Sorry this post is a day late. Yesterday was my son's birthday and we spent the day with him, trying to make sure he had a good day for as little money as possible.
A friend of mine had to bury one of her beloved feline companions recently and this has brought up some things for me. I feel so bad for her as I know what it is like to lose a creature that is more to you than just "a cat". Cats are her totem animal, so she has a special relationship with them. This is something that I can fully relate to. My favorite animal is the cat. My totem animal is the tiger, and one of my deities is Bast, an ancient Egyptian "feline goddess". As such, I too, have a great affinity for cats. They are magical creatures for me, and they play a large part in my spirituality and magical workings. They are not just animals to me, they are my friends.
Whenever I am feeling run-down, tired, out of sorts, or just 'off', often all I need to do to feel better is to have a snuggle with the cat that owns me. If she is not available, or not amenable to snuggling right then, any friendly cat will help. The feline energy is great for helping me recharge.
My husband does not understand my fascination with cats. He doesn't really like cats, and has no idea how someone could enjoy their company. His totem animal is the wolf, represented in our home by a 75 pound German Shephard-Alaskan Malamute mix that looks more like a wolf than some wolves I have seen, and while I don't have any use for the stinking, slobbery thing, my husband really likes him. This sometimes creates challenges in our marriage and the way we interact with each other.
We both have some of the attributes of our respective totem animals. Wolves are pack animals. Tigers are solitary creatures. My husband is a slightly introverted extrovert. I am a VERY introverted introvert. He likes to go to parties and hang out with people while I prefer to either be alone or to be with one or two people (or a handful if I know them all). Parties are something that I try to avoid whenever possible, but when I do go to one, I usually say hello to everyone I know, then hunt down the animals that live in the house and make friends with them. If there are no animals, I try to find a quiet, out of the way spot and hang out there. My husband gets frustrated and angry with me because I don't want to go to all the parties he wants to go to, and he doesn't understand why I don't want to go. I don't understand his desire to be with other people as much as he seems to need to. I have told him repeatedly that it's perfectly fine for him to go without me, that I really don't want to go, but he still gets upset.
So this makes me wonder. Do we take on the attributes of our totem animals, or do we already have these attributes on our own? I do not have an answer for this, but some of the people I have talked to about it in the past feel that we do take on the attributes of our totem animals, wether for good or bad. Amusingly, though, there is one tiger trait that I just cannot get behind. Tigers are carnivores. They eat meat almost exclusively. I don't like meat, and avoid it as much as possible.
The differences between my husband and I, and our totem animals, makes me wonder sometimes if cat people and dog people can ever really resolve their differences? Can a person who doesn't like cats (or one who doesn't like dogs) learn to put aside their personal feelings for the creatures and live in harmony with someone who doesn't like their favored creature, or are we forever doomed to never see eye-to-eye and to always misunderstand the other and their critter?
Any thoughts?
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