Magickal Defense With Porcupine

During my eight years of magickal study and practice, I have been lucky enough to be visited by and interact with a small number of spirit teachers. These spirits may randomly appear while I am meditating, pass on a lesson, and then leave. On one occasion, I managed to summon one to me. One of them has returned to teach further bits of wisdom and magickal lore and the others haven’t. Out of the three spirit teachers--or "guides" as some call them--that I have had thus far, two never assumed an entirely distinct shape. The other presented himself as a porcupine.

I know that many will look at this post and automatically slap the label "Totem Animal" on the spirit or "Animal Medicine" on what he taught me. I have to say that, on a personal note, I'm not entirely comfortable with either term. As far as I can tell, the Neo-Pagan "Totem Animal" concept--or at least the Neo-Pagan approach to it--is something entirely unique to Neo-Paganism, even though the name of the concept and its terminology seems to hint at Native American roots. I've never been comfortable with that. It feels a little sacrilegious and disrespectful to the actual religious practices of Native cultures. The truth is that most Native American cultures have lost their tribe's original religion, either partially or entirely, thanks to the oppression they have suffered at the hands of the United States' government. Given that, I think it's safe to say that if the Neo-Pagan practice of utilizing "Totem Animals" really does have Native American roots, they are very vague and perhaps even stereotyped ones.

But, I do believe in the existence of nature spirits and other beings and I see no reason not to work with the symbolic meanings and magickal energies of any such entity--as long as one knows what one is doing. Animal magick also involves observing and learning from the other creatures that we share this world with, which I'm all for. It is the terminology and supposed affiliation with Native cultures to which I object, not the concept in and of itself.

Pardon me while I climb down from my soapbox and get back to the original point of this post... ^_^;

While there seems to be lots and lots of information on the energies and symbolism of wolves, ravens, rabbits, deer, mice, spiders, snakes, and eagles, not many people seem to think of porcupines when choosing an animal to learn from.

Current wisdom holds Porcupine as being an animal symbolic of faith, trust, and innocence. When that trust is broken, Porcupine's quills come into play.

I have personally found Porcupine to be an excellent instructor in magickal defense and defense is the operative word here. Contrary to ancient belief, porcupines do not shoot their quills at enemies and the animals themselves are relatively docile. It would probably be fair to say that anyone who winds up with porcupine quills in them likely deserves what they get.

It is easy to see why Porcupine would make such a great defense teacher. I particularly benefited from Porcupine's wisdom in creating psychic shields.

Shielding is a basic magickal technique which allows you to create a quick barrier to protect yourself from psychic and magickal attack. To create a basic shield, simply visualize yourself as being enveloped by a bubble. This bubble extends all the way around you, even down into the floor below your feet a little ways. In practical terms, you have just created a mini magick circle for yourself. The only energy that can penetrate the space inside your shield is the energy that you allow. I usually think of the perimeter of my shield as a filter of sorts, letting unwanted energies out and only positive energies in.

There are many ways to create a shield like the one described above. Something that Porcupine particularly encouraged me to try was experimentation with different visualizations for different situations: An iron box or thick steel plate for protection against someone with particularly hostile feelings; A barrier more akin to a thick layer of close-fitting plastic wrap or tin foil over my body if I wish to keep my energy more contained and "under wraps" as it were; A spiky barrier that mimics Porcupine's if I feel truly threatened and wish to warn a potential attacker away.

While I have never had to use this to defend myself from a direct attack, I often use it to help shield myself from the ambient energy of others. I enjoy being in public places, but I find large crowds of people to be physically and emotionally draining if I'm not careful. A little shielding helps to prevent that situation.

That said, be careful that the kind of shield you create is appropriate for the situation at hand. A shield like the one that porcupines naturally carry around with them may be a bit much for most occasions.

When a porcupine is attacked, it turns its back to its enemy and flails its spiky tail in their direction. An attacker that is hit may find itself resembling a pin cushion as dozens of hollow, barbed quills break away from the porcupine to embed themselves in fur and skin. The quills are painful to remove and possibly deadly if left in. The reverse-barbs on the quills will cause them to work deeper into the animal with every muscle movement.

As in any magickal practice, the important thing to ask yourself is “What is my intent?” and go from there. Make certain that your response to the situation at hand is reasonable rather than over-kill. Using a shield like the last one I described may cause undue stress and agitation to others if used improperly. Once again, the key word is defense. Shields are meant to protect you so that you can walk away from a situation without being harmed by someone else or their energy.

Does anyone else have any experiences working with Porcupine? I’d love to hear some stories.