It was bizarre and unexplainable: I kept having recurring dreams for about a month, where I would walk into an eerie, foreboding forest at night with a wolf peering at me through the shrubs. Its stare seemed kind, almost motherly, but very intense … somehow I knew that it was trying to tell me something about the depths of the forest ahead.
I have since had many dreams about Wolves and Dogs. And before I ever knew of my strong connection with the Canis Lupus species, I co-founded and named this website lonerwolf: a creature that to me embodies the spiritual journey.
Have you ever experienced any strange synchronicities to do with animals?
Spiritual Wanderer Course:
Being a lone wolf and a spiritual wanderer is a sacred calling in life – a unique and alchemical path of awakening. You don’t need to feel lost, alone, or stuck on your journey any more. It’s time to meet your soul’s deep needs for clarity, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Let us show you how …
Do you keep running into the same animal over and over again? Perhaps you’ve had repetitive dreams or have undergone a shocking, rare, or weird situation with an animal you never expected to see.
If you’re confused, need clarity, or validation, keep reading.
(By the way, if you’re interested in getting more help connecting with your Spirit Animal, see my highly-rated Spirit Animal Reading offering!)
Table of contents
- What is a Spirit Animal? (Definition)
- Ancient Origins ( Totemism & Animism )
- Spirit Animals & the Spiritual Awakening Journey
- Spirit Animal, Power Animal, Totem Animal – What’s the Difference?
- 7 Ways to Discover Your Spirit Animal
- 21 Common Spirit Animals
- 5 Ways to Discover Your Spirit Animal’s Lessons (Medicine)
- Spirit Animal Quiz
What is a Spirit Animal? (Definition)
A Spirit Animal is a teacher, messenger, omen, or guide who is there to help you in some area of your life. In shamanic cultures, spirit animals are thought to be the literal spirits of animals that we either inherit, are born with, or adopt during life. However, in various schools of psychology, Spirit Animals are thought to be the archetypal or symbolic manifestations of the primal psyche. Regardless of what philosophy you subscribe to, Spirit Animals are powerful allies that connect us with our Souls and Higher Purpose.
Ancient Origins (Totemism & Animism)
Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul.
– Pythagoras
The notion of having a Spirit Animal draws its origins from ancient Animistic and Totemistic beliefs about the world and our connection to it.
Totemism is a system of belief practiced by groups such as the Native American or Australian Aboriginal peoples who carry the philosophy that each human being has a spiritual connection to another physical being (e.g., a plant or animal).
The Kpelle people of Liberia, for instance, possess animal, plant, and natural phenomena (wind, rain, etc.) totems that are thought to guide and protect their people. Their totems are also thought to be a form of alter ego or second self.
Shadow & Light Membership:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ "Receiving these messages is a beacon of light and hope for me in currently very challenging times. The words of wisdom speak right to my soul, guiding and encouraging me further on my path. I highly recommend Shadow & Light to everyone who seeks to develop and cultivate a relationship with the Inner Self." – Karin
Animism, on the other hand, is a world view held by many Buddhist, Shinto, Pagan, and Neopagan groups of people, that all plants, animals, and objects have spirits. To the Animists, we are part of nature, rather than being superior to nature, or separate from nature. As such, it’s common to see the inclusion of Spirit Animals within this worldview.
Spirit Animals & the Spiritual Awakening Journey
Spirit Animals are powerful allies on our spiritual awakening journeys as they help us to reconnect with our Souls. As the essence of an animal is raw, pure, and untainted by the issues that human beings undergo, they can help us tune into our authentic, untamed nature.
Spirit Animals embody their Souls (their unique expression of the Divine) completely and utterly. They’re not burdened with an ego that feels small, separate, and defensive against Life. As such, our Spirit Animal can teach us lessons surrounding courage, empowerment, interconnectedness, letting go, learning to love fully, and finding freedom.
It’s common for those beginning this journey of Soul Embodiment to experience synchronicities, spiritual signs, and omens connected with their Spirit Animal.
Spirit Animal, Power Animal, Totem Animal – What’s the Difference?
These terms are often used interchangeably, but there’s a difference. Put simply:
- A Spirit Animal refers to an ally who helps teach/guide you.
- A Power Animal refers to a creature that empowers you.
