totem animal

[Sharapovafistpump]

This is a thread about totem animals. In particular a recent encounter where my own revealed itself to me. It's slightly long, as I need to set the scene. But hopefully it will encourage others to share their own stories about totem animal experiences.

After a particularly intense end to 2010, during which the lord opted to visit flood, illness and a gaggle of weird, plausibly dangerous people upon me- I was left rather expired.

An opportunity arose to engage in some honest manual work in the countryside. I was glad of it.

The nature of the work isn't really relevant, but the location is. A very large 19th Century dilapidated linen mill that is now slowly being renovated into small business units.

Situated some 200 meters of the main road the mill is surrounded by many acres of arable land. A row of houses is set some way to the rear. A stream runs adjacent.

Within the various outhouses and main body of the building are (as far as I can discern) 4 operational businesses. A mechanics, a food wholesale/distributor, a blacksmith's and the one I work for.

The mill is probably occupied at 1/10th capacity and the business's spaced quite far apart. The 60 square meters or so we occupy (divided into 2 stores and 1 office) is right at the back of the building, through 2 court yards, and down a long corridor. It would be very hard to find unless you knew about it.

Well. The other morning I was walking into work, I was in good form as id got my Australian work visa the night before. I crossed the bridge and noticed a goose far of in the distance. Paying no heed I continued up to and through the mill.

Morning passed to lunch. I went outside to eat my sandwiches and see if any of the lads from the garage were about for a bit of banter. They weren't.

But far in the distance I noticed the goose. It was staring at me! I stared at it for a little while, finished my lunch and headed up through the mill and down the corridor back to work.

Around 5pm I'm finishing up in the office, signing of order emails. When I thought- 'wonder how that goose is getting on?' I turned around and there he was! Just standing in the doorway just looking at me! He (or she) had shuffled all the way through the mill and was just standing there!

I walked over to the Goose quite cautiously, it was fairly big and I didn't fancy getting pecked- or worse. It just stood there, calmly looking directly at me.

We had a bit of a moment. I'm still not sure what kind of a moment, but I think the Goose was trying to tell me something. Some ancient animal wisdom maybe. It was unusual. But there where practicalities to deal with.

What to do with a Goose at 5pm. I had to act fast. He couldn't stay here and he couldn't move to the city. I phoned the local vet who were surprisingly dismissive. Eventually the receptionist suggested I bring him in. They would contact Millvale animal rescue, hopefully someone there was still around.

This posed a problem. Although I was fairly comfortable around the Goose I hadn't dared touch him yet. I instinctively knew he wasn't going to enjoy being trussed up in a mail sack and driven into town.

The Goose sensed my plan and became agitated. When I picked up the sack and started toward him he took of like, well a Goose.

Eventually I cornered him and after a struggle (this was a weighty Goose) I got him in the bag and cable tied. Not once did I get pecked. Or worse.

Once inside the bag the Goose relaxed enough for me to pat his head. He knew I'd let no harm come to him. We drove up to the vet's in the transit of one of the guys from the garage. He thought this was great craic. So did I. But I was perhaps more acutely aware of this particular goose's significance.

Bar the odd ruffle of the feathers, probably due to Goose cramp, Goose was remarkably well behaved on the journey. I began to wonder if he needed the bag at all.

The vet's receptionist wasn't too impressed to see us land in. I suspect she was looking home for her tea. The man from Millvale was going to be some time. A farmer in the vet's asked me if he could have the goose. I nearly said yes, but the malevolence in his eyes betrayed him. So I told him this particular goose had a prior engagement.

The receptionist told me I had to wait outside with goose as she was closing up. It was about 6 so fair enough. I went into the bar next door to get a quick pint. It had been thirsty work, but they wouldn't let Goose in- political correctness gone mad.

Eventually the Millvale man turned up. He seemed happy to be getting a Goose and assured me he wouldn't be cooked but would live out his (or her) days in peace.

After searching on the internet I am certain that I have met my totem animal.

Totem animals reveal themselves to people when the time is right. For me getting a Goose totem after I get my Australian work visa is highly significant. After all don't Geese migrate in the winter! Perhaps i'd of liked a more 'glamorous' totem animal- a wise owl, a cunning fox maybe. But you don't choose your totem animal- it chooses you!

How you treat your totem animal is very important. I believe I did right by mine.

I suppose some of the more cynical types might be like 'Goose wanders over from field shocker' But if you read carefully you will see there is more to it than that. I'd be very interested to hear about other peoples totem animal experiences and how they dealt with them.

Thanks for reading and happy new year.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Nice. Anyone who feels that animals have a lot to teach people about life should definitely check this documentary out:

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

In my understanding, totem animals are essentially the same thing as angels. Both are essentially just messengers from the Prime Mover, which assume an animate material form that's familiar to us so that the message is easy to comprehend, and then disappear from our lives once the message is conveyed. They may return as needed to remind us, or may not.

It's interesting to speculate as to why the universe chose to speak to you at this juncture in the form of a goose.

My story is a lot more cliche: Over the last several years, I've glimpsed a number of foxes near the wooded area where I grew up, sometimes in places I never expected to see any animals hanging out, no less one as human-shy as a fox. I never remember foxes being part of the local fauna of my area when I was young. Twice a fox showed up out of nowhere, and then sprinted away, while I was walking with my father and having a deep chat about something. I always had a sense this was a very fortuitous sign of some sort, though I never gave much thought to what it might be. I just had a general sense of being lucky or blessed for having seen it.

In my family, we give elephant-themed gifts to each other very often. This started when my cousin, once blurted out "I love you more than a thousand thousand elephants!" while visiting a zoo as a little boy in the early 70s. This phrase has been oft repeated, and we've come to associate the noble grace and sensitive intelligence of this beast with the ideal of a supportive and loving family. This is much the same way members of the Loyal Order of Moose see their flagship beast as representative of the values they wish to cultivate. I think if we were indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, our family's totem pole would definitely have to have an elephant on it.