 Traditional cultures worldwide recognize and respect the turtle as a powerful spirit guide. If you feel a connection to this animal, or if you've been seeing turtles a lot lately or dreaming of them, or even if you find them a little frightening, keep watching because we're about to take a deep dive into the spirit meaning of turtle and what messages this remarkable creature might have for you. Turtle is one of 42 animals featured in my Spirit Animal Awareness Oracle Deck. If you're interested in checking that out, click the link below. So let's start with a quick overview of turtle. A turtle is a member of the reptile family, and they're actually a very, very ancient reptile. They are older than snakes and crocodilians, and it's thought to be about 170 million years for the oldest one, such as well into the realm of the dinosaurs. There are about 360 species of turtle worldwide, and they are found both in aquatic and terrestrial regions, ranging from desert to deep ocean. And many turtles, most of them are very, very long-lived, and most species will live 50 to 100 years in the wild. So when you look at a turtle, the biggest thing that stands out that's different from most any other animal is this big, hard, bony shell that they carry on their back, just like almost like having their own house or a shield on their back. So the shell is adapted from specialized fused ribs in most species, and this creates a really hard, bony shield. There is an exception. That's the leatherback sea turtle, which has this kind of rubbery carapace. Either way, this is just a highly, highly protective adaptation. It is really hard for other animals to get through that shell. And for this reason, turtles, often seen as a symbol for protection, for security. It kind of can represent almost home because you can see them as kind of just carrying their home on their back, very like a snail. So of course, this really can represent tremendous spiritual protection, this ability to have that kind of protected aura. And so turtle, if it's coming to you, this could be part of what it's bringing is this kind of almost very secure security, feeling of security or protection. But it's important to recognize that any aspect of a spirit animal can present itself either negative or positive ways, depending on the circumstances and the environment, how it presents itself. And so there is a shadow side to this protection aspect of turtle. One aspect of the shadow is that turtle energy can be pretty rigid and slow to adapt. If you think about the turtle has been pretty much the same since about the Triassic period of prehistory. On the one hand, that indicates that they're super, super successful prototype. But on the other hand, it's like they're really going to be clinging to their tried and true. Sometimes things call for a little bit of nimbleness. So if turtles coming up, like maybe you're pulling an oracle carb, a turtle reverse, that might be something that's showing up is that maybe you need to be a little bit less rigid, maybe a little less defensive if you think of the turtle withdrawing into its shell. It can be a very withdrawing. Sometimes we need to have that withdrawal. So when I'm talking about this being a shadow side, it's not always. It could just be, okay, it's time to do a little going within. But you also want to be aware that any of these things can go a little too far. So if you've been spending a lot of time going within, you might want to think about, well, am I feeling defensive or am I feeling like the world outside isn't safe? So this is all kind of root chakra stuff and we're going to get into that a little bit more later. Another thing about being the self-contained aspect of turtle, it could come as a warning. Be careful about sticking your neck out, right? The neck is a vulnerable area and this is speaking to the throat chakra. Turtle people may find it challenging to come out of your shell and speak your truth. But when you do, you're going to be really powerful. You can be standing in this quiet warrior energy, which isn't aggressive normally, but it does hold tremendous authority. Okay, this is like the wise one, the grandmother, the grandfather kind of authority. And that brings us to another big spirit meaning of turtle is going to be the wisdom of the elders. Okay, so turtle having been around for so long. Turtles actually witnessed at least one of the great extinctions on the earth, right? To the extinction of the dinosaur. And then after so much life left the earth after the dinosaurs, there was this huge rebound of renewal of life and in fact even more specialized and even more kind of higher adaptations of life as we came into the age of the mammals. So turtle bore witness to that, right? And a turtle really actually carries in its DNA a lot of this kind of earth wisdom, this elder wisdom, just this awareness of one's place and time, okay? And so if you can tune into turtle spirit, it'll help you just first of all stay grounded and also see things in a really, really wide time perspective. Okay, seeing the kind of the ancestral roots of situations as well as kind of seeing forward many generations to see how the impacts of actions taken today may affect future generations. And because turtles are actually most vulnerable as their eggs and