Jaguar is the largest cat found throughout the Americas. Many Native tribes throughout North and South America consider the jaguar, especially the black panther form of jaguar, to be especially powerful. Shamans shapeshift to jaguar and use jaguar as an ally for healing, for dismemberment journeys and for exacting revenge.

Jaguar are spotted, except for the Black Panther, which is completely black. Jaguar is especially revered in the Mayan and Incan religions.

The Mayans used Jaguar as a totem for Huzanek, the God of the Southern Sky, who would enter the dreams of the community’s shaman and leaders to be sure they were telling the truth to their people. The Jaguar priest was the most powerful of the Mayan priests. In South America, Jaguar was used as the God that inhabits the Underworld, or the Night Sun. Jaguar is seen as the protector for the shaman from evil and negativity, and you can also use Jaguar as a protector. Jaguar can move through the realms, dimensions and shamanic worlds without being detected, so it is a natural guide for the shaman and medicine people. Jaguar/Black Panther shows up as a guide for those going through spiritual opening and can be called up as an ally for opening to psychic and healing gifts.

In my Earth Medicine studies, I was taught to use Black Panther as a symbol for the shadow and doing work around one’s own shadow. Jaguars are apex predators, known for preying on smaller rodents and game. Predators have been relentlessly hunted around the world, because farmers demonized the animal killing their farm animals, but without predators, the prey population grows and expands and overruns the land, leading to disease, starvation, and overpopulation. When we work with panther as a guide for the shadow, we think of him as keeping that overrun population of our traumas and unconscious shadow reaction. Panther is a nocturnal hunter, adept at being in the dark, hunting, and being highly attuned to subtle movement. My teacher Pixie says in her book, Think of your shadow reactions as the scurrying creatures panther stalks, whose subtle presences are overrunning your internal processes with habits no longer useful to you and that do not serve your well-being.

To Jaguar, truth and integrity are integral and non-negotiable. It quickly removes itself from any situation that does not align with their personal truth. As a guide for healers and circle keepers, Jaguar can work with you to identify imbalances in the body of yourself and your clients, and remove unwanted energy. It is also an ideal guide for dismemberment journeys.

Here are a few journeys I have recorded in the past with Jaguar/Black Panther that might be good for working in-depth with Black Panther.

Guided Shamanic Journey with Jaguar and the Hierophant: