Black Panther

Meaning, Messages & Magic

Black Panther symbolizes courage, valor, beauty, grace, challenge, feminine power, and rites of passage.

Black Panther is a courageous guardian, blessed with ancient maternal lunar power, who is drawn towards solitary people.

Fierce feminine power resides within you. Become comfortable in your own skin, beauty, and grace.

Black Panther likes to take quick, decisive action, but reminds you that it’s necessary to learn how to pace yourself and not to push too hard on any one task.

It’s time to meet your hidden fears and reclaim your power, especially after a period of deep suffering. There are positive power and medicine within your fears.

Your fears can be overcome when you embrace your fear of the unknown and learn to follow your inner voice and the inner messages that come.

Trust yourself. It is time to awaken your inner passions, live your dreams, and begin a new chapter as Panther guides and protects you.

The black panther is often called “the ghost of the forest”, silently stalking and blending in with the night. Have you tried doing important work at night? Black Panther is there to support you in this.

Panthers are excellent swimmers. They dive into water in order to relax. Use the power of water to cleanse and calm yourself.

If you look closely, you can still see the spots on Black Panther’s fur. Let those in your trusted inner circle fully witness and see you.

-Tanya Casteel

 

Jaguars, Snow Leopards & Pumas are also Panthers to study.

Learn about all the other CATS…

Pinterest

Black Panther symbolism and meaning

Save the symbolism on Pinterest

Art Prints

$25 +

Animal Cards

 

I want to hear about your Black Panther experiences. What stories or dreams have you had? Please share and join in the conversation below!

24 Comments

  1. Dee Jenkins

    I always considered my self to be of angelic quality. You can imagine my surprise when in a meditation time this animal appeared!! My exercise required me to work with commuicating with the first animal that I saw. A very nice surprise!I I became the panther, and saw humans in the jungle ,looking for me! I turned around and slinked off….End meditation…( I am working with animal communication skills; learning from Val Heart.)The exercises for me are not easy.But I continue……

    Reply
    • Tanya Casteel

      The animals that appear to us are the ones we NEED most at that moment, not necessarily the ones we want or expect. These sound like great exercises. I’m glad you’re continuing to work with it.

      Reply
      • Thomas Graves

        I was wide awake watching them there were 4 of them p the Black panther also represent somebody’s going to die around you that you care about or you yourself I really need to know this one because like I said I saw like four of them and one night I know they were just a hallucination in my mind but that was about 2 weeks ago and my ex-wife that recently separated just passed away this last weekend March 25th 2023

        Reply
    • Mandi

      I have been going through a massive awaking. I did meditation half the day and did a tarot reading. I started to see things differently. I was kind of scared in a sense because I couldn’t find anyone that seemed to be seeing the same way I was. I went up to my daughter’s knocking on the door. I looked up into the woods and I seen a huge beautiful elegant black cat that walked gracefully and ran off into the woods. I live in council bluffs Iowa I was later talking with an angel guide and said that a black cat showed itself to me and told me that was amazing because we don’t have them around here lol and the meaning was great and to look it up. I later got a tarot reading with the black panther.

      Reply
  2. Mary

    I’m in a turning point in my life. Have let go of things -and people- that I thought were important and followed my heart. Now I think the future is uncertain as well and feel bit of anguish. I saw the panther before the decision and I just did a shamanic journey yesterday And saw one just like the one of your painting, white eyes and all.

    Reply
    • Tanya Casteel

      Such bravery to let go and trust in your heart. I’m proud of you and I’m glad Black Panther is showing up for you at this time. You’re very strong.

      Reply
  3. Debbie

    I am working on myself and going through a lot of changes in my. Last year was very painful and starting to get over some of it when something else come up. I have a lot fears, also dealing with anger. I meditate everyday. Couple weeks ago, a lion appeared in my meditation and still it. Today, a black panther appeared. I’m wondering what it means.

    Reply
    • Tanya Casteel

      Cat energy is a powerful fierce protective energy to have on your side. Cats also have a soft grounded sensual side to them as well. If lion and black panther are coming to you I would say they have messages for you to help guide you through these shifting times. Be sure to read what I’ve written about lion’s roar in dealing with your anger: https://www.tanyacasteel.com/project/lion-lioness/

      Reply
  4. Jeanne McGovern-Phillips

    I had a dream that I was being chased by a black panther. It tried to attack me. I was able to kick it away from me. My spirit animal is a black cat.

    Reply
  5. Jeannine

    My mother had just died. My daughter (46 at the time) and precious granddaughter (4) were meeting me in Texas for the memorial service.

    When my daughter was 9, her father and I fought a bitter custody battle which I won on principle and in the eyes of the court, but his wealth and his relentless mission to destroy the Divine Feminine in every female he could own, has shadowed us all the days of our lives even though that battle has been officially over for decades.