young, okay? So turtle understands the vulnerability of the young and how important it is. Turtle doesn't actually protect its young though, I mean, so that's a really interesting thing to think about is turtle really relies on the environment as a protection, right? And I was able to witness once a sea turtle laying eggs and she had to clamber out of the ocean and dig this big pit in the sand with her hind legs and very carefully place all her eggs into this pit and very, very carefully, slowly and methodically cover that back up. So the environment is a super, super important aspect of turtle medicine and their ability to live within the environment to kind of partner with the environment and if you look at all the different types of turtles, which we'll explore a little bit later on and all the different adaptations that have to be made in order to really work with their environment and thrive within their environment. So environmental, I guess environmental stewardship, but really not so much even the stewardship but the feeling of really being sensitive to the environment, adapting to the environment, right? And kind of partnering with the environment. This is really talking about earth wisdom, okay? And so turtle has in many, many cultures been seen as synonymous with the earth, okay? The turtle often is seen as carrying the earth on its back and it's really, really connected with Mother Earth. These are ancient and self-contained, you know, this ancient and self-contained nature of turtle is part of this but also these very strong forelegs offering a very strong foundation. This number four is super, super significant because this is a very kind of a solid foundation kind of number. It represents stability. It's also a number that's associated with the archangels. Okay, so turtle is frequently seen as the earth or the synonymous with the cosmos and carries this great Mother energy with it. It also is an animal that bridges water and earth, okay? So when we're looking at mature balanced turtle energy, it is stable, it's placid, it's balanced. It's got all these aspects of a very healthy kind of root chakra and very grounded, right? Connected with the earth. And then the significance of the water in there is it's this emotional grounding, right? The sense of we're at home. So another aspect of turtle that is super significant is that they are really masters of breath. Because they have such rigid shells, most animals will rely on this diaphragmatic breathing where you've got this diaphragm in the abdomen that helps to pump air in and out of the lungs, this muscle in the abdomen, and it relies on the ribs opening, you know, being able to expand and contract. Well, turtles don't have that because their shells are so rigid. So this rigidity has resulted in certain breathing adaptations that are pretty amazing. For one thing, rather than a diaphragm that cuts through the abdomen, it uses just kind of the abdominal muscles. And all the organs, many of the organs like the liver and the stomach of a turtle are connected with the lungs. So there's this connection with all the internal organs, which talks about kind of the vitality, right? And in the turtle, they're all connected with the breath. So if turtle is coming to you, this is maybe one of the things it may be calling your attention to is how you're using your breath. You know, are you using your breath in ways that help? The breath can be an amazing, amazing aid, you know, in doing breath work and coming back into center in grounding yourself in basically the self-protection, right? You can use breath in all sorts of ways. So the turtle itself, aside from this, you know, just the abdominal breathing, it's also got some interesting adaptations for breathing in an aquatic environment. One of which is called cloacal respiration, which is basically butt breathing. So a turtle can actually breathe through its butt, and we see this a lot in the freshwater turtles, especially when it comes to, you know, when they have to stay underwater for a long time. And, you know, when they're in hibernation, they're able to actually pull in water through their cloaca, which is their rear end, and that water, and it kind of bathes their tissues and they're able to bring in oxygen that way and expel carbon dioxide. Some species can actually also go into anaerobic respiration, which is kind of breathing without oxygen. And the painted turtle, especially as a master at this, it can keep us up and be underwater without actually, you know, using the oxygen and breathing for up to 100 days. It's just really amazing. This isn't easy on them, though, and the painted turtle especially will pull calcium out of its shell in order to support this process. So this speaks to turtle being just really a survivor and being able to draw on its inner resources in order to, you know, make it through. But then when they come out of that, they really have to bask in the sun and kind of regenerate themselves. So if you've been through a trying period or a challenging period of time where you had to draw on your resources a lot and you're starting to see turtles, this is, you know, potentially a message to you to, you know, just climb out, find a place to rest, find a place where you can really sit in the light and just breathe. Allow yourself