Elephant, Power Animal, Symbol of Commitment, Royalty, Strength
By Ina Woolcott
Elephant’s medicine includes strength, royalty, connection to ancient wisdom, removal of obstacles and barriers, confidence, patience, using education opportunities, commitment, gentleness, communicating in relationships, discernment, intelligence, compassion. If this is your animal guide, these virtues are a part of your natural character. By applying them in your life soul evolution is accomplished.
Throughout history elephants have been revered. They are most intelligent creatures, and honoured by many cultures. As well as being the largest land animals, they are also among the longest lived, with life spans of 60+ years. In Buddhist tradition, the Buddha picked the form of a white elephant as one of his many incarnations, thus the rare appearance of a white elephant is still heralded as a manifestation of the gods. The Hindu god Ganesh, the remover of obstacles, has the head of an elephant.
Elephants can teach us that gentleness, commitment, and communication in relationships is very powerful and necessary to keep relationships alive, trusting and loving, whether it be friends, family or partner. Deeply committed to all creatures with whom they have relationships, elephants are tough when protecting others and gentle when nurturing them. The matriarch (the oldest, most experienced female leader of a herd) leads in a way that is both gentle and inclusive. Elephants are able to communicate telepathically. This can teach us how to truly listen to others.
Elephants are so similar, yet so different to our own species. We have so much to learn from them! Elephants have emotions that are comparable to human - love, joy, jealousy, rage.
Just like humans, young elephants are dependent on their mums, until they reach adulthood. The general lifespan of an elephant also closely parallels that of humans. When a baby is born, the entire community gathers around the mother and newborn and rumble with joy. This is equivalent to tears rolling down their faces. Just like human babies, elephants learn about getting along in the physical environment. For instance, elephant calves have to learn the many ways in which their trunks can be used. The newborn elephant is born into a community of love. Calves have more than one mother so to speak, as all are willing, eager teachers, from the matriarch, to her offspring and their young. They want to nurture, protect and help the youngest among them develop. They also teach first time mothers how to develop their own nurturing skills. Loyal and affectionate elephants would risk their lives for the sake of others in a family group. Wild elephants have been known to grieve and even shed tears when a family member has passed away. Elephants have amazing memories and when mistreated they often seek revenge.
Elephants show us that by supporting and loving one another, our own ability to thrive in the physical world is enhanced. We learn from them to pass on the gift of nurturing we received in our early years, be it from our biological family or others who helped us grow into who we are now. We must honour the elders of our community and nurture the young. Like the elephant, we need to help ease the transitions of those who are going into adulthood with gentle love, wisdom, patience and compassion. By having open hearts and minds, we can create strong relationships within the community, therefore building a strong community.
Elephants communicate telepathically with herd members as well as other elephants. As we choose to become closer and more open with those dear to us, our ability to understand them can deepen to a level that transcends speech.
Having an elephant totem gives you ancient wisdom and power to draw upon. They are the embodiment of strength and power. People with this power animal often have a very strong sex drive. Through using fragrances and incense, elephant can take you to new energies and power. Generally speaking elephant people are very affectionate toward family, caring for the young and the elderly. They also usually have an inborn knowledge about plants and roots. Elephants give us insights into the power of the three feminine energies - child, mother and old wise woman.
Although elephants weigh A LOT, they walk almost noiselessly, with exceptionally graceful and rhythmic striding. Their hearing, smell, touch and taste is very keen/sensitive. This makes up for their poor eyesight. In relation to their big heads, their eyes are very small and can only turn slightly from side to side. This results in restricted side vision. Those with this power animal feel things deeply and respond to those feelings from a place of inner knowing. Because their vision is limited they tend to look straight ahead and cant always see what going on around them. Learning to shift our focus to view the whole is helpful.
