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Animals

GZA

Resident Snot-Nose
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
1,771
MBTI Type
infp
Do people relate to a specific animal?

I was talking to some of my friends last night and our conversation eventually lead to weird animal and gaurdian angel stuff. One of my friends said he believes that he does have some kind of thing protecting him, and he thought it was the spirit of his turtle and just turtles in general. Another guy said the same about dogs. I said that I thought I was the one watching over my life, sort of like my "soul" or "essence" or something like guided me, but that I felt I was in control of all of my actions, not a gaurdian. I do relate to wolves, particularly strong wolves that get stranded and then reunited with their pack, but not quite on the same level these guys do.

Kind of a spacy, new ageish stereotypical "NF" thing to say (even though one of the guys is ENTJ, and the other guy does a lot of magic mushrooms), but I think it's an interesting idea. However, I don't think there are animals or spirits watching us/gaurding us literally, but that some people may get this feeling or idea from how they relate to other things in the world, and that these ideas give them a sense of security.

Is there some kind of animal you relate to on some level? Is there some kind of animal you feel sort of guides what you do in some way?

Do you think it's possible that this might be part of human nature, related to human need for a greater understanding (through science or religion or art or whatever)?

Weird topic, I know, so ask questions if my explanation doesn't make sense.
 

alcea rosea

New member
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Nov 11, 2007
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3,658
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ENFP
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7w6
I like most furry animals. I don't relate specially to only one species.
 

phoenix13

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Mar 31, 2008
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1,293
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ENFP
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Sure sure, it doesn't really exist... but I relate to the phoenix (surprise!). The whole burn yourself to death and rise again thing I totally relate to, as I'm perpetually angsty and restless... yet I can't just chill and be satisfied by the simple pleasures in life! I can't just sit and listen to a Bach partita sipping tea... no, I've gotta be headbanging to Shostakovich's 11th symphony 2nd movt., or air-piano-ing Prokofiev's third piano concerto, 3rd movt., coda, or hammering a nail in the wall to Bruckner's 9th symphony 2nd movt. (man, I HATE classical music!*)

As for a real animal, I'm thinking eagle. It's aggressive, it flies, it's got mad visuals, and has an air of poise. I had a dream I was an eagle...
 

GZA

Resident Snot-Nose
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
1,771
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infp
Thats interesting, a fictional animal...
 

disregard

mrs
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
7,826
MBTI Type
INFP
A tiger.

I like the way they move. Their measuring stare. Their confidence.
 

Leysing

New member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
309
MBTI Type
FiSi
I love cats. I love horses, as well.

Both are intelligent (well, mostly :D) animals that yearn to be free, cat in a (primitive) psychological sense (do not control me), horse in a physical sense (full gallop).

They are elegant and beautiful. They must be stared at. They radiate nobility and self-esteem.

They both enjoy company and can be very soft and friendly if they want ;)

I love this cat.
And this horse.
 

rhinosaur

Just a statistic
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,464
MBTI Type
INTP
I've occasionally indulged fantasies of being a large jungle cat in another life. I see it as a guide.

However, I get along with most animals, and enjoy keeping pets. You can learn something from all animals, if you watch them closely enough.
 

Jeffster

veteran attention whore
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
6,743
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ESFP
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Instinctual Variant
sx
When I was a kid, I often wanted to be an animal, but which one would vary a lot. Goats, raccoons, foxes, kangaroo mice, otters, fishers, badgers... So, I guess almost always mammals, and always land animals. I never really wanted to be a bird, so I guess I never had that strong desire to fly like some people have. As an adult, I don't find myself relating to any particular animal, but I love watching all kinds of animals. Heck, some insects are fascinating to watch. When I went to Moody Gardens in Galveston last month, we watched an IMAX film on sharks that definitely made me want to swim around in the deep sea observing. :)
 

Sling

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Jun 11, 2008
Messages
132
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N358
Yeah. Whichever bird eats small kids, and is protected by endangerment laws. I'll take it.
 

colmena

señor member
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
1,549
MBTI Type
INXP
I've never felt anything like a spirit connection to a type of animal. It sounds like bollocks to me, but I do like that Simpsons episode with JC voicing the fox spirit guide.

I like goats. I suspect I'm quite sheep-like, but more gruff.

I wish I was a yak.

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cn1234567890

New member
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
61
MBTI Type
ENFP
mmm i like horses and birds..and dolphins. they're so free. I've always loved horses and I had dreams i could fly when i was a little kid..those were fun I don't know what happened to them. yeah, I think what animals we like can say things about what we value in life or in our lifestyles...
 

colmena

señor member
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Apr 27, 2008
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Next day thoughts

That Yak is all kinds of awesome.
 

plaguerat

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Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
195
MBTI Type
INTJ
I don't know about animals, though I've always loved the snow leopard (big cats in general) and wanted to know my totem/spirit animal, but I'm pretty sure Mr.Abraham Lincoln is quite a nice man, and form of guardian.

He gives me numbers which we've established as certain things and makes me very happy sometimes. He's nice, strichish, and fair. I like him (as a manifestation of my concience, an energy, whatever).
 

xx00oo00xx

New member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
43
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Ixxx
Octopus: Octopuses are solo creatures. They have short lifespans and die shortly after mating. They have a surprisingly high intelligence that can be hard for people (social) to detect, because it's an intelligence tuned for non-social living. The octopus' brain seems to be distributed throughout its entire body (the main centre's still in the head though), which makes it very "physically intelligent". Arms can operate pretty much autonomously. The octopus is a master at changing its appearance and it often uses this trick when interacting with other creatures. Octopuses "play" with objects to figure out what they're about. The octopus can only handle short bouts of physical exertion, so it conserves its energy most of the time.
-- ISTP/INTP/INFP? Too lazy to illustrate the specific connections... sorry.

I know I'm a nut for thinking this up, so I don't know what I am for posting it, but um, I guess perhaps someone will tell me, lol.
P.S. Only a small part of me died after mating (it's called dignity) and it's only happened once... I don't know what the short lifespan part was mean to represent.
 

BlackCat

Shaman
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Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
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ESFP
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sx/sp
My totem animals (so far) are Bear, House Cat, Bobcat, Badger, Hawk, Eagle.
 
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