The totemic image for the future is the octopus. This is because the squids and octopi have perfected a form of communication that is both psychedelic and telepathic; a model for the human communications of the future.
Cuttlefish, like squid, octopuses and nautiluses, are marine animals belonging to the Cephalopoda class. Studies indicate that cuttlefish are among the most intelligent invertebrate species. They hunt small shrimps in the daylight, changing its external appearance to that of a silt-covered stone before striking out.
The origin of the word cuttlefish can be found in the old English term cudele, derived from the Norwegian ‘koddi’ (testicle) and the Middle German ‘kudel’ (pouch), a literal description of the cephalopod’s shape. The Greco-Roman word ‘sepia’ described the cephalopod as a source of the unique brown pigment released from its siphon when alarmed.
Late psychedelic researcher and ethnobotanist Terence McKenna had this to say about the amazing color-change ability of the cuttlefish:
“I believe that the totemic image for the future is the octopus. This is because the squids and octopi have perfected a form of communication that is both psychedelic and telepathic; a model for the human communications of the future. In the not-too-distant future men and women may shed the monkey body to become virtual octopi swimming in a silicon sea.”