BADGER
--AGGRESSION--

      Badger is mighty aggression, quick temper, tenacity. Badger is quick to react, without concern for consequences.
      While Badger energy can be a source of strength to the people around a Badger person, many are put off by His seeming lack of care for what others think or feel. In fact, this is the tenacity Badger holds for results, making him successful at most any endeavor He sinks His teeth into.
      Look at what you are doing when Badger forced His way into your awareness.
      If you have been sitting around waiting for something to happen, Badger may be telling you to get off your butt and do something yourself! You should look at channeling your energy aggressively enough to show you are serious.
      If things around you have gotten tense, and people seem to be backing away from the deal you thought was "done", your aggression and tenacity may be coming across as leaving no room for the anyone but you to come through the deal with his/her skin intact. Most of the best deals are "win-win". Or you may be expressing yourself negatively, and driving a wedge between you and the thing you seek.
      Badger, with its burrow living, is keeper of medicine roots. Quite often, root medicine is a more aggressive form of healing, used when more immediate results are needed. Root medicine grounds negative energy, neutralizing it and helping it to pass away to be absorbed into the Earth.
      Badger may be telling you to release the negative from your thoughts, surroundings and activities, so you can heal that which you are trying to do.
      Badger can also be warning you about your anger. Your anger displayed towards another may have its source in anger at yourself. If you are angry at someone who cuts in on you on the highway, you may, in fact, be angry at yourself for being late and not allowing room between you and the car ahead, which you wish was going faster anyway. Here is a warning - anger misdirected and not dealt with can manifest itself in "accidents" to you, such as cuts, falls, breaking something. Take Badger's warning before you really break something.
      Badger reminds you of the dangers of insecurity, as well as of vicious aggression.
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BAT
--REINCARNATION AND REBIRTH--

      Bat represents shamanic death, followed by rebirth.
      Bat comes to tell you to prepare for rebirth, without current concepts that block you from your goals. You are being advised to be rid of old patterns which no longer serve you. If you resist your destiny, the process of getting to your new self can be a long, drawn out, or painful death. So much so, in fact, that you may literally die before you act.
      Some Native Americans believe that you are responsible for future generations because you are the ancestors of the future. Your actions today affect the next seven generations. Every thought creates a state of stagnation or rebirth for those that follow. If you are blocking yourself, you may be blocking the generations to come.
      Bat is a night creature. Your dreams are most often creations of the night. Your dreams build future civilizations, dream them well.
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BEAR
--INTROSPECTION--

      Bear comes into our life to remind us when it is time to examine ourselves. Bear checks the hollows in old trees for honey, tearing apart the log to get to the sweetness of truth. Bear eats throughout the warm months, then retreats to the womb of Mother Earth for hibernation to digest the experiences of the year. Symbolically, while in the womb of hibernation, Bear is reattached umbilically to the Great Void where all answers are. Bear is associated with the West in the Medicine Wheel - the West is associated with goals.
      Bear reminds us to find our quiet place from which to examine our goals and find our answers. This quiet place is called by many tribes the Dream Lodge. In the Dream Lodge, illusion dies, eternity reigns, and our ancestors await and guide us.
      If one considers the concept of ancestors in conjunction with the concept that, in the belief in reincarnation, we return with associated groups of souls, we are our ancestors. How much of the dealings with our ancestors while in the Dream Lodge is actually past-life recall, where many of the answers are within our own experiences, and we need the introspection to retrieve these answers? Is this how we remember the goals we set for ourselves before we came into this life? Not all answers are within our past lives, because our souls have not had every possible experience. However, when we travel to the Dream Lodge, we have our past lives to counsel us and help us understand what is coming through from the Great Void as answers for things we have not experienced. Not only may we recall the goals we have set for ourselves, but also the reasons we selected those specific goals to work on during this lifetime.
      Bear tells us to find the strength to look within and solidify the goals we have set for ourselves.
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BEAVER
--PLANNER, BUILDER AND HOME--

