Birth Totems

Birth totems, unlike Power totems, are only with us in our present incarnation. They do not travel with us from one life to the next. They are the animals that we choose to be born under in order to learn a certain life lesson. The closer we align and integrate our life's lessons, the more we tend to exhibit the higher vibrations of that particular birth totem.

Birth totems are equivalent to the sun signs that we are born under in exoteric Astrology. And are easily broken down in month intervals. Unlike power totems which may take months or even years to discover through meditation and shamanic journeys; birth totems are as easy to figure out as reading the chart below, which I found at http://wolfs_moon.tripod.com/birthtotmain.html and highly recommend as a good totem reference.

Falcon March 21st - April 19th
Beaver April 20th - May 20th
Deer May 21st - June 20th
Woodpecker June 21st - July 21st
Salmon July 22nd - August 21st
Bear August 22nd - September 21st
Crow September 22nd - October 22nd
Snake October 23rd - November 23rd
Owl - November 24th - December 21st
Goose - December 22nd - January 19th
Otter - January 20th - February 18th
Wolf - February 19th - March 20th

My birth totem is the snake. It falls under the element water. Which is a heavy theme in my current incarnation being that I'm also a double scorpio.

Birth Totem Snake
Birth dates: October 23 - Novermber22
Birth Totem: Snake
Clan of: Frog (Water Chief)
Wind is: West
Directional Totem is: Bear
Conscious intent is: Physical Fulfillment
Motive of Higher Self is: Spiritual Union.
Plant/Flower: Thistle
Mineral: Amethyst

Keywords: Intense, Regenerative, Penetrating, Passionate, Scornful

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Birth Totem Snake is an individual whose outer personality is driven by desires of both the physical body and the emotional heart.In Nature, the snake is in a constant state of transformation, regeneration and renewal as he sheds his old skin, revealing a healthy, new skin to begin the next cycle of his Life.

Like their Birth Totem, individuals born under the Totem of Snake are souls compelled toward continual evolution and transformation, driven to discard the past and emerge with the new “flesh” and sight of the dawn now before them. Yet the process is often a challenging one as in order to step into the brilliant Light of Self Acknowledgment, these individuals must first face,
and then release, the painful moments of their ~past.~Many such lessons for Birth Totem Snake, will come in the guise of physical desires as they are very sensual individuals that consciously seek to bond with another on a physical level. These strong urges can be nearly overwhelming at times and may often lead one who has not integrated the Physical Self to the Spiritual, Mental and Emotional, into painful situations in which they may either unintentionally hurt
another, or become hurt themselves.

The reason for this often is because there is a deeper calling that arises from the Soul of Birth Snake, the call to Spiritual Union with another. Yet this call, when one is operating from
Personality, is heard as a call to join only in physical union. Those times when the Snake individual joins with another in an act of physical passion, yet the spiritual union is not achieved, is ultimately left with a sense of dissatisfaction. Whether verbally expressed to their partner or not, this dissatisfaction may ultimately lead to one or both partners becoming disillusioned and wanting “more” from the relationship.When Birth Totem Snake individual can understand the motives of the Higher Self and can attain true integration between the Physical, Emotional, Spiritual and Mental Self, then the Motive of the Higher Self for Spiritual Union will ultimately be attained, both in terms of Union with the Self, and the Union with an Other.

Androgynous Shaman

To become a shaman, he or she on their journey must learn that there are multiple dimensions of existence. Just as most of us do not believe that magic is black or white or that there is good or evil - we can also say that the sexes cannot be divided simply into male or female. This perception and sometimes dogma is hard to break. Most often a shaman in the beginning of their journey will come across a spirit or guide that is ambiguous by nature which helps with their initiation into a train of thought that transcends the gender lines. Often times, but not always, in history shamans were bisexual and/or homosexual. This helps legitimize the fact that they were not trapped by gender and had reached a higher spiritual plane. Proving furthermore that they were shamans who could go between worlds and planes - to reach beyond to the spirit world.

According to the book Fire in the Head Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit by Tom Cowan, many Native American communities felt that transgender men were 'touched with some special magic, power, or wisdom that would be valuable to the community.' Their dreams and visions were encouraged and often they were elevated to a healer or spiritual leader status.

The same follows for lesbian shamans who have been found from the Artic Circle to the Amazon. They were recognized and celebrated as interpreters and 'go-betweens' for the Otherworld. Lesbian shamans were encouraged to dress like men and hunt. They were fierce warriors.

I find this topic extremely fascinating. At one point in time our ancestors celebrated our differences and furthermore valued these differences.