Mongoose is a popular species whose name is believed to have been derived from the Marathi word mungūs or from the Telugu name mungisa. These are small carnivorous animals that are found in southern Asia, Africa, and southern Europe, as well as Fiji, Caribbean, and the Hawaiian Islands. During one of our discussions, we elaborated on symbolism and mongooses having a spiritual significance in Dominican culture. How are these creatures viewed in other countries?
On first hearing the word mongoose, we associate ourselves with Rudyard Kipling’s famous story Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. One can get a clear picture of a mongoose’s character from the story. In India, a mongoose is considered a very loyal and faithful animal. One of the most famous folktales from India- The Brahmin and the Mongoose- is one of the worlds most travelled tales that speaks about how a Brahmin hastily kills a mongoose when he finds the mongoose laden with blood near his child. But as a matter of fact, the mongoose had killed a snake that was trying to attack the child and had saved the family from the snake’s threat. This story is taught to every Indian kid so as to induce the value of thinking before acting.
In ancient Mesopotamia, mongooses were considered sacred and as protectors of their deity Ningilin from serpents. Mongooses have also appeared in the ancient Babylonian art with a snake charmer, though their significance in the Babylonian age is not known. Various cultures symbolize mongoose for speed, agility, adaptability, courage, fearlessness, honest, genuine, and faithfulness. Chinese cultures believe that the spirit of a mongoose can be summoned when one has to confront a stronger rival or one needs to calm down the impulsiveness and impatience within.
The mongoose as a spirit animal can have various connotations.
• Resistance: mongooses are very well known for being resistant to snake venom. With mongoose as a spirit animal, people can probably become resistant to evil and bad conditions in life.
• Courage: mongooses are fearless animals. They are courageous and fight snakes valorously and manage to tactically kill them. This could mean that having a mongoose as a spirit animal can give one the courage to confront strong enemies in life.
• Self-opinionated: honesty and genuineness are two very strong qualities of the mongoose. The one who adopts mongoose as their spirit animal might probably be someone who isn’t afraid to voice out their opinion and defend the argument with strong and valid reasoning.
• Optimism: last but not the least, mongoose are also symbolized as animals that have high optimism. An animal so tiny being optimistic and fighting a venomous snake calls in for extreme optimism.
Considering all these points, is mongoose your spirit animal?