Every life needs a little leopard
by Heather
When you wear leopard, you become the cat. –Gillian Schwartz
As I write this, coincidentally (or perhaps not) I’m wearing leopard-print flannel PJs. Last night I wore my new leopard pumps with black grosgrain trim, which are admittedly a bit more sophisticated.
Last spring, as part of a SoulCollage workshop, I listened to a guided meditation to identify companion animals for each of my chakras–a fascinating exercise. (In SoulCollage, you create your own card deck, and one of the card suites comprises these companion animals.)
Mine were an elephant, leopard, monkey, bird, fawn, raptor, British barn owl, and … toad. (Yes, that’s a total of eight–one chakra had two.) Seena Frost, the founder of SoulCollage, emphasized in the meditation that one should accept whatever companion animal appears. In the last case, an eagle (dare I say a rather more elegant animal) flitted by, but I felt honor bound to accept the toad.
I am powerful, a force to be reckoned with. Don’t be timid–walk up to life’s feast. Can a leopard change its spots? Be who you are.
Of these totem animals, I think it’s fair to say that only the leopard is truly sartorially useful. I already had a number of leopard print items in my wardrobe–a bag, a skirt, pajamas–and since have acquired more–pumps (below), a sweater. And there’s always room for more …
Animal prints are fashion news this year, but I like the thought that something as seemingly frivolous as fashion can reinforce a deeper message and meaning. Wearing leopard print can help me remember to tap the raw power within, to come into my own.
About what matters 
[…] going on, as one of the cards featured two lionesses and a bedraggled cub, and the other featured a leopard, one of my companion […]
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Wow identifying your chakra animals sounds fascinating! Do you know what qualities the toad represents?
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It really was! Some of the animals, like the owl and the toad, are ones I’ve had at my house. (Not the leopard :)) So during the guided meditation, I got this flash of the toad’s … little house in my back yard. It’s almost completely hidden, you can just see a couple of vents. And then I read that the frog is the Chinese symbol of yin. So I think that’s part of it … it’s very inward, very yin. As part of the meditation, I got that the toad helps me leapfrog the competition! I haven’t yet made a card for the toad by itself as (if you can imagine) images of toads are quite difficult to come by in magazines. I had probably 20 leopards to choose from (peering carefully at the spots to be sure a cheetah hadn’t crept in), and I’ve found a grand total of 3 toads. The toad is for the crown chakra, btw.
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So interesting!!
I had a quick look on pinterest and searched Toad – surprisingly there are many and quite a few cute ones!
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Have to admit, just took a look & you’re right–there are some cute ones on Pinterest! So far I haven’t used any online images but the toad may push me to make an exception! (The resolution and print quality of magazines is hard to beat …) I’ll have to post my totem pole card here at some point–I used what I thought was the best of the three.
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[…] As promised, here’s the SoulCollage card I made to represent my personal totem pole. Last spring, as part of a SoulCollage workshop, I listened to a guided meditation to identify companion animals for each of my chakras. I’ve made individual cards for a couple of these animals so far–the owl and the leopard. (I plan to make cards for all of them, but haven’t found all the images I need yet.) I wanted to see how the different animals fit together and perhaps support each other–and after all, the whole idea was originally inspired by the totem pole. […]
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[…] am known for my shoes. It’s not an Imelda Marcos situation, but each pair–leopard, polka dots, red patent–makes a statement. Even my gardening clogs are purple. Once a […]
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