“The Okavango Delta is a place of many seasons.” [1] There is draught and rain, there is dark and light, there is life and death, and there is us. There are the ones with long necks, the ones with long noses, and the ones with long horns. We are not ignorant like the smaller ones, the ones with spots, who use their speed and coats to hunt. No, in our pride we work cohesively to bring down the others.

There are sometimes other animals on two feet, we see the fear in their eyes and the tension in their muscles when they come across us. We could overpower them, but there is something bad about them. There are always loud noises, panic, blood and now we know better. Even when we are laying in the brush, the tufts of our tails sweeping the dirt, they will sometimes chase us on the backs of shining, roaring beasts whose bellows outshine our own. They take our young and put them into boxes. We keep quiet so they can not find us, even though it makes finding each other hard, we keep safe. There are others on two legs who hunt beside us, they carry long, sharp sticks and mourn the others that they kill. We have always lived beside them, and only every once in awhile must we fight.

Today is calm near the water, the “cubs will stalk others...or lie in ambush waiting for others to walk by...they are able to knock other cubs over by sweeping their feet out from behind.” [2] They learn from the lionesses when they are old enough to watch the hunt, we create panic and fear in our prey, when one of us “manages to catch up with a fleeting animal, [she] strikes it down with a blow from a front leg and then falls upon it, grabs it by the throat with its jaws, and holding firm, quickly suffocates it.” [3] They must learn the way of life, toil, fight, and do everything you can to stay alive. The instincts take over in the hunt, our whiskers twitch, our claws feel the earth beneath our rugged paws, and our muscles ripple under our scarred skin. The young ones must learn that the way of life is eat or be eaten; we do not kill for fun, we kill for our family to survive.

Image 1

When the light is high in the sky, the climate is arid, and the sky is moving from the heat, we sleep and eat the carcasses from the animals we were able to bring down. At night, our hunt begins. Though sometimes one of us may not return to the dens with the cubs, or we are hurt protecting our kill from the ones who cackle with strong bites, we work together day and night to stay alive, to stay happy, to stay free. Our numbers have dwindled, but we are still here. We are ancient and not as large as our ancestors, but we have earned our place on top. We wander where we please outside the realm of the two legged ones, no other animal may tell us where to go. Hear our roars, gaze into our amber eyes and know that we are lions: rulers of the Serengeti.

Image 2

The lion “is the only animal in the world that appears among both the top ten loves and top ten hates. It is loved because it is perceived as proud, dignified, handsome, and powerful...and it is hated because it is a killer of appealing animals.” [4] We all know the lion from a young age, as the “King of the Jungle,” we see it on its hind legs with teeth bared on Coats of Arms the world over. They were kept in menageries in ancient times and gladiators fought with them to the death, and they are embedded into the stars as breathtaking constellation. At first, I had doubts about the concept of Spirit Animals, but my revelations have shown me that animals can “become our teachers, our friends, and our companions...they show us the true majesty of life itself.” [5] I have spent time meditating and reminiscing, and while slipping into a state of just being, Instead of denying my connection, I know that it is “true and mighty...for such things are of the spirit, and it is in the darkness of their eyes that men get lost.” [6] The lion and I have an obscene amount in common, and I realize now that I have always had a connection, a feeling of safeness with one of Earth’s most majestic creatures.

The first thing we must realize is that “there is absolute power and mystery in our animal companions.” [7] I have experienced everything from what horror movies are made of to the pinnacle of joy that have helped form me into, for lack of a better word, a vastly complex individual. Before going deeper into my world in relation to the lion, I find it very important to point out that I am a young girl with an old soul and I am a perfect mixture of the personalities of my mother and father. The drastic sexual dimorphism (which will be touched on later) both physically and behaviorally found within Panthera leo satisfies both my feminine and masculine sides and I feel an equal bond with both sexes rather than just the maned-male or the social female.

Image 3

The “lion is the only cat that lives a predominantly social life.” [8] The systems of prides, even though they are often separated for long periods of time, hold together bonds that have the potential to be life long. Lions of both sexes are nomadic and follow the grazing herds throughout their Serengeti habitat, though they are roaming creatures, they often stay together or return to a pride which they left. I am a wanderer, if I feel a sense of stagnation or the rather appropriate analogy that the herds have moved on, I will leave and seek to find growth and new experiences. However, when I leave, I keep my bonds strong so those I leave behind know that I will return. The lionesses are far more social than the males, and nomadic males who do not belong to a pride “will attach themselves ...to pride females for a few weeks...and will gain meals from accompanying such females on hunts” [9] before moving on again to resume hunting for themselves. While I relate to the lionesses in need for companionship, the lion and its ability to remain solitary for long periods of time is something I hold much closer. There are long periods of time when I withdraw and set myself apart from groups I hold close bonds with just as the male lion does. While I am not forcibly removed by a competitor like many males are, the time of solitude and ability to grow stronger allows me to find myself and take on stronger endeavors in the future. To become a leader in both the animal world and the world of man, you must have the ability to face hardships and achieve greatness, to be sociable and have others like you while still being your own greatest asset; the lions and I have these traits in common.

