfortable.)
San Francisco Bay Area

--Where are the physical counterparts of your totem(s) found?
They are ALL local. (and in the case of hummingbird, physically around me enough that it is commented on by others. Honestly, the squirrel is around as much, but people are used to squirrels.)

[silere]

Reposting because i hit reply in the wrong place.


I've worked with/had experiences with the following:

Crow
Red Tailed Hawk (local, constant)
Horse
American Toad
Spider (one of the local orb weavers, usually)
Humpback whale
Bear (Black bear, brown bear, polar bear a couple of times)
Snake (not a specific species, varies)
Jaguar (southern US, Mexico, Central America)
Moth (species varies)
Turtle (usually painted, wood, or eastern box)

I live in Michigan, and have met everything except the humpback whale in person. (the polar bear and Jaguar were at zoos, and i didn't interact with them, or work with them as totems at that time)

There are others who are evading my memory right now.

I also work with mythological totems, but i suspect you're not looking for info on those.

[spectrum_x]

Primary totems are Raven and Snake. Secondary is fox. Occasionally, Octopus, Sea Slug (?), and Fly will drop in. Have also acknowledged Sea Gull and Pigeon. Bee and Owl are around but haven't done serious work for them. Yet.

I live in California and yes, they are all local.

[delladea]

With one exception, I've never sought out animal totems. They seem to make themselves known by appearing in my surroundings, so the vast majority of mine are local/native to my area.

I've worked with Cougar, Black Panther, Dragonfly, Spider, Coyote, Crow, Road Runner, Snake and Rooster. Some, like Black Panther, Dragonfly and Rooster, have formed a teacher/student relationship with me and I find them appearing in my life over and over. The others seem to make appearances only when I need to learn something about their way of life, which ultimately relates to something I'm going through at the time.

I live out in rural central Texas.