Our ancestors believed in the spirit animal. It is part of the spirit’s transformation into the natural world. This expansion happens over many lifetimes. When you are ready, your spirit animal finds you. Your spirit animal is a direct expression of who you are on the inside. If it is the thing that scares you, this is the first clue that it could be your spirit animal. Secondly, your spirit animal will make contact and connection with you when you are by yourself. When no one else is around, you will know this moment, and it will become a core memory. Even if you are not ready to understand yet, it will be revealed over time. Once you overcome the fear of your spirit animal—the fear of your true sense of self—you can embrace who you truly are. Here is a story of how my spirit animal came to me.
My spirit animal was always a mystery to me. I remember working at a job during a management orientation. Everyone in the room was asked to introduce themselves, then introduce their spirit animal. I watched intently around the room as each person stood up, introduced themselves, and said any random animal that came to mind, or the same animal someone else had said. When it was my turn, I stood up, introduced myself, and said, “I’m not sure what my spirit animal is yet.” I sat back down. The room was quiet but carried on. This had a deeper meaning for me than I even knew at the time.
Fast forward about 10 years later, we bought a brand-new house in a neighborhood close to our previous home. Our home was backed by open space, and often we would see animals in the back across the plain. I loved the view. The thought of watching the sunrise in the mornings, having coffee or tea, and just sitting outside felt amazing to me. I couldn’t wait to finish our yard so I could do that.
We hadn’t been living in our home particularly long. I would say just a couple of months had gone by, and I would regularly wake up early for my morning meditations. Well, this particular morning, I woke up a little earlier than usual. I remember getting up and walking downstairs. The whole time, I had a smile on my face. I wasn’t sure why, but I remembered having this smile. People would tell me I always smiled when I played basketball. I never realized I did, but everyone said, “When you play, you smile a lot!” Haha, I never realized it. Anyway, I didn’t get coffee first or anything. I walked straight to the back sliding door. I opened the curtains and saw the sunrise barely beginning to peek its way off in the horizon. It was still very dark outside. I stood there for a moment, just looking straight ahead, when suddenly I saw something in my peripheral vision to the left, moving and turning its head only. It was high up. I thought, “That’s weird; we don’t have any trees up yet.” Then, I realized that the basketball hoop was up. On top of it was this giant thing just sitting there. I had never seen anything like it before. It was a grey owl, so big. I took a step back for a moment as it startled me. To be honest, it totally touched a fear I had—my own fear of myself. I stood there watching it. I watched it looking onto the horizon with me. She looked at me several times. We shared a long five minutes, and just as the sun began to rise a little more, it raised its wings, began to fly, and off it went. It swooped down toward the back creek, and it was gone.
I have never told anyone this story, partly because it freaked me out at the moment. I didn’t understand it. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t even ask Oliver, my guides. I had no one to speak to about this who would understand or tell me what this spiritual connection was. So, for a long time—about a year and a half—I kept this fear inside of me. Anytime I would see an owl, I would literally panic and look away or do something to distract myself. I didn’t understand why I was feeling this way.
My own transformation through my life experience and with my guides has always been taught through my own experience. When I asked Oliver, my guides, why, they said it is because that is how I learn—through experience. As I touched on who I was and dove further within myself to discover my path and purpose, I still felt very confused. I knew, “Okay, I have this amazing gift and channel to the supernatural world, my guides speaking to me daily through sound vibrations, all these visions, all this information,” but I wasn’t quite there yet. I had too many fears inside me still.
Last month, on a cold morning, I walked outside barefoot and stood on the grass as the morning sunrise was beaming off in the horizon. I felt this beautiful breeze on my face, my feet touching the earth, so cold yet inviting. I stood there, closed my eyes, and spoke to Mother Earth from my heart. I felt her vibration through my feet, pulsing through me. Tears began streaming down my face. I asked to release all of my fears. I wanted to be me—all of me. I felt this warm breeze come over me. Then I opened my eyes and felt this freedom within me. It felt like the very first time I connected with Oliver, my guides. Over the course of the last month, the energy within me has come alive. My guides have opened me up to a deeper understanding of my sense of self. So many wonderful things are flowing and lining up—connecting.
A week ago, I drove up to the mountains by myself, looking to clear my mind as my purpose became clearer and certain aspects of my reality began revealing themselves. I drove up to the casinos, something I’ve done since I was a teenager. I would drive to the mountains in search of a feeling, a connection—something. As I got older and was able to go into the casinos, I would do this more often. I didn’t really know why, but I felt “called” up there. Being in the casino, I feel this closeness to my spirituality that I can’t quite explain yet. But this last time, something was revealed to me.
I finally understood why I would go to the casinos. I wouldn’t go there to play; I went there to sit. I’ve never told anyone I do this until now. I was sitting outside on the balcony, looking at the mountains. A song kept playing in my head: I Am the Beginning and the End by Dorothy Tsatoke. It’s a Native American healing song, Come to Me Great Mystery. I decided to put my headphones on and play the song.
I sat out on that balcony, listening to the song and watching nature speak. My eyes were focusing and refocusing—something Oliver does through me from time to time. What was being revealed was the abundance of nature. It was amazing. I kept asking myself, “Why do I come up here? What is the significance? What’s the reason?”
After a while, I decided to walk around. They offer free French vanilla lattes there, which I’ve always liked. As I was walking by the elevators to head back down to the casino area, I was on the buffet floor. A Native American man was waiting for the elevator too. He was older and there with his wife, so polite and full of life. We got in the elevator, and he made small talk, explaining how he and his wife were spending the weekend there. He seemed so happy.
In that moment, I had a sudden realization about our ancestry and Indian casinos. It was wild how the energy revealed the answer to my question so quickly. Reconnecting with my lost heritage has been an unspeakable beauty. I shared this part of my story because our ancestors believed in the spirit animal. They speak to us and share through our own vibrational energy. The revealing of things doesn’t always happen at once but over time. There is more to this casino story, and I will share it at another time.
Over the past two weeks, a song has been playing in my head—a small snippet from a Nas song, If I Ruled the World. There’s a line that goes:
“Open they eyes to the lies
History’s told foul
But I’m as wise as the old owl.”
As this song kept playing in my mind, I noticed that I no longer felt the fear I once did. Oliver had been playing this song in my mind.
As I mentioned before, certain aspects of my reality have been revealing themselves. Belief blocks I’ve held onto are manifesting and becoming clear. Last night was another of those moments. I asked myself again, “What is this block from?”
A week after being up in the mountains, I heard the Nas song playing in my mind again. That moment, I released the block and accepted myself for who I truly am. The fear was gone. I embraced my spirit animal and, with it, my true sense of self.
The Wise Owl.
I decided to channel that energy into a new space. As life reveals its truths to you and you begin to open up to the nature of your reality, remember your tools. You can always find alignment within. This is one of the most precious aspects of my guides, Oliver. They help me find that alignment and have shown me many ways to get there so I can help you too.
Full circle, they can guide you as well, sharing their wisdom through me.
To learn more about spirit animals, Oliver, or if you have a specific question, book an appointment today.
May the energy vibrations guide you.
Brenda