Right Side: Ant
The Right Side Totem represents the masculine side. It is your male spirit essence, whether you are male or female.
This totem animal not only is your male-protector, it is the essence of the Father-protector in some AmerIndian beliefs. Along with being a protection, this Totem is where you will find your masculine virtues of courage, determination and warrior spirit. Look to the Totem that is at your Right to ensure you are using your male energy properly. Are you allowing those around you to grow as well? Be sure to look to the Right to keep your energies balanced. Honor the warrior within you by honoring the Totem at your Right.
Ant
In our steel buildings and wood homes ant is not a very welcomed visitor. However, Ant has much to teach us. Ant is one of the ultimate communal insect. There is only one Queen in an ant hill. It is to serve the greater good of all within the colony that each Ant dedicates itself. Whether searching for food, defending the colony, caring for the young, or serving their queen the Ant truly is a study in self-sacrifice. Venerated by many cultures, this tiny insect is a force upon the world. There is a species of Ant in Africa that will literally strip the land bare as they forage to feed the hive. Ant can be found nearly everywhere. With its strong social ties and communal mentality it is a great survivor with strong power. Whether a forager or farmer (a type of mold); Queen or worker, the Ant works for the betterment of the hive. Ant is industrious. Never just content to just laze in the sun, Ant is always collecting, foraging, building, cleaning, and busy. Ant is always preparing for tomorrow, ensuring they colony has everything it needs. Ant’s consistent endeavors have ensured the survival of the species for far longer than man. Even as long ago as Aesop the great teller of Fables, the Ant has been known for its industriousness and work ethic. Aesop told of the Ant and the Grasshopper.
The Ant was laying out grains of grass to finish drying in the cool winter sun. As Ant worked industriously, turning the grains and ensuring they did not get wet or overly exposed to the Sun a Grasshopper came by. Grasshopper watched Ant tend the grain. Grasshopper shivered in the cold because he had not eaten in days. When Ant noticed his shivering the Ant asked why the Grasshopper looked so gaunt. Did he have no food? The grasshopper told Ant it had been some time since he ate. Puzzled, Ant asked Grasshopper why he didn’t put aside adequate stores to get him through the winter when he knew it was coming. Grasshopper responded that while the summer sun was warm in the sky and the fireflies flitted in the evening breeze he gloried in being alive and playing and dancing with his fellow grasshoppers and had had no time to set aside stores. At this Ant could only shake its head. When grasshopper asked again for food, Ant had to say no because the grain he had was for his colony of which he was only a member and that there were many others that were relying on him to safeguard his grain. Grasshopper moved on hoping to find a morsel to eat while ant continued to tend the kernels.
Although a tiny insect, Ant Energy is very strong. It is the power of lack of the self. It is the power of patience. It is the power of just action and proper preparation to allow for abundance to occur. Ant doesn’t think as an individual, Ant thinks as part of a collective whole. All the ants in the hive follow the “instructions” of the Queen. She runs a tight ship, everyone doing their job. The worker ant can achieve great feats of construction. Pathways, vaulted ceilings and even arches can be found within the worker ants constructs. There are many different ant species.
The Queen too sacrifices for the good of the hive. Before she starts her hive, the Queen has the ability of flight. Taking to the air she is free. However, once she is fertilized, she finds a new place to start a colony removes her wings and settles in for an average of twelve years serving the colony by becoming the breeder. The Queen rules the hive and all serve her. Another caste in the Ant hierarchy is the winged males. These larger ants provide the fertilization for a Queen for life. Finally, the predominant members of the colony are the sterile females who serve as the workers and babysitters. Each in their own way serves the common good.
There are ants who will “hunt with patience.” Essentially a trapping maneuver, these insects will burrow themselves down to the bottom of a small cone they create in the dirt or sand. Crawling to the bottom, they are covered by a few grains of sand. There they wait until some insect comes across the cone and, wandering too close to the edge, falls prey to the Ant’s plan and, tumbling down the side of the tiny cone ending up in the mouth of the patient Ant. Ant knows that sooner or later something will come their way.
Ant is the power of patience. Ant is the power of waiting for the proper time. Ant is the power of passive action. Ant is never still, napping, or sleeping. Ant is always busy, always working, but always patience. Having stood in lines at grocery stores, amusement parks and concerts imagine Ant who will literally carry her leaf miles and miles across the earth back to her colony with no thought to personal self. Ant reminds us that if we stick to our task and trust in patience bounty will come to us.
The number 12 is significant with Ant Energy. As the Queen lives an average of twelve years, so the colony is based on a 12 year cycle. The number 12 is significant in many ways – 12 is the number of months in a year; 12 is the number of weeks in a quarter-year; 12 is the number of hours in the day in the Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes. Twelve is a number of power. It speaks of sustenance and dependability.
Those with Ant Totem should never forget the bounty at hand. Those who Ant has granted her Totem are probably not the ones who are going to be at the store for the sale before they unlock the doors. Rather, content in their knowledge that what is needed will be provided, those with Ant Totem will sleep in, relying on the knowledge that what they are looking for will be there and, if not, something better probably will be. Carrying Ant Totem and working with Ant energy is a calling to serve the greater good.
