Pet Psychic / Animal Communicator/Animal Welfare Activist

Human Spirit?

2010-08-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

A friend was telling me how great he thinks the human spirit is in reference to
the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

It's amazing how amazed people are when they see how people, after suffering
horrific trauma, eventually feel reborn - empowered - with the help of millions
of their own species supporting and nourishing them emotionally, physically,
and psychologically.

Omnipresent Beauty is a force of nature, and must naturally surface from the
depths of despair on the backs of those humans forced to dive deep enough to
find it, whether or not human aid is available to them.

Human animals are the only species who, in time, discover this pervading source
of enrichment because humans are the only species who somewhere along life's
timeline, were dumb enough to lose our connection to it in favor of our highly
self-esteemed egos.

All one need do is take our self-centered eyes off our own species for a moment
to praise, instead, for example, the baby elephant orphan who naturally accesses
within himself the strength to persevere through the aftershock of witnessing his
mom and whole family brutally slashed and slaughtered right before his eyes; right
before he is snatched up from his magnificent wild home, snuffed into a steel cage,
isolated in the deafening noise of a rumbling jet plane for endless hours,
and finally crammed into a zoo or circus prison - forever cutoff from any hope
of recovering his natural life...rendered on the sacrificial alter of the 'human spirit'
balking at him for the rest of his dwarfed existence.

Keep pumping ourselves up about how great we humans are, but the fact is,
we lost heart as a species eons ago the moment we scrunched our animal spirit
inside the heinous human treatment of our Mother Earth and Her entire glorious
family.

PBS' flickering "Human Spark"

2010-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Narrator Alan Alda, makes a feeble attempt to make us feel good about defiling
the world in the recent PSB video, "The Human Spark" that shows us we have
two brain functions--insight and imagination--that separate us from
(other)animals.Wrong. I know many non-human animals with insight and
imagination capabilities equal to, if not superior to ours.

The PBS video is an insult to our innate animal intelligence. It's a 'there, there'
pat of reassurance on the human back that yes, we massacred the world, but
what the hell, feel proud, we can still bask in self-delusion by continuing to
'prove' we are the best creatures on earth.

Natural versus 'normal' connection

2010-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

David Schwartz of WPKN in Connecticut interviewed me on the radio last
night regarding my new book, Like an Animal When Being Human is not
Enough.

In the book I mention that at age four, I turned my attention from
a "normal life" to relate more to animals. The radio host interpreted this
as a very painful turning point for me. Not at all. I simply realized that
humans, in our ego-protective pretenses and lies, seldom act like the noble
animals we are cut out to be. And so I decided at an early age to choose the
company of species more open, more honest, hence, more relatable to any
child who by nature is open and honest as the animal s/he is born to be.

If you are reading this blog, I don't have to tell you that we suffer most
when we lose a dearly beloved 'pet' - than when we lose a parent or sibling
or friend or lover - simply because our connections with pets go so much
deeper due to the fact there are no cover-ups between us. Only a pure,
unadulterated, full-bodied heart-to-heart, mind-to-mind, awareness.

Sugar Junkies, Beware...

2009-08-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Your dog may not be psychologically addicted to sugar the way some
of us are, but that doesn't mean that dog treats laced with sugar -
including honey, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup - won't
compromise your dog's health in the short, and long run.

Unfortunately, most dog treats out there including the organic
healthier ones, have sugar added. Read the labels.

Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity are just a few of the
diseases that we are already seeing as a more common condition
in pets thanks to pet food companies who know how to feed into
our own bad habits...at the expense our pets.

Among the Bird-Brained, Size does not Matter.

2009-05-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

I look out my window. In the distance two birds on a wire. I assume
they are mates. One presumably the female is smaller than the other
who sits within an inch by her side to her right.

Suddenly, a larger bird comes in for an abrupt landing about two feet from
where the love birds sit. The female, startled, moves closer to her male
partner who moves about three inches farther down the wire from the
menacing bird. The female scurries in closer to him for protection.

The big bird to her left slowly inches his way to his easy target.

She turns her head to her mate and mutters something. He does nothing. She
turns, looks at the big bird before turning back to her mate to make another
plea. Nothing.

