Dig deep, linger longer, tell stories, make alliances.
Sometimes small things seem like big things and big things disguise themselves as small things, and we become obsessed with badgers (maybe that’s just me!)
My aim this autumn was to write something that’s light and quirky, with no particular agenda (other than badgers), and see what happens… and ideally, not focus on death. Then I saw a dead badger at the side of the road. The irony is, I haven’t seen a real live badger since 2008. It was waddling/scurrying quickly up a road near Alexandra Park in Bath, UK. What’s a waddle scurry? A wurry? It did seem worried. It also seemed to be struggling with the weight of it’s own body (I felt like that trying to get out of bed early this morning).
‘Badgers appear rather plump, but this is not fat. Rather, it’s muscle mass, and the creature is formidable if need be.’ This year I’ve taken long overdue steps to try to increase my muscle mass (advised by my therapist nearly 10 years ago). ‘Combine this with a powerful jaw, and you have a creature that can stand its ground when necessary.’ However, ‘…would rather find safety than fight, but if they’re cornered, they know their assets and use them effectively; this makes Badger a powerful ally when you are developing new attributes and endeavouring to increase self-sufficiency.’ (1)
Is this why I’ve been noticing badgers everywhere since deciding to become self-employed?
‘We’ve all heard the phrase, “Stop badgering me!”'(2). Badgers are considered tenacious, diligent and hard-working. They don’t give up easily! My mother often told me as a child that I wasn’t a ‘quitter’. I was also shy, so my not quitting was generally attributed to activities which I could hide behind; a musical instrument, a costume, a written story (busted!). Therefore, leaving my National Health Service job after 15+ years and putting myself out there as a sole trader, felt entirely unnatural to me. My inner badger has thankfully stepped up – giving me the confidence to work for myself; ‘naturally thrifty and somewhat of a loner’, ‘Badger offers strong grounding’ and ‘is “business first” regarding approaching a project’. (1) What a perfect combination!
‘Badger comes across gruffly. The energy here is not angry, however, but rather one of high expectations.’ (1) Not only does the badger keep me motivated to work (when I don’t have a boss to answer to), it also reminds me to carve out time for my personal pursuits. Badger is a storyteller (and wants to get really good at it!). Badgers dig for roots and herbs; revealing treasure in the earth. Very much in the here-and-now and ‘a creature of patience and fortitude’; my inner badger keeps me trudging along, snuffling amongst the mushrooms (like Mr Mushy, below), burrowing for inspiration in woodlands and forests and beaches and countryside near the sea. Searching for gold, or fossils. Alongside my ageing, ambling hound – who is on a very different search (for tennis balls), but checks in with me periodically as if to say, ‘how’s it going for you? Have you found what you’re looking for?’
‘Because of their rare ability to create cross-species relationships, badgers are also symbols of friendship.’ (2)
I had a friend at secondary school who was also slightly obsessed with badgers. She often exclaimed, ‘That’s the badger!’ – meaning she’d found something she was looking for, or I had clarified something she’d said, or as an acknowledgement of a friend expressing something very genuine. Badger’s are adaptable to various terrains and environments, and known for eating rotting fruit, which causes them to become intoxicated; a badger-like friend is a great drinking buddy. They can also bring attention to imbalance; in nature, in relationships, in work or sense of security. An important lesson I’m learning – with the help of the persistent presence of the badger – is that if I dig (into work, into trauma, into grief) too much, too far, for too long – I lose my friends… and my family relationships suffer too. As do my inner relationships; the balance of my inner system.
This year I discovered that in Al-Anon (3), one of the popular mantras is, ‘Look, but don’t stare’. This, I understand, relates to ones own distressing past experiences. Or, I suppose, those that other people are telling you about from their own pasts. I have a very visual mind (and a very vivid imagination): When somebody tells me something they have experienced, if I don’t catch myself, I immediately imagine it. I would like to extend the Al-Anon mantra to; ‘witness, don’t imagine’. Sometimes empathy can go too far, and be misguided. The jazz badgers (below) remind me to be alongside people without disappearing into their traumas, or my imagined versions of them.
Adventuring around my own imagined stories though, those are the journeys the badger really wants to get its teeth into. It wants to jump on a bus with no particular destination. There is so much more to experience, so much more to say, so much more to write…
‘If you have been laying low for a while, Badger’s appearance tells you it’s ok to come out now. Take your place in the spotlight. Don’t be shy – just go for it.’ (1)
© 2024 Psychodography Blog
REFERENCES
- www.whatismyspiritanimal.com/spirit-totem-power-animal-meanings/mammals/badger-symbolism-meaning
- https://www.uniguide.com/badger-symbolism-meaning-spirit-animal
- https://al-anonuk.org.uk/
(please accept my apologies for the cultural appropriation re: spirit animals, if this causes any offence)
Psychodography 