Badger symbolism and meanings include tenacity, cleverness, security, friendship, and gratitude. Because badgers can be found in North America, the UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, they are subjects in the mythology and folklore of these regions. In this post, we’ll explore badger symbolism and meanings, including their spiritual meaning, as well as the badger spirit animal.
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We’ve all heard the phrase, “Stop badgering me!” But why is the badger used in this expression vs. any other animal? The reason is that badgers are tenacious. Like bees and beavers, badgers are diligent and hardworking, and they don’t give up until the task is done.
Badgers dig complex tunnel systems where they live. Plus, they’re capable of digging extremely fast when chasing prey. In addition, badgers are known to have a resistance to snake venom, so even if bitten by a snake, they are undaunted in their pursuit.
Thus, badgers are helpful symbols of persistence and tenacity. Badger people are the types who focus on a goal and don’t give up until they achieve it.
While they’re not given the accolades that ravens and dolphins get for their intelligence, badgers are actually very clever animals. They display a resourcefulness that goes hand in hand with their tenacity. Thus, badgers use their wits to get what they want.
This video from the BBC features a badger named Stoffel. He demonstrates just how clever and tenacious badgers are:
Thus, the badger spirit animal is a helpful symbol for situations where you need to use your wits to solve complex problems. In addition, badger energy reminds you to never give up, even when things get especially difficult.
Nocturnal animals, badgers enjoy spending their days snoozing in their dens, also referred to as their setts. For badger people, home is sanctuary. In addition, badgers are very tidy animals, as they create a separate room in their den that they use as the bathroom.
In this video from the BBC, a wildlife artist sets up hidden cameras so he can study how badgers live. You can see that badgers enjoy being cozy and cuddling in the security of their dens.
Because of their need to burrow, badgers are symbols of security. The badger power animal reminds you to fortify the foundations of security in your life: your health, your relationships, your finances, and your home. When you create security for yourself, you can thrive. Then, you are best set up to fulfill your purpose in the world.
While some badgers are solitary, others are known to live in communal dens of a dozen badgers or more. Furthermore, badgers are known to play and hunt with animals of different species. For instance, in the previous video, you may have seen the badger playing with a fox.
In this video from the Peninsula Open Space Trust, a coyote playfully encourages a badger to go with him through a wildlife corridor tunnel. When you watch the video, you can’t help but wonder what kind of nighttime shenanigans the two will be up to.
Because of their rare ability to create cross-species relationships, badgers are also symbols of friendship. These omnivores are highly adaptable. They can live in a variety of terrains and they eat a wide range of foods. Not to mention, badgers have been known to eat rotting fruit, which causes them to become intoxicated.
Thus, a badger person is the kind of friend who is easy going, gets along with a variety of people, and is someone you can take anywhere. The badger person might even be one of your drinking buddies, which can obviously have both positive and negative connotations!
Like crows, badgers understand the concept of reciprocity. This quality enables them to successfully hunt with coyotes. The coyote will locate prey, and the badger helps by digging to root them out.
This sense of give and take is why badgers are also symbols of gratitude. In fact, there’s a Buddhist story later in this post that tells the tale of the badger’s sense of gratitude.
So, the badger spirit animal is a helpful totem for remembering to express gratitude in your prayers, your daily life, and in your relationships.
Some people need to feel a sense of loss before they fully appreciate the people and things in their life. The badger spirit reminds you to not be that way. Practice gratitude for all that you have now, even the simplest things, such as being able to breathe, being able to rest when you’re tired, and enjoying a meal with someone you love.
Badger symbolism and meaning appear in the folklore of a variety of cultures. Here are a few of those stories:
In Native American cultures, badgers were viewed as diligent and hardworking. In fact, the famous Lakota Sioux leader Sitting Bull was originally named Jumping Badger by his family because of his deliberate and focused manner.
