Category: Totems
Spirit animal totems and their symbolic meanings, messages, and spiritual lessons.
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Gecko Totem: Renewal, Resilience, and the Gift of Adaptation
The geckos that flourish around my century-old house feel like more than neighbors. They’re survivors who’ve mastered the art of renewal—shedding what no longer fits, regrowing what was lost, and clinging even when the world shifts beneath them. The gecko totem has a lot to teach.
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Frog Totem on the Threshold
I wasn’t expecting company this morning, but there it was: a frog totem pressed to the top step like it owned the place. A large, pale, speckled frog, perfectly still, eyes wide as if it had just stepped out of a dream. I’ve seen plenty of frogs and plenty of totems, but this frog totem…
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When the Snail Totem Comes to Your Door
What does a snail totem mean? I don’t usually look down when I walk up to my house. I’m more likely to be juggling a bag of groceries, my keys, and a head full of ideas. But today, something caught my eye. A snail. From the Bookshelf Rite of Awakening — Southern Gothic with bite,…
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How a Pagan Goes to Church: Woodpecker Totem Song
In this week’s Cathedral of Nature, I was greeted by my resident woodpecker in the backyard. Technically, he wasn’t in my back yard. This tree is on community property about six inches from my property line. The pine died around the time Hurricane Opal (1995) hit my home and, while I removed other damaged trees…
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Crows and Flowers
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Passion to the Third Degree. I’ve noticed, for the past few weeks, that there are crows everywhere. When I ran an errand at lunch to Ace Hardware, I saw probably a dozen flying around Merchants’ Walk. I noticed this before, a few times, but usually going in a…
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I’ll Leave the Light On
Sometime past midnight, I am sitting at my computer, making some last-minute changes to “Dark Revelations” and focused completely on the work and nary a thought of anyone else or anything else. Just finishing the line edits and getting them back to my editor in New York. I get a flash of something that surprises…
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Awaiting the Platypus Dawn
Two months ago, I participated in some “spiritual work” with some trusted spiritual leaders who always have an interesting point of view. I very much enjoy these sessions where I am a student rather than a teacher and where I am challenged to see things in a new way. I’m a big believer in continued…
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Talking to Animals
Sometimes we choose special animals–including birds and insects–and sometimes they choose us. “But Mommy,” my older daughter protested, “animals can’t talk!” Okay, so my response to her question about animal totems had failed and failed miserably. As I explained how animals have different spiritual meanings and how what they represent can “speak” to us, she…
