Animals and Religion

I remember a Sunday school lesson when I was 4 years old, where the teacher had taught us about how God wanted us to love. We had put together a little model of a bird. On the model, it stated that God wanted us to love: 1. Others 2. Ourselves 3. The Animals.
As a 4 year old I was very dismayed and bothered by this lesson. I remember continually asking my mom, why would God want me to love myself or other people more than the animals? My mother and the Sunday school teacher both tried to explain that God loved the animals but he loved people more than the animals. We were his "chosen" species, and while he loved the animals, he love us more. I could never wrap my four year old brain around this concept, and still have trouble with the concept that religion tries to teach that we are "the chosen," somehow greater than the rest of the living beings on this planet. Many religions would argue that we are the only beings who have souls and are worthy of eternal life (a belief system that crushed me when I first lost one of my animals).
Isn't it this sort of out-of-balance mentality that has gotten our planet where we are now?
Recently I have been thinking a lot about animals and religion. I consider myself to be not only a believer, but a follower of God. In fact, I believe learning and practicing animal communication has brought me closer to my creator, my source, and my own heart. By learning to listen to the animals, I have learned to listen to my own higher powers, be it spirit guides, angels, or the Ultimate Creator. By walking this path I have cultivated a relationship with God that is far beyond what I had before I started on this journey, and one that is growing deeper every day.
This journey has lead me to the place where I believe strongly in having my own personal relationship with God, not one that is dictated to me by a religious leader. I believe it is this personal relationship that has brought me to a place where I can communicate with animals, see energy, and facilitate healings--a place far beyond where I ever thought I would be!! It has also brought be to a place where I feel I can hear God's voice on a daily basis and have Him as the main guide in my life. Isn't this an amazing thing?
I am now beginning to realize there are many paths to get to where I am now. Some people will get there walking the way I have walked. Others will be guided there through a religious belief system. There is no right or wrong answer, as long as we are continually following our hearts, listening to our higher power, and walking in love.
When I teach people how to be intuitive and listen to their heart in speaking with the animals, I teach them that the truth always comes in through love; if something comes in through the form of fear or hate, we can always know it is not of the heart, and not a truth. Fear is of the head, love is of the heart. It is the heart that leads us to the truth, and the head that often leads us astray.
I believe we can use this same system when putting our religious belief systems to the test. If a belief seems to be based on fear, I believe it is moving us away from God. If it is based on love, then it brings us to a closer relationship with ourselves and our Creator.
I know much of the fear that is in religion has simultaneously driven people away from religion and also driven religious people away from things that could bring them closer to God. I hope more and more people will begin to recognize animal communication and similar fields for what they are--a way to move closer to God, one's own spirit, and the ultimate truth of creation: that we are all connected a linked through the power of love and spirit.

Keeping it real

I realized that someone reading my last few posts might imagine me at home with my animals constantly engaged in philosophical conversation.
In spite of the deep information I get from animals sometimes, I would say in general our day to day interactions are much less intense.
Here is a summary of the main things my animals have to say to me on a daily basis:

My dogs:
1. I want to go outside
2. I'm hungry
3. I'm bored
4. I love you

My cats:
1. I want to go outside
2. Feed me!
3. We need new water


My horses:
1. I want to go out on the pasture
2. When will you play with us again?
3. I love you

So you can see, there is really not that much philosophizing going on around here!

Keeping it real when doing animal communication sessions is important to me. If I go in as an animal communicator and wax poetic without ever addressing the animal's basic needs, I think I am being grossly neglectful.
It doesn't do any good to address an animal at a spiritual level, for example, if it isn't getting fed!
I recently read a post on another animal communicator's website that asked the question: How do you know that what you received is real?
Answer: Because you can see it in the physical. Otherwise you never know and shouldn't treat it like fact.
This was a refreshing viewpoint to see, because I think too many animal communicators are out there leading people on spiritual wild-goose chases.
I had a person call me once to ask me to check in with her horse to see if there was anything physically wrong with it. I do this kind of thing all the time; but in this situation she was asking because she was out of town and wanted someone to check in on her horse while she was gone.
I told her I could attempt this only if she also sent someone out to physically check on the horse! Animal communication is no substitute for two pair of eyes.
I recently did a riding session with a horse and rider that demonstrated this to me strongly. I had communicated with the horse and hadn't found any major problems. So I said: tack up, lets see what happens when we put the horse in the situation you are speaking about. Within one minute I had pinpointed the problem, which was just a simple mechanical error on the riders part.
Does the fact that I have to watch the situation in action make me less of an animal communicator?
I don't believe so at all. I believe it makes me more responsible and better at "keeping it real."

