Spirit Animal - The Legend of the Panda Bear

Sometimes, we feel attracted to an animal and we do not know why.  We put it down to feeling empathy with the animal, or with being in touch with the animal.  For years, Panda Bear stuffed animals were given to babies.  I was given one and it is one of my first toys that I remember.  I began to wonder why many of us feel such attachment to an animal that is not native to North America. 
I then found this wonderful legend from Tibet.  See if it resonates for you as it did for me.

A long time ago, when pandas lived in the mountains of Tibet, they were white as snow.  They were friends with four female shepherds that watched their flocks, in the mountains near their village.  One day as the shepherdesses where playing with a panda cub, a leopard leapt out of the bush and tried to attack the cub.  The young shepherdesses threw themselves in front of the cub to save it and were killed by the leopard. 
All the pandas in the area were saddened by their deaths and held a memorial service to honor them and their bravery.  To remember their sacrifice for the cub, the pandas all wore black ashes on their arms (as was the local custom).  As they wept for the shepherdesses, they wiped their eyes with their paws, they covered their ears to block out the sound of the crying and they hugged each other in grief.  As they did these things the ash spread and blackened their fur. The pandas did not wash the black off their fur as a way to remember the girls.  To this day, pandas are covered with the black markings to always remember.

I love this story, and the compassion of Panda!
Judy@angelsandancestors.com

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