We begin this week with contrary Eagle, who warns that we may have given away our personal power. He says, “When you allow your self-worth to be determined by others, you set yourself up for failure. You will never be able to live up to the expectations and standards of others. There will always be some flaw, some shortcoming, some reason for people to reject you. And, when you internalize these negative messages, your ability to recognize your own self-worth is stripped away.” Eagle tells me that in order to right this unbalanced medicine, we must make a daily practice of complete, unconditional self-love. Eagle says, “When you learn to love and accept yourself for the amazing, unique, powerful, Divine child of God that that you are, no one can take away your power. Your self-worth and self-esteem will then come from within. This is when you truly set yourself free.”

We begin this week with Rabbit, who warns that we may have been spending a lot of time worrying about current or future life situatins. She says to me, “Stop telling everyone how broke you are! Stop complaining about all your bills! Stop sharing your relationship troubles with anyone who will listen to you! Just stop!” She continues, telling me that when we gossip, complain, and constantly voice all of the negative things that may be going on in our lives we are telling the Universe, “Send me more of that!” After all, if we are going to spend all of our time and energy on negativity, we must want more things in our life to complain and worry about! Rabbit says, “Instead of complaining, gossiping and worrying, make a commitment to focus on what is going RIGHT in your life! Spend some time each day thinking about what is working well, what you have to look forward to, what is improving. When you shift your focus from fearful, negative thinking to positive, uplifting thinking, your entire energy field changes and you will begin attracting POSITIVE experiences into your life.” She also tells me that grounding, getting out in nature, spending time in meditation, beginning a gratitude journal or practicing positive affirmations are all powerful tools in changing your energy from negative to positive.

As we enter the middle of the week, we are joined by contrary Owl, who says, “Telling little white lies again? Deceiving yourself about something? Now is the time to start being honest!” He continues, telling me that lying to others to save yourself or to spare their feelings doesn’t do anyone any good in the long run. He says, “Worse still is when you choose to lie to yourself. Are you in a dead-end job, a disfunctional relationship or a one-way friendship? Are you telling yourself that you’re just fine while your finances go to ruin due to your overspending or your healt suffers because you’re not taking good care of yourself? Look for the deception in your life and take steps to remedy it. Be as honest as you can with others - and with yourself.”

This message of needing to look more closely at your life continues into the end of the week as we are joined by Mouse. Mouse says, “When life is out of balance, we tend to begin living in extremes. We spend too much, or not at all. We eat too much, or not at all. We’re never home, or we never leave. We live in clutter and chaos, or we clean obsessively. Now is the time to look for the extremes in your life, the places where you may be out of balance. Find the places where your fear-based thinking has gotten you tripped up and has turned destructive and take steps to right the situation. If necessary, seek out the help of a qualified professional or trusted friend. Seek to bring balance to your life so that you don’t have to live in the extremes.”

** Weekly totem forecasts are completed using the MEDICINE CARDS by David Carson and Jamie Sams, published by St. Martin’s Press, copyrighted 1988 and 1999. **

We begin this week with Weasel, who asks us to look for the deeper meaning behind everything. He says, “Never pass up an opportunity to be kinder than necessary. You have no idea what trials other people may be facing in their lives. The checker who snapped at you at the grocery store may be going through the worst relationship break-up of her life. The driver who cut you off in traffic may be late for a job interview after months of being out of work. The waitress who didn’t pay attention to your special order in the restaurant may have just learned that her child has a life-threatening illness. Rather that being angry and judging people, seek to see them with eyes of compassion and try to be kind. You never know when one small act of kindness will mean the world to someone.”

The middle of the week brings Armadillo and his message of setting boundaries and claiming your own space. He says to me, “Don’t look at setting clear boundaries as being selfish. Instead, look at it as a supreme act of self-care. If you allow yourself to be taken advantage of, you aren’t helping anyone. Instead, you are teaching people that they can use you - your time, your money, your energy, your home, and all your other resources - any time they want to. This leads to resentment, anger and hurt feelings which may eventually result in you exploding at people when you cannot stand to be used one second longer. If you had set clear boundaries in the beginning, you wouldn’t have ended up in this sorry quagmire of negative feelings. Now is the time to take a hard look at your life. Are there people who only turn up when they need something from you? Now is the time to set a new rule with those people - whatever they need, the answer is ‘no.’ Either they will leave your life and find someone else to use, or they will begin to curb their using behavior and behave like actual friends. Either way, YOU will be far happier - and healthier - for setting this new boundary.”

We end the week with Elk, who continue’s Armidillo’s advice on taking good care of yourself. Elk says, “Have you taken on too many projects lately? Do you feel overwhelmed, exhausted or unmotivated? Now is the time to step back and see how you are managing your time and your life. If you find that you need to be ‘productive’ during every waking moment of your day, you are falling into an ego trap! Feeling the need to be busy or accomplishing something during every spare moment is a cover the ego uses to cut you off from your Spirit. If you are constantly busy, you cannot FEEL anything. You cannot receive guidance from your own inner Spirit or from God, the angels, or your guides. This pattern of overwork also leaves you completely exhausted, which may lead to illness if you do not stop and take time to take care of your body. Make a commitment to spend an hour each day this week doing absolutely nothing. Not a thing. Just find a quiet place where you can relax and just BE. Your body and your Spirit will thank you!”

** Weekly totem forecasts are completed using the MEDICINE CARDS by David Carson and Jamie Sams, published by St. Martin’s Press, copyrighted 1988 and 1999. **