Rat teaches adaptability and resourcefulness.Those with this totem are survivors. Their tendency is to hoard what they have because they fear that they don't have enough. This fear prompts them to acquire large quantities of things and fight aggressively to maintain what they have acquired. Rat medicine people are not selfish but they can appear that way to those who do not know them well.
Holding onto everything and being the pack rat is their way of feeling secure in an insecure world. Fortunately rats adapt well to environmental changes and can survive on just about anything. They hold the teachings of resourcefulness. Their fear of not being provided for can be healed by participating in supportive group activities, meditation and prayer.The other side of Rat is that it reflects back to us our own human capacity for greed, taking so much that others needs are denied. They will sometimes overeat and throw up rather than let food go by. They will dispossess other small animals of their homes if they can, wanting no competition for food. They truly personify humankind's imperialistic drives, which are making life on the planet more and more tenuous. If Rat has come to you, look at ways you may be participating in wasteful consumption or fear based emotions and begin to change your habits appropriately.
Rat has long been thought of as a pest; always popping up where uninvited and stealing food. This is due in part to Rat's ability to survive on its wits in even the most hostile of environments; i.e. human cities. Rat, like its close relative Cockroach, thrives on scraps and anything it can manage to scavenge. Rat has become so accustomed to living on trash that not only has it become immune to most illnesses, but real food has long since become totally poisonous. Any food eaten without even the slightest bit of mildew or parasites will send a rat into violent convulsions, ultimately ending in death.
Rats would probably not be so successful if it weren't for humans. Our living habits have provided them with homes and food and we have eliminated many of their predators. Because of this rats hold important teachings about waste, over consumption and survival for those who have this totem.
Rats can eat a quarter to a third of their body weight a day. They gnaw on things to keep their teeth, which are always growing, short and sharp. Pack Rats are famous for collecting things. They have been known to strip a sealed cabin in the woods of everything that they could carry. One species is called the Trade Rat because it leaves a stone in the place of what it takes.
Those with this totem are survivors. Their tendency is to hoard what they have because they fear that they don't have enough. This fear prompts them to acquire large quantities of things and fight aggressively to maintain what they have acquired. Rat medicine people are not selfish but they can appear that way to those who do not know them well. Holding onto everything and being the pack rat is their way of feeling secure in an insecure world.
Fortunately rats adapt well to environmental changes and can survive on just about anything. They hold the teachings of resourcefulness. Their fear of not being provided for can be healed by participating in supportive group activities, meditation and prayer.
The other side of Rat is that it reflects back to us our own human capacity for greed, taking so much that others needs are denied. They will sometimes overeat and throw up rather than let food go by. They will dispossess other small animals of their homes if they can, wanting no competition for food. They truly personify humankind's imperialistic drives, which are making life on the planet more and more tenuous. If Rat has come to you, look at ways you may be participating in wasteful consumption or fear based emotions and begin to change your habits appropriately.