Elephants have just 4 teeth, all molars, 2 toward the front of the mouth and 2 toward the back. When the front ones wear down, they drop out and the 2 at the back come forward. Then 2 new molars grow in the back of the mouth to replace those that have moved forward. The back molars are able to be replaced 6 times throughout their life. When the last set wear out, they can no longer chew and die of starvation. Teeth are very symbolic, and are considered receivers and transmitters of energy linked by connecting paths throughout the astral body.
As the elephant is extremely intelligent, those with this power animal would make excellent researchers and alternative scientists.
Elephant tusks point backwards. They use them as weapons and for digging edible roots. From a spiritual point of view this hints at an ability to uncover the hidden memories and bring them to the fore for evaluation and healing. Let go.
Yearly Cycle of Power: Summer, Fall
Time of Power: Night
Attributes: Disguise, Deception, Colour, Intelligence, Texture, Touch, Versatility, Wisdom
Of all the sea creatures, the octopus is one of the most alien to us. It is like something out of a thrilling horror or science fiction movie. A creature with eight suckered arms to ensnare its prey. And while it has indeed been featured in many horror and sci-fi movies, the truth of this animal is much more interesting than its fiction. The octopus is a Cephelopod, meaning ‘Head Footed’. It is an invertebrate (no spine or bones), and it lacks an exoskeleton. This alone is enough for us to find it strange. It ranges in size from the size of a fingernail to the Giant Octopus with an arm span of 30 feet. All of the body organs are stored in a muscular bag called the mantle. Expanding and contracting the mantle allows oxygen intake into the gills as well as propulsion. When water is squeezed through a funnel exiting the octopus, it acts as a sort of jet propulsion. Octopi have well developed sight, on par with humans and a very advanced brain. While their eyesight is good, octopi are completely deaf. Their brain is unusually developed for an inveretbrate. Octopi are very smart creatures. In the lab, they are able to learn tasks by watching and can open complex puzzles to get at food. Some limited tool use has also been observed.
The octopus has some very interesting adaptations. The first and most noticable adaptation is its 8 tentacles. Each tentacle is full of suckers (about 240 per arm) which let it grab things in its environment and move around. The tentacles are actually considered lips as they surround its mouth which sits in the center of the tentacles. The suckers on the tentacles are very strong. They are capable of opening clams and other mussels, as well as performing tasks like removing the lid off their aquariums (in captivity). In some species, each individual sucker is capable of applying pressure of up to 2 kilograms. Given that an octopus has up to 1920 suckers, this is alot of force that they can exert. If an octopus loses an arm to predator or disease, it will simply regenerate a new one. How cool is that?
The octopus is a master of camouflage. An octopus can change its colouring to match its surrounding. This works much like a cameleon, but more rapidly. More amazing though is its ability to change its texture. With muscle control, an octopus can give itself the texture of a rock, coral, sand, etc. Working in tandem with its ability to control its colouring, this gives the octopus the ability to virtually disappear at will.
Octopi are both predator and prey in the sea. They are nocturnal predators and feed mainly on shrimp, crabs, lobster, clams, scallops, snails, and small fish. The octopus will either grab his prey with his tentacles or lure the prey towards him using a tentical tip disguised as a worm. Once it has ahold of its prey it pulls it to its mouth, which looks much like a parrot shaped beak. It has a toothed tongue, called a radula, which can be used to drill into the shells of lobsters, crabs, clams, and snails. It uses this tongue to release a paralizing toxin to immobilize its victim. Once this is complete, the octopus will either spend time removing the shell or simply suck out the meaty parts. It usually leaves the discarded shells outside its den in what is termed ‘an octopus garden’. Octopus venom can be so potent that some octopi can paralize a human. Because an octopus doesnt have any pesky bones or exoskeleton, it makes a nice snack for large fish, sharks, and seals. To avoid being preyed upon, the octopus will use its camouflage to the best of its abilities. If the camouflage fails, the octopus will release a jet of ink to distract and confuse the predator, while quickly either camouflaging himself somewhere else or squeezing into a tight crevace. That’s the other advantage to having no bones. The octopus can squeeze into tiny holes many times smaller than his body diameter. During the day, and octopus stays in his den which he carefully plugs up with rocks to avoid being preyed upon. Octopi are capable of digging their own dens, but much prefer sunken wrecks and even oddities like tires and jars.
