animal totems

had a (brief) dream about a meerkat last night. it was in the chicken pen chasing the chickens around and i managed to grab hold of it and it bit me on the right forearm. keep in mind i have never actually *seen* a meerkat in real life, i just know in the dream, i looked at it directly in the face and said, wow, a meerkat, weird. so even though i've never seen one, i did recognize it.

so i went looking up animal totems online and here's what a few say about the meerkat:

Meerkat: Watchfulness, Group Dynamics. A meerkat totem teaches how to live within the dynamics of a group, even to sacrifice oneself for the good of the group. It teaches how to be alert and watchful. Meerkats are a female dominate society; therefore the female is very
important. If you are a female, Meerkat will show how to find your strength; if you are a man, this totem will show you how to honor your female partner and support her endeavors for the good of the family.

Meerkat - Unity, Hierarchy, Like-Mindedness.

Meerkat - make sure you turn to your friends for support.

Meerkat - higher knowledge, alertness, watchful, discreet, generosity.

The meerkat (from the mongoose family) is famous for its upright posture, for this reason, as a totem the meerkat represents higher learning. Meerkat will often visit when a person needs to learn awareness (interesting because this was one of the invokations I read before going to sleep last night - to invite awareness into my life with gratitude). From heightened poses they stand guard for eagles and hawks. When the meerkat shows up as a totem it can indicate the need to be watchful and keep yourself on alert for potential danger. They teach us not to let our guard down.

During the night meerkats return to underground burrows for warmth and safety. Animals that reside underground generally represent a a reminder for us to return to the earth's energies for respite and rejuvenation.

Picture from here.