to breathe. Allow yourself that rest before you try to do much action, right? Otherwise it could end up being like really kind of a cramping, cramping, cramping your style a lot. And then finally, of course, because turtles generally are pretty slow moving, persistence in patience is one of their spirit aspects that is a very strong part of turtle medicine. If you think about the story of the tortoise and the hare, that is one that really indicates that sometimes it's better just to plot along and to take little baby steps and just to keep going and have that patience. And this is especially true if you've got a goal in mind or if you've got a dream that you'd love to see manifest. Sometimes these things, sometimes the universe really tests us by, you know, it's not going to necessarily, and the bigger your dream is, the less likely it is to just kind of manifest immediately. So it's just like constantly just taking little steps and, you know, wherever you're guided next and just having that faith that that manifestation can happen. Okay, so let's take a look at some of the specific kinds of turtles and tortoises. By the way, turtle, tortoise, terrapin, different species are called by these different names and there's not necessarily a kind of scientific family distinction between these, but it's just names that people have. Typically, turtle is going to be more of the aquatic tortoise is typically going to be a land dwelling type of turtle and then terrapin are just certain species of turtles are known as terrapins. Okay, so sea turtles, if sea turtles coming to you, there are about seven species of sea turtles worldwide and these range from the smallest of about 30 to 50 pounds up to the leatherback, which can grow up to 2,000 pounds on over six and a half feet long. And so they are pretty big. All right, so just think in terms of the size and the power that comes along with that. Their feeding habits depend a lot on the species. So if you're connecting with a sea turtle, if you feel like it's a specific species, you might want to look into their feeding habits, what they eat. They can range from shellfish and mollusks to fish to sponges and sea urchins to algae and seaweed. For a lot of sea turtles, jellyfish are a primary food source and that speaks to the sea turtle as being able to kind of overcome some of this stinging negative energy, right? Because they have this protection and because they've got this kind of placid disposition, they can really counteract and dismantle some of the more aggressive stinging kind of behaviors. Most of them do migrate long distances. And some species, like the leatherback, can dive as deep as three to 4,000 feet or even more to find food. So deep diving, deep diving and going the long run, right? The turtle isn't going to be just dabbling around in the shallows. This could indicate just really a deep dive into your inner work, a deep dive into maybe a career path and being willing to go the distance, right? However, they do have a really, really strong homing instinct. Most of them will come back to the same beach where they were born in order to lay their eggs. Often they do that in the communal groups. In addition, many species of sea turtle will sense the magnetic fields of the earth and they'll use them like GPS. This isn't all restricted to sea turtles. The snapping turtle and some other turtles will have this as well. Just this really deep connection with the earth's energy. And so if you're a light worker, if you're an energy worker, connecting with mother earth can be super, super powerful for you. Many sea turtles, the females can store the sperm for years. So this is taking in that creative energy and then being able to hold onto it until the time is right. This could indicate for you maybe a creative idea if you've been sitting on something or maybe it takes a while, it may take a while to percolate, right? Or to be able to process whatever it is you're working with. Process and experience in order for it to draw on that experience later in your creative work. Sea turtles tend to be really at home in intuitive states. If you're a turtle people, you could be a super intuitive person. It may feel a little awkward or slow in real-world situations. So this may be where you might want to draw on maybe a complimentary spirit animal. Or even if you're working a lot with sea turtles, maybe work with some of the terrestrial turtle energy to help you feel a little bit more at home on the ground, so to speak. Or bring in energies of maybe eagle or trying to think what animal might prey on a turtle bear or something like that that would be a little bit more terrestrial to help you to ground on the earth. Or in more real-world kind of practical getting out there in society or whatever. So unfortunately a lot of sea turtles, many of them are threatened or even endangered. Many reasons for this, poaching, a lot of accidental catch. The turtles accidentally get caught in fishing nets. Plastic ingestion is a big one. The plastics in the oceans turtle is really one of those animals that's really calling attention to the way that we're treating our oceans and the real need for returning to a much more respectful relationship with our oceans and with the environment in general. Okay so we just mentioned terrestrial