Heart First

I've realized recently that I have a theme in my life of jumping into things "heart" first.
Call it an on-the-job hazard.
Focusing through the heart is such an important part of communicating that I've become over-confident in throwing my heart into to things without hesitation.
The fringe benefit of doing what I do is that I get to fall in love on a daily basis.
A communication session, after all, is nothing other than an exchange of love between myself and the animal.
Could there be any better job?
It is funny to think how protected I used to keep my heart, frightened that something might happen to damage it.
Now I realize that the heart is bigger than any tragedy. When I am grounded and connected, there is nothing it can't handle.
The animals have also been teaching me lately about love.
I used to think that love was limited, and once lost, you would be lucky to find it again.
I have realized through the animals that love is unlimited in the universe, and always trying to find ways to reach you.
How fortunate I am to be able to receive it from the animals on a daily basis!

The Deer's Message

I have learned in my life, that often I am not just helping the animals, but the animals are helping me.
I have learned to pay attention to the messages that the animals bring into my life and my person.
Many times these come through the animals closest to me in my life--my dogs, my horses, my cat. . .
. . .sometimes they come to me from the untamed animals who live in nature.
I have to admit, I was skeptical of this phenomenon when I first started delving into animal communication. It seemed to me, that most wild animals only wanted to steer clear of people; and unlikely that one would have a personal investment in my own spiritual path.
I must learn to be more humble.
It was on my first quest that the hummingbirds started talking to me. Like markers of my thoughts, they would fly close (right into my face) to validate the spiritual messages I was receiving. "Truth," they would say, sometimes giving me the word before I even realized that they had flown but a breath away from me.
On my most recent quest, an golden eagle landed at the apex of my circle on the last day. An indescribable feeling of peace and connection came over me as he joined in my quest. Before he flew away, I had the presence of mind to ask him what message he was bringing.
"You are on the path of a seer," he said, before spreading his wings to fly away.
I cannot remember ever feeling more connected, more at one with all around me.
I learned later, that the eagle was symbolic to the native americans for carrying our dreams back to the spirit world.
How incredible, to have the dreams of my quest carried back for me by such a divine presence.
The other day I had an unlikely chance to commune with the natural world again, when driving back from an appointment on the interstate, a deer suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. With a long line of traffic in front of me, only the car directly in front of me seemed to spot this stationary visiter and swerve, leaving me little time to react.
Slammed brakes sent the van I was driving fish tailing over the road, before I safely passed the deer and continued on my drive.
At the time, it seemed very significant to have a deer standing stationary in the middle of the road directly ahead of my vehicle and none other.
My logical mind immediately assumed the deer must be bringing a warning. But my heart seemed to know better.
Safely back at home, I connected to the deer and asked it if it had a message for me.
"You are not alone," the deer said. "All we of the forrest are with you and have your back. All of the woodland creatures, the faeries and the elves, the creatures of the night, the gnomes, and the dwarves, those that walk on two feet and on four: We are all behind you. We are protecting you. We are guiding your soul through the triumphs to follow. You have our favor. Your soul has our light. We suround you and keep you well."
As I have been going through some significant trials recently, the message was comforting.
But the deers message continues in my life as I am guided to learn how to "move like a deer through the forest--seeing no resistance so facing none."
The deer sees the trees in the forest as guideposts, merely small markers to keep them on course.
I am endeavoring to do the same with the twists and turns in my life.
While I still believe animal communication should take place at a grounded and practical level, I am learning that there is no place too deep for the animals to take me; no lesson too great for them to present.
Onward, with the animals at my side.

