Dog

I was looking at What's Your Sign.com and found this on the dog. When we look into history and discover dog meaning and symbolism we see that it is connected to the supernatural realms. The dog has long been considered a link between the physical and non-physical dimensions. Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Celtic and other cultures have all described the dog as a sacred guardian of the Otherworlds that being, realms outside our daily experience. If you hear of dogs being symbols of death it means that they are the guardians of temporary domains, and can even serve as spirit guides in non-physical journeys.

Anubis, for example,was the Egyptian god whose charge is to insure safe transitions from the physical world into the Afterlife. With the head of a jackal, Anubis dons the super-powerful sensory perception of the dog. Further, that dog connection represents the qualities of protection, guidance, loyalty and adherence to the flow of unseen spiritual energy. In this ancient light, we get distinct impressions of security, guardianship, and protection.

In Celtic symbolism, dogs represent heroism. They embody heart-pounding attributes such as courage, persistence, and virility. A big part of this is due to a Celtic dog's role in hunting. Dogs were even trained by the ancient Celts to assist in war. Here we see that same thread of defense, protection and action for the good of the clan. An interesting paradox is that Celtic dogs are also symbolic of healing. They are often associated with Nodens, who was a Celtic god of nutritive waters, hunting and healing. Dogs have also been portrayed with Sucellus, the Celtic god of protection and provision from an agricultural view.

Native American tribes have long depended upon the dog for their guidance and assistance in everyday chores such as agriculture efficiency and hunting. In fact, when horses were introduced to North America by the Spaniards, the term "sky dogs" was dubbed for horses because they were as helpful as their canine allies. To Native Americans, dogs convey symbolism of assistance, fidelity, community, protection, friendship and communication.

To the Chinese, dogs are also considered a harbinger of friendship. The legendary Fu Dog is considered a guardian of sacred spaces and embodies concepts of protection. Dogs are considered very auspicious. In Asian wisdom dogs are symbols of good luck, loyalty, obedience and prosperity.

The field of Alchemy also involves dogs and sometimes wolves which is associated with Mercury in alchemical wisdom. This is because Mercury is easily fused with other metals. This hints to amicable bonds, that being, friendship, and ties that bind with ease. Mercurial dogs are also symbolic of transition, intelligence, and easy flow through the processes of transmutation.  

I had a Bichon Frise when I was younger.  Every time he went to lay down close to my dad while he was on the computer, he would get his poor little curly tail run over by  dads chair. But being that resilient, forgiving, loyal bundle of fluff that he was, he always came back because that's what dogs do. People used to say he looked like a little white snowflake.  I miss him and I just couldn’t do a blog post about dogs without including good old Cujo.  That was his name, by the way.  My dad chose it.

Dog Symbolism includes: Fidelity, Loyalty, Assistance, Intelligence, Obedience, Protection, Community, Cooperation, Resourcefulness, Communication, and Sensory Perception

Deer

While looking at What’s Your Sign.com, I found this information about the deer.  In ancient Celtic animal lore, the deer is linked to the arts of poetry and music due to its elegant form. The Celts also believed that deer were associated with the realm of fairies, and would lead groups of fairies trailing behind them as they cleared a path through the forest. Both the Celtics and Native Americans observed the deer as perceptive when it came to finding the best herbs. The people who did this would follow the deer to prime herb patches, many of which proved to be highly beneficial to their medicinal needs.

In China the deer is a symbol of happiness and good fortune. In Chinese its name is a homonym for the word abundance. The meaning of the deer is associated with the dawn, the moon, and the direction of the east.

Some honor the deer during a full moon to enhance or draw out some of  the deers qualities within themselves. Honoring the deer with one's attention pointed in an eastern direction as the Sun rises is believed to elicit responsive energy to some people.

Symbolic meanings of the deer include: Love, Grace, Peace, Beauty, Fertility, Humility, Swiftness, Regrowth, Creativity, Spirituality, Abundance, Benevolence, and Watchfulness.

In my graphite drawings, I can relate to the deer. I must be careful and attentive with my drawing when using a hard lead pencil so that I don’t dig into the paper.  Every pencil stroke counts, and though I can always erase, sometimes it is best to get things right the first time so you don’t have to.

