Unlocking the Guidance of Spirit Animals

Shannon_Kaiser

Will & Karen: [00:00:00] Karen? Yes. You ever wondered when you look out that window and you see that squirrel that keeps following you around trying to tell you something? I don't really have a squirrel that follows me around. Yeah, you do. You know the one, the one that, that squirrel. The one named Will? The one that, no, no, the squirrel that keeps staring at you like you owe it money. Sure, we'll just, yeah, yeah, we'll go with yes. Okay, well, what if I told you that that squirrel might actually be your spirit animal guide? Oh. That's right. You were probably not being stalked by a furry little debt collector after all. Although that would be kind of cute. Well, I guess so. After, as it happens, it turns out that spirit animals are here to give us guidance not to collect debt.

Oh, that's good. And today we've got just the expert to help us figure out the messages behind these mystical encounters. She's going to share with us how we can tap into the wisdom of spirit animals, connect with Gaia's healing energy, and maybe even figure out why that darn squirrel won't [00:01:00] leave you alone.

So whether you're being followed by a squirrel, chased by a crow, or just curious about the magic of the universe, stick around because this one's going to be nuts. Thanks. I Hey there, I'm Will. And I'm Karen. And today we're thrilled to welcome Shannon Kaiser, a world renowned spiritual and self love teacher, speaker, and [00:02:00] empowerment coach who's passionate about guiding people to awaken and align their true selves. Nice. Now Shannon is the best selling author of six, one, two, three, four, five, six transformative books.

And the creator of multiple Oracle and Mantra decks. her latest being the Guidance from Gaia Oracle. Now her newest deck connects us to the wisdom of spirit animals and the healing energy of Gaia. Offering profound insights into how we can live in harmony with the earth and ourselves.

I should mention this episode is not brought to you by Gaia. This is actually on our own. Now, Shana's teachings blend ancient spiritual practices with modern guidance, helping us tap into our highest potential and find support. to the guidance of spirit animals. She was named one of the top 100 women to watch in wellness by mind body green.

Wow. And one of the freshest voices in mental health and wellness by chicken soup for the woman's soul. [00:03:00] Nice. Thought you might like that. I do. Shannon's work inspires millions every month and we can't wait to explore her journey, her insights and spirit animals and how we can deepen our connection with Gaia's energy.

Welcome to the show, Shannon.

Shannon: Hello. It's so great to be here. Thanks for that. Amazing, amazing. Welcome.

Will & Karen: I love that you feel it was amazing because I was

Shannon: Reading what you

Will & Karen: stumbling and stumbling.

Shannon: Yeah. Yeah. I knew it's not sponsored by Gaia, but we are on Gaia. So I thought that was kind of cool too.

Will & Karen: Yes, yes, but you know, people get tested. It's really all sponsored by Gaia. That is true. The big Gaia. The OG Gaia. The original Gaia. So. Shannon, I'm excited because this is a topic we've not touched on before, right? Spirit animal guides. earlier in the show, we teased that darn squirrel that keeps following Karen around.

Not that we want to specifically talk about her [00:04:00] squirrel, but what would it mean if there's an animal that you're seeing over and over and over again?

Shannon: Yeah, I think that's so important. You know, there are animal spirits and guides that really come to us, especially during different times in our lives, and they are called animal spirits or animal totems. And you know, it's different than that animal that you see every day. I walk my dog every day and I do see squirrels every day.

So that might not be my squirrel animal. It could be, but it's usually the animal that kind of comes to you that's at a weird time. For example, that frog that you don't normally see, or that deer that pops up and you're like, that was odd. That usually is a messenger and it's. Very interesting because they always come to us when we need guidance and you can go online, you can type in spirit animal.

What does the deer mean? Or you can look at the deck guidance of Gaia and look, I went on a huge journey and I worked and moved. I actually worked with shamans. I moved to Central America and I lived in [00:05:00] Mexico for a year.

Will & Karen: Ooh,

Shannon: went on a deep dive. I literally saturated myself in the jungle and that's when I designed this deck and wrote the deck to really kind of immerse myself.

And what it means to kind of understand the spirit animals. And they each have a different meaning. So the elephant is very different than the sloth or the ladybug, but we can tap into that energy and they can guide us and help us. And, and you just kind of really start to look at them as friends and they can help.

Will & Karen: that's very cool. Now on your website, I did a little sneak peek into your website. There's a little test, a quiz that will tell you your life's purpose or something like that.

Shannon: Yeah.

Will & Karen: I, and I took it and it said that I had to put more of me into what I'm doing, which prompts my next question. When I used to see dragonflies all the time and long term listeners to the show know my story about the butterfly that actually launched me on this whole path.

So, what does a butterfly or a [00:06:00] dragonfly have to do with spiritual awakenings?

Shannon: That's so important. I love that you're sharing that because that might be each one of us has a lifelong spirit guide or a specific spirit animal that is a totem. Mine is the deer and yours might be the dragonfly or the butterfly. Butterfly is a spiritual Super transformational guide that comes to us, and it's about spiritual awakening and transforming into our most authentic self.

