Animal Spirit Guides: An Easy-to-Use Handbook for Identifying and Understanding Your Power Animals and Animal Spirit Helpers (Paperback)

~ Steven D. Farmer Ph.D. (Author)
Key Phrases: animal spirit guide, power animal, Mother Earth, Tai Chi

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

After the publication of his best-selling book Power Animals, many people inquired about the meaning of spirit animals that were not contained in that work. In Animal Spirit Guides, Dr. Farmer provides concise, relevant details about the significance of more than 200 animals that may come to you in physical or symbolic form as guides and teachers. With each animal listed, you’ll find general meanings of the visitation; practical ways that they can help you as spirit guides; and how, as your power animal, they reflect characteristics that you possess. You’ll also find a “whom-to-call-on” section that will tell you which animal spirit guide to call on for any specific purpose.

About the Author

Dr. Steven D. Farmer is a shamanic practitioner, minister, and licensed psychotherapist with over thirty years experience as a professional healer and teacher. In addition to "Power Animal Oracle Cards," he is author of Power Animals: How To Connect with Your Animal Spirit Guide and Sacred Ceremony: How to Create Ceremonies for Healing, Transitions, and Celebrations, as well as several other books and articles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Hay House; 1 edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401907334
• ISBN-13: 978-1401907334
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,050 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible, Engaging, and Insightful, September 28, 2006

By	Janet Boyer "JanetBoyer.com" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"To experience the tremendous value of working with animal spirit guides, you don't need to be a shaman, have any interest in shamanism, or be associated with an indigenous culture... Instead, consider these wonderful beings as spiritual allies that want to reach out to each and every one of us who are open to their guidance and, when called with sincere intent, will respond." - From the book

What does it mean when you see a frog on your doorstep in the morning, your sister calls you in the afternoon gushing about the cute little frog statue she got at a yard sale, and your child brings home a drawing of a frog that she made in pre-school? According to shamanic practitioner Steven Farmer, the animal spirit Frog may be trying to get your attention to deliver an important message!

Following on the heels of Power Animals, a fine introductory book with guided meditation CD, and the Power Animal Oracle Cards, Animal Spirit Guides: An Easy-to-Use Handbook for Identifying and Understanding Your Power Animals and Animal Spirit Helpers provides meanings and messages from over 200 creatures.

At Dr. Farmer's workshops, many participants would come up to him asking for insight about a particular animal, some that were unfamiliar to him. He decided to create an accessible guide for those seeking answers about repeated animal visitations, the meaning of animal totems/power animals, and which animal to call upon for specific situations and concerns. Thus, the 455-page Animal Spirit Guides book was birthed.

For each mammal, reptile, insect, fowl, or fish, Dr. Farmer offers three distinct methods for accessing animal wisdom, providing examples and possible meanings for each one:

* What it means when an animal makes a striking appearance or keeps popping up throughout a short time span
* When to call upon a particular animal and what its energy provides
* Personality correlations to an animal that happens to be your Power Animal

For example, Blue Jay visits me every once in awhile (quite insistently!), and happens to be one of my Power Animals. Under the Blue Jay entry, there are five explanations for what a visitation from this colorful bird may mean. In addition, there are four situations given for when a person may seek to call upon Blue Jay medicine, as well as four personality traits describing the individual that counts this bird among their Power Animals.

A black and white photo accompanies each animal entry, so you know exactly which animal is which (for those not commonly known or recognized). A written version of Dr. Farmer's guided meditation that's on the Power Animals CD is also included in this book.

Here are but a few of the animals featured in Animal Spirit Guides:

* Bee
* Cardinal
* Crab
* Crocodile
* Emu
* Gopher
* Kookaburra
* Ladybug
* Meerkat
* Penguin
* Praying Mantis
* Starfish
* Tasmanian Devil
* Wolverine

Dr. Farmer also explains the four ways to receive messages from Spirit Guides (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Cognitive), and how to interpret and understand these messages once they're recognized. The last part of the book is a topical list of various situations for looking up animals to invoke. For example, if you're seeking aid for mental agility and dexterity, you may call upon Ferret, Ocelot, Octopus, Opossum, Rabbit, Roadrunner or Snake. If you desire to overcome procrastination, you'd call upon Ant, Beaver, Bee, Cougar, or Manatee.

