Relating to Animals

[Animal]

I have this habit of seeing animal behavior in people. For example, someone sits regally like a cat, but don't get too close. Or, someone else watches like an owl from the shadows and strikes at an opportune time. Often, I spot animals in people, based on their looks or behavior.

As a writer, I like to think about my characters' spirit animal, too. It gives their character more color in my mind. This is an organic process, and it's more prominent with some characters than others.

So, I figured I'd start a discussion thread. What do you think causes people to resonate with animals? Why do we have the concept of spirit animals? Are there any you relate to? Are there animal videos y0u've seen recently that remind you of your own behavior?

Feel free to discuss the psychology of this, or just share videos and pictures of animals that remind you of someone. Serious and cute answers are all welcome.

[Animal]

This video is relatable to me. The possessive kitty won't let the other cat get close to his human. That human belongs to him, and him alone. Hopefully I'm a little more subtle about it, but I can't be sure....

[Animal]

RALA check out the possessive kitty

[RALA]

Haha I love it! I feel bad for the other kitty though, it wanted some love too! Haha

[Animal]

Hahaha for sure I am nicer than the kitty in the video. I'll let the other kitty get a little bit of love as long as I am #1. >:]

[SnatchYourWeave]

[Quindary]

Quite simply, animals trigger the primal in people. Humans are animals too, after all, but most other animals have "simplicity" relative to a lot of modern era humans - they live off the land, do everything "by hand" (or through their native physical faculties), most don't use language (or don't seem to?) - so they express something of the earth that the shape of day to day human life often loses, even if humans themselves still possess it. So when people relate to animals, they are really holding up a mirror to their own primal nature as they see it - at best, past their conscious filters and advanced ego.

[Vive]

What do you think causes people to resonate with animals? Why do we have the concept of spirit animals? Are there any you relate to? Are there animal videos y0u've seen recently that remind you of your own behavior?

It's similarity. An animal is alive, it reacts to the environment with about the same speed as you do. Of course plants are alive too, but their reactions and movements are much, much slower and even more basic than those of most animals. I always wonder what animals would think or what they would feel if they see humans appear in their field of vision. I find it so interesting when you notice an animal is conscious of you specifically and it responds to things you do.

Like Quin has said, I do think the animals symbolize our own primal natures and inclinations. A lot of animals are purely reactive, driven by their instincts. They also have different personalities, like we do. I mean a lot of animals have personalities. Interestingly there are also animals that seem far more alien and I think those are interesting, because their behavior/look is so curious and different. Think of a jellyfish, which is basically a floating nervous system, a blobfish, and a lot of insects.

I've personally been mostly neutral regarding animals. I was very afraid of dogs in the past. That fear has subsided. Before I had the two cats that I currently have, I didn't think negatively or positively of animals. I've become much more interested after having animals of my own. You build up a bond, you build up trust and affection. There's something pure about animals, it's because they are mostly just instinct and very reactive. They have far more minor amounts of complex cognition. For example, cats have enough for you to build up a relationship with them, but too little to be stuck in doubt, to overthink, to betray. Their reactions are more unfiltered.

[Qassim]

Ok this is weird because this is one of those things I've been thinking about lately (as in, this afternoon) that most humans don't think about.

I was thinking that thing exactly--how some people seem like some kind of animal. Like something about their face or "energy" somehow. For myself, I think I'm a bird of some sort--from a cute lil sparrow, to a sad lil penguin, to a bird of prey. I keep seeing these qualities in myself in photos and stuff.

I sometimes even see this phenomenon in other animals. We had a dog that we thought was both catlike and deerlike, for example.

Something I find funny, though, is how divorced most humans are from this. They get offended at the mere thought that we might also be animals--"but we're obviously not animals! We're different!" say the great apes who share 98% of their DNA, facial expressions, and social behavior with chimpanzees. They actually think they've somehow evolved away from it. I don't need to put into words here how stupid I think they're being, but they are.