And I love that you took that quiz. It's about authentic activation. The more you, you show, the more your life will flow, the more your life will grow, the more, You will reach the people you're supposed to reach. It's I love how you started with a joke. Like I was cracking up at the beginning of the show, cause that's who you really are.

And I think the more we allow ourselves to be who we are, the more people can say, Oh, I resonate with that. And the butterfly and the dragonfly help us with that.

Will & Karen: Wow. And then you have the people that go, Oh God, here he goes again.

Shannon: Yeah. And let them find the other, the other resonates like, but not people [00:07:00] here. We all love you

Will & Karen: Oh, well, thank you. That makes it feel good. And then you have the people like me that go really think of an animal that I've seen around a lot. That's squirrel. I'm telling you. No, it's not the squirrel. That's you. That's actually our dog Hunter. That's true.

Shannon: to that you, that you think about that. Cause has there been an animal that maybe another thing that we can think about is maybe an animal that kind of, we don't see a lot, but it comes at maybe a weird odd time. Maybe that was odd. And you think, That's weird. I don't usually see that animal. For example, I was in a life coaching session one time and I looked out on my, on my window.

I live in a condo building that's five floors up and there was a praying mantis on my window. I don't ever see praying mantises. And I knew that was a spirit animal for the session I was in.

Will & Karen: Ooh. Maybe ladybugs. Ladybugs.

Shannon: very good. Well, that is fascinating. Ladybug is all about prosperity. Luck is on your side. Abundance. It's on

Will & Karen: Ooh. All right. I'd buy that. Completely.

Shannon: A beautiful beautiful you know, they each [00:08:00] in my deck too, I have affirmations that come with them, but there's, if you know, you don't have to just think about the animals out in the wild.

You can literally sit on your couch and think about an animal. And if you're going through a tough time in your life, you can just tap into an animal Animal, for example, in my own personal journey, I'm a plus size woman. And in early in my journey, I was writing the book, the self love experiment. And I was thinking and working through how to accept myself in a world that doesn't always accept larger bodies, but that's who I am.

And I tapped into an animal that came to me, which was the Caterpillar in a meditation. And the Caterpillar was so. Chubby and cute and fluffy. And it was just sitting there and it was so in love with it. It didn't even realize that it was like overweight. It was just chubby and cute. And I felt the energy of love.

And ever since then, I'm like, I'm the Caterpillar. I'm just full of love and warmth. And you can do that with anything you're going through in life. And I think every animal has its own energy, right? The giraffe is tall and sees different things. And so it's really fun. We kind of tap into that like childlike sense of wonder [00:09:00] too.

Will & Karen: Well, another animal that really calls to me a lot, and I'm afraid what you're going to tell me about it, because I really resonate with it, but it is No. Why would you call out a rat? I don't know. Because Oh my God. I a surprising animal. What do you think? And there was the one rat in the attic.

Shannon: Well, rats are very industrious, and they know how to like, get things done. If you think of, you know, the rats in New York that kind of Wow,

Will & Karen: Remember the one you saved out of the attic? I saved out of the attic? That was quite an incident with the rat. could be your spirit animal. No, it was the sloth.

Shannon: that's amazing.

Will & Karen: That makes sense.

Shannon: much joy because I actually put the sloth in this deck One, because you, you'll love this. I, the i, I will dedicate the sloth in this deck to you [00:10:00] because it wasn't supposed to be in this deck. Originally, the deck only had 42 cards and I was in Central America and the sloth.

I had just visited Costa Rica and there was a lot of animals that aren't represented in animal decks, and the sloth was one. A lot of times we think of the sloth as very slow, and it doesn't get things done,

Will & Karen: Hmm. Zootopia. I watched Zootopia. I know how slow the DMV. Yes. Yes.

Shannon: that's perfect. But if you think about it, something about a sloth, they actually, because they are slow, they take in more than any other animal and they're able to really pay attention to the detail. And in that experience, they can actually recognize what doesn't serve them and release it and really take note of their surroundings in a way to move forward.

In a much faster way. So it's almost like slowing down so you can speed up and take the next level of your life in a more methodical way. So the sloth becomes a very beautiful [00:11:00] spirit animal to help you. I love that that's an, an, an animal that you love.

Will & Karen: Yeah. I really, I don't know what it is. I just love them. I really do. They're super cute.

Shannon: really fun to watch them on. I sometimes see them on social media, pop up on my feed. And it's really cool to see them move. They have these claws that like hug and wrap and

there's so much love. They're very nurturing, you know, they really are.

They're still in the moment, right?

Will & Karen: They are, yeah. And that's why, I think that's why I like about them. Because it's, taking me a long time to be in the moment. So, To take their example I forced myself to stop. and be in the moment that, it's a beautiful thing.

Shannon: they really do conserve a lot of energy too. Yes.

Will & Karen: So then how can actually tapping into these energies, I mean, you mentioned the, the caterpillar when in your, that moment, but like, how does tapping into different spirit animal [00:12:00] energies help guide us in our spiritual awakenings?

