I am extremely connected to the animal world and power animal guides and totems are prevalent in my spiritual and daily experience. That connection runs very deep, more than I can explain in words, and I feel that they channel through me so that I may share their messages to help integrate into the healing work I do. So it is no wonder that I carry many of them on my “Spiritual Skin” body canvas art of sacred tattoos and that they consistently show up in my paintings and in all aspects of my work. I see no separation between anything and that every thing has its own consciousness equal to our own and is interconnected. It is simply the channel of manifested expression each part of that consciousness chooses to express itself as, that conveys in visual difference, but the heart of their personal petal is from the same flower essence whole. When we understand this, a whole new and beautiful experience of life opens up – and the way we walk through life completely changes.

According to shamanic belief, everything is alive and carries with it a wisdom and power. Shamanism is found in all cultures of the Earth and is the world’s oldest healing tradition. This ancient, worldwide practice involves engaging with spirit helpers and the forces of the natural world to develop relationships, solve problems and perform healing. Shamans travel to the parallel worlds where time and space have no meaning and use the powers of those worlds, the subconscious and the realities of this world to cause change.

They are able to go within and enter an altered state of consciousness at will, in order to contact and utilize a hidden reality that most do not consciously perceive. Power animals are essential to shamanic practice, as shamans believe that everyone has power animals. These power animals act as guides or angels, imbuing their individual energy, power and wisdom to guide, heal and protect you. They provide the wisdom of their kind and are not only limited to mammals, but can also be reptiles, insects and sea creatures. Any living creature can serve as a power animal and plants and trees can serve as plant spirit guides, providing their own wisdom.

A Walk Between Worlds - "Hatun Karpay of the Nagual" (the great initiation of the Nagual - form of very powerful shaman). An interpretation of the Incan Medicine Wheel as the World (#21) Card of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot by Tania Marie. Original and prints available at http://www.taniamarie.com

 

I created a painting, the one you see to your right (which you can see larger on my website: www.taniamarie.com) to honor the energy of what I’m sharing here and to provide a healing portal that can be utilized for embracing these energies. I combined the Incan Medicine Wheel, with Tarot, seeing its connection with the World Tarot Card symbolism and created a visionary interpretation of the two synergized.