Spirit animals serve as spiritual guides, here to assist you, teach you lessons, and lead you towards your highest calling. We all have multiple spirit animals that stick with us for life, resembling ingrained personality traits and sometimes also physical appearance. Alongside, other spirit animals will come to you in certain phases of your life, or make their presence more known to you during a specific time, in order to bring you an important message.
Sheep are lovable animals, but they also come with some unjustly negative connotations. Some people use “sheep” as an insult for someone who follows the crowd and cannot think for themselves. But really, sheep are here to teach us highly spiritual lessons — including the positive value of being one with the crowd. Recently, I have found myself very drawn to sheep.
Togetherness
In a world that continues to push for independence and isolation, the sheep is a valuable reminder that there is importance in connection and being together. You can find comfort and support in spending time with those who are similar to you. You don’t need to do life completely on your own. We long for a sense of community.
Gentleness
Sheep are extremely gentle animals. They show us the beauty and grace of being calm and cautious. They are the opposite of impulsive. Embracing the sheep means embracing a cozy life.
Observance
They may be shy, but are also curious. They will not reject you. For example, a more skittish animal may see a stranger and quickly run away and hide — but a sheep is more likely to remain still and calmly asses you. Even though they may not rush towards you, they also will not rush away. Their cautiousness doesn’t make them closed off in a way that triggers rejection, instead, it is a healthy balance between openness and observance.
Innocence
The sheep strongly symbolizes innocence, due to their trusting nature and social dependence. Innocence is another trait that society tends to shame — equating this with weakness. But really, innocence is such a beautiful thing. Innocence means letting go of pain, skepticism, and fear. It takes a lot of courage to let down your walls.
Patience
Sheep are very stubborn animals that don’t give up. They move slowly, not because they are lazy, but because they have the strength and the faith to understand that things take time. They will not quickly abandon something just because it doesn’t work right away. They keep going — no matter how long that takes.
Abundance
Sheep do not live in a scarcity mindset. They feed on grass and hay, which is all around them. They share their feed and land with other sheep — there is no hoarding or possession. Sheep have trust that there is enough for everyone.
Peace
The sheep is associated with peace. They are agreeable and avoidant of conflict. They offer comfort. They do not want to fight or cause any trouble. Sheep represent tranquility and serenity. And they are related to falling asleep at night, peacefully.
Signs the sheep is your current sprit animal:
- You currently resonate with these traits: togetherness, gentleness, observance, innocence, patience, abundance, peace.
- You have been seeing sheep more often; or there have been a couple of random times you’ve seen sheep. This could be in real life, or in movies and TV, or online, or in artwork.
- You live near a farm, have recently visited a farm, or have been driving past them more often.
- Lately, you feel very drawn to sheep and have been wanting to see more of them.
- You have seen sheep in a recent dream or frequent dreams.
- You have randomly thought of sheep or seen sheep imagery in your mind.
- Seeing a lot of sheep wool or yarn.
- Seeing or wearing more of the color white or cream unintentionally, as sheep are often white.
- Feeling especially warm, comforted, and natural around the presence of sheep or sheep art.
What is the sheep trying to tell me, as a spirit guide?
Once you have found signs that the sheep is your spirit animal, what can you learn from this?
- You are supported by others: you may have been questioning if there is anyone around who cares and wants to support you. The sheep spirit is a message that people do love and support you.
- A longing for community: the sheep spirit is guiding you towards a group or social circle in which you can connect with others. Open up and find your people!
- Be patient: the sheep spirit reminds you that patience is virtue. Just because it’s not happening right now doesn’t mean it never will. Give it time.
- Peace is coming: if you have been going through hardship and conflict, the appearance of sheep as your spirit animal is a sign that peace is near. Just keep embracing the qualities of the sheep.
- Trust your instincts: sheep are trusting animals. The sheep spirit is saying that you don’t need to be so skeptical. While not every person is trustworthy, you know who you can trust, and you don’t have to question it.
- Embrace your innocence: the sheep spirit wants you to know that innocence is a beauty and strength, not a weakness. Connect to that innocent side of yourself.
