Animal symbolism is there to help us understand our characters and personalities, but also to teach us more about animals themselves. Animal symbolism was created by cultures and people who lived near certain animals, watched them behave in nature and how they interact with each other. To ancient cultures, animal symbolism was extremely valuable and many ancient stories were based on animal symbolism.
To cultures that used to live near animals, their skills and capabilities was something extraordinary and hard to understand. Their skills were far greater than the skills of humans and that was what intrigued our ancestors to create animal symbolism. Animal symbolism can easily be fragmented into smaller pieces and only then we can see that this symbolism was based on animal behavior and interactions.
In this text, we will learn more about frogs and the symbolism hidden behind them. Frogs are animals that live in almost all parts of our planet. There are many different species of frogs all across the planet, but we will be focusing on frog symbolism in general and not on the symbolism of individual species. So, if you were ever interested in what does a frog symbolize, here is your chance.
Spirit animal and Totem
Spirit animals and totems are very similar terms but they are not synonyms. People in the past believed that animals had special capabilities and powers that had the ability to influence us and our lives. Spirit animals and totems don’t have to be the same animal, since their purposes are somewhat different. You can have one spirit animal and a completely different totem animal.
Spirit animal can be determined based on our dreams and even on our meditation sessions. Spirit animals follow us and lead us through life, and their energies are our driving forces through all of the problems we face. Totem animal is determined by your birth date, which means every person has its own totem animal. Totem animals represented something extremely valuable to old cultures, because tribes looked up to them and prayed for their help and also totem animals protected people and looked over them.
Spirit animal
As a spirit animal, frog is best described by these words:
- Dreaming
- Healing
- Transitions
- Opportunity
- Metamorphosis
- Fertility
- Renewal
- Cleansing
- Power
- Peace
- Luck
- Life
- Beauty
- Adaptability
People guided by the frog spirit animal are masters of transition and adaptation. They are capable to adapt to almost any surroundings and nothing is hard for them when it comes to changes. While other people usually complain about changes that are happening in their lives, people guided by the frog spirit animal are almost happy to experience changes in their lives. They see changes as an opportunity to grow and make something different out of your life, and they also come in handy when we need some waking up. Sometimes we get sleepy or bored because nothing is currently happening, so we need something to shake us up a little bit.
Frog spirit animal is also a symbol of power and life. This small animal symbolizes power, and it is a great example how even the smallest of us can make a great change in the world. Frog spirit animal is powerful and it teaches us to be resilient and to not give in to the troubles of life. We need to be more in touch with our inner strengths and use them whenever it is necessary. The frog spirit animal is also a symbol for luck, which means people guided by this spirit animal are simply luckier than others. Everything seems to fall into its place when it comes to these people, and things always turn out in their advantage.
Frog spirit animal brings you a lot of new opportunities and chances to move up in life, which is something we need to embrace and accept. If you notice a great opportunity in life, seize it and don’t let it escape from you. Perhaps this opportunity won’t appear again and you will be sad that you haven’t used this opportunity while you had the chance.
Frog spirit animal is a symbol of cleansing and detoxification. You are a person who is always looking for new ways to start over or at least get rid of the negative energy in your life. If your surroundings become too toxic, you are prepared to completely turn your life around and make significant changes.
Totem
As a totem animal, frog is a representation of a personality that is a great friend and partner. You are a person who enjoys listening to other people’s problems and giving advice to those who are in need. This is why people love you and are always first in line to get advice from you and few wise words. Besides being a generous friend, you are also very genuine and your emotions are completely honest. If you can’t relate to someone, you won’t pretend like everything is okay because this is something you are not good at. You will rather give up on everything and focus your attention on someone else.
Frog totem animal represents a personality that is very tied to its family and friends. You don’t like being away from your family for too long, and even as you get older you keep a close connection to your friends and family members. Frog people love cleaning up their lives from negative energy, which means they are prepared to get rid of everyone and everything that is making them feel bad, in order to restore balance and peace in their lives. This means some people might be cut out from their lives suddenly. To some this is a negative characteristic, but is better than to have someone in your life who is not genuine or someone who doesn’t honestly care about you.
