Gena Semenov

Ted Andrews who wrote “Animal Speak” and many other great reads is one of my heroes. I learned so much from that book and a few others he wrote that I automatically pay attention to the animals that I encounter in my daily life as a sign from spirit.

Last night we had an unexpected visitor that our cat “Sivee” (meaning grey in Ukrainian) brought to us just as we sat down to dinner. We had the back door open because the temperature has finally dropped in Florida. It was an injured flying squirrel. Seeing no visible injuries or blood on it, my husband took it outside, hoping that it would regain some strength and return to the trees. Later my daughter Maya and I checked on it only to find that it had died. So innocent and humble it was. Immediately, we were angry at our cat. Calling him out on it, he only stared back at us and disappeared for the rest of the night. I’m hoping that Sivee found it injured instead of making the kill himself. I guess I’ll give him the benefit of doubt this time, since it’s the first creature he has brought home to us.

So what does this mean? Here are some squirrel attributes.

Squirrels are often observed scrounging about for food and digging holes in the earth and storing nuts and other food sources for later times. Their keen sense of smell will enable them to find their stored caches even if they do forget where they buried their nuts.  Flying squirrels, do not really fly. Their skin stretches and enables it to glide from tree to ground or tree to tree. It is nocturnal. It strongly dislikes being disturbed during the day. Owls are usually the flying squirrel’s chief predators.

I ask myself; 1. Are you too active? 2. Not active enough? 3. Are you not planning at all for the future, distant or near? 4. Are you becoming too erratic–running to and fro and not accomplishing anything? 5. Do you need to learn how to save and ration on any level–including time, money, energy, etc.? 6. Are you afraid you will never have enough? 7. Are you getting too hung up on collecting and accumulating? 8. Are you gathering and not giving?

I qualify for “yes” to over half of these questions. Squirrels can teach us balance within the circle of gathering and giving out. If we are doing too much of one or the other, squirrel may appear to help us. Squirrels are the masters at preparing but they also are reminders that in our quest for our goals, we should always make time to socialize and play. Work and play go hand-in-hand, or the work will create problems and become more difficult and less fruitful.

So like a squirrel, for the last few months I have been dividing my time and energy on several different projects or jobs, hoping that one or two of them would bring more abundance into our lives. While all have brought money, my time, energy and temper are stretched thin. So the message is clear to focus on the areas where the nuts are bigger or more plentiful. In a nut shell it’s time to pare down those projects that attack my time and energy and yield little reward.

Things to consider when working with the squirrel totem:

You are preparing for the future by storing up time, resources, and energy; resting during unproductive times. You are moving to a higher level of consciousness to avoid harassment. Sometimes its appearance means changes or the approach of adversaries. Warning, wisdom, change, trust, discovery, truth, balance, harmony. Use as a spiritual watch-dog to warn you of danger on any level.

What animals have you encountered lately?