Has anyone ever wondered why our guides appear in the animal forms that they do? Many sites, whether legitimate or not, will tell you a tiger means power and a wolf loyalty, both of which were my guides before they recently switched to coyote and (I think) arctic fox.
But how do we know that what we are told an animal means is what the guide symbolizes of us? Maybe you have a male lion for example, but instead of being a ferocious symbol of pride and confidence, maybe you were given a male lion guide because of his other not so flattering attributes which could be interpreted as laziness (leaving all the lionesses to do all the hunting) and maybe loyalty/ trust issues (male lions don't really pick one mate like a wolf). Maybe, you were given this guide as a symbol of your flaws/ troubles in life, and so he may teach you to overcome them.
Is this the case with each guide we are graced with, each a symbol of our weaknesses and how to conquer them, or are they symbols of our strengths and how to use those strengths to conquer our flaws? Maybe, it is some combination of both of these things, or something else all together. In my opinion, I think who we are or who we have the potential to become has something to do with our guides. Either way, I don't think they are what they seem. After all, where as a beautiful golden lion might be more exiting then a frog, a minuscule amount of a tiny poison dart frog's poison can bring even the so called king of beasts to his knees.
I am the last person who anyone would expect to have powerful, popular guides like the tiger and wolf, but I think I am uncovering more and more of the elements of both animals that make them my guides. While both are courageous, both are top of the food chain predators, which can translate at least in my case to pride and the flaunting of their position. Pride can cause any person to over look important things, beautiful things, be they simple, every day mundane things, or something much more extraordinary that can either way lead to demise.
Now, with my understanding of why I am guided by wolf and tiger just beginning, I have two new riddles to puzzle out, fox and coyote.