Sometimes, the meaning of what you see, hear or feel in the Spirit World isn’t obvious. Metaphors are commonplace in spiritual journeys, and you are often left wondering what your experience or part of your experience really means. You need to figure out how to interpret messages from helping spirits to gain insight.
For example, what does it mean if you saw a raven? Well, there are many ways to find out. You can look up “Raven” online, as plenty of websites offer interpretations of animal totems, in a book, such as Animal Speak (Ted Andrews), Animal Spirit Guides or Power Animals (Steven D. Farmer), or oracle cards, such as Messages from your Spirit Guides (Steven D. Farmer).
In some of these sources, the interpretations of what Raven means are based on the beliefs of indigenous cultures. Others are personal interpretations of shamans who walk in nature and have a spirit animal-centred practice. Both have one thing in common.
The interpretations have no context – no direct relationship to other sights, sounds and smells that you experienced on your journey. And they don’t take your life experiences into account.
So, what do you do?
First, search in your heart and mind for what Raven, in this example, means to you. When you first saw raven, what thoughts did you have? For example, did you think, “Wow, I’ve really got to pay attention. Something big and scary is going to happen!” Or did you feel magical? Like you could reshape your world?
When I’m really stuck, I consult Ted Andrews or Stephen D. Farmer’s books. But I use them only as a starting point. Any outside interpretation (from beyond my inner world) lacks context and personal insight. Here’s what I mean.
Everything that you see and experience on your journey or in your shamanic divination (a divination journey on your behalf by a shamanic practitioner) is interrelated. You cannot interpret the meaning of Raven alone. What if you saw raven flying in clear blue sky, heading for a dark, barren forest under thunder clouds? That might mean: trouble ahead. But what if raven appears in your workplace, sitting on your computer, wearing a party hat? At the same time, you taste cake in your mouth and feel exhilarated. That might mean: something good is going to happen at work.
Context is everything! So, have faith in your intuition. You can work it out.