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Monday, November 14, 2011

Animal Signs: Elephant

I haven't had elephants appear on my front lawn or anything, not even the pink elephant variety, but for some reason they were "on my mind" today. They are definitely a powerful animal totem and therefore deserve a blog post in my opinion.

Elephants as an animal sign or totem animal are said to represent commitment, strength, loyalty, ancient power, royalty and family.  The elephant is considered "feminine energy" and a very grounding strength.

Elephants have been revered throughout time as intelligent caring creatures. They  have been and still are, honored by many cultures. In Buddhist tradition, Buddha picked the form of a white elephant for many incarnations, thus seeing a white elephant is considered a manifestation of the gods. In Hindu tradition, the god Ganesh, who is considered the "remover of obstacles", has the head of an elephant.

Elephants show great affection for, and are very loyal to, family members. When a baby is born, the entire community of elephants gathers around and celebrates this new life. Newborns enter into a community of love where everyone helps to protect, nurture and teach them. Not only does the elephant community support the babies, they also support the new mothers and help them develop their nurturing skills to be great parents. They live in matriarchal societies where the oldest female elephant has the role of leader and advisor. Elephant leadership is an inclusive type that is concerned for the welfare of all. Perhaps, elephants have always been living in a type of Aquarius Society.

Elephants are powerful communicators and it is believed they can communicate telepathically over great distances. People with the elephant as a totem animal may well have advanced telepathic abilities. Daniel Mapel in, Into the Heart of the Wild, writes that drawing on elephant energies can help people feel connected with family members even when the physical connection is not possible. He reports that people taking elephant essence have been able to travel away from  family still maintaining a grounded sense of connection with those at home.

As one of the largest land animals, the elephant is certainly no flighty lightweight that could be accused of loosing connection with the earth or blipping off to another dimension or daydream.  They maintain a very steady, grounded, ancient connection to the earth, yet it is that ancient wisdom that enables them to be so wise and advanced. Although they are heavy, bulky creatures they move quickly and with a swinging gracefulness. They truly understand  bringing wisdom into their life on earth. With their quiet, slow, graceful nature and deep telepathic communication skills they seem to have mastered bringing 7th chakra type knowledge http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.com/2011/02/seventh-chakra.html into the grounded focus of the 1st Root Chakra   http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.com/2010/11/chakra-foods.html That to me, might be the ultimate balance.

Elephants are said to experience very "human emotions".  Personally, I think all animals experience emotions and I don't think we can really claim emotions to be exclusive to the human experience, but perhaps elephants have shown their emotions in ways we identify with. They seem to cry with both joy and sadness, truly grieve the loss of one of the herd, and have been known on occasion to fly into rages- usually in an effort to protect or claim revenge. I don't think there is any one Bach flower essence that really signifies elephant energy, but I think the essences might be very helpful to elephants in distress. Call me if you know of one!! Seems like they would also make wonderful candidates for proving distance healing techniques.

Elephants do show us that by supporting one another our ability to thrive in the world is enhanced.  They are one of the longest living creatures on earth and they have done that by living together in harmony and support. They listen to each other in ways we may never really understand and they show wisdom patience and compassion.

As a totem animal, elephants are said to help guide you to new energies and power by understanding ancient wisdom.  They can give you insight into the power of the three feminine energies of child, mother, and wise woman or crone. To that, I say, "You go girl"!!

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