Possible meanings of different Pandoran animals as Na'vi uniltaron totem animals

Started by Amaya, February 03, 2011, 08:33:02 PM

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Maria TunVrrtep

I don't think you understand.  You don't choose the spirit animal.  It chooses you.
But calling things that you don't understand to you is like playing with a Ouija board, yes.

To a pagan, an animal totem is not just an animal that they really like.  It is a guide.  It helps you through your daily life.  It supports you when the need arises.  It can even help with magical workings. 

Like I said, the problem isn't the fact that people want to find out what their animal totem is.  The problem is that some of the Pandoran animals are VERY similar to beings that I wouldn't want to meet anywhere, much less a dark alley.  And talking about those beings gives them a way to find you.  And these are not beings you want finding you.  Believe me. 

"Ke'u ke lu law a krr frakem tsunslu." -
    Margaret Drabble
("When nothing is sure, everything is possible.")



Txura Rolyu

How do you learn what your spirit guide is? You said there is meditaion involved... can you elaborate? I am curious to know what mine might be, but I have done a simple card reading and I got the Bear as mine. I dont remember what it represented but it was rather interesting to get that animal.
Quote from: Ekirä on March 30, 2011, 04:45:34 PMNeytiri: Now you choose your woman. This you must feel inside. If she also chooses you, move quick like I showed.
Jake: How will I know if she chooses me?
Neytiri: She will try to kill you.
Jake: Outstanding. *takes out an ikran-catcher and walks through hometree looking for women*

Human No More

If you believe it that way, then fine. For other people, it's subjective - not everyone takes it so seriously - it's created in the person's mind, it is their own interpretation. If you want tp interpret it some way, go ahead, but don't go saying it has to be done that way and your own opinion is the only one that matters.
"I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am any more."

HNM, not 'Human' :)

Na'vi tattoo:
1 | 2 (finished) | 3
ToS: Human No More
dA
Personal site coming soon(ish

"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."
- Richard P. Feynman

Raiden

Quote from: Maria TunVrrtep on August 05, 2011, 10:09:13 AM
I'm being serious because even words can be magical and can call those beings I was talking about to you.  And I didn't say it was bad luck to have the wrong spirit animal following you around.  I said that there are beings on the astral plane that resemble the Pandoran animals you're all talking about.  And you don't want one of those beings following you around. 
People shouldn't play around with anything magical until they know what it is.  Please be careful with this.  You all think it's a game but it's not.  I just get a little worried when people talk about playing around with magic.  It's scary for someone like me who is a Guardian to think about people playing with magic and not knowing what they are doing.  Sorry if I overreacted, but really there is no such thing as overreaction when you are talking about magic being misused, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

What?

This is a fan forum (albeit one with greater ambitions than just that). This is not a serious, life-changing thing.

I do not mean to offend whatever your beliefs are, but unless there is solid, proovable evidence of magic, or us "playing with magic" or magical beings, then your worries fall into the realm of belief and disbelief, and not reality.

You can choose to believe in such things if you wish, but the rest of us are trying to have fun. Making a post about how "dangerous" this is to be messing around with is highly disruptive and unecessary, and does nothing except ruin our good time.

Please, try to think before posting something like this again.
Trouble keeps me running faster

Save the planet from disaster...

Human No More

Quote from: Raiden on August 05, 2011, 01:57:09 PM
Quote from: Maria TunVrrtep on August 05, 2011, 10:09:13 AM
I'm being serious because even words can be magical and can call those beings I was talking about to you.  And I didn't say it was bad luck to have the wrong spirit animal following you around.  I said that there are beings on the astral plane that resemble the Pandoran animals you're all talking about.  And you don't want one of those beings following you around.  
People shouldn't play around with anything magical until they know what it is.  Please be careful with this.  You all think it's a game but it's not.  I just get a little worried when people talk about playing around with magic.  It's scary for someone like me who is a Guardian to think about people playing with magic and not knowing what they are doing.  Sorry if I overreacted, but really there is no such thing as overreaction when you are talking about magic being misused, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

What?

This is a fan forum (albeit one with greater ambitions than just that). This is not a serious, life-changing thing.

I do not mean to offend whatever your beliefs are, but unless there is solid, proovable evidence of magic, or us "playing with magic" or magical beings, then your worries fall into the realm of belief and disbelief, and not reality.

You can choose to believe in such things if you wish, but the rest of us are trying to have fun. Making a post about how "dangerous" this is to be messing around with is highly disruptive and unecessary, and does nothing except ruin our good time.

Please, try to think before posting something like this again.
Exactly :)

It's something people can interpret as they wish. Just taking something overly seriously does not mean everyone should.
"I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am any more."

HNM, not 'Human' :)

Na'vi tattoo:
1 | 2 (finished) | 3
ToS: Human No More
dA
Personal site coming soon(ish

"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."
- Richard P. Feynman

Raiden

Quote from: Maria TunVrrtep on August 05, 2011, 12:14:10 PM
I don't think you understand.  You don't choose the spirit animal.  It chooses you.
But calling things that you don't understand to you is like playing with a Ouija board, yes.

