Spirit Animal Guides: Discover your power animal and the shamanic path

All animals, from the wolf to the ant, and the mongoose to the fox, carry a message of guidance and hope. Spirit Animal Guides presents a unique insight into power animals through first-hand encounters in the wild in America, Mexico, and Europe. As a healer and educator, Chris communicates his encounters in a manner that is soulful and immediate. The gifts he reveals will inspire you to move forward through life and manifest your full potential. This guide will introduce you to the esoteric methods of working with animal guides, including shape shifting while dreaming, and reading signs and omens to receive divine messages that come through animals. With specially commissioned paintings by Melissa Launay, Spirit Animal Guides will inspire you to work with the amazing energies of your personal power animal.

Using the traditional rituals of the shaman, such as drumming, visualisation and dreaming, discover more than 50 power animals and the special gifts they offer.

We've all heard of guardian spirits and perhaps you've even wondered if you have one yourself (or perhaps you know you do!). If you're interested in learning more about them you might enjoy reading Animal Spirit Guides: Discover Your Power Animal and the Shamanic Path - by Chris Luttichau. In essence, an animal spirit guide or power animal is a guardian spirit and in this book Luttichau tells us that all animals, from the wolf to the ant carry a message of guidance and hope. He tells you how you can find your own power animal and by inviting the spirit of that animal into your life using the traditional rituals of the shaman, you can deepen your affinity with the natural world and learn from the wisdom of your animal guide. With descriptions of more than 60 different animals and the "medicine" they offer along with lovely illustrations, it's a book well worth looking at.

After reading the book I was giving some thought to which animal would be my power animal (or guide) which I assumed to be the dog, working with a dog magazine and all, but I was shown otherwise. While on a quiet pre-dusk walk along a woodland pool at Jericho  Beach Park I saw the surface of the water suddenly ripple. I assumed it was a fish or perhaps a Muskrat, but as the ripple came closer to me I could see that it was a Beaver. Normally very shy animals, this Beaver came within 10 feet of me, dove down, pulled up a reed and then surfaced again to chomp away at the sweet root. I stood there, amazed at how close I was and then came to realize that perhaps I was being shown that this, indeed, was my Spirit Animal. Upon returning home, I took the book out to read again the attributes/medicine of the Beaver and reflect on what I learned.

Chris Lüttichau has been on the path of shamanism for more than 20 years and has travelled worldwide, learning from healers, elders, and shamans living close to the earth. A respected teacher and healer, in his workshops he makes classical shamanism accessible to the modern world, sharing wisdom based on a respect for the earth that is rooted in old shamanic cultures. Topics such as ancestors, dreaming, and prayer often not included in Western core shamanism are a part of his teachings. In 1998 he founded the international teaching organization Northern Drum Shamanic Centre and has conducted workshops in Mexico, the USA, Germany, Finland, Ireland, and the UK. Originally from Denmark, Chris is now based in Cornwall, England.