Mesoamerican Spirit Animals

by Erika Buenaflor, M.A., J.D., author of Animal Medicine: A Curanderismo Guide to Shapeshifting, Journeying, and Connecting with Animal Allies and several other books

In my new book Animal Medicine, I explore how to connect with animals and their spiritual wisdom through ancient Mesoamerican shamanic practices as well as modern-day curanderismo. The book includes an A-Z directory of 76 spirit animals, where I share some of the animals’ ancient Mesoamerican associations, mythologies, and ceremonies and provide insight as to their sacred meanings and ways to communicate with them. I also discuss the shapeshifting medicine each animal provides.

In this blog post, I’d like to share a few entries from the spirit animal directory. I hope this sneak peek helps you connect with the ancient Mesoamerican tradition of animal wisdom, and if you’d like to learn more, please check out my book!

Armadillo

In the artwork and mythology of Mesoamerica, the nine-banded armadillo predominates even though all twenty species of armadillo are found in the Americas. This is probably because the nine jointed plates around its midriff correspond to the nine levels of the Underworld. Their remarkably rapid and efficient digging capabilities link them to the Underworld as well. The cosmic number four of the cardinal spaces, completion, and grounding was also related to armadillos since they often bear quadruplets of the same sex.

In addition, armadillos were associated with music and dancing. On Classic Maya vases, they are depicted as drummers, likely due to their shell-like armored body that was used for drumming-related instruments, and in the Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins perform an armadillo dance in the Underworld. Trumpets were also made from their shells.

Nonordinary Realm Associations: Middleworld and Underworld

Spiritual and Shapeshifting Medicine: determination, vigilance, carefulness, and selectivity

Symbolism Meanings:

◀ Gift yourself with some time to dig deep within and reflect on where you have been, what you are grateful for, and what is next.

◀ There is a situation that you need to explore more deeply and thoroughly. There is something you are not seeing or understanding.

◀ Take some time to ground and clear your internal energy systems with music and movement; it is needed.

◀ Set clear boundaries and hold true to them.

Crow

Crows were known for being able to spot precious items, particularly corn. The crow, along with the mountain cat, coyote, and small parrot, were the intelligent animals that brought the maize that was used to make the human race. In the codices, blackbirds, including crows, were correlated with precarious omens and were depicted attacking maize. Their love of corn, which is strongly associated with the cyclical aspects of the Middleworld and the earth’s bounty, connects them to the Middleworld, while their ability to fly links them to the Upperworld.

I personally love crows and have been amazed by their loyalty. On one occasion, a crow committed a kamikaze attack on the window of a junior partner at a law firm when he began laughing uncontrollably at a horrible misfortune that had befallen me. In another instance, I had two crows blocking my way as I was going into a law firm for an interview. Although the crows were not rude, they did not get out of my way until I came within a few inches of them, and one of them left some kind of large kernel in front of me. The interview went very well, and they wanted me to start immediately. But I knew the crows had definitely given me a warning, and I did not take it lightly. When I got home from the interview, I looked up the senior attorney on the California State Bar portal and found out that he had been disciplined twice. I did some more research on the internet and found out that this law firm had been implicated in real estate fraud. I have found crows to be incredibly intelligent and very easy to communicate with.

Nonordinary Realm Associations: Upperworld and Middleworld

Spiritual and Shapeshifting Medicine: magic, adaptability, loyalty, and craftiness

Symbolism Meanings:

◀ You are being divinely cared for and guided; pay attention and have faith.

◀ It is time to engage in a magical rite or two, alongside your practical efforts in manifesting what you choose.

◀ Let go of your fear of change and learn to adapt and thrive in different environments. Great fortune will unfold in unexpected ways.

◀ Accept support and help from friends and loved ones; do not try to do everything on your own.

Mouse

Mice are generally smaller than rats with pointed snouts, small rounded ears, and body-length scaly tails. Like rats, they have a high breeding rate and are nocturnal rodents that live in in-between spaces. A female mouse gets pregnant about five to ten times a year and can give birth to a litter of three to fourteen mice. Although they have poor eyesight, they have excellent hearing and a keen sense of smell, which they rely on to locate food and avoid predators. They were known to cause grave damage and destroy precious things because they easily hid in homes and reproduced fairly quickly. They were also known as eavesdroppers that acquired information and inquired into one’s affairs.

Nonordinary Realm Associations: Middleworld and Underworld

Spiritual and Shapeshifting Medicine: resourcefulness, fertility, eavesdropping, and prudence

Symbolism Meanings:

◀ It is time to stop and reassess your circumstances. You have been turning a blind eye to something that needs your attention.

◀ You are underestimating your talents and skills.

◀ Trust your intuition on when to take action.

◀ It is time to come out of the shadows and go after what you desire.

Spider

Most spiders are nocturnal and are generally regarded as predators that capture their prey through their sticky webs. In Mesoamerican myths, spiders were widely associated with weaving. They weaved passageways from the celestial realms into other realms and were thought to have taught the first women to weave. They were often considered symbols of balance and creation, since the act of weaving was viewed as a means by which the cosmos and the order and continuity of social life was ritually and materially enacted. Many of the earth lunar deities were associated with weaving and/or spiders.

The Maya deity, Deity N, a quadripartite deity of the four cardinal spaces who was likely associated with and responsible for holding up the four corners of the sky, is sometimes depicted as a spider or coming from a web. In the Tepeu I vessel, Deity N is depicted as a spider balancing the sun and moon and exhaling animating soul energy. The divining stones of the Yucatec Maya curers were called am, their word for spider. These stones were used by curanderx to map out the four perimeter points, or cardinal spaces, and to open their portals. During the early Colonial period, Ix Chel was also closely identified with the spider and the am divining stones. In the Ritual of the Bacabs, Ix Chel is identified as a spider, divining stone, and an aged grandmother.

Spiders were also powerful omens of illness. If a spider entered a house or crossed someone’s path, it could signify that someone sent an illness their way or intended to shame them. Upon finding the spider, a person would make two lines on the floor in the form of a cross and then spit out pulque on the middle point and say an invocation to clear away misfortunes.

Nonordinary Realm Associations: Upperworld, Middleworld, and Underworld

Spiritual and Shapeshifting Medicine: creativity, equanimity, prophecy, and resourcefulness

Symbolism Meanings:

◀ Expand out of your comfort zone and create new possibilities, connections, and ventures for yourself.

◀ Approach any new venture by assessing the terrain and then creating a balanced support system.

◀ Maintain a positive vision while you take action to manifest ideal circumstances.

◀ In approaching any divinatory activity, remember that you have the right to create your reality. Divination provides insight to a reality that can be shifted.