Spirit Lodge - Totem Animals - Page 95

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Page 95

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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

LOON MEDICINE
By CinnamonMoon

From Ted Andrews/Animal-Speak:
Keynote: Lucid dreaming and re-awakening of old hopes, wishes and dreams.
Cycle of power: Dusk and dawn.

The Loon is an unusual bird. Even when compared to other water birds, it stands out as unique. It
is the best swimmer of all birds in North Ameria, and it may even be a better swimmer than the Penguin.

The loon is always around water, an ancient symbol for the astral plane, dreams, and other levels
of consciousness. Many myths and stories symbolize a move to a new state of consciousness by
describing trips across the seas. Though it is awkward and clumsy on land, it is a powerful
swimmer and it's wings steer, and its feet act like a diver's fins. The loon can swim underwater
up to five minutes, dive deeper and swim faster than any other birds, so they are like miniature submarines.

Unlike most birs whose bones are filled with air, the loon's are solid. To sink and dive the loon
empties its lungs. It retains enough air to sustain itself. It is this ability that enables it to escape
many predators and to be such a masterful swimmer. Many trance-like states require an
adjustment of the breathing, often slowing down to a slow, barely perceptible rhythm. The loon
can teach this so that it is easier to enter into varying degrees of consciousness--while
maintaining control.

This ability also reflects the potential for an individual to become more conscious in the dream
state. Lucid dreaming is when you become aware in your dream that you are dreaming. Then you
can change the dream scenario. Lucid dreaming is only a half-step away from fully conscious
out-of-body experiences. Any time the loon shows up as a totem, it is calling to you to pay
attention to your dreams. It indicates that they will be of greater importance, along with
becoming more vibrant and colorful. The haunting call of the loon may also be telling you that
all of those hopes, wishes, and dreams that you have tucked to the back of the heart about to
come to the surface. The loon may be signaling you not to compromise them again, or you may
find yourself truly haunted.

The loon will teach new states of consciousness. it will also help you deepen those you have
already awakened. Because it lives close to the water--at the shore line--it can teach you to use
these various states of consciousness to open to new dimensions and other life forms--such as
those found within the Faerie realm of life. The call of the loon can be an invitation to enter the
Faerie realm. It is likened to the distant call of the sirens.

To most people, the call of the loon is its most distinguishing feature. It is haunting and touches
the soul in a primal way. The loon is actually very talkative, and it has a whole repertory of calls-
-each different in sound and meaning. One of its calls is similar to the sound of a wolf howl. One
is like a trilling laugh. It will often use the call to distract predators away from the nest. To many
other people, the loons call is the true call of the wild. It stirs the primal embers within all who
hear it--no matter how long those embers have lain cool. It is as if the sound is calling forth all
that we have ignored or shoved to the back of the closet in our minds.

The loon is also a good flyer, but unlike other birds it cannot take off from land. It will run across
the water to build up lift. Again this reflects its ability to use altered states of consciousness
through greater expression of the will force. On land, the loon cannot walk or waddle very well,
and an individual with a loon totem often finds that s/he is only truly comfortable in one--or
maybe two--environments. Such people are often not comfortable in the traditional behaviors
and social mores of the times. They also have a hard time landing, and so the loon that comes to
you as a totem may be coming because it may help you to learn how to become more
comfortable in different environments.

With loon as a totem, the imagination and dreaming abilities (while awake or asleep) are
powerful. Images and visions will always be very life-like, and the individual may have
difficulty separating the real from the unreal. This the loon can help us to do. If you are one of
those who has a loon totem, you must ask yourself some questions. Are you looking at
something through rose-colored glasses? Are you allowing your imagination to run away with
you? Are you not allowing your imagination and dream life to work for you? Is it calling to you
to distract you from that which could create problems?

Many superstitions have arisen concerning the loon. To the Norwegians, its eerie call is the
sound of the spirit of one who is drowning or soon will. Many northern Indian tribes believed its
call signaled that rain was coming or even caused the rain. To the Algonquin Indians the loon is
the messenger of Glooskap, a superhuman hero. In Siberia it was believed that when it took to
the air, it was escorting the soul of the dead to heaven. One Eskimo story of the loon speaks of
how it was not always a bird. Once two men were fishing, but only one man was catching the
fish. The man who had caught nothing all day knocked the other man out and stole his fish. He
then proceeded to cut out the tongue of the second man so he could not tell others. He was then
pushed out of the boat into the sea. As he wailed in pain, the Great Spirit heard him and turned
him into a loon. Many believe that the eerie cry of the loon is the spirit of this man crying out for
justice.

All of these reflect the mystery of this bird. Its haunting and eerie call, its iridescent colors, and
its wonderful ability to swim are all reminders of the possibilities that open to us through
learning to shift into altered states of consciousness. The loon awakens the imagination, and it
reminds us that we are never given a hope, wish, or dream without also being given opportunities
to make them a reality. And the only thing that can shatter that possibility is compromise. The
loon can lead you back to your greatest dreams and imaginings.

*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Loon denotes mental or emotional confusion or convoluted thought processes.