Key Messages: Gracefulness, quietness and gentleness in dealing with complex situations and difficult emotions.
Affirmation: I find peace within myself
The Manta Ray is a type of Eagle Ray that lives in the tropical and sub-tropical waters of the world’s oceans. It’s wide body is flanked with long wing-like fins that allow it to move gracefully through the water. It’s thin frame can span up to 7 meters in width ( 22 feet) and it uses this wide body to survey it’s environment. These large graceful creatures can reach up to 1350kg (2976 pounds and slice through the water effortlessly and adapting to deep or shallow waters.
The constant change and flow of the ocean coupled with the Manta’s ability to navigate different depths of the water teach us how to stay true to ourselves while maintaining our composure. In shamanism water represents emotion and the Manta’s capacity to navigate it in different depths teaches us how to dig within ourselves and observe our emotions with a calm gracefulness that honour our self and the world around us.
Manta Ray’s use their large body’s to circle plankton and direct it to swim into their open, forward facing, mouths. Manta teaches us to use our energy and our presence to direct the course of our lives and draw what we want. As such Manta is an excellent totem to work with when you are learning to manifest. It’s deep calm and capacity to draw what it wants is an energy that works exceptionally well when you are choosing to recreate your life. As a result people with Manta Ray totems can be very magnetic and tend to draw people to them as oppose to reaching out to others.
Manta Ray’s mate during the full moon and produce very few offspring. The gestation period for a manta ray is 12 – 13 months and it is very rare that they conceive in consecutive years. This time period is significant because if a Manta Ray has shown up as a totem for you it may well mean that a project you are about to begin will take 12-13 months to come to fruition. You would also do better to be very selective of what projects you choose to take on because each will demand a lot of time and focus and success can be compromised by diffusing the power of your efforts by taking on too much at one time.
Manta Ray’s are susceptible to external parasites so they often visit cleaning stations where other fish clear them of debris. This teaches us the power of allowing others to support and assist us. Carefully watch the energy of those around you and make conscious decisions about who you chose to spend your time with. Additionally, you may be particularly sensitive to the energy of others and as a result you may find it difficult to distinguish between your feelings and theirs. It is important that you do energy clearing work and actively work to build strong personal boundaries.