I’m working both from a geographic and a cultural perspective. Yes, I live in North America, but I am aware of animals around the world. Just as many pagans work with deities from various global pantheons, so do I work with totems from all over the place–it really depends on who wants/needs to work with me at a given time, and/or vice versa. I’ll get energetic “pings” from totems from various locations, and that’s generally how “first contact” is made.

So while I do connect with the place I live, I also work to connect on a more global scale, since I am in a culture that is (relatively) globally aware (though plenty of Americans, myself included, could certainly pay more attention to world news and events!). And it is a personal alignment for me; some people find it better to stay local as far as magical/spiritual work goes. This just happens to be the way I connect with Spirit/The Universe/etc.

I don’t know much about totemism, so I have been enjoying reading your posts. I do have one general questions about some of your recent posts.

If I’m reading correctly, it seems like you are specifically disconnecting totems from animals native to this land (you seem to disfavore the idea of looking around you for a totem and suggested that a totem could be an animal from far away).

In the kind of magic I practice, there is an emphasis on connection with the Earth and often connecting with the spirits of the land in which you live. I guess what I’m saying that if I eat food grown in the midwest, my family (on both sides) has lived here for generations, I’ve lived here my whole life, I would imagine that the animal spirits of this place would be my totem, rather than, I don’t know, a kola bear or something.

I guess my question really is asking if totemism isn’t connected to land on which we live, how do these totem relationships start?