Jet

So many times I have communications with animals that go beyond what words can describe. The conversation I had with Jet fits into that category; although, words, or no words, it is one that needs to be shared.
Jet was one of a group of PMU mares that a local rescue group had rescued from slaughter. (PMU stands for Pregnant Mare Urine. Their urine is collected to make hormone therapies for women, and their foals are often sold as a by product of the urine). The rescue group had contacted me asking if I would speak to some of the horses to help them acclimate to their new environment. By the time I spoke with Jet, I had already talked to 4-5 of the other horses. At that point they had all had similar stories and attitudes to share: They all felt they were in this world to work with humans, and that their PMU job had just been part of that role. None of them had any anger or grudges towards people for their past, and it seemed like for the most part they had been well cared for.
I had no reason to think that Jet would share anything different.
As it turned out, Jet came from a different farm from the other horses.
Here are my session notes for Jet, the purest way I know to share what she wants to share with the world:
First of all, I pick up a great sadness around Jet, and a lot of mistrust towards people. She does not have that "curious" or "interested" attitude that many of the (PMU) horses I have talked to have. She seems *extremely* perceptive, with a huge heart.
She wonders, before I can begin talking to her, what are they going to do when my foal comes out?
Before I can answer, she flashes back this image to me of death. She says her foal is "not registered," and will go to slaughter.
I try to explain to her that her situation is different now, that she and her foal will be treated with the upmost of care.
But she seems unable to really hear me. She explains again that her foal is only a grade foal--nothing fancy--and that people will take him away and kill him.
She sends me some intense images of her time as a PMU mare. These images are like the pictures that rescue groups used to gain awareness of the PMU mare's plight years ago--crowded barns filled with horses, stalls filled with manure. She also keeps sending me this "death" image--foals dying in the stalls. No one doing anything to save them. There is great sadness and pain there (I feel like crying), and she says, what is a mare to do?
I say, nothing, except dream of a better life for her and her future foals. And that life has now come.
Before she can see that, though, it is important for me to view her past situation purely, and so I do.
She says, here it is the "law" that the foals are sold. It is like this corrupt society, where babies are born and die, all as a sort of perverse sustenance for humans--the scene in the matrix comes to mind for me, where humans are grown and harvested. It was like this for the horses.
I tell her, now she is in a new country with new laws.
She says, even here horses are eaten for food.
She has this innate perception of slaughter--what it is, how it is done. She understands that this is where her past foals have gone--the ones who have survived. She continually shows me that many of the foals did not survive. That they died in dirty stalls with no one to help them. And to add to the pervisity, there were the buckets of urine collected from them. This was absolutely degrading to her just as it would me for you and me. And flies, swarming over piles of manure. And even worse, maggots. Maggots swarming around dead babies, and blood from the birthing. And all of this mixed in with the cries of the mares, over their lost babies. Over the hopelessness of the situation. Who were they crying for, she wonders? Who ever heard their cries? Not the people they were with.
I say, somebody like you and me. These groups of people who rescue horses out of situations like this. And I tell her again, you have been rescued. There are good people in the world. You are in a new place, where people honor horses just like they do their own children. I tell her again, NO HARM WILL COME TO YOUR FOAL. And "YOU WILL BE HIS MOTHER THIS TIME."
She says, no they will take my foal just like they always do. They have no use for me but for my foal and my pee. She feels this great hopelessness and depression, like someone who has been stuck in a situation so long and nothing has ever changed that she can't believe it will. She says, many times I wanted to die. Many times I had given up.
I remind her again, things are different now. I wonder, can she give it one more try? One try to see her baby grow into a horse. One try to see people treat horses the way they are meant to be treated?
She isn't sure. She is starting to hear me, but she says, every year in the spring we do it all over again. There is that feeling that even though she has had a reprieve it will all start again very soon.
I tell her, no, not this time. This time she really is starting new. I tell her the people there want nothing of her but to give her and her foal a good life. To show them how people can relate to horses the way they were supposed to. I tell her there the horses are like queens and kings and her baby will be a prince or a princess.
She really loves this idea. Of her baby being treated like royalty. She grasps on to this more than anything else. This is something to give her hope, that her baby might know something different than she and all the other babies before it.
She thinks, as we talk, that she might be able to experience life anew through her foal--that she might be able to learn about these people here from watching how they treat her foal. This might be a way she can begin to relate to people and to forgive. She does not want human contact forced on her, but if she likes what she sees with her foal, she may surprise you someday by volunteering to give it a try.
I tell her about what will happen when she foals, that people will love her baby so much, just like she does, that they will want to touch it--just like she will want to nuzzle it with her nose. She says, see I told you they would come in to take it away from me.
And I explain again, no, the people's love for your foal will be so great they they will want to come in and love it physically, just like your love compels you to nuzzle your foal when it is born. This is why they will come in. I tell her again "NO HARM WILL COME TO YOUR FOAL"
I remind her of the reason horses and people were brought together in the first place (I have had horses tell me of this before.) I try to show her a vision of how it could be--was supposed to be--will be.
She asks me, "But why does man do this?" (Meaning what was done to her and the other horses.)
I hesitate, and say, well, I believe it is because God has given man free will. And some men chose to walk far towards the darkness, and some men chose to walk towards the light.
She remembers this now (and now I believe I am talking to her more on a spiritual level.) She remembers that certain animals, including horses, have chosen to walk the walk with man in order to continually guide them towards the light.
And then she thinks of what she knows of slaughter, and gets angry. She says, this is not the relationship that horses were supposed to have with man. This is not the pact that they entered into. Horses entered into a pact with man to walk with him in this earthly journey. To carry his heart--both physically and emotionally. But what man has done with horses (in horse slaughter) has broken our pact with them. Horses never entered into this pact (being eaten) with man. Other animals did, but not horses. Horses were meant to sustain man spiritually and emotionally--not through their meat and their blood. Horses came to carry mans' burdens, both physical and otherwise. But horses never agreed to serve man in this manner. Horse slaughter is a betrayal of the highest order! It hurts everything that the horse/human pact has been working towards. It is a wound to the soul of every horse who has come to serve a human. A "black mark" on the history between man and animal.
She says, we (man) need to treat all animals with respect and care, but most of all the "beasts of burden" who have come down to work *with* man and help him in his journey. It defiles their spirit to treat them in this way. It sets back the evolution of man and of the planet.
I ask her what we can do to remedy this wounding.
She says "We should all be working to free the souls of those who are trapped in this darkness" (Meaning the horses in a situation like she was in--and the men who put them there).
She feels encouraged knowing about people like those in the rescue group, and people like me who are willing to tell the horse's story. I reassure her that I will tell her story. That I have plans to put her story and her words on my blog, and that I imagine writing a book some day compiled of horse's stories similar to hers. That I give classes and trainings to help people hear the words she has spoken.
This is a relief to her. This is the kind of job she wants, to educate people about how things should be between man and horse, and about how wrong they have become in situations like hers.
She is tired after this session, but more hopeful.
I leave her to process what we have spoken of. I leave her feeling hopeful for her as well, but indescribably saddened about what she has shown me. With the sadness, though, there is also a fullness in my heart. A fullness of knowing what I have been put on this earth for. A fullness of knowing that I am beginning to fulfill my path of helping to heal the wound between man and animal.