turtles and the next one I want to look at specifically is the desert tortoise. This animal is going to be a lot more around the element of earth less so than water but even so, even though it lives in the desert, water is super, super, super important for the desert tortoise. So if you have desert tortoise energy, if you're working with this animal really, really be aware of the element of water and how you're using it. Remember that water does speak to the emotional body as well as just the physical element of water within your physical body. Desert tortoise is specially adapted to conserve water. So thinking about water conservation and again bringing us back to that environmental element of turtle but are you drinking enough water? How is your body using water? This could be just sort of a flag and that's maybe the state of hydration within your body needs some attention. Okay the desert tortoise is adapted to withstand imbalances not only in water but like in salt and temperature and energy availability because they live in such a very, very challenging environment that is low on the water. But they have a lot of behavioral adaptations that help them to survive in this kind of environment. They are ground dwelling, they do dig burrows so they dig deep and again, you know this, even though it's in the earth and not the ocean, this idea of diving deep, digging deep and really digging down. I'm sort of getting right now when I'm speaking about this as ancestral connections, right? And this goes for both the desert tortoise sea turtle and any turtle I think. Ancestral connections can be huge so if you're drawing, drawn to doing ancestral work or if you're not, if you're feeling like, oh I don't want to work with ancestors. Oh boy that is a big indication that's probably medicine that you need, right? And tortoise can be an animal to connect with to assist in this, right? Because digging up what, you know, the karma of the ancestors can be super, super painful, right? And so the turtle offers some of this breath work and the spiritual protection that it symbolizes can really help to prepare to do some of this work. So really desperately needs to be done in the world at this time. Turtle, especially the desert tortoise, I think all turtles, but this one in particular, very resourceful, right? They're building structures for self-preservation and they can dig elaborate burrows, right? To maintain a sense of security. This could be something that could be a very, very important totem for this period that we're moving into for humanity is being able to build structures for, you know, to help to preserve human life in partnership with the planet, right? Planetary life, environmental life, right? So the builder, the master builder kind of archetype is coming through here, I think very strongly. And then desert tortoise, interestingly, most turtles are going to be omnivorous. A desert tortoise isn't herbivore, so it is, like, if you're a vegan or drawn to veganism, could be a good diet for you to think about exploring at least a part of the time. Next turtle I want to look at, the last one I'm looking at specifically is the snapping turtle. This is a very unique freshwater turtle and it is known for being a predator, right? So in very stark contrast to the desert tortoise, the snapping turtle is going to eat pretty much anything small and unwary enough for it to catch, and they can actually be pretty fast. They're not necessarily super slow, although they, you know, they can be on land, but in water they can be very fast. They are definitely opportunists and they've got this long flexible neck. They've got super strong snapping jaws. I mean, they could snap your finger off very easily, big one, and a very thick kind of leathery carapace. These abdications make adult snapping turtles nearly invincible. So if you're looking for a power totem for invincibility, this very well could be the one you're looking for. Snapping turtles not only are formidable, but they also are amazingly adapted to surviving cold conditions. They're extremely cold tolerant for reptile. Not all do hibernate. Those that do have been observed to go without breathing for about six months, and they just, you know, they've got that protection. They've got the endurance of survival as well as the ability to grab hold of opportunity and not let go, which is this amazing tenaciousness with snapping turtle. So this has actually just been the tip of the iceberg in terms of turtle energy, turtle meaning. I really encourage you to use this as a springboard and explore this beautiful spirit totem, you know, as much as you can on your own if you're feeling drawn to it. If you are drawn to particular turtles, just do as much research as you can about their behavior, their adaptations, how they survive, how they thrive. And these animals have a lot to teach us as humans. So thank you so much for watching. I hope that you've enjoyed this video. If you have, please do share and subscribe. And also do check below because I've got links to certain spirit animal resources below that you can take advantage of. I've got a link to a page on my website with resources more about spirit animals. And of course, if you are drawn to Oracle Cards, do check out my deck. Thanks so much and we'll catch you again soon.