Shannon: That's, what's really special about this, you know, Gaia earth energy. It's been around. Our ancestors have tapped in and worked with Gaia energy. Shamans use this ancient practice and earth energy and spirit animals and just animals in general. There's a wisdom and an Experience of tapping into this as far as it succeeds, like what humans we are so chaotic right now, and we are so in the energy of obsessing, worrying about the future, obsessing about what's going to happen.

Uncertainty, obsessing about the past. When you look to animals, there's this nature and this flow. And this understanding that everything is in right order and we can tap into that. And so they become this great teacher for us and you can tap into it through different tools like the Oracle cards, but also going into medic medic journeys with shamans, but also even just meditating and sitting.

Also, I really like working with spirit animals, for example, going outside and. And just like you said earlier, if you are [00:13:00] walking and you see an animal and you're like, huh, is that my spirit animal? You see a bumblebee fly in front of you. And then you're like, I'm curious. And then you go back and look in the Oracle deck and see what the bumblebee means, or you type into Google bumblebee, spirit animal, or squirrel or sloth.

You know, it's very fun to start to play with the energy of the animals because they really are here to support us. Another fun thing to do is ask, you know, think of what your favorite animal is. So I'll ask you both. What is your favorite animal?

Will & Karen: I think, I like monkeys.

Shannon: Oh, I love that. Yeah. Okay. And then,

Will & Karen: just going to keep my comments to myself. That's wise, wise of you. Do you like owls? I do like owls actually.

Shannon: and then you, and so, yeah, what are your favorite animals and then why, right? Usually there's a characteristic of why you like those animals.

Will & Karen: Just remind her of somebody, she's state. Most of the, no, I don't know, monkeys, they're just cute and fun.

Shannon: Oh, I love that.

Will & Karen: [00:14:00] Well, now she's describing me.

Shannon: That characteristic, what you just said, these are also characteristics of what we value both in ourselves or what we want more in ourselves, or also what we value in other people.

Will & Karen: So she wants someone cute and fun because she's cute and fun. it. Got it.

Shannon: It's kind of fun to think about it that way too.

Will & Karen: this is kind of an odd question, but you hear, you hear all the time about how the universe is giving you signs like the angel numbers everywhere or whatever. So can you. Do that with animals. Like you, you, like you just mentioned, Oh my gosh, where did this praying mantis come from?

Oh, let me go to my oracle deck and find out what that means. Oh, it means I need to go pray because I'm a heathen or something. Right. It does. Like, can you take,

Shannon: does work that way. Yeah. And it's, it's fun because it's another tool that we can use. And the more we work with them, it is beautiful because it's a language. It's another skill set that we can actually start to harness and utilize. It's really fun to learn it as a [00:15:00] language. I am at the, you know, as the creator of this deck, it's a language I use very regularly now.

For example A couple weeks ago, I was wondering, should I sign a contract or not in a new business venture? And I started to kind of ask the animal spirits. I said, I asked my angel guides in the universe. I said, okay, if it's a yes, I kind of knew it would be a yes, but I wanted to final confirmation. I said, if it's a yes, let's see show me a seahorse in the next.

48 hours, just, and I let it go. I didn't like need to go drive to an aquarium or something. I just let it go. And I don't see seahorses. I just didn't even think about it. And then that night I was watching a Netflix show and the character had a seahorse on her t shirt. And I was like, there it is. That's my

Will & Karen: wow.

Shannon: for. And I was like, thank you. And so I kind of worked with that energy, you know, it's really fun.

Will & Karen: So every once in a while you run into an animal that just shocks the living crap out of you, right? So what is, what has been the most shocking thing that you have discovered from doing these spirit animal cards?

Shannon: [00:16:00] Wow. That's a great question. I love that. You know, it's interesting because the, the spirit animals can come to us in our dreams too. And I have animals that really scare me in real life, like snakes,

Will & Karen: Oh, me too.

Shannon: yeah, but sometimes in my dreams they come to me and they're not as scary. And that's also part of the animal spirits working with you.

But when I was in Costa Rica, I stayed in an Airbnb and it was infested with crabs, real crabs. And I was like, I was calling the Airbnb host and I was like, this is not normal. She's like, you're at an Airbnb in Costa Rica. It's normal. like, this is not normal. And I was terrified and they were crawling up the bed and

Will & Karen: Were they really? Oh, God.

Shannon: was like, this

Will & Karen: big?

Shannon: I thought they were big.

I didn't, I mean, it was probably like the size of my fist. I didn't know what to do, but you know, people apparently who lived in Florida and stuff. They're like, oh, that's normal. Like, you know, but. It was terrifying for me because they kind of get big and they kind of do this thing.

Will & Karen: Alright.

Shannon: And I looked at it and I was like, okay, is [00:17:00] this my spirit animal?

And crabs are very much about protecting themselves. They have their shell. They, they really know when to show themselves to be more fierce, but then they have a soft side. And I was going through something, a breakup at the time. So I recognize that I'm in a place where I don't feel safe and it became this big metaphor for my life.

So that was an interesting time.

Will & Karen: I just gotta put this out there. I'm from Florida, and we've never had crabs, like, in our homes. Well, I don't know. And I grew up on the beach. It depends.

