So it is with the image of one's animal totem. It, too, serves as a teaching instrument that initiates a whole unfolding of knowledge in the human psyche. The archetypal image of the animal totem also has its more complete expression in the higher reality that exists between the collective and the individual unconscious.
The animal totems are ancient symbols that remain active and valid within evolving human consciousness. They are activators of the unconscious. They are doorways to the dimension of spirit — and . . . you will discover another world that is more vivid, more beautiful, more real, than any other that you have ever known.
— Brad Steiger, Totems