[Vilturj] Totem Philosophy Time.

[moonvoice]

Okay, a discussion is going on at Totem Animals at the moment, about Dolphin.

Now, someone mentioned that dolphin was about Love. I briefly mentioned that dolphin also is capable of acts that humans would consider terrible - gang-rape etc. that don't on the surface seem very loving.

Two people replied indicating that they thought this wasn't part of the dolphin's medicine.

My questions are these:

Should we ignore the more 'negative' aspects of an animal's medicine? Why or why not?

What are the dangers of ignoring or accepting the more destructive aspects of an animal's medicine?

Is it wise to reduce an animal's medicine to one or two themes only? For example, should dolphin be understood primarily as 'love', and should say the beaver be understood primarily as 'industriousness'?

What are the positives and negatives of thinking this way?

x-posted to totemoftheweek

Comments

[ayellowbirds.livejournal.com]

i've actually come to rather dislike dolphins for just these reasons- and i'm not certain i'm comfortable disliking an entire species.

i've had it in my head for a while to make a set of divination cards or using animal symbols, and one of the things i've had to consider is how my view of certain animals differs from the mainstream. Most folks probably wouldn't see Fly as a healer, but i've learned about the application of certain kinds of maggots in medicine, so that practice informs my views of Fly's medicine. You mention Rabbit in the discussion- i always see Rabbit as being a lunar messenger first, then the rest of the associations.

Even in reducing something to just a couple themes, there's still the many different meanings that people might attach to those themes.

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

I actually like Fly medicine, though it depends on the type. I see them all the time, and a lot of the time - particularly in their breeding season - they're stunning, hardy and adaptable animals.

As for Dolphin... I acknowledge that Dolphin is my shadow totem, but I'm not going to let it stop me from working with the energy.

How many divination cards would you want in the deck? Like... when do you know where to stop? :)

[ayellowbirds.livejournal.com]

i don't really know... i suppose i'd keep adding more as they came to me. i need to find something to make them out of, though

[happiestphantom.livejournal.com]

in order ... :) ...

no, i don't think we should ignore the more 'negative' aspects of an animal's medicine. why? cos you need to know what is damaging and what is not. there's almost always pro's & con's. eg. i've read some things that say owl is deception, which has a negative connotation, but could you not also say that it is merely assessing and understanding your surroundings as much as possible before 'swooping down' as it were?

the dangers of ignoring are well, ignorance! i refer to many people who are ignorant about issues like mental health, but once you push to understand the whole issue, you can see how others might not see the whole picture and choose to stay ignorant. accepting it too much, throws you off into a different pole, where it might overwhelm. and there's not much balance in that, i guess

nutshelling an animal's medicine? well. that would be like saying, i'm a cancerian, so i'm emotional and creative. bah! that hardly sums me up :) so why impose those restrictions on an animal's medicine? they may be strong traits, but the mix of different traits makes for varying strengths & weaknesses.

positives & negatives of thinking this way? um. hmm. overwhelming passion or ignorance. or on the flip side, perhaps too much balance can make us void of passion some times.

do i get a mark out of 5? :) hehehehe

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

No marks, just wanting to see what people think. :)

Nice reference to owl too. ;) I have a totem that is practically reviled by much of the more intellectual pagan community, lol, so I know what it's like to take the bad with the good. ;)

[the-old-soul.livejournal.com]

Dude, check out the recent topic on totems at nonfluffypagans.
I think I'm officially dubbed wannabe TinCaneToad. *Snark*

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

I saw it. I went to reply and then realised it's the one pagan community I'm probably not a member of *rolls eyes*. Person mentioned possum and rare animals as totems, and I have animals like common brushtail possum, cane toad, huon's tree kangaroo etc. on my Vilturr website already. :D I went to reply and thought 'g'damn!' Lol.

Cane Toad is a powerfully persistent medicine. ;)
I think I've met a few Cane Toad people in my life, particularly 'feral' Cane Toad people in Australia.

Only met one Platypus. :D