She gives up, leaves her mate behind and flies to safer ground on a wire a few
yards away.

She waits for her lover to follow. He does not. Is he passive, passive/aggressive,
not intimidated, stupid?

She flies back to sit to his left again. This time, knowing or merely assuming
that her mate is weaker than she, she defies all fear, bravely turns and faces the
big, bad bird twice her size. She eases her way closer to the big guy who by some
miracle, senses her fearlessness, and makes a beeline out of sight to safety.

Great idea, Wayne Pacelle

2009-05-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

How perfect to back Michael Vick on his campaign to talk to youth about
the criminal lose/lose situation of dog fighting. Imagine if other convicted
criminals--rapists, murderers, factory farmers, Wall Streeters, etc.--
were, as a community service, ordered to inform wannabe criminals about
the rewards of redirecting their career choices...if only in a dream.

Thousands Might Die because of BO

2009-04-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama, there are thousands of pure bred hypoallergenic dogs
in shelters across this country that you rule.

Thanks to you, millions of Americans who never even heard of a
Portuguese Water Dog will now be inspired to create a huge market
for them to be born into thanks to your acceptance of Ted Kennedy's
pampered "rescue dog".

Remember the movie, 101 Dalmatians? Audiences around the country
ran out of the theaters to fill their shopping carts with Dalmatians.

Remember, a few months later, most of those Dalmatians were then
sent to death row in shelters around the country? You know very
well that a majority of Americans tire of their new toys as quickly
as they break their word as a matter of convenience.

Regarding the welfare of animals, you are as without heart as
Sarah Palin.

And you know what statistics say about people who abuse animals.
(Your flip remark about the new White House pup being a "rescue dog"
was patronizing to voters, and it was extremely insensitive to the pain
and suffering of non-human animals .)
Not too strong a comparison for me to make about you when one
considers the consequences of your decision, a careless choice
apparently derived solely from your frontal cortex.

Mitigating Dachshund was Too Embarrassed to Shout

2009-03-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

Had to set things straight with Sweetgrass this morning.

She finally agreed that from now on when she needs to make a 'lump sum deposit'
that, instead of hinting with a soft hardly audible growl from the other room for
me to hurry and lift her off the bed in time, she will, from this day forward, insure
getting my fast attention by using the same piercing yelp she has a habit of
employing whenever she insists on an extra treat.

Of course she did rebuttal at first by telling me that a loud bark would contract
her muscles thereby speeding up the 'deposit process' before help was on its way.

Ask Any Barking Dog

2009-03-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Like any animal, humans have an innate capacity for empathy: the ability to feel
in our bodies what someone else is feeling in his/her own body, i.e., 'silent'
suppressed emotions.

Sometimes, when I cannot manage my sudden rage by expressing it through
non-violent communication, I shout it out instead much to the chagrin of
whomever is within earshot; the good news is, the discomfort lasts for a very
short time for both me and my 'victim(s)'.

As unacceptably hot-blooded this method might seem to you, isn't yelling kinder
and more honest as a last resort? Isn't it healthier for everyone than the
'civilized' way of suppressing rage in our bodies for an agonizing length of
time? Keeping rage out of earshot is sure to wilt the well-being of those around us
as well as fester disease in those who would never allow themselves to 'look bad'
by expressing it.

Next time your dog barks at 'nothing', ask if s/he's venting something that needs
to be released in you.

Recycling Pain...

2009-03-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up far from a teardrop of joy in my eye.
I felt anchored to the bottom of the sea with lead in my heart.
If I ever feel depressed, I have no other choice but to breathe
deep within to find the cause of my misery.

Usually, it's caused by my thoughts about 'poor me'. But often
'my' depression has to do with someone in my life who is feeling
bad from his or her own creation of self-pity. I usually call
whomever I suspect for a reality check and get a yes, s/he was
down about this or that.

But this morning when I checked in to see why I was feeling so
awful, I saw in my mind's eye a pig factory farm. As my heart
zoomed in closer to get a better feel, I saw the misery of these
poor, intelligent empaths condemned to suffer a horrid life in our
self-made Dante-esque Infernos.

