I recently found this contest and I just had to jump in!
https://steemit.com/animalmav/@maverickinvictus/hayup-ka-you-re-an-animal-writing-contest
I spent a lifetime seeking enlightenment, like so many people. I have found great wisdom in odd places and have even attained some level of a thing I call "enlightenment." It was not what I set out looking for in my youth at all, which is some confirmation that it is genuine. Idealism is fabulous in our youth, if t is never tempered with reality that does not pan out so well.
I have spent blessed hours in inipi and other ceremony, I sat at the foot of some incredible wise-men and wise-women. I have been fortunate to come to know my clan, my spirit guides, my totem. I have come to really know my connection to Turtle Island and all who dwell here in a personal way. Of course now, I am less impressed with this knowledge than I was before I had it. It was all mystical and magical and required incantations and rituals and much ado in my young "seeker" mind. At this point I have reached the rather uncomfortable truth that the thing that most effectively prevents learning is having an expectation about what you will learn or how. So it is with animal guides and such. There was really no special skill required, I just had to shut the hell up and listen. The world began to talk to me the instant I quit trying to tell the world what to do.
I reached this cronish age while I was not looking. I was just a kid then all the sudden I was a granny! I did not feel qualified to be an elder but someone had to do it and I had the wrinkles... but I think I am getting the hang of it.
A few years ago, I realized a new animal spirit guide had come into my life. I do not seek them now, I finally realized that all I have to do is be open to them and they show up when the time is right. One day I was feeding my compost bin and realized that this lowliest of creatures was sharing deep wisdom with me. Mind you, Spirit and I have agreed that humor is sacred so we are a little bawdy with each other...
It went a little like this:
"Here you go my little worm slaves! Take my garbage and turn it into beautiful soil for my garden!"
"You know we are going to eat you in the end."
That was all it took. The worm is my totem these days, he keeps me humble.
Maybe you were expecting more to this story? I was expecting more to enlightenment but once I got comfortable with reality, I found it far more educational and entertaining than pompous self righteousness parading as spirituality. So before you knock my totem try listening to him yourself. Keeping a human humble is powerful medicine!
The "big apple" in our neighbor's tree. Spirit Guide bait?