Finding your spirit animal can be an enlightening and fun experience. Your spirit animal is an animal that you feel a deep connection with – it represents your core personality traits, values, and life challenges. Knowing your spirit animal provides insight into who you are and guidance on your life path. Follow these steps to get in touch with your inner spirit animal:
Understand What a Spirit Animal Is
A spirit animal is an animal you feel closely linked to. It’s not your favorite animal or an animal you simply admire – it’s a special animal that acts as your guide. Your spirit animal is determined by your character, personality, and destiny.
While native and indigenous cultures have long traditions involving spirit animals, anyone can have one. Your spirit animal is your primal self manifested in animal form to guide and protect you.
Consider Your Personality and Values
Start thinking about your core personality traits, values, and life challenges. Are you social or solitary? Passionate or calm? Do you prefer to blend in or stand out? Make a list of your top traits both positive and negative.
Also consider what you value most in life – family, knowledge, freedom, stability, adventure, health, friendship. Your spirit animal is likely to share some of these traits and values.
Pay Attention to Symbols and Coincidences
Be on the lookout for signs your spirit animal is making itself known:
- Recurring images or dreams involving a certain animal
- Repeatedly seeing a certain animal in the wild or in symbolic forms
- Feeling drawn to imagery, stories, or information about a certain animal
- Noticing an animal seems to communicate with you in some way
Make note if an animal keeps appearing for you in art, jewelry, conversations, media, or other channels. It may be your spirit animal trying to get your attention.
Take a Spirit Animal Quiz
While your spirit animal is unique to you, some spirit animals are more common than others. Taking an online spirit animal quiz can provide some additional clues to your animal guide by asking a series of personality questions and providing likely matches.
While the results shouldn’t be taken as definitive, a quiz can offer some guidance and reveal potential spirit animal candidates to explore.
Meditate on Your Animal Guide
Find a quiet space to meditate and visualize meeting your spirit animal. Close your eyes, take deep breaths, and imagine walking through a forest or wilderness area. Picture details about the landscape. What do you see/hear/smell? Now imagine an animal emerging to greet you. It may:
- Make a sound
- Communicate telepathically
- Lead you somewhere
- Interact with you in some symbolic way
Take note of the animal you encounter and any message it conveys. Was it fierce, gentle, playful, or aloof? What traits did it reflect about you? This can provide clarity on your spirit animal.
Research Potential Spirit Animals
Make a list of a few possible spirit animal contenders based on your reflections so far. Now research what each animal represents in terms of traits, symbolism, and meaning. For example:
- Wolf – loyalty, strong family bonds
- Snake – regeneration, intellectual depth
- Turtle – self-protection, creativity
- Butterfly – transformation, optimism
Do any animals on your list feel like a strong match? The one that resonates most is likely your spirit animal.
Consider Shamanic Journeying
Shamanic journeying is a meditation used by shamanic practitioners to connect with spirit animals. Lie down, close your eyes, and picture an entrance to a lower world – this represents your subconscious. Imagine entering the lower world and meeting a spirit animal. Stay open – it may be an animal you didn’t expect.
Your spirit animal in the lower world will communicate with you in some way. Afterward, research the animal’s significance to help understand its message. If new animals appear during future lower world journeys, it means you have multiple spirit animals.
Identify Your Spirit Animal in Dreams
Pay close attention to any animals that appear in your dreams. Dreams serve as messages from your subconscious mind. A recurring dream featuring a particular animal is a strong sign it’s your spirit animal.
Keep a dream journal and write down any details about animals that appear, no matter how small. Look up what each animal represents and see if it resonates as your spirit animal.
Trust Your Intuition
Using logic and facts can help narrow down your spirit animal, but only your intuition can confirm it. After gathering clues through the steps above, reflect on any animal that stands out. Turn inward and listen to your gut feeling – you’ll sense when you’ve discovered your true spirit animal.
It may be an instant “aha!” moment or a gradual sense of calm certainty. When you know, you know. Don’t overthink it – trust your intuition.
Deepen Your Bond
Once you’ve identified your spirit animal, take steps to strengthen your bond and learn from it:
- Drawing, painting, or sculpting your spirit animal
- Reading folklore and meaning about your spirit animal
- Meditating and visualizing interacting with your spirit animal
- Spending time in nature looking for your spirit animal
- Learning about your spirit animal’s habits and behaviors
- Collecting objects representing your spirit animal like figurines or jewelry
Call on Your Spirit Animal for Guidance
Tap into your spirit animal when needing direction or insight. If facing a dilemma, meditate and ask your spirit animal to guide you. Pay attention to your dreams or intuitive nudges. Let its wisdom and strengths influence your thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Conclusion
Discovering your spirit animal provides a powerful connection to your inner self. Keep listening to what your spirit animal communicates and allow its energy to flow through your life. With your animal guide by your side, you’ll find strength to overcome challenges and live your best life.
