As you can tell from the name under which I have written these pages, I am, in part, a hawk. A bird of prey.
As you can tell from the name under which I have written these pages, I am, in part, a hawk. A bird of prey.
I will discuss this more after I have spoken on what is a more pressing subject: what exactly is a totem, a guardian spirit, or any of the other myriad names for this idea that various people and cultures have come up with?
A totem is, first of all, an archetype. People of various totems are supposed to have certain types of personalities, depending on that totem. This is the concept behind the basic personalities that are given to shamans in the Shadowrun gaming system: they speak strongly to their totems, and therefore their personality is really defined by that contact.
What do I mean by archetype? A totem spirit is an animal (or image on occasion) that appears frequently in dreams, in ideas, and so forth- a person will have a personality quite similar to that of their totem. To someone who experiences vivid dreams, the totem will appear frequently as an image or an ideal. Similarly, a person who writes will find that the images of their totem appear more frequently than other symbols.
I have not got a personality that fits neatly into any one totem guide- my fragments span a great range. I do follow three spirits, however, which serve as guides to me and advisors. Depending on the situation, one of these will take a primal role. They are generally very good about this, dealing with those things that are appropriate to their strengths rather than squabbling over my problems.
The three spirit-creatures I speak with most are Hawk, Wolf, and Cat. Each of them rules different realms, different concepts.
The Book of Shadows.
The Wiccan Page