Category: Animal Teachings

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Spiritual and Totem Insights the Badger


 Badger shows itself in the seventh spot as it tells us to stand our ground even when things seem a bit overwhelming. We can handle it, sometimes we just might have to take a breathe. Badger says bring about the changes you need to evolve into a more positive you, thus opening doorways and windows of opportunity that will propel us in the right ways by not getting caught up in all the negativity that is out in the world around us today.

Badger also speaks to checking in with allies to validate your choices when in doubt. So live life to the fullest today ad keep an eye on the prize!

Badger also reminds us that guilt is a human factor that for some crazy reason even if we don’t need to hold on to it, we do. So time to release it, fix it, apologize for it…. whatever it takes to re-balance ourselves in positive manners!

Badger shows up reminding us that we all must trust in our abilities utilize them to take on challenges that show up in our journeys. It is time to step away from our hiding places we have created and show the world what we are made of. Remember what is important to us and who we are as unique individuals that have a place in this world.

The message Badger brings is loud and clear… walk your own path to the beat of your own drum. Have faith in yourself and your talents and abilities. Know that you handle any challenge that shows up. Who cares what others say. Come out from hiding and start taking names and numbers.

Aggressiveness and the willingness to fight for what you want in this life and that is what Badger has to teach us. Just how to temper it and apply the right kid of pressure when needed and when to make a stand. Badger teaches us to use our healing abilities to push forward in positives in life and to aggressively move the obstacles that are in our way even if we are the ones that have placed them there.


I am bear Medicinewalker and I am dedicated to Educating and sharing the lessons, teachings and culture I have been taught by my Elders and journey with the World. It is not enough merely to learn the ways of our Elders. We must honor those traditions by sharing and educating the World. Inspiring others …Inspiring our Youth. Through the Music… the Arts…the stories…”

Blessings to you All!

~ bear

Music provided by Chris Ferree and available at http://www.chrisferree.com as part of the Wolf and the bear Network @2024

 

 

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the Grizzly Bear of Shasta

Before people were on the Earth, the Chief of the Great Sky Spirits grew tired of his home in the Above World because it was always cold. So he made a hole in the sky by turning a stone around and around. Through the hole he pushed snow and ice until he made a big mound. This mound was Mount Shasta.

Then Sky Spirit stepped from the sky to the mountain and walked down. When he got about halfway down, he thought: “On this mountain there should be trees.” So he put his finger down and everywhere he touched, up sprang trees. Everywhere he stepped, the snow melted and became rivers.

The Sky Spirit broke off the end of his big walking stick he had carried from the sky and threw the pieces in the water. The long pieces became Beaver and Otter. The smaller pieces became fish. From the other end of his stick he made the animals.

Biggest of all was Grizzly Bear. They were covered with fur and had sharp claws just like today, but they could walk on their hind feet and talk. They were so fierce looking that the Sky Spirit sent them to live at the bottom of the mountain. When the leaves fell from the trees, Sky Spirit blew on them and made the birds.

Then Sky Spirit decided to stay on the Earth and sent for his family. Mount Shasta became their lodge. He made a BIG fire in the middle of the mountain and a hole in the top for the smoke and sparks. Every time he threw a really big log on the fire, the Earth would tremble and sparks would fly from the top of the mountain.

Late one spring, Wind Spirit was blowing so hard that it blew the smoke back down the hole and burned the eyes of Sky Spirit’s family. Sky Spirit told his youngest daughter to go tell Wind Spirit not to blow so hard.

Sky Spirit warned his daughter: “When you get to the top, don’t poke your head out. The wind might catch your hair and pull you out. Just put your arm through and make a sign and then speak to Wind Spirit.”

The little girl hurried to the top of the mountain and spoke to Wind Spirit. As she started back down, she remembered that her father had told her that the ocean could be seen from the top of the mountain. He had made the ocean since moving his family to the mountain and his daughter had never seen it.

She put her head out of the hole and looked to the west. The Wind Spirit caught her hair and pulled her out of the mountain. She flew over the ice and snow and landed in the scrubby fir trees at the timberline, her long red hair flowing over the snow.