To a pagan, an animal totem is not just an animal that they really like.  It is a guide.  It helps you through your daily life.  It supports you when the need arises.  It can even help with magical workings.  

Like I said, the problem isn't the fact that people want to find out what their animal totem is.  The problem is that some of the Pandoran animals are VERY similar to beings that I wouldn't want to meet anywhere, much less a dark alley.  And talking about those beings gives them a way to find you.  And these are not beings you want finding you.  Believe me.  



And as of my post right now, you've already derailed the thread by nine posts.

Unless I am mistaken, we were talking about which animals could be "totem animals" for the Na'vi.

Are you quite finished, or would you like to damage the thread further?
Trouble keeps me running faster

Save the planet from disaster...

Maria TunVrrtep

Quote from: Txura Rolyu on August 05, 2011, 01:53:09 PM
How do you learn what your spirit guide is? You said there is meditaion involved... can you elaborate? I am curious to know what mine might be, but I have done a simple card reading and I got the Bear as mine. I dont remember what it represented but it was rather interesting to get that animal.

I'll reply to this in a PM.  Since I kind of derailed the thread.
Again I'm sorry if I overreacted.  Please simply accept my apology as it was meant.  And understand that I had reason for my overreaction.
"Ke'u ke lu law a krr frakem tsunslu." -
    Margaret Drabble
("When nothing is sure, everything is possible.")



Raiden

Okay, so, back on topic...

I think it would be important to consider slightly smaller animals too, like the Mantis-thing and the "Arachnoid".

Since the Na'vi use the Arachnoid for it's poison and the Mantis has its own idiom, I thought that they might work too. Another thing that I'd be curious about is whether or not the animals from project 880 (namely, the Slinth) would be considered canon for this or not.
Trouble keeps me running faster

Save the planet from disaster...

Human No More

There are the various animals that were mentioned but never shown, such as the slinger.
I think any interpretation of the animal would be based on the person's own interpretation of it though.
"I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am any more."

HNM, not 'Human' :)

Na'vi tattoo:
1 | 2 (finished) | 3
ToS: Human No More
dA
Personal site coming soon(ish

"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."
- Richard P. Feynman

Neyn'ite Te Tsahìk Txeptsyìp'ite

Quote from: Lolet te Maticay on August 05, 2011, 11:28:36 AM
So, choosing the wrong spirit animal is like playing with a Ouiji board? I have a friend who did that and know her room is apparently possessed. I'm never spending the night at her house. O.o

To most people, a "totem" is just an animal that they really like and can relate to. They don't think its going to help them with their actual life. It's whatever you make of it.

kehe. I honestly don't agree, at all, with Maria's 'beliefs' about spirit animals. your spirit animal could be a vicious predator but that does not mean that you are a mean person or that it's 'bad luck' to 'have the wrong spirit animal following you'.
old gallery link?id=2025[/img]


oel ayngati kameie, ma aysmukan sì aysmuke, Eywa ayngahu.
oeyä tsmukan, ma Nick, oeru ngaytxoa livu. nìmwey tsurokx. nga yawne lu oer.

Human No More

Quote from: Neyn'ite Te Tsahìk Txeptsyìp'ite on August 10, 2011, 04:45:37 PM
Quote from: Lolet te Maticay on August 05, 2011, 11:28:36 AM
So, choosing the wrong spirit animal is like playing with a Ouiji board? I have a friend who did that and know her room is apparently possessed. I'm never spending the night at her house. O.o

To most people, a "totem" is just an animal that they really like and can relate to. They don't think its going to help them with their actual life. It's whatever you make of it.

kehe. I honestly don't agree, at all, with Maria's 'beliefs' about spirit animals. your spirit animal could be a vicious predator but that does not mean that you are a mean person or that it's 'bad luck' to 'have the wrong spirit animal following you'.
Mllte :)

You can take whichever qualities you like as an interpretation.
"I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am any more."

HNM, not 'Human' :)

Na'vi tattoo:
1 | 2 (finished) | 3
ToS: Human No More
dA
Personal site coming soon(ish

"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."
- Richard P. Feynman

Neyn'ite Te Tsahìk Txeptsyìp'ite

#71
exactly. a spirit animal doesn't choose you alone; you choose it, too. you can't, obviously, say that you are one animal that you barely have any qualities of; but if you have at least more than half of the qualities and you physically and mentally feel connected to the animal, then there you go, that is your spiritual guide in the form of an animal; which is what spirit animals are and do for you. you can have more than one spirit animal and it can have qualities you don't have, that's why people usually have more than one. I know, myself, that I am of wolf, jaguar, and dolphin qualities the most. but I know it's possible to have more spirit animals and no one of those three I mentioned are *all* that I am; which is why I answer, when asked my spirit animal, all three- or, the one that I am feeling most tied to at the time, or am acting more like.
old gallery link?id=2025[/img]


oel ayngati kameie, ma aysmukan sì aysmuke, Eywa ayngahu.
oeyä tsmukan, ma Nick, oeru ngaytxoa livu. nìmwey tsurokx. nga yawne lu oer.

