Man-made Totems?

[epsilon_pegasi]

Is anyone here working with synthetic and man-made totems? I've been getting strong feelings about Road (general, not a specific road), having worked with a lot of roadkill and car accident victims as a psychopomp it's been a presence in my life for a while now, but lately I've been receiving a stronger pull towards working with Road itself more closely. I'm not really sure how to approach it though? I've worked with animals, plants, rocks, rivers... but never something created by humans, so I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to form a relationship with Road as a totem.

Comments

[moonvoice]

I work with synthetic / man-made devas/beings/spirits a fair bit. Like paleo, I tend to restrict the term 'totem' to the organic, but that's a terminology issue.

Generally I tend to go with specifics (i.e. a specific building, house, road, computer, car and so on) rather than 'Road.' But I do like and respond well to specificity, especially taking into account that roads throughout the world are made with different substrates to take into account weather issues, as well as the whims of local government.

So, like spider_fox, I'd suggest starting with a specific road, or network of roads, rather than 'Road as Totem.' Consider researching the history of the road, the substrate it's made from, how long it's been in existence (were they created recently, or did they follow older forms of man-made road?)

As for approaches, there are two immediate ways that come to mind. One is to locate or print out a map of that particular section of road, or roads, and use that as an anchor point in which to invite the spirit of these roads to communicate with you. Consider vocally inviting the spirit to communicate with you, and then leave yourself 'open' over a period of time - maybe a day, a week, etc. not just for clear-speaking totem responses, but also for feelings, signals, and so on.

The second method is to actually *walk the road*, either alongside it (if footpaths are safely available) - which is probably the second-best method after being able to walk *on* the road (something that's not always possible or safe on high-transit thoroughfares) - or actually visualise the road in your mind. As you walk the road, where is the spirit trying to take you, and what does it want you to see? Does this road attract more roadkill than others, does it have more mature trees, where is this road situated in the ecosystem and within the greater ecosystem of land spirits? If you're using this as a trance technique, consider inviting a manifestation of the road to walk alongside you, to share in your journey and your perspective.