My love for animals, how I became interested in their symbolism and surprising information I’ve found.
I love animals and enjoy learning about their psychology, behavior and symbolism. Animal Speak, Ted Andrews, (Llewellyn Publications, 2002), was originally published in 1993. My first copy of this book was bought in 1995 after I met Turtle Hawk, an American Indian Shaman, on New Year’s Day. I asked him if there were any good books about animal symbolism. Crow was the first animal I saw when I visited my son and family in North Carolina and the first one I saw when I returned home. I was curious what Crow represented. He showed me his book. The next day, I called my favorite book store and they just had a copy delivered.
It was appropriate Crow: Mysterious Pagan Symbol was the first article I wrote about animal symbolism. This was followed by Raven, Enigmatic Pagan Symbol and, later by Coyote, Pagan Symbol: Trickster. Crow and Raven share coyote’s symbolism as trickster. While doing research for Otter: Pagan Symbolism and a Legend, was surprised to learn that some tribes see Otter as trickster. I researched American Indian legends and found the Ojibwa legend about how Otter tricked Bear. Bear’s symbolism is wisdom, introspection and instinct blended with intuition, as Bear: Powerful Pagan Symbol evidences. I had to chuckle how playful Otter played a prank on Bear, although I found it sad that he lost most of his tail.
Weasel: Pagan Symbolism was the last article I had written. Weasels as seen, by some as sneaky; however they are brave and clever animals. Both weasels and otters are members of the mustelidae family, so writing about Otter was a natural article to follow.
Otter, trickster…. I’m looking forward to the next articles I’ll write about animal symbolism. Amazing what I learn!
