Introduction

[totemoftheweek.livejournal.com]

Hello all,



My name is Pia, I live in Western Australia and I'm 24. I have been practicing indigenous shamanism with dedication for 6-8 years.

I'm writing here under my Totemoftheweek username, but I have also joined as moonvoice (my more 'general' shamanic/personal/ranty journal) and am around other pagan forums and shamanic forums under the name Ravenari.

I practice indigenous forms of shamanism, and my practice focuses on totemism and animism. My totem and family totem is Raven, and my primary spirit-helper is Ehrembi, a four-winged raven with a forked tongue. The bird I love the most is not actually Raven, but Heron, whom I have a loose spiritual connection to.

You can find an introduction to my spirituality and practice here:

http://www.wildspeak.com/vilturr/beliefs/me.html

I do stylised animal artwork, or shamanic artwork, and the bulk of that can be found here:

http://www.wildspeak.com/artwork/art.html

My Totem of the Week username is based on a project where I attempt to get a file out (about 4-6 pages in word) on a specific animal spirit each week. The interpretations are personal, and I am open to requests and criticisms or praise etc. So far there are about 18 files, including information on some of the lesser known Australian spirit animals like Bandicoot.

Comments

[aloiis.livejournal.com]

My bad, I really need some sleep. I'm posting this for the third time as I misphrased a few things.

I was looking at your website just a moment ago. Very nice artwork. :)

Welcome to you. In the first place I want to point out that while animist, totemists, shamans, etc are totally welcome here, this community was primarily built for what would be called "therianthropes" (see this article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therianthropy), "Modern subcultural use of the term") - although many of us in this specific LJ community may dislike the term and prefer "animal people", which also is more general and may include non-therianthropes I have to admit. You must be aware that the way we experience our animals may greatly differ from how totemists/shamans/animists and other animal spiritualists (if I can say so) experience it, in order to avoid misunderstanding and confusion when speaking about this subject, and simply understand the fact that many "therianthropes" may not relate to your experiences.

However I guess this happens among "therianthropes" themselves as our experiences are so personal anyway. Learning about difference always is interesting, so do not refrain from posting. I simply wanted to make sure that there is no quiproquo about what you'll read here and what therianthropes and similar folks mean when we talk about being animal people, animal inside, etc, and how it's not totems/animal guides/etc. Non-therianthropic but still animal-folk experiences do are appropriate here, so welcome again and enjoy your stay. :)

If you have any question feel free to ask.
And sorry if you knew all of this already, I wasn't sure.