Shannon: I was surprised too, and I don't know who was saying that. Like, I was like, this is weird.

Will & Karen: Yeah. Well, we actually our honeymoon was in Belize

Shannon: Oh, I like Belize a lot.

Will & Karen: Oh yeah. So we were actually staying in a tree house in the woods, like in in the forest. but you go through these trails in the trail where the rainforest meets the beach. Right. the rainforest opened up and you're on a beach.

It was beautiful. Well, one time she was getting ready. We're going to go have dinner or something like that. It was at night. So as I'm heading. Back to go get her to collect to go have dinner. I'm [00:18:00] this, I swear it is this, it was the size of, both of our heads together. First, he's super late.

I'm like, what is taking him so long? And he finally gets to the room and he was like, there was this crab. It was massive. It was a, it was a massive crab. It was the size of the computer. I mean, it was, it was huge. Right. Literally. And she's like, yeah. A crab. A large crab. Yeah. So I was thinking I had like, just gone to the bar and had a few shots and that's why I was late or something, right?

The crab looked bigger because of the shots. Right, right. So, I can't, whatever. I'm telling you it was there, but whatever. So we came back as we're, as we're walking on the trail back to go to have dinner, all of a sudden, there, lo and behold, is this massive blue crab. It was huge. It was, it was like this big.

It was massive. But it was funny because this was before phones had a flashlight. But they had flash photography. So he kept flashing the thing and you would just see the crab in different positions. And it was huge! It was like this big! And it was totally [00:19:00] blocking my path so I couldn't get to her. It was mad.

It was a mad blue crab, yeah.

Shannon: exactly know that feeling. They look very ferocious and they get bigger.

Will & Karen: Totally, totally.

Shannon: grow them big down there.

Will & Karen: Yeah?

Shannon: There you go. It is interesting how the animals can kind of come to us at different phases. You know, it's funny. I when I first got the deck, I spread out, I spread out the deck. You know, I have the deck here and I went like this in front of my dog and I said, okay, go ahead and pick one.

And he kind of put his nose on one and he, I pulled it out and it was the dog. And I laughed because I was like, Of course, you're going to be your own spirit animal, like the dog to be a golden retriever in this deck. And he's a golden retriever. It's

Will & Karen: Oh my gosh.

Shannon: so funny.

Will & Karen: Well, I was just going to ask you about that, but like, is there a spirit relationship between you and your pets or between people and their

Shannon: Absolutely. 1000%. And I think that's another thing to kind of know. You know, you always think about like, are you a cat person or a dog person? There's something to that as well. And our pets come to us very spiritual. It's like a spiritual energy. There are pets, our souls, right. [00:20:00] And we relate to them and they become our guides.

We can learn so much from our pets. They become kind of empaths, if you will. They teach us a lot. Do you guys have pets yourself?

Will & Karen: We do. We do. In fact, you know how they say like you're some, some soul guys or some spirit guys come to really test you.

Shannon: Yes. Yes.

Will & Karen: That's perfect explanation of our spirit guide right now. He's kind of. Yeah. I don't know what his story is. He's a little neurotic. He's afraid of the floors and certain hallways and doorways.

And

Shannon: Life?

Will & Karen: yeah, he lives in one room of the house. Yeah. It goes between two, but at the same time, he's a spazoid too. You took him out for a walk and he sees it. Talk about that squirrel. He's crazy about his thing. And I know most dogs are crazy about squirrels, but this guy, like this morning when we were walking him, he was so ornery, didn't matter what would they wouldn't take any commands.

He's just there to test me. I know it. He's here to test me.

Shannon: That's it. That's it. They become, I, I heard from someone who [00:21:00] was, I have a rescue dog and I worked with like a Reiki spiritualist at the beginning. And she said, our animals come to kind of teach us what we need to know. And, you know, it was interesting when she said that because. They always represent something within their owner of like a mirror, you know, I didn't understand at the time, but that makes sense.

So it's like testing you. But they become this kind of beautiful guide. They're our spirit guides and they're live in our home for a reason. So, and it's, it's fun. So they become our best friends when we allow them to be, yes.

Will & Karen: I heard what you said. She said they become mirrors. And I just said that he's here to test me. What is she saying? And that he was a spaz. What, what is she trying to tell me? Okay. Anyway, next question, Karen.

Shannon: Yep. It's all part of it. Right.

Will & Karen: Yeah. how can you really use the, like, the cards that you have to help people? Like, how, how does [00:22:00] that work?

Shannon: Yeah. Well, we can demonstrate right now. Actually, I'd love to pull a card for you guys if you're open for it.

Will & Karen: Yeah. Okay.

Shannon: Well, the way, so it's Oracle cards. And so I designed this deck, any Oracle card. They're very different than tarot cards. Oracle cards are designed by whoever creates the deck. They get to kind of put the energy or what the process is. And this is guidance from Gaia. So I have designed it with Earth energy.

There's crystals in there. There's plants, there's flowers and spirit animals. So as a graphic designer, I put mini collages in there. So you look at the actual collage and you get different uplifting messages by looking at it. And you, there's 52 different cards here and we get to shuffle them and you get to sit down.

