An Otter ran across my path today… AN OTTER!
One of the blessings of living in an Eco Estate – but they are notoriously shy and in 4 years of living here, this is the first one I have seen.
When one runs right in front of you, it’s obviously delivering a strong message, right?
I came home and opened my Medicine Cards – The Discovery of Power through the Ways of Animals.
As always – nature delivers the perfect message at the perfect time!
I have been so weighed down by worry – and just look at the message Otter delivered to me… Medicine indeed!
Medicine Card Reading: Otter
“The medicine held by Otter is a set of lessons in female energy.
This applies to both men and women, as all of us have female sides. The Otter’s hide is very often used to make medicine bags for powerful women because it represents balanced female energy.
Otter is very caring of its young and will play for hours, performing all types of acrobatics. It lives on land, but always has its home near water.
The elements of Earth and Water are the female elements.
At home in both of these elements, Otter is the personification of femininity: long, sleek, and graceful. Otter is the true coquette of the animal world.
Otter is always on the move and is very curious.
Unlike other animals, Otter will not start a fight unless it is attacked first. This joyful little creature is adventuresome and assumes that all other creatures are friendly – until proven otherwise.
These character traits are the beauty of a balanced female side, the side of ourselves that creates space for others to enter our lives without preconceptions or suspicions.
Otter teaches us that balanced female energy is not jealous or catty. It is sisterhood, content to enjoy and share the good fortune of others. Anchored in the understanding that all accomplishments are worthwhile for the whole tribe, Otter people express joy for others.
Long ago, in tribal law, if a woman were widowed, her sister would offer her own husband to the widow as a lover to keep her from drying up and not using her creative urges. This is Otter Medicine, too. Envy, or the fear of being replaced has no space in Otter’s balanced understanding of sharing goodness.
Woman energy without games or control is a beautiful experience.
It is the freedom of love without jealousy.
It is the joy of loving other people’s children and their accomplishments as much as you love your own.
Lessons from Otter
It may be time to examine your feelings about sharing the bounty of your life with others.
Otter may be saying that the finer qualities of woman need to be striven for in both men and women so that a unity of spirit can be achieved.
This would involve the destruction of jealousy and all the acts of anger, which stem from that fear. It would mean keeping a Hawk-eye on your ego and maintaining total trust. It would mean a world full of people coming together to honor the right of each person to be.
If you have drawn this symbol, Otter may be telling you to become the playful child and to simply allow things to unfold in your life.
It may be time to stop your addiction to worrying.
Otter also teaches the importance of not hanging onto material things that would bind you or become a burden.
In looking at how you can learn from Otter’s habits, you might look at the joyousness of the receptive side of your nature.
- Have you given yourself a gift recently?
- Have you received any messages in your meditations?
Become Otter and move gently into the river of life.
Flow with the waters of the Universe… this is the way of balanced female- receptive energy.
Honor it!
In doing so, you will discover the power of woman.”
SOURCE: The Medicine Cards – The Discovery of Power through the Ways of Animals. By David Carson & Jamie Sams.
New to the idea of Spirit Animals?
Animal spirit guides, familiar to indigenous and shamanic cultures, are called either power animals or totem animals. They are often seen as guides or protectors, and can help us through tough times and show us new perspectives in life.
Power animals can appear in meditations, visions, dreams, shamanic journeys, or on the earth in their physical forms.
They can be mammals, birds, or reptiles. Even so-called mythical creatures such as unicorns or dragons can be power animals.
Whenever an animal shows up in an unusual way or repeatedly in a short space of time – whether it’s the physical animal or a symbol of an animal – its one way Spirit tries to reach us and teach us.
