Totems

Sensitive Skin

So today I'm decked in turtles. I usually try for at least one theme a week so I can have an excuse to wear earrings and keep my piercings open. Being allergic to most metals aside from pure silver, gold or surgical steel (and even reacting to THOSE on raw skin) I had to go through a very long, convoluted process involving plastic posts and a LOT of bandages to successfully obtain healthy, healed pierced ears. I really don't want to go through that again, so I try to wear earrings fairly regularly in order to keep em open.

The Native American Connection

Amway, turtles are one of my favorite themes... they're kinda special to me, being one of my totem animals. See, my tat artist has a pretty strong Native American background, and she sat down one time and read my Medicine Cards to find out who are my Animal Spirit Guides. No, I don't take it as the gospel truth... any more than I take any other spiritual belief as the only true way. But it's still fun, and I discount nothing as impossible.

Spirit Guides

So everybody is supposed to have 9 Animal Spirit Guides. 7 are revealed through the cards, and 2 you choose based on animals towards which you feel a certain pull or attraction. Each card in the spread has a "direction" in which they relate to you (north, south, east, west, above, below, within and to each side) and each direction provides different guidance... that which helps ground you to the earth, that which gives wise counsel, that which gaurds your inner path.... that kinda stuff. Each animal is also associated with a certain trait or value.

For example, my animals are (in the order that I drew the cards):

Fox, who stands for Camouflage, Adaptability and Gaurdian of the Family
Raven, who carries the Medicine of Magic and symbolizes change in consciousness
Horse, who is Power, both physical and unearthly
Elk, who stands for Stamina, and the ability to pace yourself and go the distance
Opposum, who teaches Diversion and using strategy to overcome difficult situations
Turtle, who is the personification of Mother Earth, teaches you to ground yourself and honor your creative source
Swan, who stands for Grace, teaches you to accept your "Medicine"... your path in life

And the two I chose later were the Tiger and the Dragonfly. Tiger, I'm not sure why (and I don't know what it stands for, cuz I didn't have the cards with me anymore) and Dragonfly cuz... well, If I recall correctly, the story goes that Dragon passed through the dreamworld and emerged as the Dragonfly. Stands for transformation, or some such. It was the closest option I had to a Dragon. *grin*

Animal Influence

Many of my online friends may recognize the Fox's influence in my choice of identity. *grin* Actually, the influence started with a story/novel/series I've been writing since high school. The original story involved the fictional adventures of my friends and myself. It has long since evolved into something not even remotely recognizable to those origins, but even though the names have changed, the character personalities still remain true to the real people who inspired them. So when I discovered my Animal Spirit Guides, the character in my story that was based on myself became FoxSong (I'd have to describe some of the storyline to fully explain the name). Then, when I created an online identity, the choice seemed obvious. :)

Planning Ahead

Amway, speaking of my tat artist, I've just been in contact with her today. Setting up an appointment for the Saturday I'll be in Santa Maria, and some additional time for one of my friends to decide if she wants to get one, too, or not.

I really am a horrible influence. *grin*