cats
Frankie, My Furry Protector In Spirit
I often say, if there is a cat in your house, you are never alone. And this reassuring notion not only applies to cats that are in this life, but also those who have passed on to the next. Just recently, I have received another wonderful visitation from a dear furry friend of mine who passed 25 years ago!
Frankie, a beautiful Blue Point Siamese, was my fur friend and my only ‘sister.’ Growing up she was always there. I picked her out of a litter when I was only two years old. Frankie lived a long, happy life, and in her final days her meowing sounded to me like she was saying, “Maryella.” So, that is what I named my next kitty: Maryella.
So, Frankie came to me the other night and told me that she is friends with the four cats that I own now, and that she is still around after all these years. She even showed me where she hangs out these days. It is a colorful place with a bridge. I will leave it at that.
Frankie told me that she has been my spirit animal for a very long time. I was not surprised, as I have seen her from time to time over the years. She always seems to show up during times when life seems to not be going so well for me. I have certainly felt her warmth and her compassionate, loving energy around me when times are tough.
I have also dreamt of her many times, but the other night was not a visitation dream. It was a full-on apparition. I was looking out the large picture window in my living room, and there she was… walking casually across the deck outside. Then she stopped, sat down, and looked directly at me. She stared right at me.
The Karma Of Animal Cruelty
Our cats, dogs and all the other wonderful animals we call our pets are like tiny buddhas. We receive wisdom from them in so many ways. They never use words to convey anything, only feeling. If we are in-tune with them, and watch their behavior, we get a sense of how they are feeling.
Venturing into the Akashic record, to read for my clients, I have come to understand that much of our karma is based on how we not only treat ourselves and other humans, but also our fur friends and every other living being on this planet.
And in my experience, karma seems to bear an especially heavy weight when it comes to the animals. To my knowledge, those who abuse and mistreat animals will pay a severe price for it in their spiritual growth and soul evolution. In fact, many people return in a next life as the very animal they hurt, and will experience the same, or worse infliction they put upon that animal.
Animals are creatures of God, messengers of Love. They are here to teach us how to co-exist with each other with compassion and unconditional love. They show us how to share space, heal with touch and communicate telepathically. Some cat owners, for example, will tell you how their cats begin to circle around them and purr whenever they are meditating, or engaging in other forms of spiritual practice, which heightens their energy frequency and spiritual awareness.
The Unseen Spirit World Around Us
While traveling this summer, I stayed at in a vacation rental home on the coast of Oregon. It is an older house which has been completely gutted and redone from floor to ceiling. It has every finishing touch you could imagine and is across the street from the beach.
One day, while sitting in the master bedroom with the door partially open, I thought I saw a white, sheepdog push the door open with his nose to come in and greet me. He looked quite happy with his tail wagging. He was adorable and filled with loving energy. I blinked my eyes and looked again, but he was gone? I then realized I had just seen a dog in spirit, who used to live in that house.
Many people have this type of occurrence happen on a daily basis, but do not understand or trust what they see. Often we glimpse things out of the corner of our eye, or peripheral vision, but most of us interpret this as simply being due to our imagination. We thought we saw something, but there was nothing there when we looked again. Unfortunately, our modern culture encourages us to trust only our logical, linear mind over our intuition.
When Spirit shows up in the form of our deceased loved ones from the Other Side, and this includes our departed pets, we can become aware of them through our psychic senses. People who are more sensitive tend to be able to pick up on the subtle presence of Spirits who come to visit.
Pet Loss And Grief From A Psychic Perspective
Losing a pet can be one of the most devastating things we go through. Many people are caught off guard emotionally when their animals transition. And too often the people around us do not understand the strong bond that can be formed between a human and their animal. They might say insensitive things like, “It’s only an animal. Just get another one.” These attitudes are not useful or helpful when grieving any kind of a loss.
The connection with an animal companion can be very deep and profound. They have no pretense. We do not need to wonder what kind of a mood our pet companions are in, and how it will influence our connection to them. Our animal companions join us on this planet to teach us about pure and unconditional love. So, they always emanate this energy to us.
Rarely do our fellow humans express this level of unconditional love. Our animal friends are nearly always available to us when we need them. This is certainly not true of our fellow humans.
When we lose an animal companion, it is important for us to recognize the depth of their connection to us and understand that the pain of grief is real. I can remember my teacher asking, when we approached this topic of grief and loss, “Do you give yourself permission to go through the grief?”
It is also important to support ourselves in whatever way is necessary, when it comes to the loss of a beloved pet. Whether this means joining a support group, going to a therapist that specializes in grief and bereavement, and honoring wherever we are at in the process. There is a plethora of resources online related to pet loss and grief support.
The Last Cat Standing
Seventeen years ago, I put my cat, Boo, to sleep and sent her back to Heaven. She was a uniquely ornery, but brilliant cat. Boo was a black cat and we actually had full conversations that my friends would be amazed by. Boo lived to the ripe age of 17.5 years.
I was so desperately sad when she passed, that only a few weeks after her departure, I went out and got new animals to replace her. At first, I picked out only two new cats at the Humane Society. They were put in their carriers, awaiting their new home. One was a calico colored cat, and the other was a beautiful grey cat with white stripes.
But as I was walking out of the kitty area, an anonymous black paw suddenly grabbed at me, snagging my sweater. Being spiritually aware, I decided to stop and pay attention. Was this little black cat my new Boo? Well, you guessed it! I left that day with three cats.
I named my new black kitty Shiva. He was only five weeks old at the time, which means he was born right around the time that Boo died. He was very sickly in the beginning. The veterinarian, one of my Yoga students, told me he was unlikely to make it.
At the time, I did not feel comfortable telling my veterinarian that I actually do energy work on animals, and that I somehow knew this was my Boo kitty’s reincarnation. I have been doing animal energy healing since I was a child, and I have been doing animal readings for 20 years.
Animal Rescue As A Spiritual Calling
A friend recently asked me if have considered the possibility that all the animal rescue work I have been doing in recent years might be the symptom of a deep desire to heal some wounded part of myself? She also said I may be suffering from what her therapist refers to as a ‘savior complex.’ And this might stem from fear of rejection, insecurities and any other negative experiences from my childhood. I did not get defensive, but said I would ponder her remark. Actually, I am pondering what she said as I type this blog.
As much as my husband and I love all animals, it was never our intention to get as involved as we have now with our bounty of ‘rescued animals.’ In hindsight, we ended up taking in some very sick, injured, starving, and abandoned fur babies, because the small local rescue centre was bursting at the seams. I guess we found ourselves unable to bury our heads in the sand.
Develop Your Animal Communication Skills
Many of us have relationships with our pets so close that we are convinced they understand everything we say. A holistic vet told me many years ago that he visualizes what he is going to do when he is treating an animal. He then asks permission psychically and also thanks the pet. I began to monitor this at future visits and noticed my dog would turn his paw for blood work. Or he would release a big sigh and relax into the vets vibration. Fascinating.
In the animal kingdom there is an incredible language of energetic connection within the same species. The subtlest body posture sends a message from one animal to the next. Perhaps it is stating, “I’m the alpha, what do you want?” Or perhaps it’s just saying, “Hey, you seem interesting, can we chat?”