FREE GUIDE: How To Discover Your Power Animals

As you delve into the world of magic and neopaganism, you may be curious about how power animals, also known as spirit animals, are connected to your spiritual practice. Your relationship to the animal kingdom will determine how you connect to a particular animal.

Develop A Personal Relationship With Your Power Animal

Find out how to develop a personal relationship with your power animal or animal spirit guides in this free tutorial. We'll discuss the proper terminology, how to find the deeper meaning of your power animal relationship, and how to let the relationship guide your life path. I'm so excited to share this knowledge with you -- let's get started!

Where Do Power Animals Come From?

Many cultures all around the world have had the concept of spirit animals, animal spirit guides, power animals, or whatever else you want to call them. From Ancient Egypt right up to modern shamanic practices, we are fascinated by a potential animal spirit guide.

Let's spend time together right now, talking about your animal guide, and how they may become a vital part of your life. The bigger picture of your power animal is how they impact your life. Not everything is a power animal, but I believe that the spirit world is always talking to us. If only we open our ears and listen.

Power Animal vs. Spirit Animals: What's the difference?

Let me get right to the point: functionally, there is none. These words are basically synonyms for the same concept. Here at WITCHYVERSE, we prefer to use the term "power animal" to refer to the special relationship that we have with the animal world. We do this for a few reasons:

INDIGENOUS CULTURE

First off, several indigenous cultures have requested that white people not use the term "spirit animals" because many people have associated it with problematic tropes about Native Americans. The internet trope of referring to anything and everything as one's "spirit animal" has harmed the ability of Native Americans to exist without being disrespected.

INTENTIONS

Secondly, intention matters more than words. It's easy enough to use the word "power animal", and it is a more flexible term than "spirit animals" anyway. "Spirit animals" puts the focus on spirituality, but not all folks who attune to power animals may feel attuned to spirituality or even believe in spirits or the spirit world. By using the term "power animal", we can be inclusive of folks who practice a wider spectrum of magic in their personal experiences

INCLUSION

Finally, power animal can cover the experiences that we have in ordinary reality along side any shamanic journey. I can reference the red-tail hawk that made me stop and think as a power animal. Any animal that I pay attention to may lend its wisdom to me as a power animal.

What makes something an actual power animal?

Different animals exist in the natural world, but what makes an animal a particularly potent power animal for you? As human beings, we all have different needs. Your ordinary reality is different than mine; so is your personal relationship to power animals.

I personally believe that an animal graduates from normal animal to a power animal when it creates a life changing personal experience for me. When I'm paying attention to my life, and my dreams are all about a white wolf, or every time I take a drive, I notice little white butterflies - that's my cue to investigate. Nature is all around us, so it's really about what it's trying to say to us, and whether or not we pay attention.

How to: Power animal retrieval process

Power animal retrieval - recognizing a particular animal as your animal spirit guide - is a relatively painless process. Once you realize that there may be a connection between you and the natural world, it's time for some meditation.

Ask yourself questions like:

Is this power animal showing up because I'm entering a new life season?
Do I need an animal spirit guide to lead me through a challenging moment?
Is the spirit world trying to tell me something?
What healing abilities might this power animal have for me?

Answering these questions will let you examine this powerful gift in more detail. You'll learn to respect your potential power animal, find good fortune, and develop a new best friend from your power animal symbol.

Your power animal is what you make it. There's no special requirement, ritual, or shamanic journey that you need to take to claim a power animal. Accepting it in your heart is perfectly fine. If you want to honor your power animal though, there are tons of ways that you can create rituals, spells, or meditations to spend time with your new friend.

Popular Spirit Or Power Animals

From personal experience, I can tell you that power animals tend to be animals that evoke a sense of mystery and wonder from the humans that connect with them. Our modern lives need a little bit of fear and adventure, and power animals can help us channel that need for guidance and transformation.

The earth is vast and large, so if you feel like your power animal is a rare South American centipede: go for it. That's the cool thing about neopaganism. You can make it what you need it to be. Wherever your spirit leads you in this world, your religion will travel with you.

MOST POPULAR POWER ANIMALS

In any case, the most popular power animals that we've seen are, in no particular order:

A bear, but more specifically: a polar bear, grizzly bear, or brown bear. A black bear is a less common choice or connection.
Wolf, or more specifically, a red wolf or a grey wolf.
Lizards, including bearded dragons, geckos, and other common pet animals
Birds of prey, including hawks and eagles, and even osprey if the mood fits. These are often easily spotted animals all around the earth.

BROWSE OUR FAVES BELOW!

So if you're curious what these animals mean for power animals, where to find them, and whether they'll bring good fortune to your dreams - this next section is for you! Browse all of our animal association materials right below. Got questions? Feature requests? You know what to do! Share your knowledge or ask your questions right on the blogs. We'll get back to you as soon as we can.