Glossary 8 terms

Spirit animal

  1. Animal totem In contemporary usage, an animal totem is an animal whose symbolic qualities become an inner reference point: strength, gentleness, cunning, endurance. The word comes from the…
  2. Totemism Totemism is an anthropological concept describing systems in which human groups, often clans, associate themselves with animal or plant species to organize their kinship,…
  3. Power animal A power animal is a notion drawn from shamanic practice, where an animal spirit accompanies a person and lends its qualities: the eagle’s sight, the wolf’s endurance, the…
  4. Bestiary A bestiary is a collection that describes animals, real or fabled, and lends each one a moral or spiritual meaning. The genre flourished in the Middle Ages out of the…
  5. Animal symbolism Animal symbolism is the body of meanings that cultures attach to animals: the lion for sovereignty, the owl for wisdom, the snake for transformation. Each civilization composes…
  6. Animal guide In contemporary spirituality, an animal guide is an animal felt as a symbolic companion along a life path or through a given season. Where the animal totem suggests a lasting…
  7. Spirit animal In many cosmologies, a spirit animal is the invisible dimension of a species: not an individual creature but the essence of the Wolf, the Bear, or the Raven, with which humans…
  8. Animal archetype An animal archetype is an animal figure that recurs across cultures and eras with a stable symbolic charge: the snake of transformation, the solar lion, the bird as messenger.…