Koala – Dependence
Keywords:
Dependence. Destructive co-dependence. Tree magic and tree worship. Getting a detached view on life. Laziness. Take a day off. Sleeping well. Moving slowly. Meditation. Conserve energy. Sterility. Tree house symbolism. Sloth. Retardation. Leaving your fingerprint in the world.
General Description:
The koala is an arboreal, leaf-eating marsupial. It is primarily solitary and nocturnal. It is one of the most well-loved of Australian animals, probably because it looks like a fluffy toy (though it’s definitely not one of those!) The koala is a fussy eater, subsisting only on certain species of eucalyptus. They get all the water they need from leaves. However, a diet high in eucalyptus leaves is not a diet high in nutriment (and actually a little toxic), as a result koalas are slow-moving and sedentary, sleeping approximately 20 out of 24 hours. They are Australia’s answer to the sloth. Unusually, the koala’s status is now secure thanks to a ban in the fur trade in the late 1920’s by American President, Herbert Hoover.
Lessons and Challenges:
– Koala teaches us the too much dependence on something or someone can be destructive. Addictions, dependence on a partner, or family member, can all do us a great deal of emotional, physical and spiritual harm. Koala teaches us how to find our way from destructive co-dependence, to interdependence where we both understand that we need others, but also can be self-sufficient if necessary. Koala energy in a reading can indicate that the querent or someone around the querent is unhealthily addicted to something, or in an unhealthy relationship. Pair up koala energy with other animal energies to pull yourself out of this pattern.
– Koala energy is a wonderful energy for people who work too hard, or find it difficult to ‘relax.’ Koala energy is the embodiment of positive laziness, of taking a day off to literally do nothing, and to appreciate the value of doing just that. Koala energy – when embraced fully – can help us to sleep well, meditate more thoroughly and most importantly; conserve energy. Koala energy is a crucial energy in today’s rushed, over-worked society, and teaches us the value of replacing addictions and codependence with good sleep, moments of lassitude, and relaxation.
– On the downside, koala energy can also represent the other extreme of ‘relaxation’, and come into our lives to caution against slothful behaviour. If we never get off the couch, or never educate our brains, or refuse to learn new patterns of being, we experience a form of slowing down, going backwards. Our spirits, emotional state, physical body etc. all become prey to retardation. This retardation is a choice, koala encourages balance, and warns us that it might be time to get out of the couch (spiritually, mentally or emotionally) and challenge ourselves.
– Koalas, like human beings, have unique fingerprints. In fact, koala paw prints are so close to human fingerprints that they have been mistaken for human prints. Koala teaches us to leave our fingerprint on the world. To somehow change our surroundings, our home, our family, our lives, to the point where we will be remembered once we pass on. All koalas leave their paw-prints on leaves, trees, their territory. We too must learn the joy and nourishment to be found in leaving our ‘mark’ on the world around us.
– Koala energy is also the energy of tree magic and tree worship. Find a forest, plant a tree, introduce tree-based ‘foods’ into your diet, involve trees and tree spirits in your life. Koala energy also responds well to tree house symbolism. Create a tree house in your mind, or find one in real life and spend some time in the canopy enjoying the breeze and the sound of the leaves.
– Koala energy warns against sterility. On a very literal level, you may be sterile, or unable to accept sterility as a possibility. On a symbolic level, you may be at a point in your life where – due to unhealthy relationships with people / objects – your life has become sterile. The best way to maintain a fertile existence is to nourish all aspects of your life. It may also be time to accept that you may never have children / be a famous writer / be a millionaire, and see financial or creative or literal sterility as something more than negative.
The Shadow Aspects:
– If you are challenged by koala’s shadow energy you may judge others for their laziness and procrastination without seeing the wisdom in taking things slow. You find it difficult, even distasteful, to take days off, spend money pampering yourself or look after yourself. Yet you might be pushing yourself into chronic illness, if you haven’t already. Take your long service leave. Go on a luxury trip.
– You may also have issues with needing others, and dependence, yet your independence and very resistance to dependence is causing unhealthy habits and beliefs within your life.
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. Koala energy is easy enough to contact, but requires a lot of time and patience to yield nourishing and helpful results. The animal’s energy is as slow-moving and often as sedentary as the animal itself in real life, and therefore it is not enough to simply put aside a few hours to understand what koala has to share with you.
Koala can be aggressive, cryptic, and deliberately obtuse. It is recommended that you offer eucalyptus leaves before each meeting, if you cannot access eucalyptus leaves, consider eucalyptus oil which is often sold in most pharmacies. Tree-canopy walks, and tree-houses are also excellent ways with which to commune with koala.