Ancestors, angels, beings, deities, elementals, entities, energies, genie's, ghosts, gods, guides, influences, inspirers, spirit, totems, etc. All help us on our way
Spiritual enlightenment is something we all seek at some point in our lives. Each of us will have a name for this divine energy we call upon, Spirit Guide/s, totems, elementals, angels, guardians, fairies, elves, dryads, inspirers, guardian angels, genie, divine spirit, are among some of the names we will use to summon this universal consciousness, this universal energy. We may even use something more generic like God, Allah, Father, Mother, and of course we must not forget the individual deities that that serve our individual needs and we name these and call them forward as individuals.
The Ovate's duties were to recognize and interpret spirit guides, totems, elementals and inspirers. Power animals and animals that come to us from spirit will play their part in our life, the Ovate graduated from Bard and was in the second phase of his training to become Druid, the Ovates duties were to interpret the symbolism and understand the spiritual meaning and significance of all things. Bnwyfre' "Breath of Life" the life force stream that comes from one life and all life.
Either by choice or by synchronicity animals/entities appear to us and can play a significant part to our lives if we recognize the significance of the timing and the appearance of the Totem. The appearance of the Totem should be seen as a life force stream that compliments others, recognizing and accepting the energy for what it is will enhance everyday life. The co-operation of all life force streams, physically, mentally and spiritually is a natural process that has been forgotten, our ancestors depended on it for survival and used it as their first sense but in the modern fast tracked lifestyle of today it is sometimes if recognized has become the sixth sense.
One belief system is that we have at the very least 9 guides surrounding us at any one time. One for each of the four directions, one above us, one below us, one that will stand within our energy, and one that travels on each side of us through life.
Travelling North is a time of slumber to rest, recharge and evaluate. (Earth) Travelling East and we look for the new day, new beginnings. (Water) Travelling South we are in the moment and enjoying now. (Fire) Travelling West is to reflect and enjoy what was and leave it behind. (Air) Our guide above us is for protection and can see all around. Our guide below us is to keep us light hearted and fair of faith. The guide that stands within our energy is our inspirer, the introducer, this guide will raise our energies or lower their energies so we can meet our other guides. This guide is also known as the doorkeeper, main guide, protector or guardian. Our escort that travels left of us is for love and to teach us to love unconditionally. Our escort that travels right of us is for caution and to help us avoid and overcome fear.
The escort is appreciated in many eastern cultures as a "genie" or "gin", the common belief is that they sit on each shoulder. Here in the west has seen a modern interpetation of the genie as one that appears from a bottle and grants three wishes. Whether it be genie, gin, ancestor, animal spirit guide, totem, entity or deity the life force energies that surround us should be appreciated. The "Ovate" would spend at least a decade learning of the differing life force energies that surround us before graduating to become a Druid. Bnwyfre' (breath of life or life force energy) comes from animal, vegetable and mineral.
The Celtic Queen Boudicea is known to have pulled a hare from her tunic and based her decision on which direction it ran after she released it, the hare being a totem of the goddess Andraste, this was recorded in the 1st century AD.
Some of the least recognised Totems are the "Inspirers", these magnificent entities come in all shapes, sizes and energies. They are known as inspirers but should be called hosts, communicators or maybe escorts, what they are able to do is balance the energies between you and the entity that wants to come in. They will make themselves known and will then inspire you to raise your vibration to that of an entity that wants to be known to you, they will also encourage the entity to lower their vibration thus making the two of you compatible.
Natures Angels are predominantly four Arch-Angels who represent the four elements and the four directions, the earliest representations of these are in Cuneiform being the earliest form of writing known to man. Written with pictures it shows humans and animals alike with halo's and light radiating from their person, these angels can be described as the first inspirers, these were the first energies to introduce other energies. It is not beyond the realms of credibility to believe that it was the Arch-Angels who were first to balance the energies between Humans and other entities.
Judaism in 1 AD has references of Jesus stating Angels can not marry Humans, it is a belief that he meant Angels in Heaven, which concludes that he believed that at that time Angels walked this earth.