    With that as background, we three female survivors of a Donald Trump wannabe husband/daddy figure were gathering to remember my mother.

    It was a 10-hour drive for me. The girls were flying and I would meet them the next day.

    All the way to Dallas, I kept passing a truck with a leaping black cat; PANTHER was the name and logo. After the 4th time passing it, I took note. But once we were all together in Dallas, I continued to see that truck in odd, out-of-the-way places around town. It followed us to Ft Worth for the burial ceremony, and appeared again on my way back to New Mexico.

    Once hone, I went to a Zuni shop and bought a beautiful black panther fetish which I kept with me to learn it’s meaning. My shamanism is self-taught—remembrance more than apprenticeship —so it required me to seek the meanings and attributes of panther myself.

    What I did not know at the time was that that black panther was signaling the entry into a cave of my deepest, darkest fears. It was a chamber in my own mind that, while totally unconscious until then, nevertheless hovered just beyond awareness to shade and impact my every waking moment. It was my initiation into a terrifying passage of the spiritual journey from which many never emerge. It was so well symbolized in “Star Wars” by Luke Skywalker in his training with Yoda, when Luke entered a dark cave where he would have to meet and fight to the death the greatest threat to Luke’s mastery: himself.

    Over the next two years, which have just about completed, I did discover the unconscious fear that had been demonizing my psyche without my knowledge all those years—the fear that my daughter, who I loved more than all life and who had been fathered by a dangerous distortion of a man—would succumb to the twisting and destructive efforts of her father and turn into him, and then try to separate me from her daughter the way her father had done with me. Nightmare. Worse … another Sophie’s Choice nightmare.

    My granddaughter and I had already formed a powerful bond that was extraordinarily close and loving. She and I made no secret of our love and had already begun to shine it luminously when we’re together. Would my daughter become resentful of that bond as her father resented my bond with her at that age?

    I feel that the internal battle with that most threatening of all unconscious fears in my cave has been fought and won, finally. Had the black panther not arrived to announce my initiation stage when it did—and bring with him the courage to rip the mask off that fear and face it, to realize it to be my own self, and destroy that self-made with my own hands—I would probably have committed suicide. That is the ultimate test: To stand in the presence of one’s most paralyzing fear and still find the strength to challenge the internal darkness into the light and battle it to death. This is the warrior’s rite of passage.

    There is no other animal more valuable to have at one’s side in such a test as the black panther. I thank you for gifting the world with your exquisite imagery and gentle meaning of panther. It has brought to mind—a much lighter and freer mind—just how significant this means of communicating with our internal guidance is. Symbols are one way Spirit and the entire non-physical universe has of communicating important messages to us. You make it easier to engage this process with your life’s work. Truly you walk an inspired path with gentle mastery. Blessings.

    Reply
    • Tanya Casteel

      Thank you so much. Wow, what a powerful and brave initiation you had in the cave with yourself and panther. So much strength and beauty in you and your story. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  6. Ronit Mayari

    I once asked to my spirit animal to appear in my dreams, because I found hard to tell what was my animal since I identify myself with a lot of animals. So in this dream I saw first a dog then it turned to a black panther. And in a lot of my dreams, I see a golden hawk but this hawk doesn’t seem to be any familiar with me, but I once dreamed I was a black panther and this golden hawk my friend.
    I find myself identified with this animal, the black leopard. I suffer anxiety and depression, and I cannot find my way to connect more with my spirit animal.

    Reply
    • Tanya Casteel

      It sounds like you are using good techniques to connect with your animal guides. Continue to be patient and practice. I too often come across many animals morphing in and out of shape in my dreams and meditations. Black panther sounds like a powerful and protective fit for you. I often work equally with a cat and a bird at the same time, the combination of their grounded and airy natures seem to balance themselves out well. Sometimes they even morph into a version of a griffin. Consider working with both black panther and golden hawk together to see where they lead you.

      Reply
  7. Kristen Anderson

    I was just waking up but still half asleep when I saw a black panther as though I was looking down at it lying in a glade of foliage. It looked at me and slowly blinked, as cats do when they’re comfortable and telling you they like you. I had not ever even been thinking about black panthers so I immediately knew this was my spirit animal. I’ve gone through a lot of abuse growing up within my family, and had become pretty solitary as a result of dealing with that. The description of black panther as a spirit animal fits perfectly. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Tanya Casteel

      You’re welcome. You have a powerful and fierce protective guide on your side.

      Reply
  8. Patricia

    I travel a lot for business. While in my hotel room one one I felt something and when I looked up in the mirror on the wall I saw a panther jump to the side of the mirror and then disappeared. I don’t know why but it made me feel calm.

