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Frog Totem

One of the many aspects of living in the Pacific North West that I am so enamored with is hearing the frogs in the spring time.  (I’m sure this happens other places but not where I lived before) We have a creek and a pond in our backyard and every year in the spring we are honored by the pleasing symphony of the frogs song.  I heard them last night for the first time this spring, the night before the new moon, and I remembered once again, how much they help me to connect to the earth and her cycles of seasons, change and growth.

When I was a little girl in Southern California I used to fill up my dad’s wheel barrow with dirt, plants, water and sticks to make a habitat for the frogs and toads I’d find.  I thought I was helping them, of course, by making them this nice safe place to live.  I’d get my Noah’s ark that I’d collected piece by piece from Arco service stations and add that to the scene for fun.  I spent hours, days playing this way.  I’d let them go at the end of the day because as most moms do, mine told me I had to.  In my memories I spent a great deal of time playing with my arc and the frogs.  I’d forgotten until I moved up here how much I was fascinated by frogs when I was a kid.  I guess that’s true for a lot of people, as we get older, go to school, then college or a job, we lose touch with some of the nature we treasured as a child.  Moving to the Olympic Peninsula has helped me to get some of that admiration back.  I don’t have to fly or travel to nature, it’s right here in my yard again, all around me wherever I go here.

Western Green Tree Frog

It always amazes me how the frogs  all start-up their earthly singing at the same time with one little guy or gal leading the way, then end all at the same time.  Robert and I sit up in bed listening, enjoying the natural melodic hum of their reverberations.  In spiritual circles it is said that frogs are the pulse of the earth.  That they feel the energy from the earth and through their night sounds are relaying to us what is going on with the weather, with the earth and even with us.  When doing research on frogs I read stories such as in China, where a huge frog migration was seen as a bad omen by many of the local people.  The government told them it was a normal propagation migration.  Seven days later they had a large earthquake and thousands of people were killed.  When civilians were angered by the scientists not being able to predict the earthquake,as the frogs did, Chinese scientists stated that animals have a much better sense of detecting natural disasters.

Original art by Sue Coccia at Earth Art International in Edmonds, Washington

In Feng Shui it is said that a family of frogs living in your garden will bring good luck to your home and it’s occupants.  In Chinese culture frogs and toads are symbols of immortality, healing, money, the moon and frivolity.  In the North West Coast People’s beliefs frogs are considered good luck as well and it is not considered wise to demean or injure them.  And they have native stories about little children who have done this with negative repercussions.  In the Bible many of the stories of frogs speak of them being unclean, dangerous spirits and not to be trusted.  I liked this Hebrew translation of the stories of frogs from the Bible that I read on this website best.  You can read about that at this website if you like.  She does a much better job and is more an expert than I am.  It is extremely interesting.

“The frog does not drink up the Pond in which he lives.”  Sioux

If you enjoy the sounds of the frogs as much as I do and feel frogs may be one of your totem animals then read on.  I have enclosed a transcript from my favorite animal totem book by Dr. Steven D. Farmer, “Animal Spirit Guides.”  Enjoy.

If Frog shows up, it means:  (choose only those that apply to you)  (shows up means, in life, dreams, meditations, a story you hear, etc.)

  • If you hear a frog during the daytime, it will rain very soon.
  • Do a physical cleanse to detoxify your body.
  • Do an emotional cleanse by letting yourself really feel your emotions, and cry as much as you need to in order to clear and release any emotional toxicity.
  • Singing or chanting out loud will help you feel more balanced, at peace, and connected to the divine.
  • You’re entering into a time of plenty and abundance.
  • This is the start of a slow and steady transformational process for you, a movement from an old life to a new.        
Call on FROG when:
  • It’s time to cleanse your life of people, places, or things that no longer fit in with your present lifestyle and who you are.
  • You’re in the midst of any life change, whether small or large, and you need the emotional sustenance and strength to go through it in a fluid and graceful way.
  • You’re planning to do a clearing and blessing ceremony for your home, office, or a specific space.
  • You feel intimidated or hesitant about honestly stating your thoughts, feelings, or opinions to someone.
  • You simply feel overwhelmed with negativity and want to clear it up.
If FROG is your POWER ANIMAL:  (Most will apply if FROG is your power animal)
  • You’re a very sensitive and compassionate person, and readily express deep feelings in words and actions.
  • Your voice, and especially your singing, can at times arouse deep emotions, yet at the same time soothe anyone within its range.
  • To others you initially seem rather remote and self-absorbed, yet once they get past their first impressions of you, they discover the depth and nobility of your character.
  • In your work, you seem to plod along very slowly and have trouble getting started, but you stay with it and get the job done.  You enjoy the study of ancient mysteries and particularly the art of magic.