- A Totem Animal refers to a creature that is inherited (ancestrally or as part of a tribe/clan).
While a Power animal can be invoked or called upon, it’s often thought that a Spirit Animal chooses you (and the same applies to the Totem Animal).
7 Ways to Discover Your Spirit Animal
At this point, you may be wondering, “okay, so how do I discover my spirit animal?” Here are some powerful approaches:
1. Spend more time outdoors
This helps you to forge a greater connection to nature which you’ll need to identify your Spirit Animal.
2. Pay attention to the animals appearing in your life
Do any particular animals keep emerging? It’s said that if a particular animal continuously appears in your daily life, this is an indication that your Spirit Animal is trying to contact you. For instance, a certain animal could repeatedly show up on your daily walks, in the books you read, TV shows you watch, or pictures you glimpse.
3. Pay attention to the animals appearing in your dream life
Spirit Animals are also said to contact us in our dreams. Look out for animals that seem to persistently appear while you sleep – this could be a sign that your Spirit Animal is trying to manifest itself to you.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this article to you, so you can come back to it later!
Your information will never be shared.
4. Be aware of the unusual behavior of animals around you
Does a particular animal run up to you, make strange noises around you, or otherwise display strange behavior patterns in your presence? This could be a strong indication of your Spirit Animal trying to contact or form a connection with you.
5. Think about what animals you have always been attracted to
Are you drawn to any particular animal, either out of fear or adoration? This could reveal an unconscious connection to your Spirit Animal.
6. Try meditation
Our Spirit Animals often reveal themselves during practices such as meditation because the mind because still. If you don’t often meditate, or if you would like assistance, there are many free meditation videos on YouTube.
7. Keep a journal
Record what animals you encounter in your meditations, dreams, and waking life. Look for patterns or recurrences of a specific animal or animals. Learn more about how to journal.
(Bonus) 8. Get a Spirit Animal Reading
There are many intuitive souls out there who are able to help you connect with your spirit animal. I am honored to offer this service myself, and I have done so for many years now. You can get your own Spirit Animal Reading here!
21 Common Spirit Animals
While ther’s nearly an endless array of Spirit Animal guides out there, there are some that tend to continually emerge. I’ll list them below:
- Bear (strength, confidence)
- Butterfly (personal transformation)
- Cat (independence, curiosity)
- Coyote (playfulness, adaptability)
- Crow (vision, intelligence)
- Deer (innocence, gentleness)
- Dog (loyalty, love)
- Dragonfly (transformation, adaptability)
- Fox (agility, awareness)
- Frog (rebirth, renewal)
- Hawk (focus, leadership)
- Horse (freedom, passion)
- Hummingbird (positivity, playfulness)
- Lion (strength, courage)
- Owl (wisdom, intuition)
- Rabbit (abundance, vulnerability)
- Sheep (vulnerability, innocence)
- Snake (healing, transformation)
- Spider (creativity, receptivity)
- Tiger (willpower, aggression)
- Turtle (determination, persistence)
- Wolf (intelligence, freedom)
5 Ways to Discover Your Spirit Animal’s Lessons (Medicine)
Once you have discovered what your Spirit Animal/s is, a common question to ask is “what’s next?” How can you harness the new knowledge of your Animal Teacher to benefit your life? Here are a variety of ways to learn from your Spirit Animal:
1. Discover its symbolic wisdom (or ‘medicine’)
Each Spirit Animal has strengths and weaknesses which are important for you to learn about, as they directly apply to your life. The better you understand the symbolic meaning of your Animal Teacher, the better you will come to understand yourself and what you need to improve or change in your life.
2. Apply your newfound wisdom
Learning about your Spirit Animal will help you to learn more about yourself, and will consequently help you to make important decisions, deal with difficult situations and people, and reach your personal goals and aspirations. Reflect on the three main ways you can apply what you’ve learned to your life (short-term, medium-term, and long-term).
3. Don’t humanize your Spirit Animal
Anthropomorphizing (aka. humanizing) your guide will do nothing but silence their unique way of expressing themselves. To be open and receptive to your Spirit Animal’s message, you’ll need to embrace their exclusive language and form of self-expression first. To be receptive to your Spirit Animal and embrace their authentic being, take some time to observe them. Either observe them in nature (if they live in your vicinity) or watch them online. Take notes if needed.
