Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small

by Ted Andrews

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St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn 2003 (Orig. 1993) 383pp $19.95 

Ted Andrews brings us an outstanding resource on our relationships with animals as reflections of our participation in the collective consciousness. He explains how animals present us with signs and omens that alert us to what is going on in our inner consciousness and how our awareness and intentions manifest into the outer world. Going further into spiritual dimensions, as we waken to our interconnections with all that is, we become more conscious of our co-creation with the ALL.

Andrews points out that many people view such suggestions as no more than superstitions. Superstitions, he points out, are "not based upon knowledge or reason. Superstitions often involve irrational fears and behaviours. Superstitions often involve actions that are taken to avoid bad luck. Relationships and correspondences between natural elements and one's own life are not formed from a base of knowledge." (p. 44)

He gives as an example of superstition the periodic overpopulations of rodents that occur, with corresponding mass increases in owls and other predators.

For the superstitious person, one with no knowledge base, this may appear to be an extraordinary revelation of evil from Nature; especially so since both rodents and owls have a long history of being perceived negatively. For those who have a good knowledge base of both of these animals, the interpretation would be entirely different.

Many predator and prey species have years in which populations plummet and years in which populations erupt. Many rodents are subject to boom-bust cycles. For their natural predators, this cycle is often matched. Short-eared owls have an instinctual knack for appearing overnight in a horde, to descend upon abundant food sources. Such appearances are not reflections of evil manifesting. Rather their appearance serves as a boon to help restore the balance of nature. (p. 45)

In contrast with superstitious beliefs, which intrepret any occurrence of a particular event as representing a given meaning, Andrews explains how nature offers us signs and omens that invite us to understand our relationships with nature, the worlds within us, and spiritual worlds beyond. He has extensive dictionaries for bird and animal totems and what they may convey.

Andrews also suggests ways in which we can open to deeper awarenesses of these realms.

It is not surprising that this book has sold over 300,000 copies.

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