Animal Quote of the Day

"This yummy hay is delicious!"
--Spice, commenting on our new hay supply

Beasts of Burden

As I have delved deeper into animal communication I have learned that often the animals I speak to not only want to talk about just themselves and their immediate problem, but also their entire species history and the burden they carry for all of their kind.
I had this experience first working on an incredible Grand Prix dressage horse, we'll call Redwood. I get the name Redwood, because the first thing that struck me about this horse was that he had the same kind of energy of a huge, old growth redwood tree. His legs were like trunks, shooting down into the ground; and his eyes clearly reflected an old soul.
Redwood was supposed to be a winning Olympic dressage horse--every one who had seen him and his rider had left awe-struck and inspired.
But instead of making it to the Olympics, Redwood began colicking.
And colicking again.
After numerous colic surgeries, he was passed from one owner, to another, each thinking they could salvage the huge horse with a heart that beat like a redwood tree.
Each time he began colicking again.
When I met him he was at a rehab facility, and my communicating was part of his re-hab.
After I moved past the awe and gratitude of working with such a magnificent soul and a huge heart, I began getting story after story from Redwood, all filled with grief and sadness.
Redwood and seen too many things in his performance days. Too many stressed horses. Too much sadness. Abuse. Disappointment.
He began discussing the things he had seen in his days. But as I traced the trail back, I was surprised to be told a story about use and abuse that traced back to the moment that man began riding horses. Redwood carried not just his own grief, but the grief of an entire species, used for a purpose they were never intended.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Redwood told me, grief running off of him.
We were never supposed to use horses as a killing machine to carry us to war. Or as a sports car to win ribbons at shows or races.
Somewhere along the path of horse and man we did what we always do, which is to take perfect and twist it into something perverted.
After sharing his sadness with me, Redwood also showed me pictures of what *was* intended for the relationship between horses and man. Horses did come to be with us, that was always their intention. But they wanted to be with us to teach us and heal us. They wanted to be with us as teachers and healers, not as slaves or tools. They were willing to work along beside us in the fields and on the plains, but only if respected and admired as collegues and friends. They want to carry our pains and our sicknesses--but only if we are willing to listen to them and grow in the areas they show us.
In the scene Redwood showed me was something both immensely beautiful and sad; something I will never forget and always aspire to in my relationship with all the horses I come across.
I hope others will be inspired to aspire to this as well.