I was 3 years old and my offbeat friends (twins, 3 years older than me) told me I was an animal, because people are a kind of animal. I was extremely happy and proud to be told this; my sole reservation was that I didn't have a tail, and I so badly wanted a tail. So I was initially also slightly skeptical that people were "real" animals. We are though. I'm glad.

[Quindary]

It really misses half the point of being human to fail to recognize that you are primal, doesn't it.. it does not resolve the paradox of primalism and rationality to ignore one of the sides of the tangle.

[Qassim]

Haha for some reason I just saw your response here now a year later. I think you're right--half animal, half spirit. Let's acknowledge both or the foundations of everything we think will be askew.

[Paloma]

Hm.
I've often wondered what people mean when they talk about "spirit animals" or whatever. I've never felt like an animal personally. I relate to animals, and always have loved them, because I recognized the things I had in common with them. But there are things we don't have in common with them as well and that's what makes us human.

My impression of people who identify with a spirit animal or sth is that they've repressed their animal side too much and this is their attempt to get back in touch with it. Or perhaps it's just an image or figure of speech for them to try to express a part of themselves that they don't know how else to express. I don't have a spirit animal that I know of. There are things I see in animals that call to something similar in me... but I don't perceive it as their or my identity so much as a vibe in the universe, a frequency beyond both of us, that we both are both in tune with. It's something we share.

I often empathize with animals. I feel an instinctive emotional connection with a lot of animals that I encounter (humans included lol). This includes videos of animal behavior, especially when the behavior is emotional (joy, fear, sadness, protectiveness). Like the other day a friend shared a vid of her dog prancing around in circles and whining, begging to be taken outside and I REALLY related because quarantines lol. But I think that's different from imagining myself archetipally to be this or that type of creature. As far as those archetypes go, I often identify as birdlike in the manner of sparrows or chickadees-- small, cute, hop-hop-hop around looking for seeds and worms and cheeping cheerfully, and cocking a head to one side to observe something curiously, then hopping on when something else distracts them and then the moment they're done, fluttering away into the sky above everything-- that's a side to me. I also relate to horses, especially arabians: running and running and running into a desert sunset, at one with the wind and sky-- their free wild spirit that could be tamed by one who was kind to them, but never owned.

I imagine myself as a plant as often as I do as an animal. I have always related to trees. I'm not sure, but I think it's a 9 thing. I like the idea of being connected both to the earth and to the air at once, the wind whispering into your leaves the secrets it carries from miles away, and also rooted so deeply in the earth that you can feel the vibes even from miles away and beneath. The earth is what connects us. Tapping it for your own sustenance sort of makes you connected to everything. Makes you know and understand things in your body, undeniable and complex things, universal things, that your mind can't comprehend or has no way of knowing in it's egoic self-conscious way of knowing. And seriously... photosynthesis tho. That's like a superpower. Nuff said.

[[redacted]]

In the case of pets I do wonder if they also take after their owners in a way. Cats basically domesticated themselves so they know what they are doing.

[inkreservoir]

I find it kind of hard to relate to animals. I have a cat, and I do relate to him in particular, but I don't really think all cats are alike enough that I feel like I relate to "cats" as a category or like someone would remind me of cats. I think I felt this way before I got one too; there are characteristics all cats have in common but there's also lots of variation from breed to breed. I can think of ways a specific characteristic of someone might remind me of an animal; if someone is harsh and swift in judgment they might remind me of a bird of prey for example, or if they're fierce and protective I might think of a lion. I feel like when someone has particular traits in an abundance that may feel exaggerated then the likelihood that something about them will remind me of a certain animal which is known for that characteristic increases.

I don't really know a lot about animals though. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about animals. I used to love dolphins and horses when I was little and do research on them but I haven't really researched animals since then; I don't tend to watch documentaries about them or go places where I'm likely to see them so I guess you could say I'm generally not super interested. I think I'd probably connect people to animals more if I knew more about different kinds of animals.

I do relate though to imagery of wings, mostly butterfly wings but also bird wings. I feel like I'm definitely more of a head in the clouds type and this probably speaks to that; I'm still learning to be more in touch with my body and surroundings.