Animal Energy - Wombat

Wombat - Inner Trust

Keywords:

Being underestimated, or undervalued by society. Intelligence. Quickness of thought. Play. Rightful aggression. Correcting misunderstanding. Stability. The foundation of your situation. Understanding multiple levels of any situation. Structure. Creating your world. Grounded. Inner trust.

General Description:

The wombat is the world's largest burrowing animal. They grow to over 1 metre in length and can weight approximately 35 kilograms. They are stout creatures with short, stumpy legs and small eyes and ears. They have a backwards facing pouch to prevent sand and snow from entering. They are herbivorous and eat a range of grasses. They are nocturnal and tend to avoid humans when they can.

Wombats build extensive networks of burrows and are territorial about their feeding grounds, they warn off interlopers via growling, snorting, gnashing their jaws and outright chasing. Their burrows can be as long as 30m and form extensive networks, wombats will use these burrows to crush invaders, though they will leave if a snake enters. Wombats are threatened by habitat destruction, car collisions and predation from wild dogs. They are intelligent, playful and have the most well-developed brain of any marsupial. The Northern hairy-nosed wombat is endangered, there are only 80 - 100 left.

Lessons and Challenges:

Wombats are often seen as docile, and even lazy animals by the average layperson, but they can be surprisingly fast, agile and industrious creatures (when they want to be) as well as intelligent, and with an aptitude for play. Ever get the feeling that you have a lot of skills that the 'average' person doesn't bother to see? Wombat energy can indicate a situation where you are being underestimated or undervalued by society and the people around you.

The good news is that you still possess those talents and abilities that people aren't seeing. You then have the choice to correct other's misunderstandings. It might come as no surprise then that wombat energy also teaches righteous or appropriate aggression. Sometimes it is right, even healthful, to defend yourself and your position.

Wombat energy is grounded by default, putting you in a perfect position to educate others about who you are, and what you're good at. Wombat energy is not a flighty energy, nor is it prone to exaggeration. You know what you are and what you're good at.

As with any creature that burrows or creates extensive networks of tunnels for its 'home', there are distinct lessons of creating and introducing structure into your life. It could be literally - a home or a place to live. But more usually, it tends to be psychologically or emotionally. It is important to look at just how much of a key player you are when it comes to creating your own world. The tools are very much at your disposal to create (rather than destroy).

Wombat can draw your attention to the foundation of your situation or problem, and then provides the ability to understand multiple levels of it at once. Consciously choosing to work with wombat, or to invite its wisdom into your life, will often create solutions. Seeing into the heart of a situation, seeing the foundation of what caused it, is a gift of wombat.

People who have wombat energy around them are more responsive to intelligence and mental acuity. Resourcefulness and quickness of thought are both traits of wombat - other people may not recognise this about you, but that is one of the other traits of wombat.

Wombat energy teaches people to relax not so much through slowing the breathing or cultivating inner stillness. Rather wombat teaches relaxation through light-hearted play. Creating games for yourself, or playing interactive games with others will give you a well-needed break without being taxing, and will also nourish your spirit at this time.

I feel one of wombat's greatest lessons for almost anyone, is it's ability to teach inner trust and faith in oneself. Wombat teaches us how to innately know our gifts even when everyone else doubts us. Wombat teaches us that it doesn't matter what other people think, that we don't need to care, because all the nourishment we need is within, through our ability to play, the way we think, and our ability to see to the foundation of our own problems and creatively impose solutions and structure onto them. Wombat has a stable energy, and is of particular use to those prone to anxiety, who have problems making decisions, or who are unable to see to the heart of the problems in their lives.

The Shadow Aspects:

The wombat's shadow energy challenges us to never stop trying, even though we know that we are being undervalued or underappreciated. Once we stop trying, we validate what others may think or say about us. Wombat encourages us to never give up, and confronts us with choices to either persevere throughout our lives and show our trust within our own talent, or to give into the despair created by other's inappropriate criticism of our efforts.

In any society, it is important to educate others about misunderstandings and biases. This is something you may feel you do regularly, but with poor results. You may be frequently attempting to educate others about religious or spiritual beliefs, proper health practices, or anything else that is important to you. Wombat confronts our motives in educating others, and advocates inner trust and wisdom. Sometimes it is better to let others keep their prejudices so that we may focus on our own gifts which lean more towards the creation of structure, than towards educating others.

Communion:

Like all animal helpers, this animal will only appear when right and appropriate, and cannot be forced to visit you, commune with you, or share messages with you. Wombat has a solid, stable energy during journeying, and is more of a 'talker' than some of the other animals (depends on the mood you find him, sometimes he's more of a 'grunter'). Wombat can come across as stodgy, and dense, but there is a quick wit behind that mind. His communication style is somewhat earthy and even, at times, droll.

Wombat as a guide and helper is not afraid to give you the odd metaphorical slap around the head if you are lax about recognising your own problems or alternatively, your gifts. He can be an impatient teacher, but a very valuable one. Not many people can 'take' wombat energy, which is probably why - despite being a significant marsupial in Australia - he is quite 'unknown' by the everyday person and spiritualist.