Animals as Compassionate Guides
"I am love, you are love, and Shadow is love, now and forever. Choose to recall and celebrate that love, and let it wash over you incessantly."
Nancy was grieving for her beloved rescued greyhound/lab, Shadow, and wondered what her other dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Maya Amaroo, might have to say to her. In her first letter to me, Nancy had written, “One thing that I would like to know if she will tell you. I believe she is the re-incarnation of my spirit guide, Amber.” I looked forward to connecting with Maya and learning the answer.
Maya senses my presence and bounds forward toward me, greeting me with a big smile. She sits in front of me and cocks her head, ready and delighted to attend to whatever I want to say. I ask her your question about her being Amber’s reincarnation and she laughs.
“Oh, honey,” she chortles warmly, speaking directly to you through me, “I am so much more than that. I bear in my cells the love you have for Amber, and the harmonic of her love for you.”
As she says this, I see a pattern of multi-layered horizontal pastel colors, interlaced with gold and silver, and shimmering with the sound of small bells and the whisper of wind.
“Amber is part of me, and I am the incarnation of a continuum of beings who love you, because that is the nature of existence: layers upon layers of possible realities and expressions of beings ready to spring into articulate life by the merest whisper of a vibration in you which pulls any particular answering vibration into being. Get it? You and all beings are Creator, and as the bible says, in the beginning was the word, and what that means is that the vibration of intention” (she tells me to italicize that) “calls forth creation, neutron by neutron, and that’s the key to evolution. Things don’t just spring into manifestation full-blown except in the imagination, which is a real dimension; the vibration of intention makes potential shimmer and move until it bursts out of potential into actuality.”
I ask Maya how she would like particularly to be of service to you now as you grieve for Shadow.
She hesitates, considering. “I am love, you are love, and Shadow is love, now and forever. Choose to recall and celebrate that love, and let it wash over you incessantly. Picture that love like your perfect stream, and let your body lie in it, aware of all the life and blessing in that flowing water. Take yourself to such a stream and act it out.”
Maya’s eloquent advice about the flowing water reminds me of something you may find useful. For thousands of years, Jews have immersed themselves in flowing water to purify themselves before and/or after significant natural and intentional events. At some point after the codification of this ritual, to ensure that people would have access to such a source of water, Jewish communities built pools of running water called a mikvah. I went to the one here for the first time after my mother died, accompanied by a dear friend, who happened to be a rabbi as well, who read prayers and affirmations she had designed for me. It was a beautiful experience.
Maya’s advice continues. “Take out your photo album and pick out the photos of Shadow that you most love, and make a display of them. Don’t think of it as a memorial shrine, but as a living monument to love, the love that you had for Shadow and which continues, and the love which flows through you as a blessing and meaningful sharing you extend to everyone in your life. Indulge in every way you can in the love and even in the attachment you had/have for our brother. Don’t hesitate to do this and don’t pay any attention to anyone who might scoff or tell you that you shouldn’t be living in the past. It’s the present, just as Shadow is present in your life and will be every time you think of him.
“Also, wear colorful clothing so your reflection will bring you joy and sparkle. Wear your silver and crystals. Sniff happy scents, use flowers and aromatherapy in the house. Take me out where both of us can roll in flowers. There is a book which will bring you comfort – a slim book of poems. Read it. You haven’t looked in it enough.”
I wondered if Maya was referring to my favorite volume of Rumi, whose poetry always lifts and inspires me. Sometimes the array of feelings, thoughts, words and images that flow through me during a communication session are so resonant with events in my own life that I realize the animal may be referring to me and my own processes.
“So, be joyful – which is more than being happy. Let the tears of missing that dear friend be part of your joy. I love you.” She embraces you, showing me herself in a human form, a medium-sized woman about 30 or so, with long, red-gold hair, wearing a blue topaz, gold bracelets, and floral garlands around her neck. She is scented with lavender. She has a lusty laugh and blue eyes. She has a companion being, a brown and gold tiger-striped tabby named Samantha, who smiles at me and rubs against your legs. Samantha has something to do with whales.
“The more expansive you can be in your inclusion of other beings in your conscious version of who you are, the more balanced and full of joy and light you will be. Don’t leave anyone out if it feels as if you might include them with joy. When you see someone or an animal on the street and it tickles you to gaze upon them and to consider the quality of their being, imagine that as you breathe in, you are incorporating the best that is in them as part of your make-up. In that way you will know more clearly how to sense the world and the worlds as real, present, and useful to you in your day to day life.”
I tell her that I want to be conscious of your financial restraints, and she says, “Then that’s all for now. Listen to sweet music. Dance to it, wearing flowing, light scarves or garments. I would like to eat more fish. Thank you.”