My Swan Totem

About two months ago we were asked to choose an animal totem. I chose the swan (and a secondary totem, the horse).

We are going to be using our totems to go out and energize potentials for us, to do work for us. They are really extensions of our own energy. I'm still not too sure how to work with mine, but the fact that we have one at all means that other darker energies leave us alone. Hopefully I'll be able to record some results of working with my animal totem in later posts.
I didn't do a lot of research apart from which ones felt right. If I'd thought about it too much it would have been hard to decide. And for the purpose of this post I did a bit more research online and came up with some more meanings. The following is a basic outline of what the Swan animal totem means, according to google:

Swan as a totem is strong medicine. Swans are graceful, strong, and tend to live a very long life. For this reason the swan as a totem represents grace, strength, and longevity. As a species swans mate for life. A swan showing up can indicate the one you are with, or someone you are soon to meet is a soul-mate. The swan teaches that there is beauty in all things. As an archetype, the swan begins life as an "ugly ducking" and yet emerges into a beauty when full grown. This children's story is a tale of soul-growth and also teaches inner beauty. The swan's message may very well be that things are not as they appear outwardly. Look beyond the obvious.

If the Swan is your totem animal, you are emotionally sensitive, empathic towards the feelings of others, and you draw people to you. The pure white swan is a solar symbol, whereas the Australian black swan is a nocturnal symbol. With its long neck, the Swan acts as a bridge between the worlds, making it an oracular bird. Being a cool weather bird, its direction is North. Swans are excellent totems for children, as well as those connected to the Fairy Realm, poets, bards, mystics, and dreamers. Many healers use a swan feather in smudging and healing ceremonies. A swan feather tied to an instrument such as a harp would be a powerful adjunct to music therapy. In the Medicine Cards, pulling the Swan card tells you to "accept your ability to know what lies ahead, pay attention to your hunches, gut knowledge, and female intuitive side".

The swan gives you the ability to handle change and transformation with grace and dignity. Swan flies even higher than Eagle. Elders teach that Swan is a great shamaness, because she sees not only this world but also into the next one.

So now I'm interested in buying a swan feather, or even a swan feather boa! Not been able to find anything so far on the internet, so do let me know if you know of a website that sells them. I have a lake nearby in the park which is two minutes walk from me, but I think the swans have either flown south or are hibernating on those islands in the lake.

Before I wrote this post I had a quick look on wikipedia about the meaning of 'swan song'. It said:

The phrase "swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is completely mute during its lifetime until the moment just before it dies, when it sings one beautiful song.

By extension, "swan song" has become an idiom referring to a final theatrical or dramatic appearance, or any final work or accomplishment. It generally carries the connotation that the performer is aware that this is the last performance of his or her lifetime, and is expending everything in one magnificent final effort.

Well, this is probably my last performance on Earth, my final mission here before I depart for other realms on my next adventure, and so in a way this IS like one magnificent final effort. Although I haven't exactly been mute during my lifetime, I have until recently been working behind the scenes for many years in my lightworker and new energy pioneering role, and it is only lately that I have come out of the closet and been willing to be more visible about it.

'Swansong' also reminded me of a time when, after attending my mother's funeral, I was waiting for the train to take me back to London. The music of Swan Lake suddenly came on over the loudspeakers. It was surreal. I'd never witnessed music being played like this at any train station, let alone this small coastal one which I had been to many times before. I was already in a state of grief, but Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake was just somehow making it all feel much worse and a lot more dramatic.

My sister didn't believe me when I told her about it over the phone later, so she had to phone my other sister to verify my information. Sure enough, they had started to play classical music at this station, for reasons which I now forget. Looking back, it seems rather appropriate that it would have been played, as symbolic of my mother singing one last beautiful song before leaving this lifetime.