There Grizzly Bear found her. He carried the little girl home with him wondering who she was. Mother Grizzly Bear took care of her and brought her up with her cubs. The little girl and the cubs grew up together. When she became a young woman, she and the eldest son of Grizzly Bear were married. In the years that followed they had many children. The children didn’t look like their father or their mother.

All the grizzly bears throughout the forest were proud of these new creatures. They were so pleased, they made a new lodge for the red-haired mother and her strange looking children. They called the Lodge – Little Mount Shasta.

After many years had passed, Mother Grizzly Bear knew that she would soon die. Fearing that she had done wrong in keeping the little girl, she felt she should send word to the Chief of the Sky Spirits and ask his forgiveness. So she gathered all the grizzlies at Little Mount Shasta and sent her oldest grandson to the top of Mount Shasta, in a cloud, to tell the Spirit Chief where he could find his daughter.

The father was very glad. He came down the mountain in great strides. He hurried so fast the snow melted. His tracks can be seen to this day. As he neared the lodge, he called out for his daughter.
He expected to see a little girl exactly as he saw her last. When he saw the strange creatures his daughter was taking care of, he was surprised to learn that they were his grandchildren and he was very angry. He looked so sternly at the old grandmother that she died at once. Then he cursed all the grizzlies.

“Get down on your hands and knees. From this moment on all grizzlies shall walk on four feet. And you shall never talk again. You have wronged me.”

He drove his grandchildren out of the lodge, threw his daughter over his shoulder and climbed back up the mountain. Never again did he come to the forest. Some say he put out the fire in the center of his lodge and returned to the sky with his daughter. Those strange grandchildren scattered and wandered over the earth. They were the first Indians, the ancestors of all the Indian Tribes.

That is why the Indians living around Mount Shasta never kill Grizzly Bear. Whenever one of them was killed by a grizzly bear, his body was burned on the spot. And for many years all who passed that way cast a stone there until a great pile of stones marked the place of his death.

Blessings,

bear Medicinewalker

 

 

“Medicine bear” by Chris Ferree and available at www.chrisferre.com

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Totem Insight the Snake


Snake Is a difficult teacher at times, and one that is not easy to master. Lessons that Snake brings with it are of life cycles and change, remembering as we grow we shed and transform into new energies and new experiences. Snake also teaches us about poison and that we need to be able to rid ourselves of the toxins can be placed within our Sacred Hoops. Don’t let the poisons kill us or dim our light that resides within. At times the poison and toxins can play games with our thoughts if we allow them to, so mastering what is real and what is illusion can often contribute to negativity and clouding of ones judgement. Make sure to take a breath, a beat… before stepping into a place of no return. Keep it all in perspective and balance. Once you can accomplish this, balance will return and be maintained.

Snake can be a hard teacher. His lessons involve a transmutation of the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Snake symbolizes this cycle with the shedding of his skin. We learn to the whole energy of life, the cosmic consciousness and have the willingness to experience anything without resistance. It is also about the poisons that we might take in. Those poisons can be eaten or ingested in some way but they also may be integrated into our lives. The goal is to not let the poisons taint our body or spirit.

Since Snakes can shed they teach us about the levels of our human, of our spirituality, our experiences. It is time to seek our inner knowledge before moving ahead with decisions. It is time to coil and go within to make sure we are well prepared before we strike out.

Snake also reminds us as it makes its way across the Great Mother Earth, to ground ourselves, to use our energy wisely and not to rely on primal instincts of lashing out. For at times it is more empowering to hold back and use that knowledge that energy in wise ways. At other times it is best to strike and seize the moment with a precision and quickness. Snakes often retreat long before biting defensively because they sense that it may cause consequences/damage to others and drain you of healing energy.

Snake is also very old and powerful healing medicine. Once harnessed, Snake will help you to position yourself carefully so that you will trust your gut when making important decisions.

Blessings

~ bear

Dragon Ritual Drummers

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Totem Insight the Badger

The Badger steps in to remind us it is time to dig deep and clean out our proverbial closets. The long winter has allowed us to store up things that are negative or that may be holding us back. So time to get rid of it so that the upcoming days and weeks are cleared for better things.