4. Pay attention to when your Spirit Animal appears in your life
Be aware of dreams, or real-life occurrences in which your Spirit Animal manifests itself. Also, remember that your Spirit Animal can choose to manifest itself in a very subtle way; for instance, in poems, a song, or even a picture in a book or poster in the street. Our Animal Teachers are thought to serve as both omens, as well as messengers and guides. So consider the following question in your daily life:
- What feelings do you experience when your Spirit Animal appears in your life? For example, do foreboding or comforting feelings arise within you?
- What message does your Spirit Animal appear to be communicating to you?
- Is your Spirit Animal trying to lead you in a certain direction?
5. Honor your Spirit Animal
Shamans believe that by honoring and venerating your Spirit Animal, you grow and gain a deeper connection to them. Many people like showing respect to their Animal Teachers by placing objects of the same species around their houses (like feathers, skulls, statues). Others like wearing symbols of their Spirit Animals on their bodies (amulets, pendants, etc.). Simply saying “thank you” and being grateful is sufficient.
Spirit Animal Quiz
If you’d like more guidance and support in connecting with your spirit animal, you might like to take our free spirit animal quiz. This test can help you connect with either your temporary animal ally (who is helping you in this specific period of life) or even your long-term animal ally (who has accompanied you since birth). As always, take it with a grain of salt and have fun!
***
Since the dawn of time, Spirit Animals have been summoned to help us learn vital lessons, make important decisions, and grow significantly at a Soulful level. From the Native Americans and their totem animals to the animistic beliefs of indigenous Africans, Indians, Asians, and South Americans, animals have been revered for hundreds of thousands of years.
Illumination Books Bundle:
Illuminate the depths of your heart, mind, and soul with our series of premium books covering sensitivity, solitude, shadow work, the spiritual awakening journey, and more!
All of us have at least one spiritual connection to another physical being such as a particular animal or plant species.
I hope this article has illuminated and inspired you.
If you have any comments, experiences, or opinions that you would like to add, please feel free to share them below.
Three paths to inner transformation – here’s how I can help you go deeper:
1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Are you feeling lost, adrift, and unsure of your life's purpose? Gain clarity, focus, and direction on your inner path by uncovering the five archetypes of awakening within you. Learn how to navigate the highs and lows of your inner journey and chart your unique path with 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, and a premium test.
2. Shadow & Light Membership: Do you crave consistent support on your spiritual quest? Receive weekly intuitive guidance and learn to embrace your whole self, including your shadow side. Cultivate deeper self-love with our affordable, personalized support.
3. Spiritual Awakening Bundle: Ready to embark on a profound soul-searching adventure? Dive into our collection of essential transformative resources! Explore five illuminating eBooks and seven in-depth journals, plus unlock two special bonuses to empower your spiritual growth.
I got dragonfly. I feel it’s fitting for me. What can I do to connect with a dragonfly?
im 14 im seeing a lot of wolfs in my life could that be my sprite anmiale
Can you have more than one spirit animal? am am 11 years old and i feel a connection to horses and deer i have been within 10-20 ft from a huge buck and i thought it was going to charge at me but is looked at me for a min or two and ran off and when i was walking in the woods once and i watched a doe from my little spot in the woods and it saw me and knew i was there and we stared at each other for a few moments and it walked on.And i also take horse riding lessons to and i feel like home at the barn and the woods.
I took the spirit animal quiz and got the bat. The interesting thing is about 5 months ago a bat appeared to have taken residence near my house, flying around my backyard at night. I am quite amazed!
