I'm sure you're familiar with the words 'totem pole', but what does totem mean? Animal? Before we're born, we choose our angels. We choose our spirit guides. We also choose our totem, an animal spirit that is mostly invisible but is constantly at your side. On rare occasions will a totem reveal itself, and when it does it's usually to defend you from harm. How do you tell? It's simple...what animal do you find yourself drawn to? It can't be your pet, because your pet is alive. It can't be a past pet, either which would mean that you would have gone through a brief period without a totem.

There have been stories over the years about totems. One woman was being chased and then finally pinned. Suddenly, a huge cobra reared up in front of her, faced her attacker and bared its fangs viciously. Another account which I particularly find amusing was about a man living in an apartment complex. He never got a chance to see his totem, a panther, but the owner constantly complained of seeing a large black cat sitting in the man's window of his no-pets-allowed apartment.

What totem you have also defines who you are. Perhaps someone with an elephant totem is a strong leader but mostly caring and gentle.

Totems bring to mind the Indians and their beliefs. Perhaps this is where the whole belief of animal spirits started. Some Indians wore small carvings of animals or their bones so that hunting that animal would be easier.

Naming your animal totem can really help the bonding process.

Some name examples are:
(Arabic) Tiger='Nemer.'
(Greek) Elephant='Elephas'.
('unknown to me') Cat='Felina.'
(Swahili) Elephant='Tembo.'
(Swahili) Cat='Paka'.
(Bulgarian) Wolf='Valko'.
(Swahili) Leopard='Chui'.
(Swahili) Snake='Nyoka'.
(Swahili) Cheetah='Duma'.
(Swahili) Deer='Paa'.
(Swahili) Donkey='Punda'.
(Swahili) Hyena='Fisi'.
(Swahili) Monkey='Kima'.
(Swahili) Sheep='Kondoo'.
(Swahili) Lion='Simba'.
(?Norwegian?) Snow Leopard='Sabu'.