Image 4

Lions are incredibly intelligent creatures with the ability to deceive, and “deception is seen as one of the most complex of all animal behaviours because it requires abstract thinking. The deceiver needs to carefully evaluate [a] situation, think ahead, and then execute a plan that considers a predicted reaction.” [10] Leadership, unfortunately, requires a vast amount of deception and the ability to manipulate situations in your favor. Lionesses will often do this for their cubs to have them eat before the large males lick the bones clean. A trait I have inherited from my father (who coincidentally has a lion portrait on his arm for me) is the ability to charm and deceive others. While it is not necessarily something I am proud of, it has helped me in everything from getting jobs to talking my way out of situations where I should have had severe consequences. The intelligence of lions is something that I value, in their eyes you are able to see that they are sizing you up with a soul-stealing gaze. They have the ability to help each other kill and organize hunting parties that allow for them to be at the top of the food chain. Intelligence is by far the most important quality that I see in myself and others. To lead in most situations in life, you must be intelligent. “While in [my] altered form, the transformed creature may seduce another, win a combat, receive gifts or food, or effect a revenge.” [11] You must work your way to the top often through manipulation and the ability to outsmart others, the cleverness of the lion is imbued into my being.

A trait found in lions that both depletes my leadership potential and my being as a whole is aggression and “in lions aggression is ever-present, though largely confined to competition over food and some associations.”[12] While they can be gentle, when provoked or threatened they are deadly. A combination of having a hot-headed mother and step-father have greatly attributed to this feature, but my relationship with my biological father is aloof and creates a lot of the problem. Like Black Elk, when I experienced the loss of my father I “cried very hard, and I thought it might be better if my crying would kill me; then I could be in the outer world where nothing is ever in despair.” [13] Oddly enough, the aggression and long-standing problems I have felt towards my father have vastly evaporated since I have realized my great connection with the lion who is more and more becoming “my spirit, my bond to the time, and harmony of the universe.” [14] My father and I share so many characteristics and habits without ever having spent ample time together and I can not help but think that perhaps, like many Native Americans think, I have paternally inherited the spirit animal from him.

The behaviors of the lion and their slinky physical mannerisms are things that I hope to interpret into my life more fully. I am glad I have realized my important connection to the animal world and the great need to respect the other beings on Earth and use my spirit animal as a guide. While I do not see myself roaming Africa alongside them, I hope that the lion who has roared in my face at the Houston zoo, the animal who represents me in the stars, and who I share so many traits with will remain with me throughout my life.

footnotes:

1. Pieter Kat, Prides: The Lions of Moremi. (United States of America: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000), 20.

2. Kat, 101.

3. Desmond Morris, Cat World: A Feline Encyclopedia. (New York: The Penguin Group, 1996), 264.

4. Morris, 263.

5. Ted Andrews, “Animal Speak,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012), 455.

6. John G. Neihardt, “Black Elk Speaks,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012), 413.

7. Ted Andrews, “Animal Speak,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012), 463.

8. Judith A. Rudnai, The Social Life of the Lion. (Hertfordshire: The Garden City Press, 1973), 44.

9. Kat, 38.

10.Kat, 20.

11. Steven D. Farmer, “Power Animals,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012), 451.

12. Rudnai, 49.

13.John G. Neihardt, “Black Elk Speaks,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012), 435.

14. Rudolfo Anaya, “Bless Me, Ultima,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012), 470.

Image Citations:

1. Harvey, Chris. 2000. Prides: The Lions of Moremi. United States of America: Smithsonian Institution Press. Image 1.

2. 1. Harvey, Chris. 2000. Prides: The Lions of Moremi. United States of America: Smithsonian Institution Press. Image 2.

3. 1. Harvey, Chris. 2000. Prides: The Lions of Moremi. United States of America: Smithsonian Institution Press. Image 3.

4. 1. Harvey, Chris. 2000. Prides: The Lions of Moremi. United States of America: Smithsonian Institution Press. Image 4.

Endnotes:

1. Pieter Kat, Prides: The Lions of Moremi. (United States of America: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000).

Found in the Life and Sciences Library, provided information on the behavior of lions and their lifestyles form first hand accounts of those living in Africa among the lions. Also used for the images in the paper.

2. Desmond Morris, Cat World: A Feline Encyclopedia. (New York: The Penguin Group, 1996), 264.

Found in the Perry-Castaneda Library, gave information on lions and their relation to the world.

3. Ted Andrews, “Animal Speak,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012).

Found in the course Anthology, used as a way of expressing my connection to the animal.

4. John G. Neihardt, “Black Elk Speaks,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012).

Found in the course Anthology, helped express emotions through experiences of another.

5. Judith A. Rudnai, The Social Life of the Lion. (Hertfordshire: The Garden City Press, 1973).

Found in the Life and Sciences Library, used to gain information from scientific account of lions and their nature.

6. Steven D. Farmer, “Power Animals,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012).

Found in the course Anthology, used to demonstrate power and express the connection I hold with my spirit animal.

7. Rudolfo Anaya, “Bless Me, Ultima,” in Animal Humanities E350R, #35495, Fall 12, ed. Jerome Bump (Danvers: Copyright Clearance Center, 2012).

Found in the course Anthology, used to express importance of bond with my spirit animal