Badger also reminds us that guilt is a human factor that for some crazy reason even if we don’t need to hold on to it, we do. So time to release it, fix it, apologize for it…. whatever it takes to re-balance ourselves in positive manners!

Badger shows up reminding us that we all must trust in our abilities utilize them to take on challenges that show up in our journeys. It is time to step away from our hiding places we have created and show the world what we are made of. Remember what is important to us and who we are as unique individuals that have a place in this world.

The message Badger brings is loud and clear… walk your own path to the beat of your own drum. Have faith in yourself and your talents and abilities. Know that you handle any challenge that shows up. Who cares what others say. Come out from hiding and start taking names and numbers.

Aggressiveness and the willingness to fight for what you want in this life and that is what Badger has to teach us. Just how to temper it and apply the right kid of pressure when needed and when to make a stand. Badger teaches us to use our healing abilities to push forward in positives in life and to aggressively move the obstacles that are in our way even if we are the ones that have placed them there.

I am bear Medicinewalker and I am dedicated to Educating and sharing the lessons, teachings and culture I have been taught by my Elders and journey with the World. It is not enough merely to learn the ways of our Elders. We must honor those traditions by sharing and educating the World. Inspiring others …Inspiring our Youth. Through the Music… the Arts…the stories…”

Blessings to you All!

~ bear

Music provided by Chris Ferree and available at http://www.chrisferree.com as part of the Wolf and the bear Network @2024

 

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the Cheetah Totem

Let’s take a look at the Cheetah as a totem!

Cheetah shows to tell you to get back to doing, do not procrastinate as the time is now to move forward on your path. Cheetah are fast, making spilt decisions in order to survive, so be decisive and strike as this is the precise time to do so. For if you do not you may loose an opportunity you have been waiting for. Cheetah moves quickly and can reach zero to 60 mph in 3 seconds. So it is telling you no time to waste. It may also be bringing to your attention just how to use your energy in a balanced way so you don’t run out of it when it is needed most.

It is not unusual for the Cheetah also will appear when our emotions  are heightened. . They will also remind us that we can cry and it is not weak when we do so. It is a means to cleanse and recharge.  To release and begin again.

Blessings to you all!

bear Medicinewalker

 

 

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The Story of the Salmon


A young girl, who was daughter to the chief sat crying. She cried because no one could give her what she wanted, a great shining fish. Neither her father, nor the wisest elders of the clan could give her the great shining fish, none of them had ever even seen such a fish. As his daughter continued to cry they soon discovered that she was making herself very ill, and soon because of it, the chief ordered a great council fire to be gathered.

All of the tribal elders and medicine people sat around the fire as the most respected of them began to speak. “The child cries for a thing which she has seen in her dream walks. Many fish have we in our great waters, but none resemble the one of which she speaks. This fish may prove to be good medicine for our tribe that is being sent by our Creator. He looked at those gathered around the fire, “Perhaps one of you may know where such a great gleaming strong fish with such medicine may be found.”

Only one of them stood turning to address his Chief and the council,”The Raven, who lives among the cedars, is my good friend. She is very wise and knows many things that the wisest among us know not. Allow me to return with her to this Council Fire, in order for her to share her wisdoms.”
They all agreed to this and the chief gave his permission. Soon the warrior gathered his things and traveled to the cedars to find his wise friend. Raven seated on his shoulder began to speak, but only the ones of true medicine could follow her words. “What the girl is asking for is the giant fish, known as Salmon. In this full moon, they can be found far from here at the mouth of a mighty river, which flows into the other side of the lakes here.. Because those of your clan are considered friends, I will fly swift and far to gather one of these fish and return it to your village.”

Before the counsel could thank her, the Raven was high in the air flying far and fast until her keen eyes saw far beneath her, many Salmon swimming together at the mouth of the river. The Raven dived quick as a hawk and, by chance caught the little son of the Salmon Chief in his talons. Rising high in the air, with the fish held firmly in her claws, the Raven flew toward the distant village of her friends.
Salmon Scouts that were leaping high from the water in great flashing arcs, saw the direction that the Raven was flying. A school of Salmon, led by their chief soon began to swim rapidly in pursuit. As quickly as the fish swam, the fast-flying raven reached the village far ahead of them where Raven placed the great fish before the little daughter of the chief, she smiled, and cried no more.

