Did you know that there are more than 10,000 ant species? I didn’t. I knew that there were red ones, brown ones, black ones, ants that bite, and ants that don’t. Ants are social insects and usually live in communities that have a queen ant. The worker ants are female. They have no wings, don’t reproduce, but have many duties within the colony such as foraging for food, caring for the queen’s baby ants, and protecting the community. Male ants have only one job – making baby ants with the queen. After they are done with that task they usually die.
Not very long ago I had an interesting infestation of ants in my kitchen. Actually it really wasn’t an infestation with swarms of ants everywhere; it was more of a semi-constant trickle. I did some cleaning and they seemed to be gone. That lasted about 3 hours then I saw another one walking across the kitchen floor. A few hours later I saw one walking across a kitchen counter.
I don’t harbor an intense dislike of ants and I don’t usually go out of my way to kill them if they are outside, but I don’t want them on my kitchen counters or in my drawers, and I don’t want to squish them under my bare feet when walking in the kitchen. Since they broke our “agreement” to stay outside I decided to spray the baseboards to try to stop them from coming in. That lasted for about 8 hours, then more ants.
While this ant battle was going on I was also having some struggles at work. I felt that I was being treated as insignificant, not being allowed to exercise my own judgment and creativity, and just felt that I was generally not appreciated. ON the inside I was rebelling about all of this as was trying to assert my individualism within a culture that clearly doesn’t value that.
The ants kept coming and I continued to feel dissatisfied. One morning while doing my lap swim I had the thought, “what if the ants are acting as one of my totems?” I started thinking about the ant characteristics that I’ve been writing about and became even more sure of it. I phoned a friend and shared my insight, thinking that it was hilarious that I had overlooked this possibility and quipped, “wouldn’t it be hysterical if the ants were gone when I get home?” After all, I had finally received the message about being industrious, fitting in, stamina, and perseverance.
When I got home the ants were indeed gone. I’m sure that I have more work to do pertaining to managing employment while nurturing my own dreams. I am glad the ants were persistent and that I finally caught on. It does make me wonder how many other times there have been animal totems willing to point me in the right direction, but I somehow missed out on getting the message.
Tapping Meditation
To get started, lets do a tapping meditation to get in touch with some of the characteristics associated with ants and to get ready for whatever messages ants might have for you.
| Eyebrow | Ant |
| Side of Eye | Social |
| Under the Eye | Ant |
| Under the Nose | Colony |
| Chin | Ant |
| Collarbone | Solves complex problems |
| Under the Arm | Ant |
| Top of Head | Interactive |
| Eyebrow | Ant |
| Side of Eye | Industrious |
| Under the Eye | Ant |
| Under the Nose | Cooperative effort |
| Chin | Ant |
| Collarbone | Hard work |
| Under the Arm | Ant |
| Top of Head | Group-minded |
| Eyebrow | Ant |
| Side of Eye | Perseverance |
| Under the Eye | Ant |
| Under the Nose | Self discipline |
| Chin | Ant |
| Collarbone | Teamwork |
| Under the Arm | Ant |
| Top of Head | Orderly |
| Eyebrow | Ant |
| Side of Eye | Stamina |
| Under the Eye | Ant |
| Under the Nose | Honor |
| Chin | Ant |
| Collarbone | What message to you have for me? |
| Under the Arm | Ant |
| Top of Head | Open to the message of ants |
Keep tapping while considering the knowledge, experiences, and meaning that the ant may have for you. Be sure to write down any thoughts, beliefs, or feelings that arise when you have finished the tapping meditation. Which characteristics of the ant would you want more of? Which characteristics do you have in abundance?
For me, the ant is a fairly neutral symbol. I was raised on the image of ants being a nuisance when they visit a picnic. I have also seen the painful bites or stings from fire ants. I’ve been intrigued by ant hills and loved the movie Ants. I even had an ant farm when I was growing up.
Ants are actually pretty important in Native American culture and lore. The Hope, Pueblo, and Akimal O’odham tribes have Ant Clans. The Cherokee celebrate with an Ant Dance. In the Cahuilla creation myth ants spread the earth out for people and animals to live upon. In a Hopi myth the ant people provided shelter to the humans during the destruction of the First World. The industriousness and cooperative spirit associated with ants is often the focus of these stories.
Ants are also a common feature in literature. Ants are mentioned in the Bible and in the Quran. Ants were featured in A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Les Fourmis by Bernard Werber, and The Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells. Do you remember the cartoon Atom Ant? Did you have an ant farm when you were growing up? Did you play the game Ants in the Pants? Maybe you are more familiar with the movies Antz by Dream Works Animation in which Z-4195 longs for the opportunity to express himself or the movie A Bugs Life from Pixar Animation Studios in which the misfit ant Flik fancies himself to be an individualist and inventor.
The above selection was from my upcoming book Unleash Your Primal Power: Totem Tapping for Health and Happiness. If you read my first book Tap It Away: 10 Minutes to Freedom With EFT you might remember that there was a chapter devoted to using animal characterstics to guide tapping on personality characteristics and change. The upcoming book is an expansion of the concept.