I also found something called a “white deer” while researching on Symbolic Meanings.com. I am guessing this meant an albino deer, but I am not sure. This sounded interesting to me because I had not heard of one before in real life. I have only seen them in World of Warcraft.

The Native Americans believed the occurrence of a white animal was a major sign of prophecy one that a major shift in the earth was going to happen. Native Americans believed in something called a “vision quest.” This was when one of them would go into the wild without food or water and stay there until they could commune with nature and have a deep personal truth revealed to them in the form of a vision.  Then they would return home.  This was most likely just a hallucination, but to them it was real. Usually, white animals were seen during one of these vision-quests.  However, if one was seen during the normal course of day, this would cause a tremendous ripple among the members of a tribe.  A great meeting would be called, the elders would be consulted, and great care would be taken to communicate with the animal spirits to determine the meaning of the message.

To the Native Americans, the deer was/is a symbol of the great spirit – a sign of the sun as its antlers spread like the sun’s rays.  They also recognized the shedding and regrowth of a stags antlers and saw it as asymbol of regeneration, cycle, and growth.

For us, the deers alert, keen, aware nature can be translated into the quality of being spiritually aware which is why the deer is seen primarily as a spiritual symbol.

When a white animal appears in nature it is a message of:

Higher Thoughts, Higher Ideals, Purity of Soul, Cleansing of Spirit, and Attaining Higher Knowledge.

Add these attributes with those of the female deer which are: Benevolence, Kindness, Creativity, Spirituality, Renewal, and Connectedness.

The male deer holds the same representations, but also includes attributes of: Longevity, Virility, Abundance, and Endurance.

Coyote

The Coyote is a clown in the natural world, and many Native American tribes view the symbolism of the Coyote as that of trickster, shape-shifter, and transformer.

I always enjoyed watching Whil E Coyote - master of A.C.M.E gadgets, as did my mom when I was a kid. It’s funny how he always chased the Road Runner and got smashed into little tiny pieces.

The Navajo never kill Coyote because of their belief that it accompanied man and woman into the entrance of the first physical world. In the same myth, the Coyote brought seeds of life in order to sew new growth upon the Earth. This myth depicts the Coyote as a bringer of life and a symbol of birth.

In a similar way, Whil E Coyote always sort of “brings life” in that he seems to “resurrect” after he falls off of big cliffs or after getting crushed by big rocks.  It isn’t quite resurrection since he never really dies, but the circumstances would be that he would die if it were real, so it is like resurrection in a sense because he always walks away virtually unharmed and in one piece.  I’m sort of a Whil E Coyote myself, because I make clever works of art and I’m handy with ideas. I’m a wordsmith, which takes cleverness.

The Shoshoni believed the Coyote to be an indication of an ending. To see a Coyote meant the bringing of natural shifts in the balance causing an end. Basically the Coyote is like a "way-maker" of new direction symbolically representing the cycle of life and death in nature.

• 
  

When coming into our awareness, the coyote presents itself as a totem of high voltage energy.  An interesting observation that could translate into a symbolic idea is its quality of instinct. Undoubtedly the Coyote is pure instinct.  This is why they have been given the mantle of "cleverness" and "shape-shifter". They're sharp, highly sensitive, and the most adaptable of all dog-like animals in the wild.

The Coyote tells us to be mindful of our actions. Be wary of playing tricks on ourselves or others. The coyote also reminds us that the consequences of our actions affect more than just ourselves. The Coyote sometimes tells us to learn from our mistakes and because of this learning process we become free from getting trapped. This learning can mean communicating with "our pack" for better understanding (advice, open dialog, sharing experiences with our closest kin). Or learning might be a solo thing like recognizing a personal mistake, seeing its consequences and not making the same mistake again.

This wondrous creature also reminds us that no matter what form we take in life, or how many difficult situations we may find ourselves in, we can always see another side. That's what shape-shifting is about.

Coyote animal symbolism includes: Skill, Instinct, Ingenuity, Enthusiasm, Transformation, Inventiveness, Intelligence, Playfulness, Resourcefulness.