Recently I have been given the phrase "beasts of burden" when connected with the horse spirits. The horses want me to know, that they are not just beasts of burden due to the weight they carry on their back--it is due to the weight they carry in their hearts, the burden they take from all of us, their people, to try to relieve us of our weight and our sorrow. The horses, as a unit, are asking for my help in guiding people to release their own heart burdens, so that the horse's loads might be lighter. This is the work I do in working with riders and equine facilitated therapy session. This is the work the horses have continually guided me back to.

My purpose on earth, I realize now, is to serve them. And that means assisting the horses in healing hearts--both their own, and ours.

Pretty in Pink

I have to admit when I first began reading about animal communication I thought it was complete ridiculousness when animal communicators told someone their animal's favorite color. Pish posh, I thought, that is complete anthropomorphism.
Enter my beautiful pony, we'll call Pretty.
Pretty Pony informed me, after my first animal communication class, that her favorite color was PINK.
She wanted a PINK halter, bridle adorned with PINK gemstones, and a PINK saddle pad under her little pony saddle. Did I mention, she liked PINK?
I will admit that I thought Pretty Pony's request were completely all in my head, but nonetheless, it is fun buying pink things for a pony, even as an adult, so I set out to fill all orders as requested.
Now, the day the requests were made, I did promise Pretty Pony that I would do my best to fill all orders, but the first thing I promised her was a pink halter and lead rope by the following week.
In the end, I could not find such a halter or lead rope when I went shopping for one that weekend, so had to order one online.
Imagine Pretty Pony's disappointment the following Monday, when we went to use her for a therapy activity, and there was no pink halter to use. In fact, to add insult to injury, we ended up using an old ratty brown halter with a ratty brown lead rope.
Now, usually Pretty Pony shoves her head right into the halter when a kid approaches her, because she loves being used for therapy activities. This day she started to shove her head into the halter and usual, and then jerked her head back in surprise upon seeing said ratty brown halter. She then proceeded to examine the halter slowly, sniffing it all around.
"What is this?!" you could just hear her saying.
With reluctance she allowed the kid to put the halter on her head, but you could pretty much sense her disdain.
Fascinated that maybe her desire for pink was not just a projection from me I continued to watch the interaction between Pretty Pony and her child.
As the child lead her around, Pretty Pony began putting her head down, placing her nose against said ratty brown lead rope.
"What is this?!" you could hear her say again. "I'm pretty sure this isn't pink!"
All the way across the corral she kept her nose against the lead rope, examining it carefully for any pink strands. From a distance her walk was amusing, her nose glued to the ground, and her feet carefully raised higher as she followed her child in a rather odd fashion.
Confirming that this was not just my imagination, one of the kids next to me asked: "What is Pretty Pony doing?"
Still thinking I might be creating the situation, I imagined that maybe Pretty Pony was colicking, as she was walking in a similar fashion to a horse that has a belly ache, so I kept quiet, to see what the kids had to offer.
"She seems really fascinated with her lead rope" one child answered the first child's question.
"What is pretty pony doing?" I asked the child holding her lead rope, still hoping she didn't have a belly ache.
"I don't think she likes this lead rope" the child said insightfully.
I let out a guffaw. Sure enough, Pretty Pony had her nose glued to the lead rope, not the ground.
Ok, pretty pony, I said with exasperation. Your princess set is in the mail.
So much for projection. So much for anthropomorphism.
Pretty Pony, does indeed, like pink.
And she is very happy with her new pink halter and lead rope set, thank you very much, and her bridle with pink gemstones.
If you find a pony-sized, pink saddle pad, can you send it my way?
Gee whiz.