- Keep going: sheep are highly stubborn animals, so the sheep spirit is telling you to keep doing what you’re doing. Certain spirit animals come in to invoke change and transformation – but the sheep is telling you the opposite. Keep doing what you are doing, over and over again, and don’t give up. Repetition is necessary.
- Be gentle and soft: embrace your soft, sweet, and nurturing side. Go easy on yourself. Slow down. This is not the time for testing your limits. Be kind to both yourself and to others. Do not let the world make you hard.
- Abundance is all around: the sheep spirit is a reminder that you have so much more than you realize. Get out of your scarcity mindset and focus on what you have. Stop thinking “it’s never enough” – start thinking “I have more than enough.”
Folklore of sheep
People say that if you have trouble falling asleep, you should “count sheep.” That means closing your eyes, visualizing sheep jumping over the night sky one-by-one, and counting them one at a time. This old saying shows that the image of sheep brings peace and serenity. Usually, people struggle to fall asleep because they are stuck in anxious and restless thoughts.
There is also the concept of “the black sheep.” This is someone who stands out from the crowd and is more rebellious, unlike the typical sheep. But even still, the black sheep is not aggressive or violent. It shows that you can still think for yourself and be original while maintaining your innocence and gentleness.
And then there’s “the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing.” This is to say that the clothing of a sheep symbolizes a person who appears to be innocent, sweet, and submissive. However, they wear these qualities as “sheep’s clothing.” It’s important to distinguish the difference between pretending to embody sheep qualities verses actually being these qualities.
Sheep in the Bible
Sheep are mentioned in the Bible over 500 times. Often in the Bible, there is a comparison made between humans and sheep. Humans are the sheep and God is the shepherd. Humans are seen as easily lost, desiring God as their guidance.
Humans are depicted as sheep in a loving way. This highlights the innocence and naiveness of human nature. A human who does wrong is a sheep who has strayed from the flock – and now they are scared and do not know where to go. This doesn’t necessarily make them evil – just scared – if they have no sense of direction or belonging.
I believe that this metaphor can be understood even by those who are atheist or do not follow the Bible. The shepherd can be seen as “Love,” and Love is the guiding force that brings people (sheep) together and tells us where to go. When we are disconnected from Love, we isolate ourselves and wander in fear.
Negative stereotype
Sheep gets a negative stereotype for a person who follows the crowd and does not think for themselves. But let me ask… why is this such a bad thing?
Often, our own thoughts lead us down a spiral of anxiety. When you fall too deep inside of your head, you will fall into madness. This is what happens when you isolate yourself and you have no one to talk to. You end up going crazy.
Being a part of the group and sharing similar thoughts brings a great sense of connection. Groupthink may be dangerous in some cases, but most of the time, it’s actually very healing.
There is so much value in community, socializing, and surrounding yourself with others. Not only does it protect your sanity, it also makes you a better person. Are you more likely to do something bad when no one is watching – or when you know that you’re being watched? Being with others forces accountability, which makes you a better person.
Losing yourself and being a follower is actually an amazing thing.
In 2021, I wrote this post about the Spider as my spirit animal. The spider came to me as a spirit animal during a time in my life when I was guided to be alone, to transform, and to create art. It was also a time of confronting the darkest parts of myself and facing my fears.
The spider is completely opposite from the sheep. Now, in the past couple of years, the sheep has come to me as my new guide. The sheep leads me towards community, consistency, and innocence.
My greatest spiritual lesson in recent times is learning how to depend on others and actually embrace the support I receive. I went through my period of isolation to learn that I am meant to live life surrounding by people – people who I need, and people who need me too.
I spent much of my life being scared to rely on others and being scared of losing myself. But now I realize that I cannot live a fulfilled life without letting myself need people. I also realize that my sense of self all comes down to the ego. I no longer care about “losing my identity” – because that’s just my ego speaking.
It’s easy to be selfish and think for yourself. And it’s sad that the sheep gets such a negative stereotype for being such selfless, sharing, and welcoming souls. I am striving to live a life in which I put others first and I am not scared to let go of my ego.
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