THE KILLER WHALE OR ORCA— animal totem

In fact, in spite of its name, the killer whale belongs to the dolphin family. Orcas are apex predators, at the very top of the food chain and knows no enemy at sea. Orcas are enormous, dozens of times bigger than a Man, weighing between 5 and 10 tons. Nevertheless the Klingit and Haïda Indians considers it friendly to men. Orcas lives like wolves, in packs or rather pods as are called the grouping of whales. The name that the First Nations of the West Coast of Canada give Orcas is Black Fish.

The killer whale is very social, very communicative and lives in grouping of matriarchal lineages. It’s the only animal to which scientists attribute a culture, this ensuing from the very sophisticated education in hunting techniques of that the clan mothers teach to the pod’s young. They have a high-level language and the training of the young can last twenty years. Various pods of killer whales can have different cultures and hunting techniques. They can live nearly as old as human beings although generally between 40–65 years. Certain individuals were listed as having reached 80 years of age.

The killer whale is white and black what translates an important metaphysical reality in the understanding of this totem. What at first sight seems to be an apex predator capable of incredible violence and power, afraid of no other, is nevertheless friendly and of a special importance to the First Nations who live close to them. Both colors are the presence of all colors but in opposite polarities. This represents the simultaneous presence of the dark and the light. We all carry within us a black, dark, evil and malefic aspect as well as a luminous, shiny, brilliant and beneficial aspect. The aspect that will the most influence our lives depends on the one that we choose to feed.

It is important to understand the warrior spirit of aboriginal people. The warrior word here does not make reference to war as civilized people understand it. Indeed, the civilized have what is called soldiers, people trained to obey and kill without discussion. The warrior is the one who is victorious of the most powerful enemy there is: oneself. Unlike the soldier the ethical consciousness of the warrior is very developed. He obeys none other than his consciousness. The notion of chief or leader is very different in any aborigine nation’s understanding. The leader is a focalizer, a devoted caretaker who carries out the will of the people. He is not a figure of authority is not there to tell others what to do but to do what the people ask of him.

This places the killer whale in a special perspective: indeed the community and matriarchal nature of the killer whales are similar to that of First Nations. The warrior spirit is very important in any natural community. Indeed how do we learn to serve others if we do not know how to master our own self? Self-control, the importance of personal discipline is a lifelong endeavour. We can never relax our vigilance in our adherence to integrity, loyalty, truth and respect as the dark side in us is always watching for the opportunity to take the reins of our life. That is why community spirit is an essential predominant concern for all aboriginal tribes of the planet. Those whom we love and live with are there to call out to us: “careful there, you’re slipping to the dark side!” In this civilized and individualistic society that has spread to the whole planet, this same civilization that has murdered aborigines on all continents with its myriads of obedient soldiers, we find innumerable manifestation of violence, corruption, crime, sexism, racism, injustice, misery, poverty, destruction of the environment, etc. The dark side is unbridled in civilized societies. Indeed, individualism and the notion of authority and dominion over other human beings typical of civilizations who have soldiers, leads straight to an excessive development of the dark side.

That is why it’s imperative today to remember the importance of community and to put oneself in the service of the community as a community is life and light. Killer whales take care of their young and take many years in teaching them a way of life that benefits the pod.

Those who carry killer whale medicine have great power but really need to put that energy into service to others, family, friends or community. They first have to identify their soul community for lack of an earth-bound community as that way of life has been destroyed today and has been replaced by financial relationships. Once the soul community is identified killer whale people have to put themselves in service to their community, friends and family and defend them from outside forces and the influence of the dark side of things, be it from within or without. This is only possible by exercising the daily discipline of a stable and evolutionary spiritual practice. Indeed, its spiritual practice which allows mastery of one’s being so as to always feed the light within and keep the dark side we all have, at bay.

The woman killer whale is definitely more powerful than the man killer whale. On the other hand, a man killer whale also has fantastic power. For men killer whales they imperatively need to channel their energy into family. They need a spouse, children and put their focus on protecting and feeding them. Their fantastic energy and power will then develop harmoniously and promote life.

Like wolves people with killer whale medicine are great warriors, defenders, team workers, team builders, they develop harmoniously within groups and have great creativity within any organizations. They will make great contributions to any form of teamwork. They can work alone but then will often develop addictions and other ways of channelling their great energy as working alone is not normal or beneficial for them. They can succeed in any field of work as they have great creativity and boundless energy. They just need to align themselves with family, community, an organization or work team and to constantly feed the light within. If their work place is not in harmony with the light or truth, they will become distressed and will eventually need to find another job. They cannot give in to the dark side as when they do the energy they bring to it creates great destruction of themselves or others.

Blue Eagle