Finding things

I seem to have a theme of cases lately involving "finding things."
First, just to clarify, I consider finding animal cases to be pretty much the bottom of the barrel when it comes to animal communication clientele. I mean, no animal communicator with an established clientele really wants to subject themselves to such cases, right? You take a panicked human, a panicked lost animal, a million acres of possibilities, and then say "can you find my ?"
It just seems to be an impossible task, and too many times if you even do feel connected to the animal, there is no way to ever validate the information.
Well, apparently I have a lesson to learn, and it involves my own confidence in myself and in the universe.
The first case I got was a little jack russel cross that had gone missing from her home. Two weeks later she is still lost and I feel I have been completely useless in helping out with the case. When I try to connect with her I get. . .nothing. Like there is a big shroud over her whereabouts.
Now, there are several possible reasons for this, most possibly that she is perfectly in her journey and exactly where she is supposed to be, and my happy little human self is not meant to intervene (afterall, I'm not exactly God.)
However, you can imagine that this situation might be a little damaging to, if not my ego, at least my confidence in my abilities.
So enter three more cases to boost my confidence.
The first was a little dog who had gone missing from the backyard. I immediately connected with him and got that he had gotten into a vehicle (A white SUV) and been taken nearby to somebody's house. He was at the door just waiting to be let out. I advised the family to put up fliers and hopefully whoever took him would return him.
Two days later a white SUV pulled up in their driveway and pushed out the little dog before driving away.
Success!
The second case involved a rescue dog who had gotten away from her owner only a few days after meeting her. She had run away and was now hiding in the forrest, scared, and not allowing anyone to catch her. She had been in this situation for a week, and all attempts at catching her, including animal cages, bribes, and animal control, had failed.
I talked to this dog for an hour, helping her cope with her fear of people, reminding her of the good times she had experienced with human beings, and trying to walk with her in spirit. I envisioned that I was sitting in front of her, and when she was ready to walk up to me, she could practice building confidence being petted through me. I then told her I would walk with her to find people to help her. When I ended the session I tried to stay connected to her in spirit, and envisioned that she was walking into town.
A few hours later I received a phone call that she had been found and was with people.
Success!
The third case was unique. It was a horse owner whose horse had been tangled up in wire last year. They had never found the wire, and wondered if I could talk to the horse about where it was so they could find it and make sure no other horses got hurt on it.
"Sure, I can try that." I said.
Inside I was thinking: "Are you kidding??"
However, the horse gave me a very detailed tour of the pasture and told me the wire had been down by the "creek." I don't think your pasture has a creek, I told the horse. "A creek," he repeated. "A spring fed creek. Near a pond." I continued arguing with the horse due to my intuition which continually questioned the validity of a creek in the pasture. Finally the horse reframed saying it was in the "boggy bottoms." He specifically showed me a corner of the pasture, far away from the barn.
When I talked to the horse's owner, I asked tentatively: "Do you have a creek in the pasture?"
"Oh, yes," she said. "An irrigation ditch. It is close to the resevoir which is on the other side of the fence, and is continually running that time of year, so the pasture would have been really muddy in that area." She confirmed it was in the far area of the pasture, away from the barn.
Oh. Spring fed creek. Boggy bottom. Pond.
I get it.
Success, again.
So I suppose my guides are trying to teach me something.
As long as I walk I will continue striving to walk with them and learn what they are teaching.

Moxi

Last week we had Moxi's funeral.
Or I should say going away party.
Moxi was in my life for only year. A 13 pound mixed terrier, he managed to bring more energy into my house than all my other animals combined.
He lived his life 110% all the time.
Moxi crossed over in my arms. Right from my heart into heaven.
While the death of his body was unexpected and traumatic for me, there was also a peace that came with being able to communicate with him while he passed.
I knew when he was in the process of crossing over, and could immediately talk to him on the other side.
He continually told me he had no pain or suffering, just crossed from one area of love to another.
It was a unique experience for me. In the past, when I have lost animals I always attached the grief I had of losing them to my own insecurities, guilt, self-loathing. Thinking it was my fault, or I should have been able to do something to prevent it. Or if they had loved me, they would have stayed longer.
Being able to grieve Moxi purely, with none of these attachments, made the grieving process so much easier. . .
There were many reassurances that it was truly Moxi I was talking to on the other side.
While I was standing crying over his dead body I started wondering about his funeral.
"I want a going away party" Moxi chimed in.
Later, I was crying as I talked to him about coming back to me (if he wanted to) some day.
He said: "If I'm going to stay longer, I might have to tone it down a little bit next time!"
My sobs immediately turned into heaves of laughter.
Moxi's going away party turned out okay, and I found myself laughing instead of crying.
As we all shared about Moxi, interestingly, the other dogs came over, one at a time.
Ozzie first.
I asked him if he wanted to share something about Moxi.
He said: "He always liked to play with me."
Then Eli.
I asked again, thinking, Eli, king of the kings, would have nothing nice to say about Moxi, who seemed to be merely a pest in his presence.
I nearly started crying when Eli said:
"He was my friend, and I loved him."
More beautiful words could not have been spoken.
Namaste, Moxi, until we meet again.