Awesome Benjamin about the bat. It is also associated with fruitfulness and the lungs. When turned into bat-tle it can be an imprint in the lungs. Abundance of health, love and ‘wealth’ can not be fully breahted within. Interestingly enough it was said that corona started in China through bats, sold on the marketplace. Even it if it not true literally it may have a spiritual Source that is to say the story itself. For the lungs are also about the Spirit of Breath, the Source of Intelligent Creation. Not Artificial Intelligence, but sound (coming from breath, throat and the lungs) as OHM and words as I AM. The Bat also has connection with mother child trauma in the sense of Spirit of Breath and Life. We breathe and recycle a lot of breath of the ‘old ways’, just like fossil fuel in cars etcetera. Where our ‘ancestors’ bones were burried even if it are not the ones we know from direct ancestral lineage. Now through the Divine I AM, we start to breath ‘a fresh breath of air’ and that was brought onto the earth through corona, the sun crown. The false fire is starting to get exhausted, the depression in the second chakra, where the block of wood (nature, trees, CO2, breath, clarity) was sad about being of service to others but forgotten about its good deeds and sacrifice. The old way of breathing old fuels and old family trees is now being sacrificed. The bat is giving up the bat-tle, it has to and return to its true fertile way of sovereignty. The bat is then again what it means as a spiritual animal: turning the world upside down (bats hang upside down in caves etc), the hanged man as a tarot card. No longer held by the throat but looking at things, reversing distractions and distortions. Bless!
These days I’ve been feeling weird like I just want to explore the wild, I feel like…. I don’t know what to do and I’m only 10 years old. It feels like I’m getting sick of not being in the wild!!!!
I don’t know what my spirit animal is yet all I know is that these days I’ve been feeling weird like I am longing to explore the open wild but I feel like I’m…. I don’t know
well I’ve been trying to find out what my spirit animal was because I love animals!
I am still trying to find out mine and I’m so exited!
Is it possible to have more than one spirit animal? I’m wondering becuase I feel drawn to both a wolf and a cat in everyday life, and when I’m in water (ex. pool or bathtub) I feel more drawn to a dolphin. Is this normal, or am I just weird? I honestly wouldn’t be suprised if I’m just weird, since that applies to most things in my life. But I’ve learned to take it as a compliment at this point :)
I feel the same
Ever since I was young I have always dreamed and been fascinated by wolves. I have always dreamed of being in the wild in nature itself and just always felt connected to nature, and now I know way it’s because my spirit animal (the wolf) has been trying to contact me
I have known my DNA make up for most of my life and recently began getting in touch with the Native American inside of me. The more I discover and understand about Native American values, and their way of life. The deeper my connection becomes to that part of my genetic make up. I’m starting see my life very differently than I did before. So thanks for the information you have provided in this article. I look forward to reading and growing my knowledge of how my ancestors lived.
My spirit animal is bat. I have never seen this as a spirit animal listed before. I have always thought they were the cutest little things, except for rabies. The strange thing is, for the past 5-7 years, I have slowly ben losing vision in my left eye, to the point that I am legally blind in that eye. None of my Dr.s knew what was causing it. Just said we will just keep an eye on it..not sure if they thought it was a joke or not. I have had to quit a 30 year career among other things. 2 different doctors have ordered numerous MRI’s and found nothing but…a swollen optic nerve..but weren’t really looking at anything else..I have become angry, frustrated and done right nasty trying to get answers. It was only after I demanded to see a Nuerologist, that a tumor was discovered that was pressing on both my left nerve, but surrounding areas. This has affected balance, walking, speaking, but worst of all my hearing. (I am fortunate to live on a little place on the river.
I have named this place Riversong. Be still and listen to the song of the River)
This information was revealed to me via e-mail Thursday with little other information other than being referred to a neurosurgeon. Point being, I feel like I have been flying in the dark!! Waiting now for an appointment for surgery…and what all that entails…will I be able to walk to the river, watch it flow or even be able to hear it sing again. Sorry this is long…but I truly feel connected to the furry little guys and thinking of a bat guiding me..now to just to direct or send these powers and abilities to see, to the Doctors. Like I said earlier, I feel like I have been flying in the dark all by myself. I no longer feel that way. There are whole colonies of bats in my palm trees and the eves of my house…I will be watching them a whole new perspective. Thank you for listening and your gifts.
Thank you for sharing this here, Vickie, it is touching. ♥
For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawn towards lions and big cats. When I was a kid I would watch every wild life documentary I could about them and before I had my son I wanted to be an Ecologist and travel. I found that i’m a Leo rising so I feel like the connection is a life long one.
Recently, there has been a red shouldered hawk around our property and my son and I would sit outside and watch it. There would be times on my own where I would speak to the hawk and meditate. I started having dreams about the hawk and finding feathers and a few months later I was lucky enough to find 5 of them around our yard. Every time I see or hear a hawk there’s an immediate connection.
Thank you for the beautiful article, Aletheia.