Elephant Spirit Animal: What Does an Elephant Symbolize?
Huge and imposing, people are familiar with elephants around the world, even in places where they are not native – and with their great strength combined with high levels of intelligence and an often docile nature, they are popular with children and adults alike.
They are also a highly symbolic animal with deep spiritual significance while as a spirit animal, they can be a wise and helpful guide – so in this post, we discuss the elephant spirit animal to help you understand if this is the right match for you.
Elephant Symbolism
As one of the world’s most distinctive and iconic animals – as well as the largest and strongest land animal alive today – the elephant has a rich and varied symbolism, so let’s start by looking at what elephants can represent.
1. Strength
Undoubtedly one of the first things we think of when we picture an elephant is its great strength. No land animal is stronger than the elephant, and it uses its strength to pull down trees and also to fight when it needs to.
As a result, the elephant has become an enduring symbol of strength, a quality for which it has long been revered.
2. Intelligence
Unlike something like a rhino, elephants aren’t just about brute force because they are also incredibly intelligent animals, perhaps on the same level as apes and dolphins.
They display several different types of intelligence, including emotional intelligence and problem-solving intelligence.
For example, elephants have been known to grieve and suffer emotionally when a member of their herd is killed, and they have been seen using a range of different tools to help gain access to food or swat away flies.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why elephants are an obvious symbol of intelligence in the animal world.
3. Memory
As well as high levels of intelligence, elephants are known to have excellent memories – confirming the truth in the expression “an elephant never forgets”.
The matriarch of a herd can use her memory to find water many years after passing through an area previously, and elephants that are mistreated are capable of remembering the handler who did it.
For these reasons, elephants are a well-known symbol of memory.
4. Wisdom
When intelligence is combined with memory and experience, wisdom is often the result, and elephants can symbolize this too. Elephants are also closely connected to the land and the environment and embody the ancient wisdom of the earth.
5. Longevity
Elephants don’t just have long memories – they can live a long time too, something that makes them a symbol of longevity.
6. Protection
Elephants live in herds and look out for each other using their great strength as well as their powerful and dangerous tusks, which means they symbolize protection.
7. Maternal instinct
Mother elephants are especially protective of their young, caring for them and even feeding them milk for at least the first two years of their life.
Even after this, young elephants stay with their herds for many years until they reach adulthood and are cared for by their mothers and other members of the herd.
This means elephants are a powerful symbol of maternal instincts and also of strong family bonds.
8. The exotic
In places that don’t have native elephants, especially in Europe, elephants have come to represent far away lands with exotic wildlife, much like hippos and giraffes, since no similar animals exist there.
9. Vulnerability
The elephant has also become a powerful symbol of the fragility and vulnerability of nature – as well as our responsibility to protect it – due to the dramatic drop in their numbers in the wild caused by human hunting.
Elephant Spiritual Meaning
As well as being highly symbolic, the elephant also has important spiritual meaning and significance, so let’s talk about this next.
1. Ganesha
One of the most common depictions of the elephant in a spiritual context is the Hindu god Ganesha.
Easily recognized by his elephant head and human body, Ganesha is worshipped primarily as a remover of obstacles and a bringer of good luck.
According to Shaivism (a form of Hinduism), Ganesha is the son of Parvati and Shiva, but according to another tradition, he is the Supreme Being.
Ganesha is also worshipped by some Jains and Buddhists, especially in Southeast Asia.
Ganesha is said to identify with the Hindu mantra om, which he personifies. In Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, known as the Muladhara.
2. A connection to ancient wisdom
As long-lived animals that are closely connected to the earth, elephants represent deep and ancient wisdom and knowledge that can be obtained through spiritual exploration and spending time close to nature.
3. Be steadfast in your spiritual exploration
Elephants can also be seen as representing our long spiritual journey of growth and discovery, a journey that requires dedication and devotion over a long period of time.
Elephants teach us that the path to spiritual enlightenment is one of slow and steady progress, and if we want to achieve our spiritual goals, this is how we must proceed.
4. Being finely attuned to messages from the spirit world
Elephants are finely attuned to the environment and the world around them. They are connected to the earth by their sensitive feet and they have large ears that are especially good at picking up lower frequencies.
As a result, elephants remind us to listen to the spirit world and any messages that are being sent to us and to remain attentive to ensure no messages are missed.
How Do You Know if the Elephant is Your Spirit Animal?
Now let’s think about how you will know if the elephant is the right spirit animal for you.
