When animals are our teachers

Kodiak bear
(Image by USFWSAlaska)   Details   DMCA

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I have been thinking about how animals are always animals but they are also willing carriers of their original instructions (of the Dreaming or Dreamtime), or in psychological terms, their archetypal character or purpose. When is a spider "just" a spider and when is it our teacher? (Or a bird "just" a bird or our teacher, or a fish or a deer?). Instead of trying to answer that with some kind of explanation, I would ask another question: When is a human "just" a human and when is a human aligning with their original instructions of the Dreaming? If we remember to respect Spider because spider embodies this dual nature, then we and spider are entering into an ancient / timeless relationship or covenant. A person who goes through life oblivious to their original dreamtime instructions may never experience spider as teacher, but for this person there is another possibility -- that spider-as-teacher will stage an intervention (or snake or bird or fish or deer etc.) That means that the animal is offering them a life-line, an opportunity to remember their original instructions (to respect all other forms of life on earth and live in balance).

What do I mean by an "intervention"? As a dreamworker I know that animals are often staging interventions in contemporary dreams (as well as in waking life) by showing up unexpectedly and often at inopportune moments. The animal that seems to show up more than others these days is bear, then deer or snake. There is good reason for this. Bear is the great medicine animal of the forest. Deer is the premier animal of heart and Snake teaches us how to shed our old skin.

The point of this brief reflection is not to dive into the meaning and symbolism of medicine or spirit animals, it is just to remind all of us that we can all learn from the animals with whom we share the planet. They all have much to teach us. With their help we might remember that we are here, not just to survive or make money, but to celebrate what it means to be fully alive. And that is largely a process of remembering.