      "Busy as a Beaver." Well, the saying had to come from somewhere...
      Beaver has the sense of multi-dimensional, physical space. The dam is not the home in which Beaver lives. The home is built elsewhere on the pond, and Beaver uses the dam to control the water level around the home, so all entrances are covered by the water to keep out the chill of winter winds. Beaver understands cause and effect - "I raise the dam way over there, and my home here is more comfortable." Some people cannot figure this one out... ("I pollute a river over there, it couldn't possibly have an effect on me here...").
      As we build ourselves into a dead-end, Beaver may appear and warn us to ensure we have not overlooked alternatives. Beaver has the forethought to maintain multiple entrances to Her home.
      Beaver couples work together - teamwork. If Beaver shows up, it may be to remind you to cooperate, or it could be to warn you that "Too many cooks spoil the broth." Beaver couples know how to let each other do their jobs. Do you?
      Beaver also warns you that someone may be taking advantage of your labor, and that you should watch out for your own interests.
      Beaver understands how to appreciate Her accomplishments, and may make an appearance to tell you to take time to appreciate yours. It may be right to take a break from your work and enjoy the fruits of your labor, the same way Beaver can enjoy the stored branches in the dead of winter that She labored to put away.
      Or Beaver may be there to tell you to get off your butt and get the project completed before winter sets in!
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BEE
--LABOR REWARDED--

      Bee is the laborer who produces the sweetness.
      Bee's visit may be to remind you of the excellent job you are doing in some aspect of your life, and the "honey" you will soon harvest as a result.
      However, Bee can sting if someone tries to steal the fruits of His labor. Are you trying to take credit for work you did not do? Bee's visit could be a warning to you of the danger in this practice, or could be notification to you that someone is trying to do this to you.
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BLUE JAY
--TERRITORIALITY--

      Blue Jay reminds you to take care that someone may be encroaching on what is yours.
      Alternately, you may be putting too much emphasis on the importance of a material item, and forgetting to honor those around you, like Blue Jay's attacks on other birds in the yard, even when the other birds do not eat the same foods.
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BUFFALO
--PRAYER AND ABUNDANCE--

      Lakota tradition holds that White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the Sacred Pipe to the people and taught them to pray. Pipe bowl held tobacco, a male and female medicine. Pipe stem represented male entering female, starting life. Bringing these energies together caused a connection to the divine energy of the Great Spirit. As tobacco is put into the bowl, the spirit of every creature is invited into the Pipe to share its medicine as prayer and praise to the heavens. The smoke is visible prayer, sacred and cleansing. Of all animals, White Buffalo is the most sacred. White Buffalo portends the success of prayer, the coming of abundance.
      As the major source of sustenance for the Plains Indians, Buffalo became the center of abundance in their lives. The flow of the herds came to be associated with omens - if abundance, no one in the tribe had done anything "wrong" and all was in balance; if the herd was lacking, or didn't come on time, someone or something was out of whack.
      Buffalo also signifies self-sacrifice for the benefit of all.
      Buffalo's message is to use your energy in prayer, to send your request for healing of self and others forth - "Ask, and you shall receive." Buffalo also tells you to give thanks for what you have received. Healing comes in many forms. What heals your body may not be what you need for the healing of your spirit. But whatever you need for healing comes from the Great Spirit. Don't forget to ask, and don't forget to give thanks when your prayers are answered.
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BUTTERFLY
--TRANSFORMATION--

      Butterfly carries the energy of thought, the mind, air. Butterfly is the master of transformation -- ground-crawling caterpillar to free-flying winged animal.
      If Butterfly flutters by, she may be asking you to evaluate your progress. Is your project an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis or a butterfly? Have you taken the project through the steps to bring it to its glory - idea, decision, plan, fruition?
      Butterfly may surprise you by reminding you that not all ideas bear fruit - some caterpillars get eaten by birds or other predators. You may need to go back and start the cycle over. But more often, Butterfly is there to remind you not to skip a step, if you want the project to take wing.
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