The male and female octopus look pretty much the same. The male has a modified tentacle that can release sperm, while the female has a mantle cavity. Octopi are extremely antisocial so mating can take a number of forms. A male may even stay hidden, snaking his special tentacle towards the female for the sneak attack approach. Sometimes though the octopus puts on a display of colour changing and texture changing to show the female how versatile he is. He only does this on the side facing the female though. On the other side, he is completely camouflaged (as to not draw attention to himself). Octopi are by no means exclusive in their relationships. Males will mate with many females, and females will mate with many males. The funny thing is that some females will chop off the tentacles that impregnate them as some sort of trophy (Hell, he will grow one back anyway). Some females have been seen cruising around with as many as five or six dismembered tentacles hanging out of her. The female can store the sperm for many months until her eggs are mature. When they do mature, she can lay up to 150 000 eggs in one go. The octopus female is an excellent mother, often cleaning her eggs with jets of fresh water. She is such an attentive mother that she doesn’t feed herself in the process. Most mothers die of starvation soon after the eggs hatch. Octopi live between 3 to 5 years and are very solitary. The young are born in the fall or winter and leave their coastal waters until the following summer when they mature. They live alone, and they travel alone. Even their process of walling up their dens with rocks shows a pattern of keeping others at arms length. They will defend their territory from other octopi quite agressively.
Even though the octopus lives in oceans and seas worldwide, there is a distinct lack of mythology surrounding them. To the Polynesians, the octopus was associated with rocks. Perhaps because they often make themselves look like rocks and perhaps because they use them to wall themselves in. To the Polynesians, the octopus is credited with creating the islands by pushing up rocks. A more interesting myth though has to do with Medusa. There are some that think the Medusa myth came straight from the octopus. Her snakey hair represents her tentacles and her gaze that petrifies comes straight from the octopi’s paralizing venom. Even Medusa’s dismembered head kind of looks like an octopus: two eyes, and snakes for hair. With a Medusa association and its noturnal hunting, the octopus is most strongly associated with the Wisdom aspect.
If you have ever met a gifted artist or genius of other sorts, you know that two words may apply to him/her at the same time: gifted and ornery. This same description would apply to a person with an octopus totem. These people would be quite gifted, especially to do with things involving touch and sight. They may be gifted painters or sculpters. They may be gifted scientists involved in light and touch research, like Optics or Geology. In fact, an octopus totem is so versatile that he/she may be both a gifted scientist and artist. To the octopus, the work is what is important. All other things may fall to the wayside to complete ‘the work’. He/she may stand in front of a canvas painting for days on end to complete his/her painting to the exclusion of eating or other distractions. Others will find both the person and his/her behaviour eccentric, while at the same time marvelling at his/her accomplishments. The octopus totem doesn’t care either way. He/she could care less about what people think of ‘his work’, and in fact would prefer if there was no interaction with others at all. To him/her, being social is an annoyance. His/her time is better spent elsewhere. To this end, an octopus will be a master of concealing himself so that he/she can avoid interacting with others. If you try to force him/her out of hiding, the results will be to your detriment as the octopus will then metaphorically ‘ink’ the situation. In love, the octopus will be a bit aloof. Others will be attracted to them because of their work, but a relationship will always be secondary to what they do. A mate of an octopus has to be prepared to come second. The best mate for an octopus totem would be another octopus totem or similarly aloof totem as then they are both of the same relative importance to each other.
Blue waves produced by bioluminescent phytoplankton: Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives, Florida Everglades, and Lakshadweep Islands off India.
(via loudthinkersoftspeaker)
(Source: whimsicalele, via loudthinkersoftspeaker)
