Author’s note: This really isn’t a document in the usual sense of the word. It’s just a listing of Spirit Animals and their symbolic meanings. It’s almost a companion piece to my Sentinel Animals listing, only this is, obviously, longer and more general. I quit when I got tired of adding to it, although, if I need to, or if asked by enough people, I may add more; however, the site I used the most for this boasts over 300 entries! (The web address for that site is: www.geocities.com/~animalspirits/indexlist.html ) I myself have referred back to the below listing on many occasions, most notably, in researching my Empires of Earth: Rebellion story as well as my Repercussions series. Hope this helps you out, too.
Black Panther’s symbolism includes:
Astral travel
Guardian energy
Symbol of the feminine
Understanding of death
Reclaiming ones power
Ability to know the dark
Death and rebirth
Cougar/Mountain Lion/Puma's Symbolism Includes:
Using leadership power wisely and without ego
Balancing power, intention, strength
Gaining self-confidence
Freedom from guilt
Cunning
Wisdom of the Coyote:
Understanding that all things are sacred--yet nothing is sacred
Teaching that only when all masks have fallen will we connect with the Source
Intelligence
Singing humans into being
Childhood trust in truth
Teaching us how to rear our young
Brings rain
Ability to laugh at one's own mistakes
Placing the North Star
Shape-shifting
Teaching balance between risk and safety
Illumination
Stealth
Deer's Wisdom Includes:
Gentleness in word, thought and touch
Ability to listen
Grace and appreciation for the beauty of balance
Understanding of what's necessary for survival
Power of gratitude and giving
Ability to sacrifice for the higher good
Connection to the woodland goddess
Dolphin/Porpoise's Wisdom Includes:
Knowledge of the sea
Patron of sailors
Change
Wisdom
Balance
Harmony
Communication skills
Freedom
Trust
Understanding the power of rhythm in your life
Use of breath to release intense emotions
Water element magick
Wisdom of the Dragonfly:
Understanding dreams
Power of light
Breaking down illusions
Seeing the truth in situations
Swiftness
Change
Eagle's Wisdom Includes:
Swiftness
Strength
Courage
Wisdom
Keen sight
Illumination of Spirit
Healing
Creation
Knowledge of magick
Ability to see hidden spiritual truths
Rising above the material to see the spiritual
Ability to see the overall pattern
Connection to spirit guides and teachers
Great power and balance
Dignity with grace
Ability to see the "big picture"
Connection with higher truths
Intuitive and creative spirit
Respect for the boundaries of the regions
Grace achieved through knowledge and hard work
Knowledge of the sea
Elephant's
Wisdom Includes:
Strength
Royalty
Connection to ancient wisdom
Removal of obstacles and barriers
Confidence
Patience
Using education opportunities
Hawk's Wisdom Includes:
Clear-sightedness
Being observant
Far-memory
Messages from spirit
Guardianship
Recalling past lives
Courage
Wisdom
Illumination
Seeing the larger picture
Creativity
Truth
Experience
Wise use of opportunities
Overcoming problems
Turtle/Tortoise's Wisdom Includes:
Symbol of the earth
Connection with the center
Navigation skills
Patience
Self-boundaries
Associated with the feminine
Power to heal female diseases
Respecting the boundaries of others
Developing new ideas
Psychically protecting oneself
Self-reliance
Tenacity
Nonviolent defense
Weasel's Wisdom Includes:
Stealth
Cunning
Ingenuity
Revenge
Keen observation
Ability to see hidden reasons behind things
Power of observation
Armadillo's Wisdom Includes:
Understanding your personal boundary
Respecting the boundaries of others
Carrying your protection with you at all times
Understanding your vulnerabilities
Empathy
Discrimination
Beaver's Wisdom Includes:
Maintaining the ability to be productive in all ways by not limiting your options
Being persistent
Using available resources
Using alternate ways of doing tasks
Master builder of all things
Not damming the flow of experiences in life
Achievement through completion of tasks
Understanding
dynamics of group work
Orca's Wisdom Includes:
Creator of the Cosmos
Having the ability to convert raw matter into stars, planets, etc.
