Spirit Lodge - Totem Animals

SPIRIT
LODGE

LIBRARY

Totem Animals

Page 137

(Main Links of the site are right at the bottom of the page)
Some of the links for the 197 pages in this Totem Animals section are below. For the rest please go HERE

Bear Medicine	Birth Totems	Coyote Medicine	Dragon Ranks	Dragonfly Medicine	Eagle Medicine	Four Animal Helpers	Grey Wolf Medicine	Hawk
Heron Medicine	Horse	Magpie	Raccoon	Salmon Medicine	Spider Medicine	Swan Medicine	Thunder Being Medicine	Totem Loss Disc

RAT
By Mouse

Here is some information about Rat from the link to "Animal Spirits" on the front page:
Rat's Wisdom Includes:
• Ability to live unseen
• Stealth
• Defense
• Intelligence
• Symbol of fertility and wealth
• Abundant reproduction

And from www.sayahda.com/cyc4.html:
The Rat would probably not be so successful if it weren't for humans. Our living habits have
provided them with homes and food and we have eliminated many of their predators. Because of
this rats hold important teachings about waste, over consumption and survival for those who
have this totem.

Rats can eat a quarter to a third of their body weight a day. They gnaw on things to keep their
teeth, which are always growing, short and sharp. Pack Rats are famous for collecting things.
They have been known to strip a sealed cabin in the woods of everything that they could carry.
One species is called the Trade Rat because it leaves a stone in the place of what it takes.
Black Rats carried the fleas that led to the Black Plague. In Norway some years ago, hungry Rats
infested a bird sanctuary and ate, among other things the birds. They even managed to grab
seagulls and hold them down while killing them.

Those with this totem are survivors. Their tendency is to hoard what they have because they fear
that they don't have enough. This fear prompts them to acquire large quantities of things and
fight aggressively to maintain what they have acquired. Rat medicine people are not selfish but
they can appear that way to those who do not know them well. Holding onto everything and
being the pack rat is their way of feeling secure in an insecure world.

Fortunately rats adapt well to environmental changes and can survive on just about anything.
They hold the teachings of resourcefulness. Their fear of not being provided for can be healed by
participating in supportive group activities, meditation and prayer.

The other side of Rat is that it reflects back to us our own human capacity for greed, taking so
much that others needs are denied. They will sometimes overeat and throw up rather than let
food go by. They will dispossess other small animals of their homes if they can, wanting no
competition for food. They truly personify humankind's imperialistic drives, which are making
life on the planet more and more tenuous. If Rat has come to you, look at ways you may be
participating in wasteful consumption or fear based emotions and begin to change your habits appropriately.

Rat animal totem The rat has been living under a stigma since its connection with the bubonic
plague was established. In the fourteenth century, nearly a quarter of Europe's population was
taken by the Black Death, and the rat has been a symbol of Death for at least four centuries.
And then, of course, there's the old sailor's adage about rats leaving a sinking ship before disaster
strikes, which has made the rat synonymous with a traitor or a deserter. While the rat's cousin,
the mouse, has conquered the world as a symbol of fun, fantasy, and frivolity, there is no Ricky
Rat to compete with Mickey Mouse.

Those individuals born in the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac are counted as people who
are ambitious, yet honest, who are prone to spend their money too freely.

If you can move beyond the stigma associated with this large rodent, you will gain a totem
animal that will aid you in establishing a comfortable and efficient home and help you
courageously defend it against all external negativity. There is also a great deal of magical
energy vibrating around this spirit helper, and you may be led into a more serious study of the
ancient mysteries through its encouragement Rat will also lend you the necessary energy to
become a respected worker in the business environment. You will never be tempted to gamble or
fritter away your salary, however, Rat will see to it that you make only wise investments that will
benefit your home and family.

(From: www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/ecolodge/197/rat.html - mind the pop-ups!)