My Moose....Part Two

Last Tuesday, May 22nd, Abby and I had to run into town to pay some bills. It was a clear sunny day. On the way home, I was driving down the highway when something caught my eye. It was a moose. It was not on the highway, but rather down in the ditch. I slowed the car down and then finally came to a complete stop. Surprisingly there were no other cars on the highway at this time. I grabbed my cellphone to take a pic and rolled my window down. It stared right at me and took a couple of steps toward me. What a beautiful creature. I don't quite know what it is about them. Their size, maybe? Do they remind me of horses? I'm not sure why I love them so much but I just do. So there we are, just me, Abby asleep in the back of the van, and the moose...alone on the highway together. It felt very spiritual. I started talking to it when I noticed that some cars were coming. So I told it to be careful and not to get hit by a car....accelerated and drove away.


Cut to this morning. I was looking in my archives to see if I had blogged anything this time last year. I clicked on May, 2006. I only blogged twice that month. May 21st's title was Our Song, where I talk about mine and Jason's song. The title for May 25th? My Moose.

"...when suddenly a moose walks into my line of vision! It's just standing there on my front lawn. I stare at it for what seems like minutes, in shock of it's presence and in awe of it's majestic beauty........I don't know what it was. Maybe the mood I was in, or just being that close to a wild creature? But I felt like the moose came for me. Crazy I know. But it was like in a movie. Something magical about it. A connection."

Weird eh? I mean I know, living where we live, the chances of seeing a moose this time of year is rather high. But the odds that I would personally have a close encounter alone with a moose on almost the exact same day? Not so high, I think.

I'm starting to think that maybe the moose is my animal totem...or one of them.

An Animal Totem is an important symbolic object used by a person to get in touch with specific qualities found within an animal which the person needs, connects with, or feels a deep affinity toward. You can have several animal guides through out your life. Sometimes an animal guide will come into your life for a short period of time, and then be replaced by another depending on the journey or direction you are headed toward. Your guide will instruct and protect you as you learn how to navigate through your spiritual and physical life.

I've always thought that the spider was my totem. They were everywhere...and I mean everywhere. Everyday. Hanging from the ceiling, crawling on my shoulder, I couldn't do anything or go anywhere without spiders following me. Which was quite upsetting at times, considering I'm arachnophobic. A psychic once said that this was because I was a witch, lol, that's another story.

To the Native Americans, Spider is Grandmother, the link to the past and future. In India it's associated with Maya, the weaver of illusions. With its gentle strength, Spider spins together the threads of life with intricate webs. Spider knows that the past affects the future and vise verse. It calls us to make use of our creativity and weave our dreams into our destiny. For many Native Americans, "spider woman" stories are important creation mythologies. One of the common feature of those are wisdom symbolized with spiders' webs (for example, she taught the human how to weave). Also generally accepted are the ideas that her "thread" connects the human world and the world of spirits or the "above world" and the "below world". Spider Woman also weaves the "relationship" of the Web of Life and all beings.

But lately the spiders seem to have subsided. Maybe I need a moose totem in the spring?

Though moose appear awkward, they possess a gracefulness with which they move easily through deep snow and unstable terrain. Their excellent depth perception, and sense of hearing enable them to know when to camouflage themselves. This is an incredible feat since the adult male can stand 7 feet tall and weigh 1,200 pounds. These animals can be unpredictable by either running away when they see you, ignoring you, or mauling you. Moose calves are born with their eyes open, and those with this totem are usually born with their inner eyes open. Moose uncovers the depth of who you are and aligns you with your inherent wisdom. Moose teaches us to value ourselves and reward ourselves for a job well done.

Hmmmm. Something to think about I guess. For those of you who don't believe, please disregard. For those who do, you can check out http://www.animaltotem.com/find-your-totem.html.