This is the title of a book I recently read, the book I mentioned in my article about Buddy. It discusses many of the areas surrounding the practice of talking to animals. Animals are a huge part of my Spiritual Journey, and it's so wonderful to be alive in a period of history that more people are recognizing Animals' own spiritual journeys that are inter-twined with our own!
The authors, Joyce Leake and Vickie Wickhorst, PhD, are both local women to the Kiowa/Elizabeth area that I live in. How wonderful it was to discover such open minds in an area that tends to lean towards conservative/old fashioned ways of thinking! Not only open minds, but amazing sources for a wide variety of information as it pertains to humans' natural ability to communicate with animals!
Since my opening article mentioned my trip down Pre-Menopausal Lane, you can only imagine my excitement and surprise upon reading this tidbit:
"In Menopause, instead of a fluctuation of highs and lows in intuitive insights, a woman now has a steady flow of intuition. This is probably the reason that many cultures have stories about the wisdom of older women."
Ah-ha! This ties in so nicely with my article on the return of the Crone (and in fact was part of my inspiration to write that article when I did!), and honoring the wisdom that comes with age! Here I find that not only do we have age, experience and wisdom on our sides as we grow older-Menopause actually creates a hormonal experience that blows your intuitive doors wide open!
How does this relate to talking to our pets? Simple-the ability to communicate with animals is nothing more (and nothing less!) than the ability to trust your intuition. I rejoice in the idea that while I still fight my ego-triggered doubt that I'll ever be able to clearly hear what my pets are trying to tell me, the more I live my life tuning into my Intuition, I'm actually training myself for the day I do clearly hear their answers to my questions-without doubt!
It's coming, I know it! The other night, our Manx kitty Tanka was once again following Aussie Cat, batting and biting his tail. Doug and I questioned whether or not he knew what a tail was, if he wondered why he didn't have one. So, I asked him out loud "Tanka, do you wish you had a tail?" The first thought that crossed my mind after asking that question was "What's a tail?". After a few moments, I asked Doug what Tanka told him, and surprisingly (but not compleltely) Doug said "What's a tail?" So, I asked Tanka (out loud again) what he was playing with-on Aussie. I think Doug tuned in better than I did, I got caught up in the moment and got in my own way (I do that A LOT). While the only thing I could come up with was "A Thing", Doug laughed and told me he'd been told it was a Cat Toy.
So, Intuition is a huge piece of the puzzle in animal communication-which is something you either believe in or you don't. Or is it?
This is the first book I've come across that studies the history of science and it's study of what's mostly accepted as the "un-provable" ideas related to physics. Which is a subject myself and Doug find fascinating-as much as we find it mind-boggling and beyond our capability of understanding. Watching a PBS special on Quantum Physics, I could swear the mathematical equations appeared to be an Alien Language! However, these two bright, intelligent women have put together a nicely organized history of the human fascination with the Un-Seeable and until recently, the un-provable.
For those of you who say it's not possible to communicate with animals, I invite you to sit with this book and see it from a scientific perspective. I was surprised by how interesting this part of the book was for me, as I've always followed the idea that you either know it & believe it or you don't. I believe-and nobody can ever convince me otherwise! I simply know it in my 'gut', my 'soul' that I talk to my animals and they understand me. I know they talk to me to, but I usually am not aware that I hear.
However, as much as I was entertained by the history of science as it is related to this subject; I thoroughly enjoyed the summary of the history of humans and animals-and how we've journeyed together through our evolution on Earth together. It's actually quite fascinating to look at the history of our relationships with animals, and how our treatment of them and the planet have changed over centuries. It reminded me of parts of Ancient Roots, Many Branches-they both connect the dots between our relationship with animals and the Earth (and each other).
When humans were Nomadic (hunters & gatherers), we gave the Elements and Animals their due respect. Our lives depended on favor from both. Animals provided us with food and clothing to keep us warm, tools were made from their bones, and in return we honored and revered them for sustaining us. As we became farmers and began domesticating animals for those needs, that reverence became something less. Look at the history of our Feline companions!
In ancient Egypt cats were held in very high honor, part of families and protectors of grain supplies from rodents and their disease. They were often mummified and buried along with their faithful owners while Egyptians worshipped Bast the Cat Goddess. But, fast foward to Europe many centuries later and you can find block prints showing people murdering and torturing cats because they were believed to be Evil. A completely black cat is a hard thing to find, somewhere years ago I read it's because of the time in history when solid black cats were believed to be favored by Witches as Familiars. The poor cats died in as many violent and cruel ways as their human counterparts did.
As humans began feeling a false sense of superiority to nature (and animals), they found it easy to believe animals had no soul, no emotions and were unable to feel physical pain. People who tried to present animals as having souls, emotions and able to feel pain were deemed ignorant, heretics or worse.
Today, we live in the dawn of an age where people are really beginning to see the results of living so out of balance with nature. Once again, people are feeling drawn towards more wholistic ways of living their lives and seeing the world around them. We should feel honored and lucky that our animal companions have chosen to stick by our sides, waiting for the day we would once again revere them for the sentient beings they are.
In the end, we must remember that we are not above the animal kingdom; we are a part of the Animal Kingdom. We have the same ability as a fish in a school moving as a unit, without verbal direction. We have the same instinct as a gazelle drinking at the same water hole as a lioness, knowing when it is safe and when it is not. As humans, we have ignored and belittled these natural instincts-and it's wonderful to witness a surge of awakening in the Human Race to the possibilities and the wonderful sense of belonging when we open our hearts, minds and souls to our animal companions.
To learn more about Joyce & Vickie, their work and to purchase their book, please visit their website at:
www.animaluniversity.com
