Sacred Objects /15

with Fire and Water coming in second together. The element of Earth
is barely represented. To balance things out, I try to work with
Earth totems. This may be why so many totems from the Mineral
World seem to follow me home. Many times we discover that our
higher Self has already begun some of our work for us on the
shamanic path.
Another way to find totem items is to buy them. Usually the
totems I have bought have turned up at very reasonable prices at
places like secondhand stores and charity sales. One person's white
elephant is another person's totem, so to speak. This does not mean
that a totem cannot show up in an expensive store. Sometimes people
need to pay a lot for something in order to appreciate its value. If you
expect your totems to be expensive, they certainly will be, whether
that cost be monetary or psychological.
A totem, especially one that becomes deeply connected as a
medicine totem, is most often found in the environment by you.
Sometimes it may be bought, but usually in most unusual cir·
cumstances and for an amazing price virtually a gift.
My totem jaguar rattle came to me in a ratty old curio shop for
four dollars. The owner of the shop was actually more surprised than
I. Not only did she not remember marking it four dollars, which it was,
she didn't remember it at all.
Another time, I found a six-sided smoky quartz crystal in the
one-dollar bin at a rock shop. It was a bit cloudy, with a few dings, but I
could relate to that. Besides, it packed a pleasant wallop, so I bought
it. Soon after, I received a catalog in the mail with crystals and
gemstones at outrageous prices. I spotted a smoky quartz identical to
mine (minus only the clouds and the dings, that is) for over four
hundred dollars.
I read the description in an effort to understand such an amount.
I discovered that the smoky quartz had been especially cut in that
shape to match the six·sided crystal used by Native American shamans!
I like mine cut by Mother Nature.
It's an old wisdom, in the Craft of the Wise, that one never
haggles over the price of a magical tool. The same applies to totems.
If something attracts you as a totem, and has a fair price that you can
pay, don't haggle.lf something is priced unreasonably, then the seller
is already haggling, and the energy is not right. Nature will provide
you with the totems you need. Faith and trust are part of the journey
of the shaman.