I'm sure you'reyou're familiar with the words 'totem pole',butpole', but what does totem mean?Animal.How many people here has seen the Golden Compass?Well,what you will read here will probablymean? remindAnimal? you ofBefore that.Before we're born,weborn, we choose our angels.Weangels. We choose our spirit guides.Andguides. weWe also choose our totem,antotem, an animal spirit that is mostly invisible but is constantly at your side.Onside. On rare occasions will a totem reveal itself,anditself, and when it does,it'sdoes it's usually to defend you from harm.I (Cinderfeather) believe my totem is aharm. snowHow leopard.How do you tell?It'stell? It's simple...what animal do you find yourself drawn to?Andto? itIt can't be your pet,becausepet, because your pet is alive.Andalive. itIt can't be a past pet,either,whichpet, either which would mean that you would have gone through a brief period without a totem.Impossible.totem.

There have been stories over the years about totems.Onetotems. One woman was being chased,andchased and then finally pinned.Suddenly,apinned. Suddenly, a huge cobra reared up in front of her,facedher, faced her attacker,andattacker and bared its fangs viciously.Anotherviciously. Another account which I particularly find amusing was about a man living in an apartment complex.Hecomplex. He never got a chance to see his totem,atotem, a panther, panther,butbut 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.Seeing as mine's a snow leopard,I could see myself as quiet(given that snow leopards don't roar,and mostare. oftenPerhaps just make chirping sounds),but savage if provoked.You see what I mean?Perhaps someone with an elephant totem is a strong leader,butleader but mostly caring and gentle.

Totems bring to mind the indiansIndians and their beliefs.Perhapsbeliefs. Perhaps this is where the whole belief of animal spirits started.Somestarted. Some indiansIndians 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.I once called my totem Sabu for a short time,meaning snow leopard,but I had already grown partial to the name Evangeline(Eva).It helps to talk to them during hard times in your life.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'.

Despite of the wonderful name 'Sabu',I decided against it and gave my totem a human name.Maybe you will,too.