In the morning, once a day, or any time you feel guided, you can shuffle the cards just like I am here, or you can do it at night, any time you want to get guidance, or you can go out in nature, and if you have a question you can ask, or if you'd like, you can say, what message [00:23:00] does the spirit animal kingdom have for me?

So do you have a specific question, or would you like to ask animal spirits, what message do you have for me?

Will & Karen: I just want to make sure you don't pull a rat. That's all.

Shannon: There's no rat in this deck.

Will & Karen: Okay. Shoot. Yeah. Cause he's sitting behind his microphone is what she's saying. Right. I said nothing at all.

Shannon: can't watch one rat come out.

Will & Karen: Right. Uh, No. So Karen, do you have a specific question? I don't. I think I would just like to see what the message is. Yeah. I would feel the

Shannon: we can let them just guide. And so I'm shuffling in it. Oh my gosh. So this is what happens if you just shuffle. And if there's a flipper, I call it. If one flips out, that's how you know. Or if you kind of just feel like a energy of like stopping and this is the one you pull it over. I got a flipper. This one flipped over really fast, which means it's the one for you both.

let's take a break and we'll be right back.

[00:24:00] my gosh. So this is what happens if you just shuffle. And if there's a flipper, I call it. If one flips out, that's how you know. Or if you kind of just feel like a energy of like stopping and this is the one you pull it over. I got a flipper. This one flipped over really fast, which means it's the one for you both. And it's the koala.

Shannon: So we got the koala and he's very, very cute. He's, he's hugging a tree. We got lots of beautiful flowers here and you can see an affirmation before that says, I take time to rest for mental and emotional clarity. And as you see the koala here, there's a number and I go to the guidebook. And so I'm going to go to the guidebook.

There's a number, it's number 10, and I'll just read the little it's like a little meditative time. The, Message for you is it's mindfulness, nourishment, and home. The koalas come to you today with an invitation to attune to yourself and your physical environment by spending more time in nature.

This wise, joyful animal is a messenger to help [00:25:00] you tune into your physical well being. The koala is resilient and thrives in physical environments through all phases of its life. Pay close attention to your body's clues right now and the messages it's sending to you. Nourish your body and your physical vessel with foods that are grown from earth and drink more water.

It's telling you to drink more water.

Will & Karen: so called out right now.

Shannon: Not all the animals actually give it so specific,

Will & Karen: Huh.

Shannon: koala is calling us out. And it says, this is the koala has a strong protecting and nourishing instincts. It is asking you to nourish yourself more. The koala has climbed into your reality as a reminder that it's time to take a well deserved break.

So go outside into nature and really appreciate your surroundings. And so with each animal in this deck, there's an action step you can take. And the action for both of you is to just go take a break. Go outside, sit in the grass and enjoy [00:26:00] relaxation time.

Will & Karen: You know what that's telling me? It's camping time.

Shannon: Oh, that sounds that sounds great.

Will & Karen: We've actually been talking about it for a while, but we've never actually like taken the leap and done it. So I think, I think

Shannon: I love that.

Will & Karen: probably do it before it gets too cold. Yeah.

Shannon: Oh, I'm all for that. I've been seeing lots of pictures of campgrounds lately, and I've been wanting to camp, so I'm supporting you guys in doing that.

Will & Karen: Cool. Awesome. Well, well, come on out. We got a big tent. It's the Taj Mahal. It is the Taj Mahal. It's really cool. You can have different rooms in it and stuff. It's really cool. So,

Shannon: Camping uh, yep. So that that's how it works. And, and, you know, you get this insight of a little inspiration.

Aquala is basically giving us guidance and look at it referenced something that's been on your mind already. It's really just returning us back to something that we already knew.

Will & Karen: well, it's funny because it talks about physical well being and today was our first day back at the gym. We're like, all right, this is it. No more, you know, slacking, eating junk. We're on it. Right. That's, you

Shannon: I love it. I love that you guys did that today versus uh, you know, sometimes we wait until a certain, I mean, it's a Monday, but [00:27:00] we're like on the day after like the, the first of the month or, you know, we just do it and it's great.

Will & Karen: Yeah. my statement is always, I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to get on it starting tomorrow. always tomorrow.

Shannon: Yeah. It feels so good to take care of your body and just to nourish it.

Will & Karen: Yeah. It's just so tiring. can be tiring. That is true. Well, it's more tiring when you don't do it. Right.

Shannon: where you know, a little bit more each day and each day you do that, you know, cause I do that too. I get so busy working and stuff and it's like, okay, I'm going to walk a little more each day or I'm going to go to the gym a little more each day, add more.

And then after the week you're like, ah, I did it feel better.

Will & Karen: When I get there, I'll let you know.

Shannon: Okay, we'll high five each other. Our air high fives are awesome. And the koala can support us.

Will & Karen: the koala is the monkey of bears, in my opinion. Is it? Yes. Because they climb and they hug and like little monkeys. But you know what else does? A sloth. They climb and they hug. Well, that's true

Shannon: whole [00:28:00] circle. All of the animals eating together. It's the animal kingdom supporting all of us.