Freeing the soul from the physical body
Controlling rainfall on Earth
Using the vibrational energy of song to heal
Assisting humans in finding their soul's song
Soul memory
Seeing the unseen
Teaching the ability to seal soul fissures and energy leaks
Crow/Rook's Wisdom Includes:
Guardian of the place before existence
Ability to move in space and time
Honoring ancestors
Carrier of souls from darkness into light
Working without fear in darkness
Guidance while working in shadow
Moves freely in the void
Understands all things related to ethics
Shapeshifter
Wolf's Wisdom Includes:
Facing the end of one's cycle with dignity and courage
Death and rebirth
Spirit teaching
Guidance in dreams and meditations
Instinct linked with intelligence
Social and familial values
Outwitting enemies
Ability to pass unseen
Steadfastness
Skill in protection of self and family
Taking advantage of change
Lynx's Wisdom Includes:
Keenness of sight
Divination
Developing psychic senses
Keeper of all secrets and mysteries
Movement through time and space
Rabbit/Hare's Wisdom Includes:
Guile
Paradox and contradiction
Living by one’s own wits
Receiving hidden teachings and intuitive messages
Quick-thinking
Humility
Moving through fear
Strengthening intuition
Owl's Wisdom Includes:
Stealth
Secrecy
Silent and swift movement
Seeing behind masks
Keen sight
Messenger of secrets and omens
Shape-shifting
Link between the dark, unseen world and the world of light
Comfort with shadow self
Moon magick
Freedom
Heron's Wisdom Includes:
All aspects of diversity
Self-reliance
Boundaries
Exploration
Self-esteem
Balancing multiple tasks
Dignity
Lion's Wisdom Includes:
Brotherhood
Letting go of stress
Strong family ties
Strength
Courage
Energy
Self fullfillment
Cheetah's Wisdom Includes:
Brotherhood
Elusiveness
Ability to focus intently on something for a short period of time
Swiftness
Self-esteem
Accelerating time
Keenness of sight
Hummingbirds's Wisdom Includes:
Ability to heal by using light as a laser from mouth
Endurance over long journeys
Ability to fly into small places to heal
Joy
Happiness
Love
Tiger's Wisdom Includes:
Power
Energy
Strength and will-power in the face of adversity
Acting in a timely manner
Action without analysis
Polar Bear's Wisdom Includes:
Ability to navigate along the Earth’s magnetic lines
Introspection
Solitude
Expert swimmer through emotional waters
Finding one’s way back from the brink
Ability to find sustenance in barren landscapes
Strength in the face of adversity
Communication with Spirit
Dreams
Death and rebirth
Transformation
Creature of dreams, shamans, mystics and visionaries
Defense and revenge
Lizard's Wisdom Includes:
Detachment from ego
Power to regenerate that which is lost
Facing fear
Controlling dreams
Moving in the otherworld
Frog's Wisdom Includes:
Reminder of common bonds with all life
Singer of songs that celebrate the most ancient watery beginnings
Transformation
Cleansing
Understanding emotions
Rebirth
Mole's Wisdom Includes:
Guardian of the lower regions
Connection with the energies of the Earth
Knowledge of herbs, roots, minerals, seeds, rivers, and other hidden bounties of the earth
Ability to turn inward
Introspection and blindness to all but light and dark in the material world
Love expressed in nature
Sensitivity to touch and vibration (the kinesthetic sense)
Understanding of energies and fluxes
Goose's Wisdom Includes:
Movement along ones soul path
Understanding the power of community
Assisting others through illness
Happiness
Duck's Wisdom Includes:
Grace on water
Water energy
Seeing clearly through emotions
Spirit helper of mystics and seers
Butterfly/Caterpillar's Wisdom Includes:
The power of the whirlwind
Reincarnation
Transformation
Transmutation
Magick
Mantis/Walking Stick's Wisdom Includes:
Ability to manipulate time
Power to move between moments
Understanding of the circular nature of time
Power of stillness
Female warrior energy
Attack strategy
Alligator/Crocodile's Wisdom Includes:
Maternal protection
Connection to the earth mother
Protection from manipulation
Understanding deceit
Revenge through patience
Initiation
Understanding weather
Access to ancient knowledge
Otter's Wisdom Includes:
Woman’s healing wisdom
Sensibility without suspicion
Guidance in unmasking talents
Psychic awareness
Faithfulness
Recovery issues
Understanding the value of playtime
Fox's Wisdom Includes:
Shapeshifting
Cleverness
Observational skills
Cunning
Stealth
Camouflage
Feminine courage
Invisibility
Ability to observe unseen
Persistence
Gentleness
Swiftness
Swan's Wisdom Includes:
Awakening the power of self
Understanding dream symbols
Seeing into the future
Understanding spiritual evolution
Developing intuitive abilities
Divination
Grace in dealing with others
Bat's Wisdom Includes:
Shamanic death and rebirth
Pollination of new ideas
Transition
Initiation
Viewing past lives
Understanding grief
The use of vibrational sound
Camouflage
Invisibility
Ability to observe unseen
Jellyfish's Wisdom Includes:
Sensitivity to water energy—emotions
Understanding of the value of floating, rather than swimming, through trying emotional times
Proper use of softness (not being rigid)
Ability to become untangled from the webs of peril in life
Bear's Wisdom Includes:
Introspection
Healing
Solitude
Change
Communication with Spirit
Death and rebirth
Transformation
Astral travel
Creature of dreams, shamans and mystics
Visionaries
Defense and revenge
Wisdom
Sparrow's Wisdom Includes:
Desire
Fertility
Manifesting new love in ones life
Understanding the aspects of race
Ability to use the power of song
All aspects of color
Anteater's Wisdom Includes:
Ability to find lost objects
Connection to the insect world
Ability to smell out trouble before seeing it
Understanding the value of "rooting around" to find solutions
Jaguar's Wisdom Includes:
Seeing the roads within chaos
Understanding the patterns of chaos
Moving without fear in the darkness
Facilitating soul work
Empowering oneself
Moving in unknown places
Shapeshifter
Psychic sight
Dingo's Wisdom Includes:
Reborn Human Soul
Assistance in hunting
Finding warmth in cold situations
Companionship
Tracking skills
Loyalty
Understanding silence
Finding the truth
Protection
Willingness to follow through
Correct use of intuition
Bluebird's Wisdom Includes:
Happiness
Movement to new level of being
Modesty
Fulfillment
Confidence
Ability to return from the brink of extinction
Wolverine's Wisdom Includes:
Last phantom of the wilderness
Hyena of the North
Master of the Forest
Trickster hero
Magical link between the material and the spirit worlds
Revenge
Craftiness
Understands how to satisfy appetites
Ability to travel in very cold places
Understanding aggression
Protection against attackers
Multilevel protection
Standing your ground
Fierceness
Elusiveness
Gluttonry
Cleverness
Strength
Non-retreat
Effective attack
Endurance
Courage
Monkey's Wisdom Includes:
Movement through ego
Ability to change environment
Family protection
Understanding excesses
Good health
Understanding success
Shrike/Butcher Bird's Wisdom Includes:
The only truly predatory songbird
Ferocity
Value of surplus
Surveyor of one’s surroundings
Understanding of the nature of masks
Boldness
Fearlessness