Ted A. Andrews (1952–2009)

Ted Andrew’s book is a rather popular book on totemism for those new to the topic. His work, while good for a general overview on the subject, is certainly not the be-all and end-all of any kind of totemism. A lot of the books pages are taken up by an animal dictionary, which while an informative read, is somewhat counterintuitive to personal symbolism at times. One thing I do like about this book is that it doesn’t directly bolster itself as being “Native American” or working off of show more “genuine Native American totemism” which it certainly is not of which you sometimes see in other books. However, the cover of the book and some of the drawings within the book itself may unfortunately give off that imprecision. Regardless, it is a rather good beginners book to totemism and working with animals. show less

Everyone has an attraction to an animal-- my friend G. loves giraffes, J. loves elephants, K. loves wolves, E. is drawn for an unknown reason to owls; . We all know someone who collects frogs,turtles,cats,unicorns ,dragons,bluejays,...
Like any of our human friends and family, the members of the animal family that we find ourselves drawn to influence us and affect us, and an acceptance and understanding of this connection expands our humanness and our own part in this amazing place.
This is show more an inherent part of our experience as humans ,throughout the whole of our planet and all through the eons .
It is not just relics of long ago religions of peoples distant from us -we are who we love, they are us..

This book talks to us about the wisdom that these friends have to share with us, what are the traits of these beasties that we are drawn to, what do these traits mean to us,and how can we use this knowledge to our mutual benefit. show less

“Blessed is the one who does not.... join in with the mockers.” [KJV: “sit in the seat of the scornful”]. Psalms 1:1

That way, I don’t have to feel sad.

Anyway, I don’t feel like you have to complete all of the prayers perfectly; I started feeling satisfied after I got a response after doing the first exercise for a couple of hours....

I am not a music critic.

But it’s a good book.

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That first exercise was done with the Hebrew names of God, but the way.

The book show more does a great job with integrating nature spirits and angelic realms, that sort of thing.

And there’s lots of common sense. Friendship, even with spirits, doesn’t solve everything if it’s a substitute for your own life; don’t get angry all the time and then be surprised that you contact a crappy spirit, etc.

The technical knowledge is always integrated into common sense; I call that wisdom. show less

(Yes you would sometimes be surprised what is on the shelves in your public library!) Interesting book that has a (surprising) lot of information in it. Includes a chapter on Precautions which you don’t see often enough which read as quite intelligent. Bibliography at back but unfortunately no index, which makes it a good read but not a great reference which is a pity because it’s not a bad reference at all.