It would make sense that my first journal entry should touch upon why I would chose something like a vulture to represent myself. These two sites will give you a little background:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=SDqPDqKAXggC&pg=PA203&lpg=PA203&dq=ted+andrews++vulture&source=bl&ots=aaE3H-8Id7&sig=Q0kCTQ4pNQeZQBd_-n1H_nCqp9k&hl=en&ei=6T8cS93hM5Gftgf_s7HbAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=falsehttp://sped2work.tripod.com/totem.htmlNow before you make any assumptions, I do not profess a belief in actual visiting totemic spirits manifesting themselves as guides in one's life (or at least not mine). Rather, the concept of "totem," for me, is a symbolic construct serving as a powerful metaphor for aspects of one's inner world. The use of totems is like writing poetry, as opposed to prose, to describe one's spirit.
As you may guess, I am a spiritual person. In terms of religious inclination, I would best be described as "pleasantly Pagan," to coin a phrase from Richard Pini. I am nominally Wiccan, though I am one of the many heretics of that particular faith who believes that Wicca is by no means the "Old Religion," and is, in fact, a very modern synthesis of other faiths designed to enable the contemporary Westerner to reconnect to the living world.
One of the key attributes that Ted Andrews speaks about, in his article on vulture totems, is the ability of the vulture to sense the invisible. Now, while many might interpret this to mean psychic ability (which I do not claim to have), for me, this mirrors both my highly developed intuitive processes and my ability to model large scale movements of events. Both of these are functions of my ability to see things in the "big picture" (which is also linked to reports of the vulture's amazing eyesight).
(As a side note, intuition is simply the quick meta-processing of a vast amount of data to arrive at an impression or decision in a rapid amount of time. For example, at a group meeting, I can look at a proposed plan and quickly tell you that I feel it won't work, but it will take me a while before I mentally sort through all the details and give you the reasons why it will not work.)
Another aspect of the vulture that relates to me is its efficiency of energy. The vulture optimizes and so do I. It's even reflected in my favourite martial art, Aikido, which uses your opponent's energy against himself (as a note, while I have studied Aikido to some extent, I am far from good at it (grin!)).
Even on a physical level, the vulture metaphor fits well. Andrew's descriptions of "techy" digestive tracts and the need to keep legs and feet cool are quite apt for me.
But the key symbolism about vultures, for me, is the contradictions they embody. Up close, the vulture is an ugly bird. But in the heavens, there are few birds that soar as gracefully. At first glance, I look like another average couch potato. Yet I lead a beautiful life, especially in my roles as both an artist and a teacher. Vultures are often associated with solitude, yet most are actually very social, especially the turkey vulture, which is my specific totem. This reflects a long running transformation in my life from being a book worm of the most introverted nature to becoming a socially active person able to thrive in some of the most demanding social situations (ten years ago, I would not have anticipated becoming a middle school teacher! ('course, this may mean I'm simply nuts (grin!))).
There are a lot of other ways that vultures serve as a personal metaphor, but I think I've written a sufficiently large enough tome so I'll leave off for now.
(BTW: cathartes aura means "purifying wind," not "golden purifier")
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