Then the Raven told the clan that many Salmon would be sure to swim into the river to the village in pursuit, to try and rescue the young Salmon which he had caught. They all decided to have the people of the clan to weave a huge net. This they did quickly so that when the Salmon came, all of the fish were caught in it. To hold them prisoner, a long, strong leather thong was passed through their gills. One end of the thong was tied to a big rock and the other end was fastened to this great totem pole, which then grew as a tall cedar.

Ever since, it has been called the ‘Nhe-is-bik’, or tethering pole. On this pole – a totem pole – there was carved a mighty Thunderbird, an Indian Chief, a Raven and a Salmon, carved in that order from the top of the great cedar pole. Year after year, from that time, the Salmon have passed on that side of the river and continue to this day. They are held as sacred with the people and the story continues to be shared.

Blessings
~ bear Medicinewalker

 

Music from Charlie Wayne

 

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Hummingbird and Tobacco

Long ago, when all people and animals spoke the same language, there was only one tobacco plant in all the world. From far and wide they come for their tobacco. All was well, until the greedy Dagul’ku geese stole the plant and flew far to the south with it where they guarded it night and day. Before long the people and animals began to suffer greatly because the tobacco was gone. One such person was a beloved Elder woman who had become very ill, so thin and weak that it was felt by all that she would die soon, and could only be saved by their Sacred tobacco and it disturbed them all that they could not provide what was needed. So it was decided that they should hold a council and make a plan on how to retrieve the tobacco that had been taken from them. They all agreed that the animals should be sent to see if they could get it back.

One by one, the animals all tried to get the plant, but each time they were seen by the Dagul’ku geese and could not reach the Sacred tobacco plant. From the largest to the smallest, the Four Leggeds failed. Then one among them, the Mole decided he should be the one that he would go. Everyone thought this to be a good idea since he would tunnel under the ground to the plant and be able to get it back. So off he went tunneling ever closer to the Sacred tobacco plant.

However the Dagul’ku geese were waiting for him for with their keen sense of hearing they heard him underneath as he was digging his tunnel and they waited at the plant for him to come out. As soon as he raised his head above ground the Dagul’ku geese attacked him and he went back to the village without the Sacred plant. The mood within the council was very somber after that. None could think of any way to get the Sacred tobacco plant away from the greedy Dagul’ku geese. No one wanted to go only to be attacked and sent back in defeat.

As the Hummingbird sat listening to all of the plans she had come up with one of her own. She boldly arose in front of the council and told them all that she could retrieve the Sacred plant. They all looked at her and laughed, “How could you do this, you are so small? How could you get to the Sacred plant past the Dagul’ki geese? She held her ground and told them that she knew she could do it and if they wanted they could test her. So they pointed to the middle of the meadow, they showed her a plant that all could see and said to her, “Go, sit on that plant, but do not let us see you getting there.”

No sooner than the words had been spoken then they all could see the little Hummingbird sitting atop the plant in the meadow. And then again before their very eyes she disappeared again only to reappear within the council circle with not one of them having seen her go or return. The all sat Stunned at the feat and skill she had shown them all and it was soon agreed to give this little warrior a chance. She wasted no time flying off straight to the Sacred plant, right under the noses of the Dagul’ki geese. She flew right up to the plant without them even suspecting her being there. Quick as a wink she used her long beak to cut off the top of the plant that had a few leaves and the seeds, then off she flew straight back to the council circle.

By this time the Elder woman was thought to have died, but smoke from the Sacred tobacco plant was blown into her nostrils and with a cry of “Tsa’lu”, she opened her eyes and regained her strength.

From that day forward, all looked with favor and respect to the little Hummingbird who managed to out wit the Dagul’ku geese to return the Sacred tobacco plant back for all to use.

Many Blessings,

bear Medicinewalker

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