The Native Americans also believed that badgers had special powers. Because badgers burrow underground, Native Americans viewed them as the protectors of medicine roots. Badgers were also known to be resistant to snake venom, which added to their allure as medicine animals.
For the southwestern Zuni and the Hopi tribes, the badger is one of six directional guardians:
The Lakota Sioux have a legend about a badger family and a bear that’s similar to another Native American story about bees and the first people. Both are cautionary tales about selfishness and greed.
In the story of the Badger and the Bear, a badger mother and father work diligently to create a cozy den for their family. They hunt for food and ensure they have an extra stash so their children will be well-fed throughout the winter.
One evening while they’re cooking dinner, a sickly bear comes to their den and begs for food. The badgers are initially afraid of the bear, however, they take pity on him and feed him.
The bear returns the next night begging for food, and again the badgers feed him. Soon, night after night, the bear returns and the badger family shares their food. Over time, the bear becomes stronger and stronger, and he stays longer in the badgers’ den. In addition, the bear becomes larger and takes up more space. As he grows, he becomes increasingly greedy for more food. Eventually, the bear takes up so much space that he turns the badger family out of their den.
With his family now homeless, the father badger builds a new shelter for them and does his best to care for and feed his family.
One evening, he sees that the bear has killed a buffalo. However, the bear doesn’t offer to share any of it with the hungry badger family. The father badger watches the bear gorge himself on the buffalo then fall asleep. So, he sneaks up and collects some blood from the buffalo.
Using the buffalo blood in a ceremony, the father badger begs the Great Spirit for help. The Great Spirit hears his prayer, and from the buffalo blood, a strong brave emerges with a magic bow and arrow.
He tells the badger to lead him to his old den. As the brave walks up, the bear awakes. Realizing the brave is an avenger sent from the Great Spirit, the bear runs away into the woods. Thanking the brave and the Great Spirit, the badger family moves back into their den.
The Celts had a number of superstitions when it came to badgers. Like cats, badgers were seen as symbols of both good luck and bad. For example, a badger crossing an area you just passed was considered good luck. However, if one passed in front of you, it was a sign of bad luck, and even possibly death.
In fact, the combination of a badger crossing your path and an owl screeching at the same time meant none other than imminent death. Undoubtedly, badgers’ nocturnal nature was the reason that the ancient Celts associated them with death.
However, the badger’s courage and tenacity were not lost on the Celts. Thus, badgers also symbolized bravery and even virility. So, the poor badger was exploited for his body parts in superstition-based practices. These ancient beliefs were not unlike the reasons that rhinos and other wild animals are still hunted today.
In Japanese mythology, the badger was a trickster animal and a shapeshifter. The Japanese tell tales of Mujina, who are mythological animals that have badger-like characteristics.
The Mujina can shapeshift into human beings as well as faceless ghosts. In fact, one character they turn into is a boy in a white kimono who comes out at night and sings songs.
While the Mujina are not outwardly aggressive, they love to play tricks on people. They especially enjoy making fools of those who have been up to no good.
In Buddhism, badgers are symbols of spiritual generosity and gratitude. One popular story tells the tale of a badger and a monk.
A monk went up to the mountain to live in retreat in a small hut and to meditate and pray.
One cold winter’s night, a badger came to the door of the hut asking if he could come inside to warm himself.
Because he was at peace, the monk was not frightened and he let the badger into the hut. When the sun came up in the morning, the badger left. But when the cold evening came again, the badger returned and the monk graciously invited him back into the hut.
The badger began to return every evening, and he and the monk became friends. After some time had passed, the badger asked the monk how he could repay him for his generosity. The monk said he lacked for nothing.
Nevertheless, evening after evening, the badger continued to ask the monk how he could repay him for his generosity. Finally, one evening the monk said, “The villagers have agreed to give me a sacred burial when I die, and it is my wish to repay them somehow. If I had any money, I would donate it to the temple to help the villagers.”
