Gonna be a Bear!!! In honour of the TT Bears!!! - Page 9 - ThinnerTimes

sdgrrl · 01-21-2008, 01:57 PM

I thought I had responded to this thread already, but I can't find my post.

I agree with Duckie, GrrrzlyBear is fitting!

Don't mess with my kids, whether they're of my body or of my heart!

Eseret · 01-21-2008, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Persephone

ahhh ms donna

I think you are warm and fuzzy

You make a great bear.

btw my totem is the turtle (I tend to be slooooooow)

and yes, bear medicine...any native medicine is magikal.

Do you have a prefered bear name? Please join the cave.

How do I find out what my totem is???

Teri

Eseret · 01-21-2008, 02:40 PM

By the way, just looked up group of bears on google and the word SLOTH came up. We're a sloth of bears??? hmmmm...........

I think I'd rather be apart of a clan! (of the cave bear!)

Teri

Persephone · 01-21-2008, 04:02 PM

"Totemism (derived from the root -oode- in the Ojibwe language, which referred to something kinship-related, c.f. odoodem, "his totem") is a religious belief that is frequently associated with shamanistic religions. The totem is usually an animal or other naturalistic figure that spiritually represents a group of related people such as a clan."

The above is the wiki quote. The below is me

There are several ways of selecting a totem. You can just go ahead and choose the animal you identify most with. The Native Americans went on vision quest to identify with thier totem animal and that's how some tribes generally derived thier adult Indian name.

Sometimes you can chew on a amazon vine to see a vision of your spirit/totem animal. That is not recommended without a Shaman. It could be a very bad trip indeed if you are not in the right place.

I also found a good website for you Teri.

http://www.starstuffs.com/animal_totems/

Donna Darlin' I know you are in here somewhere. I remember I was thrilled when you posted you wanted to be a BEAR and that the bear was your totem

Eseret · 01-21-2008, 07:33 PM

Oh my gosh! My totem is a squirrel! Seriously....I feed a family of them in my backyard and can hand feed a couple...named Rocky and Roxy. They come around the same time each day for their food of peanuts and sunflower seeds. Very adorable!

Teri

Roxy and her baby Rocky

The New JewelZ · 01-21-2008, 08:19 PM

I love it...I've always loved bears...I have the Chinese symbol for bear tattooed on my wrist and a paw on my shoulder. I always knew it would be cool to be a MAMA BEAR!!

Duckie · 01-21-2008, 08:21 PM

Those squirells are so cute!

Eseret · 01-21-2008, 08:37 PM

Duckie,

It makes my day brighter when I feed my squirrels...they trust me and I look forward to the peaceful relaxing time I spend with them.

When my granddaughter was 6 I took her outside so she could feed Roxy. She had to be very still and very patient. It paid off and in the long run taught her to be patient in all ways.

This is a picture of Roxy when she managed to tear a hole in a large sack of birdseed, crawl in and turn around and look out.

Duckie · 01-21-2008, 08:45 PM

I want a squirrell!! How cute. I don't think brat cat would like it though.

sdgrrl · 01-21-2008, 10:11 PM

Teri,
When I lived in Minneapolis, I was involved with the Native American community quite a bit. I was honored to be asked if I wanted to go on a "Totem Quest"--kind of a wimp's Vision Quest. I was told to close my eyes and let my spirit go where it wanted while the Shaman beat a drum. I was told if I saw an animal from 3 different views (from the side, back, front, above, etc) then that was my Totem. I was completely open to whatever animal would show itself to me, and actually was hoping for a "cool" animal like a wolf (I had a 2/3 wolf dog) or an owl, or my favorite animal in the whole world, an elephant. But it ended up being a black bear, which was also way cool with me. I had always said I was a Mama Bear when it came to my kids, and I have always liked bears, so I was not in any way disappointed. The Shaman that sat with me ALSO saw me running with a bear, so I know it is true. After that Bear Medicine also came to me--I was gifted with a bear claw and a bear tooth.

Some years later we were on Madeline Island doing ritual with the White Earth tribe (Ojibwe) and the Chief of the tribe had hunted a bear and made BBQ bear meat for the weekend gather. He offered some to me, and I said, "It smells wonderful, and I thank you for offering it to me, but Bear is my Totem and I cannot eat my relations." The Chief was very moved by my respect for his culture, as was his mother the year before, when she was the Chief. She died shortly after we were there the year before and her son became the Chief after her. We had done some stuff (can't discuss it) and she gave us some tobacco, which is an honoring in the Native American culture. She told her son what we had done before she died, so we already were a part of the tribe's "stories", but my honoring my medicine cemented my cred with the tribe. Their acceptance meant a lot to me. Still does.

So, anyway, it is very fitting that I be GrrzlyBear! And that is how I found my animal totem.