Animal Totems

The Native Americans hold the buffalo sacred and he is revered and honored as a powerful symbol of the Creator's blessings of abundance. When threatened Buffalo form a circle facing out to protect the calves. Also they face into storms and blizzards. This teaches us to face adversity with dignity and courage. Buffalo is strong and dangerous when provoked. From this we can learn to temper our power when dealing with others or difficult situations.

Buffalo Medicine
Abundance
Buffalo was the major source of sustenance for the Plains Indians. It gave meat for food, hides for clothing, warm and soft buffalo robes for the long winters, and hooves for glue. The medicine of Buffalo is prayer, gratitude and praise for that which has been received. Buffalo medicine is also knowing that abundance is present when all relations are honored as sacred.

Buffalo medicine is a sign that you achieve nothing without the aid of the great spirit and that you must be humble enough to ask for that assistance and then be grateful for what you receive.

(excerpt from the Medicine Cards book.)

For print ordering information regarding
Wild & Wooly - Red Buffalo,
please visit the Wild Faces Gallery Website

Bear symbolizes divinity in many cultures. Their hibernation cycles teaches us that we need spaces of rest, rejuvenation and reflection. He understands this follows the changing seasons from resting and reflection in Winter, to the growth and rebirth of Spring. He reminds us to accept the natural ebb and flow of life. There is a time for playfulness and a time to be assertive. Bear as a warrior is powerfully impressive and the embodiment of strength. He is an independent thinker, without peer and is unchallenged.

Bear Medicine
Introspection
The strength of Bear Medicine is the power of introspection. It lies in the west on the great medicine wheel of life. Bear seeks honey, or the sweetness of truth . . . In the winter, when the Ice Queen reigns and the face of death is upon the Earth, Bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate, to digest the year's experience. It is said that our goals reside in the West also. To accomplish the goals and dreams that we carry, the art of introspection is necessary.

(excerpt from the Medicine Cards book.)

For print ordering information regarding
Griz - Yellow Bear
please visit the Wild Faces Gallery Website

The white buffalo is seen as a highly sacred symbol to many of the American Indian Nations. It is seen as a symbol of hope and renewal for humanity and for harmony between all peoples.A white buffalo calf (named Miracle) was born in Wisconsin in August of 1994. Since she was not an albino, she was considered to be the first white buffalo calf born since 1933.

White Buffalo Medicine

Prayer
All animals are sacred, but in many traditions the White Buffalo is the most sacred. The appearance of White Buffalo is a sign that prayers are being heard, that the sacred pipe is being honored, and that the promises of prophesy are being fulfilled. White buffalo signals a time of abundance and plenty.

(excerpt from the Medicine Cards book.)

The Legend of the White Buffalo
One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong and the people were starving for there was no game.

Two young men went out to hunt. Along the way, the two men met a beautiful young woman dressed in white who floated as she walked. One man had bad desires for the woman and tried to touch her, but was consumed by a cloud and turned into a pile of bones.

The woman spoke to the second young man and said, "Return to your people and tell them I am coming." This holy woman brought a wrapped bundle to the people. She unwrapped the bundle giving to the people a sacred pipe and teaching them how to use it to pray. "With this holy pipe, you will walk like a living prayer," she said. The holy woman told the Sioux about the value of the buffalo, the women and the children. "You are from Mother Earth," she told the women, "What you are doing is as great as the warriors do."

Before she left, she told the people she would return. As she walked away, she rolled over four times, turning into a white female buffalo calf. It is said after that day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful. (from John Lame Deer's telling in 1967).

Many believe that the buffalo calf, Miracle, born August 20, 1994 symbolizes the coming together of humanity into a oneness of heart, mind, and spirit.

Source Information from Powersource Gallery

The Bull totem symbolizes fertility, virility, strong will, insight into the past and charging into thing unprepared. Bull has a surging energy which unchecked can manifest itself as uncontrollable anger or passion. Bull teaches us to be assertive without becoming "bull headed" and warns against bullying others with it's strength. Out of control Bull energy literally manifests itself as uncontrollable anger or passion.