For those of you familiar with Ted Andrew's book Animal Speak, you may wonder how Dr. Farmer's book differs from that classic. Well, Andrews is incredibly thorough and scholarly in Animal Speak--providing description of animal coloring, habitat, habits, and traits--as well as relevant lore. He describes shamanistic practices such as animal rites and shape shifting--in addition to the wisdom, and interpretation, of animal spirit messages.

Animal Spirit Guides, on the other hand, doesn't give specific (or ponderous) animal information, instead providing a handy, practical guide that anyone can use. The animals are listed alphabetically, as are the conditions to invoke a particular spirit.

There *are* overlaps between these books. For example, all of the qualities that Dr. Farmer lists for Blue Jay as a Power Animal can be found in Animal Speak (although Dr. Farmer's version is more like Cliff Notes). However, other descriptions are original to Animal Spirit Guides, so Dr. Farmer's book is by no means a rip-off of Animal Speak.

If you'd like an easy-to-use book for looking up the messages from the animal spirit realm, Animal Spirit Guides is an *excellent* resource. No matter what your spiritual path, if you believe that the animals convey messages from Spirit to humanity, then you'll benefit from this book. I've found it amazingly insightful, especially as a divination tool. Just this evening, I was doing a Tarot reading for a client and I heard "Badger" right before I dealt the cards. I picked up Animal Spirit Guides off my desk and, wouldn't you know it, the message from Badger was *exactly* the issue displayed on the first Tarot card! And, you, too, can use this book as an oracle, just by saying a prayer and turning at random to a particular animal entry.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Study the Animals, for Knowledge, October 11, 2007

By	Kathy W (Baltimore) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book names various animals/mammals/insects (creatures) as power animals and animal spirit helpers/teachers. There are 455 pages of material, primarily explanations of about 215 creatures.

(Example: Beluga (white whale) (also see whale) pages 33 and 34.
If beluga shows up, it means your contact and perception of Spirit will increase and become clearer, chiefly through your hearing. It continues with several other one liners.
Call on beluga when: you find that your creativity is stifled or stagnant and you want to open it up. It continues with more on when to call on beluga.
If beluga is your power animal: you have an active imagination and the capacity to turn your visions into physical expressions and manifestations. Again, it continues with more information.)

The book includes specificities such as beluga (whale) and some not so common creatures such as Kookaburra (a bird), one of which I met in San Diego recently. The book also includes 32 pages of "whom to call on for specific needs" (example: for courage, call on the bear, eagle, and falcon, among others. A written 3-page guided meditation journey with instructions is included. There is also a resource reading, website, dvd, and organization list.

The author is a shamanic practitioner, ordained minister, licensed psychotherapist and former college professor with over 30 years experience as a professional healer and teacher. He is married to Doreen Virtue. Doreen has written numerous books and done numerous CDs on angels, and produced materials on dieting. They appear to compliment each other well. I saw both at her one-day seminar in Manhattan. She did angel readings. He assisted her and gave animal readings.

The general concept with animal/creature guides is that you are either drawn to certain animal(s) or you encounter certain animal(s) in an unusual way. Maybe as a child you were always fascinated with Unicorns. Maybe everywhere you go you see a single butterfly. The possibilities are endless. When something is out of the norm, it could be an indication that an animal guide is presenting himself to you. I was once told that we all have at least 3 animal guides and that they could change throughout life. Also, other animal guides can come in just to teach you something and then leave.

This book is useful as a tool in identifying and reading about the various animals. When you encounter a specific animal and you think that is a power animal or guide, you can run to the book and look him up.

Don't believe in that stuff? That's OK. You can still 1) have fun looking up the animals, and 2) study the behaviors of various animals and what you might learn from them. There is a lot to learn from the behavior of animals.

Want to read more about studying animals and "tuning into their vibes"? Try some of Ted Andrew's books, especially "Animal Speak". Ted's books give more explanation about the "why" and "how to". Personally, I like Ted's books for overall understanding and then this book for additional information on animals.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Book, February 16, 2008

By	Christin "Christin" (MI) - See all my reviews

I have owned "Animal Speak" and it was lost a number of years ago. I think this book suits my purposed much better. It gives quick reference to specific animals, without the filler information. If someone is looking for general info on animal guides, and doesn't have a good handle on the subject--I would recomend purchasing this book along with "Animal Speak" They are both great resources.