More than meets the eye.

I'm going to go in a new direction with today's post. Up til now, I've dealt mostly with scientists, research, and observations that show animals are thinking, feeling, loving beings. But there is more to life than hard physical evidence; so much that people generally don't talk about.

All of the following comes from a newsletter sent by Global Psychics, Inc. The first paragraph was not signed, but the "me" is Danielle at that organization.

For me, there has never been any question that animals have a soul, and like us will reincarnate. Which also means that we can communicate with them, in spirit, and that the bonds of love do indeed cross the dimensions of time and space, even with our pets.

Hi, do animals have spirits as we humans have? I mean when they die do the come back as spirits or angels or guides? Can they listen to what we are tryinng to tell them or do they understand our emotions of pain? I want to know about my pet who crossed over, what shall I do? Plz help Ruhi

Most certainly animals have spirits – they are living beings just like us sweetheart.

Not only have I personally experienced the most undeniable return of a few of my own pets (as spirits), there have been countless reports of numerous people experiencing much of the same. Animal spirits behave much like they did when they were alive. And most definitely they do feel our emotions and thoughts in spirit just as much as they did when they were alive.

One thing a lot of people say is that animals couldn’t possibly feel the way that humans do. But as an animal communicator and a life long horse trainer and worker, I have to really stress that animals DO feel emotions just like we do. It is ignorance of the human race to believe such a thing that animals cannot feel as we can or do not have spirits as we do. They are God’s creatures just as we are. Animals feel pain. They get depressed. They miss loved ones or play mates. They feel lonely or scared.

My husband and I rescued over 20 horses from slaughter. As we worked with them we could see the depression in their eyes. They would refuse to eat. Refuse to be amongst the herd (which is very uncharacteristic of horses seeing as they are in fact herd animals). I have also seen first hand how dogs and cats for example can sense when their owner is about to have an epileptic seizure – they will sit beside them or even lay on top of them until the seizure passes. Same as when their owner is sad or depressed; I don’t know how many times my female yellow lab Sheba has come to me, put her head on my lap and just sat there with me trying to comfort me.

Whether they are alive or have passed on, our pets always understand our emotions, thoughts, and pain. Realize too that most pets are indeed telepathic – they can not only feel the energy surrounding their owners, they can also “read your heart.”

Ruhi, you yourself can feel your beloved pet if you were to quiet yourself, be still, be peaceful, and just listen and pay attention. You may feel that brush up against your leg or a nudge on your hand by a cool wet nose. I do strongly believe our pets are always with us in spirit and heart just like our human loved ones that have likewise crossed over. If you wish to ask specific questions of your pet, and you cannot hear or feel the responses, you could also most certainly contact an animal communicator that works with spirits of animals as well as the living (some animal communicators only communicate with live pets, while others, as in my case, can and will do both).

I do hope that this has answered some of your questions and has helped you out a little bit. Please take care, and please try to rest easy knowing that your pet has in fact crossed over peacefully, and you should NOT harbor any guilt any more.

Much love and brightest of blessings always, Lisa Caza

On Behalf of All Pets

I've heard a couple of tragic pet stories lately, and they were too close to home for me to not feel the heartbreak. I don't think it would do any good to repeat those stories here, but they made me want to repeat something that has circulated a bit around the internet. This piece has gotten a bit mangled at times; the most common change is that instead of a writer credit, people say "author unknown". But it appears to have been written by "J.D.Ellis 2001, rottweilerdriver*aol.com", and yes, the email address is included at the author's request (although I couldn't stop myself from removing the @, hoping to stop at least a bit of spam).

Anyway, here is the important, thoughtful piece:

A Message from Max

My name is Max and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your ear.

I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have children to raise. It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See they way my dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now, that comes with age. The grey hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle.

You smile at me; I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine? Do you see a spirit, a soul inside who loves you as no other could in the world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time?

That is all I ask. To slow down if even for a few minutes to be with me. So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly,sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat. Sometimes we age so slowly before your eyes that you do not even seem to know, until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes. Still the love is always there, even when we take that long sleep, to run free in distant lands. I may not be here tomorrow; I may not be here next week. Someday you will shed the waters from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry at yourself that you did not have just "One more day" with me. Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me.

We have now, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the floor. And look deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart.

Come to me not as "alpha" or as a "trainer" or even a "Mom or Dad", come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another's eyes, and talk. I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general.

You decided to have me in your life (I hope) because you wanted a soul to share just such things with. Someone very different from you, and here I am. I am a dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls. I do not think of you as a "Dog on two feet"--I know what you are. You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Now, come sit with me, on the floor. Enter my world, and let time slow down if even for only 15 minutes. Look deep in my eyes, and whisper to my ears. Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self. We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so very short.

Birdsong

Traditional thought tells us that birds sing to define their territory and to attract a mate. But as I was lying awake this morning, listening to the pre-dawn "chorus" of birds, it didn't sound to me like it was all purposeful. So, I wondered if any animal scientists have had the nerve to come out and say that birds sing for the fun of it.

As I checked various sources, besides the many references to territory and mates, I found that parent birds teach their baby birds the songs they sing. And baby birds will "babble" before they learn to sing their songs. "The parallels between human and bird language are indeed striking," said psychology professor Bob McMurray of the University of Iowa. While some birds learn to sing in a matter of days, the Australian Lyrebird takes on average six years to learn the song.

It's been known for some time that birds' songs vary with geographic regions; the equivalent of dialects. In noisy environments, birds alter their songs to be heard above the noise.

Recent studies have discovered actual bird conversations, as multiple microphones allowed the researches to follow responses through a flock.

They've shown that Banded Wrens are listening and responding to one another, sending out purposeful and dynamic messages to multiple neighbors.

But are they having fun? I found one person who was willing to allow that they were.

Luis Baptista, former curator of ornithology at the California Academy of Science, said they do sing for fun. "Sometimes birds sing just because they're happy, they've had a good meal, they've nothing to worry about. This is an expression, if you will, of well-being."

"If you will"? Of course I will. Why not?