    Reply
  9. Hugh

    Hey I’ve. Never been much of a spiritual person until my early thirties I was struggling with depression I’m a Aussie And I decided to fly to the South American Amazon jungle and do ayahuasca the first night I slept at the retreat and had not taken the plant medicine yet and I had a dream of a black panther and it was just giving me affection and rubbing up on me likes house cat would it was so meaningful as I had never had a dream like this ever before then the next day was my first ayahuasca ceremony and I had clear vivid visuals of 2 big beautiful black black panthers both just giving me love and affection and walking past and rubbing there heads against me and just blessing me with there presence I will never forget it I knew then after these experiences that this was my spirit animal and the more I read about the meaning which I love reading different peoples version of the meaning and almost all of them I can relate to so much 😊

    Reply
  10. Boof Parker

    Yesterday I saw two black panthers side by side in crouched positions facing the highway I was traveling on. It was broad daylight and I’ve never hallucinated before about anything. I was very clear. There were also a number of dead dogs lined up along side the road. They looked identical. When I returned through the same area a few hours later I saw one more dead dog. He was identical to the others. It was a four lane divided highway.
    Is there a meaning behind this other than I need to see a shrink?

    Reply
  11. Rhonda J Chadwick

    A black panther appeared in a dream at the top of a stony, craggy mountain of hard terrain that I had climbed. He sat under a cave-like enclosure on a flat slab at the very top. Right below him sat my black cat, Pharaoh. The big cat was fierce and awe-inspiring, my little Pharaoh, who passed a few years ago, was welcoming and loving. I rubbed his head as I walked past. Later that morning while meditating, the panther was there. I was afraid of his power and ability to do be destructive and harmful. As I sat in my meditation chair, he came over and sat behind me. I realized he was there to protect me and guide me. As I got comfortable having him near, I knew that he would never harm me because he loved me. We are not adversaries; we are partners in this new quest in life. I searched for panther symbolism online and found Tanya’s site. Your description spoke to my heart. It is time for me to reclaim my power after a period of deep suffering and defeat. I have been doing important reading and writing in the dark of the night when the world is silent. Now I know Panther will be with me at those times. I am an excellent swimmer and have been using hot baths to soothe dry skin and relax after long days. I am Panther.

    Reply
  12. Marti

    I went on a shamanic journey this morning to the lower world. I’ve done this twice before. When I excited the tree that was my portal I expected to see Bear and Eagle, who showed up the last 2 times. Instead I was greeted my the most beautiful black panther. She looked right into my soul. Instinctively, I followed her as she was sending me nothing but love. She led me to the fire which was surrounded by my bear, eagle and others. This was a Rising Phoenix guided meditation, and I was too burn away all that had been holding me back. Fear, self-loathing, anger. It was very powerful and emotional for me. I looked up the meaning of the black panther. No wonder she showed up. I’m about to leave my spouse of 20 years abs in scared out of my mind. But after that journey this morning I know I can do it. I am divinely protected. I. Am. Rising. ❤️🙏

    Reply
  13. Klhoiekarambit

    Many water panthers are in my story most made it into the history books none sadly to only die a prisoner, they will always think beauty and power looks better on a shelf than with the mountains.

    Reply
  14. Jacqueline Williams

    I had a dream last night that I went to South America (I’m Australian) deep into the Amazon Jungle to learn from a Shaman. In the dream the Shaman was waiting for me as he knew I was coming and welcomed me into his village and began to teach and guide me in shamanic ways. I had been there for quite some time, many months maybe even a cpl years. He told me that all the knowledge he had imparted to me was now mine to take out into the rest of the world and use it to heal and share with everyone, after he said this I went out near the fire to meditate and whilst meditating a black panther silently came out of the jungle, every tribal member was frightened but were too scared and awed to move and watched quietly as the panther approached me and put its forehead to mine, whilst this beautiful creature did this I felt energy downloads transferring from it, this lasted a while then when it was finished it turned around and silently went back into the jungle just as silently as it came.
    I woke up straight after this, ever since I was a little girl I’ve always been drawn to South America and the Amazon specifically and have always wanted to travel there. I’m a eclectic witch/spiritualist with many gifts and I know I haven’t reached my full potential and have not knowingly used or even looked in to shamanic practices before. (I will be doing some research)
    This dream came from nowhere and I’ve never been drawn to a panther before or even really thought about them, I’ve always been drawn to tigers but this beautiful spirit guide made me feel so calm and at peace yet energized and excited and so full of knowledge at the same time… Really was a deep and beautiful dream…

    Reply
  15. Parris

    So I had a dream that I was at some car wash with my deceased grandfather and a black panther was under a car and it growled at me and then I ran through a door and someone got the panther and had it on a leash and they said they had it because I was scared it would get a loose

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This