`Eylan Ayfalulukanä

Some animals that many would consider 'mean' or 'vicious' end up being animals that, for the right people, are their closest friend. A lot of our mindset about animals comes from (not necessarily in order of importance) 1.)Misinformation about the animals primarily due to lack of knowledge about the animals, 2.) Lack of physical experience with those animals, 3.) Deliberate misinformation being spread about these animals by entities like animal rights groups, and 4.) Our innate, hardwired fear of animals big (or poisonous) enough to injure or kill us.

Yawey ngahu!
pamrel si ro [email protected]

Neyn'ite Te Tsahìk Txeptsyìp'ite

old gallery link?id=2025[/img]


oel ayngati kameie, ma aysmukan sì aysmuke, Eywa ayngahu.
oeyä tsmukan, ma Nick, oeru ngaytxoa livu. nìmwey tsurokx. nga yawne lu oer.

ZenMondo

Quote from: Tìvawm'ia on February 17, 2011, 12:46:03 AM
you know what woulds suck.... getting Teylu.... you'd have to eat your self.. ewwww :o :(

HRH Teylu is, as Neytiri explains, the Pandoran equivalent to "Beetle Larvae" - so the spirit animal itself would be some sort of insect, not the grub teylu that is eaten.
[/quote]

I think Teylu would be an AWESOME spirit animal. The attributes would be someone who was good at sustaining the tribe. Since it seemed at least in the cut scene EVERYONE was having a Teylu dinner so they must be a staple of the Na'vi diet and nothing wrong with something as wholesome as Teylu.  This talk of totems reminds me of the Disney Movie, Brother Bear and how you may not understand your totem when it is given to you, but part of the struggle of understanding why that animal is your totem leads you into a better understanding of yourself.

Human No More

Quote from: `Eylan Ayfalulukanä on August 22, 2011, 03:18:30 PM
Some animals that many would consider 'mean' or 'vicious' end up being animals that, for the right people, are their closest friend. A lot of our mindset about animals comes from (not necessarily in order of importance) 1.)Misinformation about the animals primarily due to lack of knowledge about the animals, 2.) Lack of physical experience with those animals, 3.) Deliberate misinformation being spread about these animals by entities like animal rights groups, and 4.) Our innate, hardwired fear of animals big (or poisonous) enough to injure or kill us.
Exactly. 'Dangerous' animals are generally benign as long as people don't antagonise them, do something stupid, or appear as prey. Many of them exhibit highly developed and compassionate behaviour within their species.
"I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am any more."

HNM, not 'Human' :)

Na'vi tattoo:
1 | 2 (finished) | 3
ToS: Human No More
dA
Personal site coming soon(ish

"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."
- Richard P. Feynman

Kaiyuri

I certianly have no clue what my Na'vi totem would be though I have the Killer whale totem. I'm thinking the Na'vi find their totem animal through meditation or dreams?

Seze Mune


Taronyu Leleioae

Quote from: Kaiyuri on August 08, 2012, 03:33:37 AM
I'm thinking the Na'vi find their totem animal through meditation or dreams?

Through the dream hunt which is the final "challenge" before being accepted as a full member of the Omatikaya clan.  The film sequence was cut and never fully created but it is on the cut scenes DVD (#3) on the extended version set as a rough animation.  The sequence is also detailed in the original Avatar script.  http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Avatar.html  This sequence explains why Jake understood why he needed to seek out the Toruk to make things right.

allrock123

The dream hunt sequence or uniltaron "mirrors" native spiritual practice in cultures that have shamanistic spiritual connections,  a good example would be the condor peoples of central and south america, tribal peoples of the amazon rain forest are a great example of this
I suspect the dream hunt was cut because of its refrence to psychedelic drugs and very closely mirrors the use of Ayahuasca in these cultures, the scene contains a refrence to a "worm" and a bite or sting from some type of bug (for fun search Avatar and Ayahuasca to see how these cultures brew the stuff and the refrences in the dream hunt,  there are "two items" combined) (Don't experment with psychedelic's unless  seeing yourself being eaten alive by thousands of snakes in your vision sounds like tons of of fun you have been strongly warned)  Cameron realy did his research, the uniltaron was orignaly part of Jakes coming of age cermony and in Jakes drug driven vision he sees his "totem" animal  so if one is trying to research the roots of Jakes totem animal, fantasy as it may be in the film , looking at the meaning of totem animals in say "Equador or Peru" this would probbly point very closely to the Meaning James Cameron intended  out of intrest take a look at the Na"Vi Clan name Omaticaya which in Na"vi means the Blue flute clan But there is a likely cultural refrence as well split the word in half  "Olmec-Maya there are lots of very real cultural spiritual refrences "mirrored" through Avatars fantasy shell almost all native cultures use refrences to totem animals its a sacred part of there culture with deep meaning in a persons lifes journey.