1. You are thoughtful and wise in your actions
If the elephant is your spirit animal, you are likely to be the kind of person who is thoughtful and wise in your actions.
Like wise and long-lived elephants, you don’t make decisions in the heat of the moment but rather use your experience to come up with the best solution according to the situation.
2. You prefer to solve problems through intelligence
Although elephants have great strength, if the elephant is your spirit animal, you are more likely to want to solve your problems by using your intelligence.
This way, you can always find the best way out of a difficult situation that is both peaceful and acceptable to everyone involved.
3. Your family is extremely important to you
Just as an elephant’s herd is the center of its world, family is also extremely important to people with the elephant spirit animal. This spirit animal teaches you the value of your family, and your solid family bonds are what keep you grounded and in spiritual balance.
4. You have a good memory
Another trait that many elephant people share is that they tend to have good memories. If you can always recall details whenever they are needed, it is likely that you have the elephant spirit animal by your side.
Elephant Totem
As wise and generally peaceful animals, there is much we can learn from elephants, and the elephant totem can help teach us the most important lessons – so let’s look at some of the things the elephant totem can help us with now.
1. Learn to live in harmony with others
Elephants live in herds that sometimes contain many individuals, and even though they can sometimes fight, they usually manage to coexist within their groups harmoniously for their mutual benefit and support.
This behavior reminds us that we should also strive to create harmony in our social groups, and this is a lesson the elephant totem can help us learn.
2. Don’t forget what people have done for you
When people do things for us, we should always remember to be grateful – and we should never forget to return the favor without asking for anything back.
This is something else the elephant totem reminds us, allowing us to form and maintain strong bonds with all those around us.
3. Try to be a good listener
People with the elephant spirit animal are often good listeners, but even if this is not your spirit animal, the elephant totem can help you learn to listen to people when they need to talk.
4. Use your strength when required
Although it’s usually best to use your intelligence when faced with difficulties or challenges, there are times when strength is required – either physical strength or inner strength.
At times like this, the elephant totem can help you find the strength you need and will always be there to support you when you require it most.
Elephant Omens
To finish, let’s think about how to interpret elephants appearing to you, whether that means in real life, in the form of symbols or as visitors in your dreams.
1. There is something you need to remember
One of the strongest associations we have with elephants has to do with their memories, and if you dream about an elephant, it could be a message from the spirit world telling you there is something important that you have forgotten and that you need to remember.
For example, perhaps you have suppressed or buried a memory in your subconscious mind because it is too painful for you to think about.
However, if you suppress painful or traumatic events, they can often bubble back up to the surface and burst free at any time.
Far better is to face these memories and deal with them properly, and dreaming of an elephant could be a warning that there’s something buried in your mind that needs to be resolved.
2. You may need great strength to overcome a challenge
When we face challenges in life, we often need to find inner strength and courage to overcome them, and dreaming of an elephant – or seeing elephant symbols in your waking life – could be telling you that such a time is about to come.
However, the good news is that this omen also means that you have the strength within you to rise to the challenge and overcome it, so you shouldn’t fear it but rather should prepare to face it head-on.
3. You need to work on your communication
Elephants are excellent communicators, interacting with members of their herd in many different ways, including through vocalizations and behavior – and if you dream of an elephant, it could be a message telling you that you need to work on your communication too.
Perhaps you have recently suffered a breakdown in communication with a co-worker or a family member – and this dream or omen could be telling you to try to see things from their perspective and then to attempt to get your point across in a different way
4. You need to deal with something you are avoiding
When we ignore a large problem that isn’t going to resolve itself, we call it an “elephant in the room”, and a dream of a large elephant getting in your way could be related to this.
Take time to think about what the elephant in the room in your life might be – and then think about how you can face it and deal with it instead of continuing to ignore it.
5. Good luck
One of the simplest ways of interpreting elephants appearing in your life is that is a sign of good luck to come.
The Hindu god Ganesha is a symbol of good luck, and this deity is known to bring good luck to his adherents.
Elephants themselves are considered lucky animals – something that’s also connected in some ways to the god Ganesha – so if elephants begin showing up as symbols or in your dreams, you can expect some good news or good fortune to come your way soon.
A powerful protector and a wise guide
With the great strength of elephants, the elephant spirit animal can be a powerful protector and ally in both the physical and the spiritual realms, yet with intelligence and wisdom, the elephant spirit animal can also be a helpful and reliable guide.
The elephant spirit animal can help you find the inner strength and courage to face your problems head-on while also helping you channel your intelligence to find the best, most peaceful solutions to any difficult situations you find yourself in.