Visual Confirmations

I do a lot of animal communication sessions from a distance, but relish the opportunity to do them in person. Not only do I love to fully meet the animal--body and all (I am like a little kid that way!), I also look forward to the opportunity of interacting with the animal at all levels at the same time.
There is nothing more exciting then when the animal confirms for me through its actions what I have just received metaphysically.
This happened recently for me in a session I was doing with a horse. The client I was working with had three horses. Two were hers and one was her husbands. She kept wanting me to focus on her horses (who were obliging by physically mobbing us), but I kept feeling drawn to her husband's horse who was standing back away from us.
"He's very standoffish," my client said, turning her attention back to her horses.
"I think he has something to say," I said beginning to focus my attention on the beautiful black gelding.
As I focused on him, he locked on to me with his eyes, and then began to walk forward until he was only a few steps a way.
The person I was with seemed a little surprised.
"Oh, she said, "that's interesting.
I continued to focus on him, feeling a deep sadness.
"He's very sad about being moved around so much," I said. "Like he's never gotten over being sold from his previous owners."
The horse's jaw relaxed and he began licking a chewing, a sign I had hit on something.
"Oh," I said, recognizing the full impact of what I was saying. "He's concerned about the new horse your husband is getting (I had been told this before the session started.) He thinks he is going to be replaced."
The horse let out a huge sigh and began working his jaw in an obvious manner, again marking that I had said something of value.
I then began discussing with my human client the implications of the new horse. Would a new horse mean that her husband would spend less time with his current horse?
As she talked, I recognized that the new horse would be an interest of her husbands, but would also be to increase the number of horse to 4, so that she and her husband could go for a trail ride without the third horse running the fence line.
"Oh," I summarized, "So the new horse is going to be a babysitter!"
I looked at the black horse, who locked onto my eyes intently.
"See," I said. "You are not being replaced. The new horse is going to be a babysitter so that you can go on more trailrides!"
At this, the horse's eyes brightened. His head lifted in excitement. He looked into my eyes as if to say: Are you sure?
The person next to me confirmed: "That's right. Bob loves you. You will be with us forever."
At this, the horse pushed his head right against my chest. Then lifted up, and put his mouth on my cheek giving me a slobbery kiss!!
The women next to me just about fell over. Standoffish, huh?
Nothing like a horsey kiss to confirm the information I am receiving.
Following this I had more confirmation, as we were discussing basic nutritional needs of the horses. The black horse continually told me that they needed salt blocks (currently the horses had trace mineral blocks, but none that were salt only), and then pitched in: "I'd like to drink out of the other water tank."
"Is there another water tank?" I asked. I could see one in the pen, but did not see a second.
"Oh yes," the woman said. "Follow me." And we all began walking towards the barn, horse following.
As we reached the closed gate, the woman's husband appeared.
"Your horse wants to drink out of the other water tank," his wife announced, opening the gate.
The gate opened, and we all walked through, then watched, dumbfounded, as the horse immediately plunged his nose into the water.
I laughed. Another physical validation, for both me and my human clients.
"He's worried about the new horse your getting," I explained to the husband. "He thinks he going to be replaced."
The man looked directly at the horse, and laughed, not unkindly.
"Oh, buddy, you know better than that. I've told you before: Your stuck with me. 'Til death do us part."
Again the horse's eyes shined. The man then took him out of the corral and began grooming them. There was nothing better to end my session than the shining of the horse's eyes, glowing with love and knowing

Slave to the Animals

I often feel that I am a slave to the animals. A helpless victim of their calling. No matter where I think I may want to go with my life, or how I try to wander away, they always call me back.
Sometimes with a gentle nudge, other times with a harder push.
I remember when I realized in high school that horses were my calling. I was a smart student. Validictorian. Near perfect score on my ACT. I was certainly destined for med school or engineering, or some other smart-person lucrative career.
Nope. Not for me.
When I gave into the calling of the animals, I cried happy tears standing in the shower. There is nothing so moving as recognizing and embracing your life's calling.
For four years in a horsey college, I lived in complete bliss.
When I was newly married and my husband lost his job, I gave up my horsey job for a slightly higher-paying one working with children. While rewarding and an amazing step on my path, it was less than a year later that the perfect horsey job fell into my lap, paying twice as much as I'd made before.
The animals calling, again.
When I thought I might give up horses for good (after losing 5 in a row), Pogo appeared in my life, skin and bones. Do you want him back? his current owners asked (He had lived with me before.) Well, no, I don't, an emotionally-fatigued me thought; but, how could I refuse?
Open to horses again, Spice (the pony-love of my life) almost immediately followed.
Still, fresh out of graduate school with my MSW and fresh off the loss of my horses, I persisted in attempting to be hired as a therapist in the child-care field. No horses involved. Nope, nu-huh, no-how.
I interview great, and had excellent credentials, but didn't get a single position.
Until I happened across a clinical position on the other side of the state, listed on an equine therapy website. Whoops, sucked back in, again.
When I focused too much on the clinical aspect of my work, and lost site of the horses, my energy waned and became burnt. Feeling like I was crawling across a scorched dessert, parched for water, I cried out to the heavens: Please help! I am lost!
When the answer came to me, it shouldn't have been an apparation.
Horses, of course.
When I focused on them, it all came back to me. Animal Communication. Connecting with others on my same path. Delving back into equine therapy.
And so, here I am, on track again. Not master to the animals, but their humble servant. Following their call. Dutifully bringing them to my home when they call to me. Serving up what ever dishes they ask for. Providing for them to the best of my ability.
Or are the providing for me?
And here the tables turn.
For if they are my master, I now entrust myself to their care.
Universe, do you hear me? Animals?
I am employed by you, and hereby trust you to fulfill all of my needs. I know you will feed me as I have fed you. You will clothe me and house me and care for me. You will provide me with love and joy and guidance. As long as my work is for you, I know I will always have more than enough!
More than enough money. More than enough food. More than enough joy.
What a great master I serve!