Will & Karen: Perfect. National Geographic. Now your Oracle deck, however, is, we've been talking a lot about spirit animal guides and things like that, but you alluded to it a little bit. The deck is not just animals, but this guidance by Gaia is all things earthbound. So

Shannon: Yeah, it's pretty special. You know, crystal energy is in there and some of it. I really love aligning with flowers and there's certain plants. So as you kind of look at, you know, the, the actual there's different elements because Gaia is healing. Nature is healing. I actually started designing the deck in 2020 when we were all inside

Will & Karen: Wow.

Shannon: and we couldn't go outside.

And I went outside and I grounded myself. I would put my bare feet on the grass and it saved me, saved my mental health. It helped me really a lot. Overcome anxiety and depression. And I realized, Oh, my gosh, the earth is we need to get back to our roots and you don't have to physically touch [00:29:00] plants. You certainly can.

Some of us don't have the capacity to get outside all the time. And so I really want to bring that to us no matter where we are.

Will & Karen: Right. Oh, that's great. That is beautiful. Yep. So how did you go about the process of designing the cards? did you channel those? Are those your message? Did you get them from elsewhere?

Shannon: Yeah, as far as the actual designs of the cards, it's interesting that they came to me in shamanic journeys. I, I went to Central America and I did a lot of shamanic journeys and I started to see these images, literally, like the images where they would come to me and I would sit down afterwards and go to my computer and design them for me. Just to, to, to feel mentally kind of peace. And I realized these are Oracle designs and they need to be an Oracle deck. And I presented them to my publisher and we were able to bring them forth and the actual messages of the spirit animal. I wrote the guidebook. Of course, these are my own words in the book, but I, I wanted to make sure that it was honoring you know, we're not culturally appropriating anything here.

I'm making it my own, but we're also making it, that's the [00:30:00] beauty of this. And when you kind of. Work with the spirit animals. They want you to make it your own. So that's why the sloth is not just about going slow and taking your time. It's about learning to really pay attention to what's around you and making sure that you're preparing for the next phase of your life.

That kind of thing.

Will & Karen: So how literal is the guidebook? We've talked to people who've done Tarot and all that kind of stuff. And it's more about your intuitive senses, right? You you've got a booklet that you kind of have an idea of what it says, but really it's meant to open up your own intuitive senses. Is this similar to this or is this really, this is your words are in the guidebook is what it really means.

I mean, it told us to drink more water. It was pretty specific.

Shannon: Well, I think with all of my work as Shannon Kaiser, it's about. Authentic alignment. I really feel like I'm here on the planet to help people align back to their true self through their intuition. So I'm here to help people return to them. And so my words are guides to open you back up to yourself.

And so it's kind of like a channeled message to get you to you and whatever [00:31:00] you take from that is going to lead you to your truest self.

Will & Karen: Well, there's also, and I don't have, I'm trying to find it in my notes and I can't find it, but one of your books. Was Oprah's number one book for self healing or something?

Shannon: Yeah. The self love experiment. The one I tapped into the caterpillar for. Yeah, it does.

Will & Karen: Tell us about that. How's that come about?

Shannon: That was pretty amazing. So I wrote that when um, 2014 and 15, the self love experiment, it was, you know, I used to not be able to look in the mirror or say anything nice to myself. I really hated myself. I was addicted to drugs.

I was in a dark place. I was in toxic relationships and I sat down and I said, I need to learn to love myself. And I wrote a book through it and it turned into what was called the self love experiment. And I released the book and it became an international bestseller. And it was such a beautiful experience.

And then I later found out that Oprah magazine rated it one of the top 20 top books for, to improve your self confidence. And it's still to this day has been a, it's [00:32:00] a beautiful book and it's, it's still doing wonderful in the world.

Will & Karen: That is beautiful. Oh my gosh. That's so exciting. I would lose my mind. Congratulations.

Shannon: funny thing is I didn't even know I was like scrolling the internet one day and I was like, wait, what? And I saw like the magazine article and it's like, they didn't tell me I saw it like six months later after it was out, you know? And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is so exciting.

Will & Karen: You'd think they'd like reach out or something and say, Hey, Shannon, we got a surprise for you.

Shannon: Exactly. I think they may have to the, you know, you never know how it goes in the, in the, in the business, but it was pretty exciting. Cause you know it just is a testament to the work. I think you kind of do what you love. I share my experiences and I care deeply about what I'm doing and helping people and we put it out there and

Will & Karen: speaking of helping people in this, I need to bring it back a little bit to, to, to grounding it because we were looking for that thing that the audience is going to take away from this, and there's already been so much, but. We always try to bring it back to the collective conscious, right? The, the [00:33:00] mess that we're in right now.

Is there any particular spirit animal guide energy that could best help those going through difficult times at the moment?

Shannon: why is because a deer is about, if you think about a deer, knows when to flee and when to stay.

And I think sometimes So many of us right now in the collective consciousness are feeling hopeless and feeling like everything we're doing is we're in this collective consciousness place of feeling stuck, feeling uneasy, feeling like what used to work isn't working. We're feeling like it's just an exhausting time for so many.