The next night, the badger did not return to the hut. The monk regretted mentioning the money to the badger because he feared it may have put some kind of pressure on the badger who did not have any money. Three years passed and the badger still did not return. The monk missed the company of his old friend.
Then, one night, the badger did return to the monk’s hut. This time, the badger was carrying a bag full of money. He said to the monk, “I am sorry I have been away for so long. I went out into the world to earn the money so you could give it to the villagers as your gift.”
Humbled by the badger’s hard work and generosity, the monk said, “Please keep your money, and you can donate it as your gift to the villagers once I pass.”
In Indian mythology, the Rompo is a creature that has the head of a rabbit, the hind legs of a bear, and the front legs of a badger. A similar creature also appears in African folklore. A somewhat frightening creature, the Rompo is associated with death and battlefields. Like ravens and crows, it was known to feed on corpses, thus is associated with death and transformation.
If a badger makes themselves known to you in real life, art, literature, or the media, pay attention. There are no coincidences. Your spirit animal serves as a guide, bringing you messages from the Universe to help guide you on your soul’s journey.
If you already feel a strong kinship with badgers (and I’m guessing you do since you’re reading this!) and you feel the badger is one of your spirit animals, here are some added insights that badger people like you might want to think about!
Pros & Cons of Badger | Qualities |
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Badger Person Positive Traits |
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Badger Person Areas to Work on |
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If you’re curious about other animals who might be your spirit guides, you can take UniGuide’s spirit animal test in my overview post about spirit animals.
The badger power animal can be an especially useful symbol in situations where you need some additional energy so you can be more tenacious when it comes to achieving your goals.
Summon the badger power animal when you:
The badger totem is a helpful symbol for manifesting things in your life that the badger symbolizes. This includes improving your work ethic and your resolve. It also includes fortifying those things in your life that make you feel secure. In addition, the badger totem is conducive for building both friendships and synergistic partnerships with people who have gifts and skill sets that are complementary to yours.
What does it mean when you dream of a badger? Dreams and dream interpretations are personal, so there is never one cut and dry answer. However, analyzing the emotions you felt during the dream can shed light on what the dream is trying to tell you.
For example, if you feel a sense of anxiety or even annoyance in your dream, it could mean that an issue is “badgering” you, yet you’re not actively addressing it in your conscious, wakeful state.
Another interpretation of a badger dream could be that you need to burrow a bit, that something is causing you to want to retreat. Delving into why you feel these emotions can help you to identify whether this is a healthy reaction, or whether it’s avoidant behavior that you need to overcome.
Our dreams are our subconscious or our super-conscious sending us messages that we might override or ignore while in our conscious state. Yet your emotions are a common thread that your conscious and subconscious states share. Hopefully, insights into badger symbolism and meanings can shed light on what your dream means.
Certainly a badger tattoo is not as common as a snake or a wolf tattoo, but the uniqueness of it is what can set it apart. A badger tattoo can be a positive symbol that tells the world that you are a focused, tenacious person who doesn’t give up easily. It can also mean that you live by a code that values reciprocity and gratitude. While tattoos are personal to each individual, understanding commonly shared badger symbols can bring more depth and meaning to your tattoo.
While badger populations in the UK and America are stable, other species, such as the hog badger of Central and Southeast Asia and the honey badger of South Africa, are vulnerable. Around the world, badgers are vulnerable to poaching, badger baiting (in which they are terrorized by hunters and dogs), and poisons, traps, and snares. If you care about badgers, please do what you can to protect them. Here are some organizations that focus on badger conservation and protection:
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2 Responses
This was one of the BEST articles I’ve EVER read about badgers! They have been my spirit animal for 30+ years. I have many beautiful badgers in my collection of Zuni fetishes.
Thank you so much for all of the information, meanings & VIDEOS!!!
Thank you so much for reading and for the kind words – and of course – understanding these sagacious little beings – the badger! I love that you have some Zuni fetishes of them. They are awesome and I loved learning more about them when I was researching this post. Thank you.