Caribou: The Winter Traveler
On cold days like today, I’m never sure that having a car with a temperature gauge is a good idea. When the temperature reads at negative
5 degrees, all I can think is that I’m sliding my (well-padded) bottom on to a freezing seat. Yikes. My car transports me over the miles, to work and to home and anywhere I want or am compelled to go. In winter, traveling is a journey, even routine trips. A totem to help us travel the winter terrains is the caribou, or reindeer.
Caribou, or reindeer, are a nomadic animal, traveling up to 300 miles per year over long distances in a cold, inhospitable winter terrain.. They can run as fast as 80 miles an hour, as one of my circle sisters put it, “no wonder people thought they could fly! Both male and female have antlers, unlike other species of deer, and the antlers are used for protection and for dominance. Males use antlers in rutting, an often dangerous display, although the males are rarely hurt. A male can have a harem of up to 40 females. When calves are born, the mothers split up into nursing bands, rejoining the whole herd when they reach their summer destinations.
Caribou are hunted by wolf, bear, lynx, and humans but the real threat is mosquitoes. The insects can take half a pint of blood at a time. Caribou will submerge in water and even stampede when there are too many mosquitoes. According to stories, caribou were the last animal to come into the world and the most important for people to hunt.
Caribou as a totem is concerned with perseverance, endurance in the dark times. Caribou has the power of adaptability, strength in social skills and communication. Adaptation and strong ties to the homeland are also evident in this totem. Caribou is concerned with equality, family/herd orientation as well as protection, caution, and alertness. Caribou has the urge to travel to the point of wanderlust and ultimately finding inner peace as you walk through life.
Travel with me into wintry realms,
Landscapes of cold, dark, and danger
Find strength, power, and endurance
In our journeys together.
We become courageous in the lands of winter,
Persevering through storms, scarcity, and bleakness.
We find the warmth of home and family,
Banding together in love, need, and protection.
We discover the mystery of beauty
In the lands of winter
And the warmth of love
As we walk through the land to peace.
May your journeys be filled with magic, delights, endurance, warmth and peace! B*B
Reindeer coloring page
http://coloringisland.com/coloring-pictures-of-reindeer
The Rowdy Goddess 