And it's like, we can't see around the corner. It's, it's hard. And the deer is this graceful. embodiment of faith, even when it doesn't even know what's around the corner. And so you tap into this energy of the deer also knows how to rely on the people around it or the pack around it, but also stand on its own.

And it stands in grace. And I think when we start to lean into more [00:34:00] grace and also understand our own sovereign power, there's this beautiful energy there. And so the deer comes through pretty loud here. And also I grew up in the country and I would always see a lot of deer and I'd be driving and my friends would be like, I didn't see that deer.

And I'm like, you didn't see that deer right there. And, and that's another thing you, each person listening and watching, you see things that other people don't. That's for you to see and understand and own that. Understand that you're on your own path and start trusting yourself more.

Will & Karen: That was a completely different translation of deer energy for me, because when I think deer, I think deer in the headlights, right? Like just staring at what's barreling down towards you, but that's a way better way of looking at it for sure. Definitely. Definitely. Wow.

Shannon: Isn't that great?

Will & Karen: This is probably, I mean, I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm going to ask anyways.

Are there any. How do you say this? Bad spirit animals.

Shannon: That's

Will & Karen: She said it's snakes, spiders piranhas.

Shannon: Well, these are, these are [00:35:00] in here too, and it's interesting because I have in this deck the transformational, there's, there's spirit animals that represent transformation, and that's the scorpion, the snake the, the crab, because they basically represent death and rebirth, and in this part of us.

And they often look out in the world as scary, you know, the skunk, right. And they, they represent like, ick, but they actually can really represent spiritual awakening, ego death. I don't think there's any bad spirit animal, just like there's not any bad animal on the world. Some people are obsessed with pythons and they have them in their house.

Right. Some people love sharks. In fact, the shark spirit animal in the deck is one of my favorites. I'm not too big on the sharks, but the first line in the guidebook is the shark is often misunderstood. It's, it's seen as very aggressive, but it's just misunderstood. It actually has a lot of compassion and it's mad that the world is actually just misplacing its anger and, you know, it's taking that on.

Will & Karen: [00:36:00] Wow. It, yeah, it's, it's actually doing a great service to those that are, are really tired of overpopulation in the, in the sea.

Shannon: Exactly right. See, it's, it's almost like a perspective shift of us kind of putting our perspective on things and so we can start to be more compassionate towards all. And I think it's just like some people are cat people, some people are dog people, some people love sharks, some people love snakes, but everyone has its purpose.

Everyone has its reason.

Will & Karen: So Shannon, I got to ask, how did you get these, like, how did you know what energy for each animal, like, did you, I mean, I know you were in, in the, in Central America and all that kind of stuff. So does this information get passed down to you? Did you channel it? How did that come about?

Shannon: It's kind of a combination. A lot of it came to me in the shamanic journeys, but most of it is channeled. And most of it is through my kind of the intellectual and, and kind of the guidance through the designs that I created and just really working with the animal spirits. And my love of animals, honestly, [00:37:00] there's certain animals that really just kind of said I really need to be in here like the dolphin and the black sheep.

I had to put the black sheep in there and the unicorn.

Will & Karen: Oh, there's a unicorn in that. It's okay. I don't think that's part of Gaia though.

Shannon: Well, that's exactly it. There's a what are we not allowing our inner child like the unicorn represents the lost inner child in us and believing what we have lost. How do we know unicorns aren't real?

Will & Karen: Oh my God. I love that. I do too. . That's perfect. I love that. Wow. Not that, wow. I'm not, I'm not saying I love unicorns i's just give I do, but I, you know, I'm just saying, I, I'm,

Shannon: And that's another reason the deck's like, please make me bigger because these animals that aren't represented in other decks are like, please give us a voice. But also, there's a big part of just allowing us as humans to tap into that consciousness of who we Opening our mindset a little bit more to believing in the things that we've lost.

Will & Karen: is there an animal that there. Message or energy is contrary to what you would think. Like with the sloth, you're like, okay, it's saying slow down, look at things. I can see, [00:38:00] you know, sloths are slow. That makes sense. But those are one that you're like, huh, I never would have thought that would come from that

Shannon: Yeah, I think, for example, the deer, exactly, was um, the deer is in the deck for that reason. I think all of us are like, deer in headlights, like, whoa, I'm scared. But it absolutely has this grace of, I am so clear within self, you know. There's a few others in here. There's, I'm trying to think off the top of my head.

Yeah, the bumblebee. I put the queen bee in there more than the bumblebee. I think sometimes we may think the bees like stinging, but I talk about the value of community and the value of the queen bee being at the top. But also you can't have that without the camaraderie of the support of the community.

Yeah, that's

Will & Karen: that's very nice. what are guides of Gaia? Is that the animals, is that what they are? Or, what, what is

Shannon: beautiful question. You know, guides of guide technically are the spirit animals, the spirit guides that are in the deck, the animals, but it's also the energy of earth, you know, I think sometimes if we ever get. We're so bombarded with [00:39:00] technology and information and just knowledge and just stuff in the world and it can take over our mind.