Wisdome from a cat

"Dying is letting go of what you love so you can find it again on the other side--it is bigger and brighter there."

Gotta Love the Journey

Welcome to my blog.
why am I blogging?
I want to reach out to people who are like me--whose gifts are deeper than the naked eye. Whose journey goes beyond what they even realize.
As one who knows the difficulties of the journey, I want to offer support to others walking the same path.
Thinking about my journey right now makes me smile.
I thought I wanted to be a horse-trainer.
There was a slight snag.
My riding instructor in college used to look at me like I had grown three green tentacles out of my head.
Or, make that four.
What she said, was: "Christy, I think that horse must like you."
What she really meant was: "There is no way on god's green earth that a human being with the lack of riding ability you have should have been able to get that horse to do that."
A nicer way of saying it would be that my riding "form" or "technique" didn't exactly explain why certain difficult horses seemed to respond to me the way that they did.
The funny thing is, I didn't exactly see it as such a good thing at the time.
I mean, when your riding instructor--who you think just might be next in line for God's throne-- is looking at you like four green tentacles belong on your head, its hard to grow in self-esteem.
What I really wanted at the time was to impress her with my stunning technique, my brilliant form, my potential as a Grand Prix rider.
Not the unsolved mystery of why, no matter how I clammored around on the horse's back, they still seemed to like me at the end of the day.
The gifts I did have were misunderstood, by both of us, and quite frankly, I would have been happy to exchange them for one quarter of the "talent" or attention that my fellow shining star classmates seemed to garner.
I even questioned God on the matter.
I wondered, why has this love of horses been placed so deeply in my heart, and yet the dreams it sends to me will forever remain unfulfilled?
(Dreams in any good riding program, of course, involve sailing over 6 foot fences or riding as a Grand Prix dressage master at the Olympics).
Fast forward three years later when I no longer questioned my failing to make the Olympic show jumping squad, and felt confident on my path into the Equine Therapy arena.
My love for horses had been answered in more ways than I ever could have asked. My heart resonated with the work I was doing, and I was able to use and fully appreciate the gifts I had been given.
And then again, the questioning came, as one after the other, I lost five horses in a row.
Again, I turned to the heavens.
How could this one thing I loved, the very thing I was put here on god's green earth for, been taken away from me? How could my heart ever exist in full, vacant of horses?
God answered.
In the form of the animals.
That's when the animals began speaking to me, answering every question I had ever thought to ask, and then some.
If I had become an Olympic show jumper, I doubt I would have taken the time to hear what the horses were trying to tell me. My "form," "technique" and "ability" would have hindered my development in other areas.
If I had been a "natural" rider, I doubt I would be so proficient in helping others realize their own riding ability--or bothered to hear what the horses were trying to say.
If my horses hadn't chosen to move over to the other side to do their work on me, I doubt I would have bothered to consider that my journey held another layer, deeper than I ever thought possible. Their voices would have been more muffled, harder to hear.
How can I possibly look at this journey in anything other than joy and gratitude?!
What a life! What a gift! What a journey!
Happy trails,

Welcome to my blog

I am an animal communicator, intuitive, energy worker and equine specialist. Some of the conversations I have with animals are absolutely amazing. This is a place where I can share my journey with the animals and allow them to have a voice.