Symbolism and Meaning
Symbolism of a particular animals usually created by ancient cultures or it is at least influenced by their vision of animals. As we all know, animals used to play an important role in ancient times and their symbolism was a big part of folk stories and a big part of culture identity of some people. Since frogs inhabit almost all parts of our planet, it was not hard to form frog symbolic meaning, but there are definitely some differences I the way this small animal was seen by various cultures.
In ancient Egypt, frogs were associated with fertility and agriculture. The reason why frogs were linked to fertility is because they would usually appear after the flood or after the river Nile rises, which meant that the crops are going to be successful and that the farmers are safe from a drought. To Egyptians, lucky frogs meant something extremely valuable and important, because the entire civilization was dependent on the wheat and barley crops.
In Rome and Greece, the frog was seen as a symbol of harmony and also fertility. Many ancient stories and epics include frogs and they are almost always mentioned in a positive way. Frogs were also associated with the goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite. Toad symbolism in China is also important. Chinese frog is a symbol of prosperity and people often use frog statues or figurines in their homes to attract wealth. This figurine is often called money frog.
Unlike in ancient Egypt and Rome, frogs in the Bible weren’t presented as something positive. In the Exodus (8:6), God sent frogs to Egypt to destroy their crops as a form of punishment. In Medieval times, frogs symbolized something negative and were often an important ingredient of secret potions prepared by witches. There are even signs of this symbolism today, where we can see witches in movies putting frog legs or other body parts in potions.
The reason why toad symbolism instantly changed is because of the influence of the Bible. Stories about frogs destroying crops and punishing people for their sins became a much more important symbolic value of a frog and people slowly forgot about the positive meaning of the frog from the past.
In popular culture, we have many examples of frog stories, frog symbols that can be found in works of art and other forms of artistic expression. Probably the best known use of frog symbolism was in fairytales, where we often have a frog and a beautiful princess. In these fairytales, the frog is usually a prince that was punished and transformed into a frog and the princess falls in love with it.
Frogs are also often used as mascots for many famous sports teams, but they can also be found in heraldry in many countries. Overall all, frog symbolism has shifted over the years from positive to negative and it will surely continue to change and develop over the years. But, one thing is for sure, the frog’s symbolism has definitely kept its original form and frogs are still symbols of fertility, life, cleansing and transformation.
Dreams about Frogs
Frogs in our dreams can have many different meanings. Sometimes their appearance in our dream is a symbol of something good that is going to happen to us while in other cases they symbolize something negative. The way we reacted to the appearance of a frog in our dream and what other symbols were present, plays an important role in dream interpretation.
Seeing a frog – If you saw a frog in your dream, then you are about to be disappointed in your partner. Something bad is going to happen in your relationship, and you will completely change the way you see your partner.
Green frog – Seeing a green frog in your dream symbolizes and important situation that is going to take place. This situation could happen in your private life or at work, and you need to keep your eyes open, because a lot in your life is going to depend on it.
Frog in water – When frog in your dream was in water, this means you are going to be successful in all of your attempts. Things in your life are going to start changing and the change is going to be for the better.
A lot of frogs – If you saw a lot of frogs in your dream, this means you have many people around you who are envy of your success. Be careful and don’t let their negative energy to take over your life.
Conclusion
To cultures that used to live near animals, their skills and capabilities was something extraordinary and hard to understand. Their skills were far greater than the skills of humans and that was what intrigued our ancestors to create animal symbolism. Frogs are universal symbols of fertility, family, transition and cleansing. Spiritual meaning of frogs is something that is certainly valuable and highly respected even today.
Since frogs inhabit almost all parts of our planet, it was not hard to form frog symbolic meaning, but there are definitely some differences I the way this small animal was seen by various cultures. Frogs are still relevant symbols in today’s culture, and we can see many examples of frog symbolism all around us. As spirit animals and totems, frogs teach us about ourselves and about life in general, which is why they are still important until this day.