Think of how many thoughts we have a day, how hard it is to fall asleep sometimes. And sometimes when we just go out into nature, we can tune out that. So the Guides of Gaia is the rhythm and the language of nature. Could be just the sounds of nature, you know, there's been some research on birdsong being very healing.

Sometimes I go out into nature and I literally put my hand on a tree and I instantly feel calm. I just sit and look at the trees. I look at the sun. Yeah, so it's, it's all of that. It really is letting nature be our guide.

Will & Karen: that's beautiful. It is. I, and I wish that I wasn't so skittish, because every time I touch a tree I get scared. ants on my hands.

Shannon: We're going to go camping soon, so maybe we can try it again.

Will & Karen: Yes. That's a fair point. I think there's like this peace to the earth. It has this peaceful feeling where like this frantic little creatures on top of it just running around in circles.

And we just need to just get back, just get back [00:40:00] to it.

Shannon: It is. I think you nailed it. It's about this calm in this chaos. We're in such a chaotic world and it's returning to that calm and the peace. And you can kind of see the animals. They really kind of have this peace amongst. them, even though it's all like an order to everything and they all see their order that they have.

Will & Karen: you talk about the healing Gaia energies and things like that. So, are there any particular rituals or meditations or something that you would recommend for someone to, to tap into that type of healing energy from Gaia,

Shannon: Yeah. I love Gaia healing. In fact, I am a water sign myself, if you're into astrology. So water healing is so amazing for me. I'll take sometimes up to three baths a day. I will do like float tanks. I go into the lake, into the ocean. So water healing is very, anything with earth. I will like to do little Zen gardens with sand.

I have lots of houseplants, right? So if you think of Gaia healing, it's earth elements, getting [00:41:00] your hands into dirt is healing. You know, some people love gardening also. Adding more plants into our diet, adaptogens these are herbs that come from the plants putting flowers into your house, putting mud masks on, anything that is from nature and bringing that into our life, drinking more water.

It's just so there, it's endless of how many, how many ways we can do it. And it's kind of fun to invite more of earth into our life, playing with, you know, the cards. It's fun.

Will & Karen: your Pisces?

Shannon: I am. How'd you know? Yes. Yes. You're so intuitive. Are you a fire sign?

Will & Karen: I'm not, I'm an air sign

Shannon: Oh, okay. Okay,

Will & Karen: Yeah.

Shannon: I was thinking maybe a Leo, but yeah.

Will & Karen: Hmm. really got to get a copy of that Oracle deck, that sounds really amazing. So if anyone who's listening right now or is watching is interested in getting that deck or [00:42:00] any of the others. Or one of your books. Yeah. What's the best way for someone to reach out or, or get their hands on something like that?

Shannon: Yeah. Well, actually right now with guidance from Gaia, I'm giving away two free workshops freedom from fear and reclaim your personal power just for the launch of the deck. And those are totally free if you order the deck and you can do that on my website, just go to my Instagram, Shannon Kaiser writes, or my website play with the world.

Or radical body love with Shannon. So that's a great kind of added bonus or you can just order any of my, any of my great resources on Amazon or any bookstore.

Will & Karen: We're gonna add direct links to those resources in our show notes. So if you miss this, you didn't have a pen you're driving in a car and you, kicking yourself. 'cause darn it, I wish I had a pen on me right now. Don't worry. Just go to skeptic me physician.com. Go to Shannon's episode.

You'll have the link directly there, or the link actually, if you're listening to it right now in your car, you go to the. podcast player. There's probably gonna be an active link there right now. You can actually hit it. It makes it super easy. So Shannon, you are a [00:43:00] doll. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your energy with us.

Cause it's so like infectious. It really is.

Shannon: It was so great to be here and I just wanted to share the monkey with you. There's a little monkey for you.

Will & Karen: recommend I go out

Shannon: says, I respect the wisdom within me. I handle my responsibilities with pride.

Will & Karen: or butterflies or just leave them be.

Shannon: I think, well, I think you could call them to you and say, spirit animal, come to me and watch them just fly to you. Cause you're the master. And just kind of start working with them.

Will & Karen: Yeah, take notes. Just say I'm the Mr. Of the dragonflies.

Shannon: That'll be your next book.

Will & Karen: I'll take it. I'll take it. Whatever I can get. I get it.

Shannon: And a t shirt made with that, yeah.

Will & Karen: Oh, I like that. Dragonfly master.

Shannon: It's been awesome to be here, so thank you so much. I had a great time.

Will & Karen: Well, thank you for joining us. It's been wonderful having you. Thank you for being here.

Will: And a huge thank [00:44:00] you to you. We know that there are tons of options out there and having you decide to come along on our journey of discovery with us is an absolute honor for us. We'd love for you to contribute by sending us a voicemail or an email from our website, or leave us a review on Apple podcasts or any other podcasting platform that supports them.

Karen and I love hearing from those that are moved to message us. It truly does fuel our passion. You are the reason we do this show and knowing what you like and don't like, help us craft the very best show we can so that we can help raise the vibration of the planet together. Well, that's all for now, but we'll see you on the next episode of The Skeptic Metaphysician. Until then, take care.