Rejoining The Community Of Nature Through Personal Totems with Lupa

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Lupa is a strong advocate for connecting with animal or plant totems as allies to enhance our spiritual life and help us reconnect with nature. They can provide a “bridge” between us and the rest of the natural world. She cautions us to understand that totems, whether they be animal, plants, or fungi, are not simple one-dimensional helpers limited to stereotyped meanings from dictionaries. They are vibrant, intelligent, dynamic beings sharing the world with us as much as anyone else, and while we may have forgotten what it is to be in nature’s community, they have not. She suggests that one of the best offerings we can make to any nature spirit is working toward the restoration of its landscape. She encourages us to volunteer for habitat restoration and join with others to remove invasive species, plant native ones, and remove pollutants. She describes the miracle of a cherry tree that takes in sunshine and turns it into food and says, “If we look at the world with wonder and awe it all becomes magic again.”  (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Lupa is a neo-shaman, artist and sustainability geek. She has been working with animal magic for more than 20 years and has developed a self-created and spirit-directed neoshamanic path. She possesses a master’s degree in counseling psychology with an emphasis on eco-psychology.

Lupa’s books include:

• New Paths to Animal Totems: Three Alternative Approaches to Creating Your Own Totemism (Llewellyn 2012)
• Plant and Fungus Totems: Connect with Spirits of Field, Forest, and Garden (Llewellyn 2014)
• Nature Spirituality From the Ground Up: Connect with Totems in Your Ecosystem (Llewellyn 2016) 

To learn more about the work of Lupa go to www.thegreenwolf.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• How connecting with animal or plant totems can enhance our spiritual life
• How totems can help us rejoin the community of nature
• Why being connected with the natural world is good for our health
• What are ways we can get to know our local eco-system
• How working with totems is a two-way street; they help us and we must help them
• Why understanding your local watershed and where your water comes from is important
• What are the three practices to invite a deeper relationship with our totems
• What is her view of the qualities of a power spot
• Why it is important to remember we are mammals and are part of the kingdom of animals

Host: Justine Willis Toms   Interview Date: 2/16/2016   Program Number: 3573

Music Playlist

From Album: Cymbalom Solos
Artist: Michael Masley
1995 Supersaturated Records-002

Opening Essay: Track 01 Soleil
Music Break 1: Track 07 The Sea As Moon-Launched Mirror
Music Break 2: Track 02 Sleepdance: On Leaves of Water
Music Break 3: Track 03 Music To Look For Something Lost By