“Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.” - C. S. Lewis So often in books for children, creatures stand in for human children to carry out the action of the narrative. Over the years, I have heard that there are distinctive age groups that favor creature characters and others that reject creature based stories. This discussion has gone on for a very long time and will continue in years to come. I often think of this because the particular books that had the greatest influence on me as a child, as they do to my grown-up up author self, are the WINNIE THE POOH books by A. A. Milne. I was naturally drawn to the cast of enchanting characters, from bear, piglet, owl, rabbit, kangaroo and on and on. As a little child, I recall thinking it was quite incredible that animals had such a complex community and were dealing with such similar things to what I was experiencing. When I got older and started to create my own books, I immediately filled my stories with creatures of all sorts and sizes. I had fun drawing them and giving them quasi-human body shapes and gestures. For some reason, I missed the BABAR books as a child and discovered them when I was a teen working in a library. A friend of mine was painting a mural in the children’s room and she featured the nifty little elephant among other characters from picture books. I was taken by the dandy-ish style that Babar displayed. It appealed to my older sophisticated self. Not only that but it was set in chic and urbane France, a place I would grow to feel is my home land. But, I digress, back to the creatures that crowded my imagination as a child: the world of creatures was my new playground as an author/illustrator considering picture books as a way to express myself. When I finally got around to publishing books, I had to wait until my fourth book until I was free to create a creature other than human. The creature I chose was a giraffe named Rufus who was the littlest member of the theatrical Chandelier family. By drawing all sorts of animals, birds, amphibians or insects, I noticed that some captured my personality better than others. I seemed to attach myself to the attitude and style that some of these critters exuded more than others. I became fascinated with the Native American concept of animal totems. A totem is defined as any natural object, animal or being that a person feels closely associated with. These totems, including all non-human species, act as spirit guides and symbolize human feelings or aspirations. These totems are teachers, showing us the way through our human existences. I put two and two together and started to collect a library of books on symbolism and meaning of creatures and objects. Often when I find myself drawing and favoring one sort of creature, I reference these books to learn more about the creature and perhaps discover a spirit or quality that I might be trying to access or express. My special shelf full of symbolism books is the busiest shelf in my library. Here are a few of my favorite books, in case you were wondering:
There are many more on my shelf. I depend on them to explain and enlighten my creative path. “What is your totem creature?” is one of my favorite questions to ask friends and people that I meet. Sometimes I rephrase it by asking “What creature do you most relate to?” It often informs a great deal about the person and usually poses a question that the person might never have been asked. [I would love to keep track over a person’s life to see how or if this changes.] Here are some questions to ask yourself that may help formulate what your totem creature might be:
These are a few simple questions to start a spark inside for you to find what that creature is that has lessons and guidance for you. Once you answer these questions and have a chance to figure out what your totem might be, try some of these exercises:
I promise that you will enjoy thinking about these ideas. You will surprise yourself and find that you are connected to the natural world in a way that is both instructive and inspiring. “You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you.
You have to go to them sometimes.” - A. A. Milne
5 Comments
Lauren
10/11/2016 05:36:10 pm
Vincent! What a fun and inspiring post! And I also love your badgers! Just last night I dreamed that I had a pet bobcat who could fly, and I had to keep him on a string, like a balloon, to keep him from floating away!
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Carla
10/12/2016 07:35:46 am
Hi Vince, I love the door you have opened in this blog, toward thinking about Spirit Animals. I couldn't answer all of your questions, for myself, but I have to say that I used to love horses (typical) and I am now very involved in horses personally and as a volunteer in a therapeutic riding program, sharing my love for the therapeutic experience of equine interactions. But I am not sure that is my totem, unless as you say it changes over time. Interesting about how there is a change as a certain stage of development when young people stop relating to animal characters and prefer human ones. This brings to mind the book, "Animal Farm". For grownups of course. And other stories like Pooh, where there is a main character that is human, a bridge I guess. Charlotte's Web and then other girl and her horse stories. I am surely gonna be thinking about this a bunch, especially when I am with my 3rd grade bilingual students. I can't wait to get a sense of their reactions to anthropomorphic animals in stories!! Love you tons, love your journey.
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10/14/2016 04:58:50 pm
What a thought provoking post. I wandered through my childhood fascination and fear of polar bears at the zoo.
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10/14/2016 04:59:05 pm
What a thought provoking post. I wandered through my childhood fascination and fear of polar bears at the zoo.
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Pam Phillips
2/10/2017 04:51:12 am
I am feeling incredibly inspired by this article and by honoring my totem animals. There are probably 2 that I'm drawn to more frequently. than others. The Owl (deception) and the dragonfly (illusion). They are completely different but in many ways they are similar. Then there is the whale, the coyote, elk, and several others.that I know have back when I
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