Whos Your Animal Guide by Samantha Fey l Animal Instincts l Animal Personalities l What is Your Inner Animal

Before we are born, we create a soul’s plan and are given a team to help us. Our team consists of spirit guides, guardian angels and animal guides. Our animal guide brings us strength and imparts important information during times of trial. Pay attention to the animals, birds and insects you see throughout your day. Sometimes, they come to us as signs from our loved ones or they appear to help us make important decisions.

Seeing a cardinal or a butterfly, for example, is often a sign from a loved one in heaven. Their beautiful coloring and freedom to fly signals us that they are happy and free from pain on the other side. If you see an owl that is a sign you might be going back to school. Witnessing a hawk often tells you to pay attention to something in your life you’re avoiding. There are four types of animal guides that bring us messages.

Messenger Guides

Messenger guides come in quickly to pass along a message and then leave. Messenger guides will make their presence known to you. It’s the butterfly that perches on your shoulder, the rabbit that hops in front of your car, the mouse that shows up in your garage. They will come in to pass on a message and then leave. The key to discerning your messenger guide is to pay attention to how the animal reacts to you. Sometimes when we see a blue bird, it’s just a blue bird flying past us. But when we’re praying for guidance or a sign and then a blue bird perches outside your kitchen window, that might be a sign of good times to come. The butterfly reminds you that it’s time for a metamorphosis in your life. The ladybug tells you luck is coming your way. The turtle crossing the road in front of you tells you to slow down.

Shadow Guides

Shadow guides help you face your fears and remind you that you have it within you to overcome great obstacles. Spiders, snakes, rats and cockroaches are examples of shadow guides. Shadow guides will appear again and again until the message is received and the fear is faced. They typically appear repeatedly during times of trial and testing. Spiders remind us that we can be resourceful, that we have our very own magic within us and can rely on these resources to help us through difficult times. Snakes appear to tell us that we are going through an important life changing experience. Just as a snake sheds its skin to begin anew so will we go through significant and sometimes scary changes in our own life. Seeing a shark tells us that we have to take the lead and be more forceful with the situation in our life. Once our fear is faced, the shadow guide does not reappear but its presence leaves us stronger.

Companion Guide

When you’re faced with a difficult choice, a painful transition or a joyous change, a companion animal guide will appear and stay with you during the time of the change. If you’re going through a difficult divorce, you might see a lot of deer in your yard. The deer is a symbol of grace, elegance, and patience. The deer asks you to turn the other cheek and take the high road. Its message asks you to forgive your ex and yourself. If you’re mourning the loss of a loved one, hummingbird might come visit you as reminder to cherish good memories but move forward to embrace life. Hummingbird tells us it's time to let your heart heal. The hummingbird lives on nectar and spends its life seeking the sweetness of life. It's time to move on from a painful situation, to put the past behind you and seek out the sweetness of your life.

Life Animal Guide

A life animal guide is similar to your spirit guide. It is with you for life. This guide represents your greatest strengths. If you are fierce, determined and competitive, the lion may be your life guide. If you are a loner and need long periods of alone time and are fiercely protective of your loved ones, bear may be your animal guide. If you tend to live in two worlds – always here but focused on the spiritual – dragonfly is your guide. The dragonfly lives in two worlds – air and water – and so helps us to find balance. Your animal guide will appear periodically throughout your life to remind you of your strengths and talents. Our animal guide chooses us based on our talents. We don’t choose our animal guide. So when you meet your animal guide, it’s always an honor and an opportunity to explore our inner world of spirituality and life lessons.

Meeting Your Animal Guide

Making contact with your animal guide can occur through dreams and meditation. Ask your life animal guide to make its presence known to you. Pay attention to coincidences and synchronicities. If you dream about a wolf, wake up and turn on the TV to find a documentary on the wolf and then later that week someone sends you a card with a wolf on the front, that’s a sign that wolf might be your animal guide.

Once you know who your animal guide is, take the time to learn everything about the animal – habitat, eating habits, myth and folklore. For example, hummingbird is the only bird able to fly backwards so it’s a reminder to never forget where we came from, to search for lessons and clues in our past. When you make contact with your animal guide, you will feel more connected to nature, yourself and the world around you.