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Power Animal Bat: Bold and Mysterious

Short Tailed Fruit Bat
Short tailed fruit bat

There are over 1,240 species of bats. They are divided into two categories: Macro and Micro. One can imagine the Macro are large and Micro which are smaller. Straight forward I would say! Our Ancestors encountered these fabulous little mammals living in and around them. As a result, they have made their appearance in many myths and stories from all over the world. Gifted with flight, some teeth and squeaks his combination made them special and formidable game players in many folk tales where the agile bat won the day. My encounters with bats in shamanic journeys has led me to consider them a “liminal” being; they do not fit into the normal order of things and are somehow apart or in-between, almost an ambiguous species.

I remember learning about echolocation when I first started researching Bats. Scientists suggest more than half of the bat species have the ability to use sonar. Bats process the information received through this technique unconsciously, the same way we process the visual and aural information we gather with our eyes and ears. A bat forms an echolocation image in its head that is something like the image you form in your head based on visual information. Bats also process visual information — contrary to popular belief, most bats have acute vision. They use echolocation in conjunction with vision, not instead of it.

Bats navigate the darkest places. The Dark –one of the hiding places of our deep mysteries. Bat wisdom includes shamanic death and rebirth, initiation, viewing past lives, pollination of new ideas, transition, understanding grief, the use of vibrational sound, camouflage, invisibility, ability to observe unseen and secrets, and are well regarded in the Lower World.

One of the shamanic initiations I did was a Death Ritual. It was one of the most profound experiences of my life. It changed me, and I am still changed. During the weeks that followed, I encountered bats in my dreams, journeys and real life. The bat helped me to release my hidden fears and patterns because I was finally able to recognize and release them to the Universe.

Bat flying into your life may signify a transformation of the ego self is about to occur. It may indicate you are entering into a new way of life. This transition can be very frightening, even just to think about. However, in my experience one will not grow spiritually until old parts are acknowledged and released. Facing the darkness before you, will help you find the light in rebirth. Bat gives you the wisdom required to make the appropriate changes for the birthing of your new identity.

Mexican free-tailed bat
Mexican free-tailed bat

Bats have needle like teeth and very sharp claws, which may carry rabies, an infectious disease of the blood. It can cause a person to go mad, and if not treated quickly is fatal. Fears given permission to spread unchecked can saturate our system and create a kind of madness within our lives. Bats reflect the need to face up to our fears.

Echolocation is a process of emitting sounds and listening for the echoes reflected from surfaces, even prey in the environment. With their amazing sonar capabilities, bats are able to navigate the dark with great ease. Can you imagine having the ability to know what lies just beyond your senses? Generally, those with this power animal have uncanny abilities to discern hidden messages both from people and the environment. When one has mastered this medicine, intuitive and clairaudient abilities are accurate.

Bats are truly magnificent creatures. They are responsible for pollinating certain plants, for insect control and for seed dispensing. If Bat has appeared in your spiritual world, perhaps you are being asked to pollinate your area with shamanic ideas and teachings. Perhaps you are being asked to be watchful for pesky insects who would like to interrupt your journey and happiness.

2:20 Video from National Geographic on Flying Foxes, the world’s largest bat!

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Butterfly

We have arrived at the last stone in the Centre of the Medicine Wheel – Butterfly. This stone is the Air Clan, with the Spiritual Face of the Butterfly. They rarely stay in one place for very long. Air is the element of change, transformation, illumination and beginnings. This stone in the Centre is a reminder to each of us, we shift through many layers of transformation and change, as we emerge from our womb, until our last transformation death and decay.

Peleides Blue Morpho
Peleides Blue Morpho

Not surprising Sun Bear chose the Butterfly Weed, in my world, I know it as Milkweed, for the Plant Totem. There are many varieties of Milkweed. Common milkweed is slightly toxic, but not to the Monarch butterfly! By feeding almost exclusively on milkweed leaves, they are able to accumulate enough of the poison in their bodies to make them distasteful to predators.

Milkweed has a long history of medicinal uses. The milky white sap was applied topically to remove warts, and the roots were chewed to cure dysentery, not a common ailment in North America now, but it had to have been common enough for our Ancestors to chat with the plants and find out which one was best. The leaves were taken to suppress coughs, as well as being used to treat typhus fever and asthma.

Butterflies have been represented in art, painting and glyphs left for us by our Ancestors. Butterflies are viewed as an emblem of the soul and of unconscious attraction towards light. During my Christian days I recall an image, from Gnostic teachings, of the Angel of Death as a winged foot crushing a butterfly. Perhaps we can draw from that, is the butterfly was equated with life rather than with the soul, in the sense of the spirit or transcendent being. Perhaps this also explains the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth.

Butterflies and Butterfly Weed
Butterflies and Butterfly Weed

The stone to represent the Butterfly on the Medicine Wheel is Azurite. Azurite, is a beautiful blue color, ranging from pale to an almost purple hue. It, too, can aid in transformation, especially the Mental part of your being. I love the color and feel of this stone. It reminds me of changing hues of Blue we see in our Skies. I have placed the stone in my hand, using the drum track on shaman’s way, and journeyed to the Spirit of the Stone. I encountered an old and wise blue Lady. She told me to hold the stone to my third eye (which I did during the journey) to experience union with the skies and my body. It was transcendent and unforgettable. I felt transported from this physical plane, through all the worlds, and floated in the Great Abyss. I felt as though, no matter what I asked, or what I thought, there would be an answer to my question – asked or unasked.

The Color for Element of Air is a clear translucent with a hint of blue. This color bespeaks and teaches gentleness, faith, tenderness, love, and peace. It is good for inner child work and “especially good for healing the spirit.

Azurite
Azurite

The animal totems influenced by the Butterfly Clan are Deer, Raven, and Otter. These souls are the harbingers of messages from the Ancestors and will focus their attention on conveying the express wishes of the Elders so that the plan of the Great Spirit can unfold itself upon all that is Living.

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Black Panther

 

Black Jaguar resting
Black Jaguar resting

Jaguars and Leopards

I remember being fascinated and in love with Black Panthers, since being a very young girl. One of my secret dreams, was to find a baby jaguar who had fallen off a truck belonging to a travelling circus. Needless to say, my dream did not come to pass. I did learn the name jaguar comes from the Native American word yaguar, which means “he who kills with one leap.” These powerful hunters sometime climb trees to prepare ambushes and jump down on their prey. One reason for this is that despite jaguars being rapid runners they tire quickly, so rely on proximity rather than sustained speed while hunting. They also have the strongest jaw of all the big cats. Unlike their genetic family, the Jaguar kills by crushing its huge incisors through the skull of their prey. Other Big Cats kill by suffocating their prey, by crushing the wind pipe.

In our present day lexicon, we have used the term Black Panther to refer to any big cat with a condition of melanism. Technically, Black Panthers generally refer to Black Leopards, and Black Jaguars, are referred to as what they are. The discoloration of panthers from the typical spotted or striped fur is [Read more…]

Shamanism in Edmonton

Kriket lives and hosts numerous events in Edmonton, Canada. She also performs healing sessions there. To find out more, or book a session check out her personal site.

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