If my little dachshund 'empath' feels and then reflects back to me
my pain and my joy, perhaps I could recycle the pain that I feel
emanating from the pigs - including the pain I feel 'for' them - into joy.
Would these empaths then feel the joy?

Would you?

Absolutely.

A World No Longer Run by Half-Wits

2009-03-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Some of us connect more easily with animals, nature and each
other because we have opted to allow our intelligence to thrive
naturally in circular all inclusive whole-brain patterns of thought
free beyond the limitations of exclusive linear logic used by men
and women thinking solely from the considered masculine half of
their psyche.

If Humanity is ever to embrace our inherent Wholeness, we
would need to begin by holding dear to us our connection to the
rest of 'Creation' by finally catching up to them in Evolution.

Our pets can show us how.

The Kitty Who Was Clear About Pain.

2009-03-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

A beautiful and charming kitty wanted to see frowns of concern on her humans'
faces, instead of their constant adoring smiles of affection regarding her. So, she
began biting the base of her tail making it bald and inflamed.

When I asked her why she would want to cause her humans pain, her answer was:
"Joy is all they ever show me. I want to feel other forms of love, worry being one
of them. I want to see what pain is like for me and for them where I am concerned.
After all, pain is part of Life. Humans love pain because I see them creating it a lot
in their lives, yet, they say pain is bad; probably why it hurts them.
They make it their favorite teacher yet they dread it."

So, you want to be a human?

"No. I want to be more than the status quo cat with limited emotional experience.
I want to be forever evolving. I want to bask in the full emotional spectrum of
being alive. "

Oh, so you want to be a dog.

"Oh no, I would never want to plummet that far low into emotional depth."

The Horse Who Wouldn't Buck Love Off Her Back.

2009-02-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, a client called me about her horse's aloof behavior.
When I tuned into the horse, I got that she wanted to be alone
and didn't like exercise because it was her nature was to be
lazy and withdrawn.

It's not unusual to figure animals out with neat little reasons why
s/he is the way s/he is; easier not to go deep beneath the surface
of what is obvious in a brief glance.

But - in going deeper with the horse, we felt her lonely heart, a
heart diminished by a lack of recognition of her true essence by
her human guardians, past and present.

She bucked whenever anyone tried to mount her not because
she was lazy but because she felt she was being treated as a
mere riding object to be used. Her guardian who actually cares
very much about this horse's well-being - hence our phone
session - was not aware of this.

When her guardian and I energetically connected our hearts with
hers, this horse's heart opened wide, and all three of us - the
horse in her pasture, my client on her sofa holding the phone, and
me on the phone miles away - basked for ten full minutes in the
energy of absolute Beauty emanating from this horse's heart.

This morning, I got an email from my client saying that when she
went out to the barn this morning, her horse, instead of keeping her
usual distance, walked up to her guardian with a first time look of love
in her eye, and a soft willingness to - for the first time as well - allow
her guardian to wrap her arms around her neck and hug her.

RECOGNITION of our inner Beauty. Isn't that what any
animal, human or non-human, needs to feel fully alive?

Although this post is for the weak at heart, it might be too gritty for the weak at heart to read.

2009-02-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

Rod Lurie says in his online Huffingtonpost article that the film, The Reader,
is a denial of the accountability and memorability of the Nazi's industrialized
slaughter of Jews during the Holocaust; as if there is only one holocaust we
should be concerned about.

Which brings to my mind and heart Abe Lincoln's beautiful concern for
humanity and all living creatures when he said:
"Man cannot be wholly human until he has mercy for all creatures".

The expeditious slaughter of Jews in a most brutal manner was given to the
Nazis by Henry Ford who based his own assembly line on the already existing
industrialized American method of slaughtering 'food' animals (animals as innocent,
intelligent, and sensitive as a human baby).

Human genocide has little chance of ending without our hearts first becoming
strong enough to overpower our heartless denial that permits the daily gruesome
genocide of billions of our earthly relatives treated each day like Jews in the
Nazi Holocaust, like Tutsis in the Rwandan Genocide, like all who have been and
continue to be brutally denied.

Horrific deeds attract horror to us. Acts of compassion attract compassion.
And so on and, so on....
How golden that the Golden Rule is finally in this century in our faces to the
extent that if we continue to not act on it, we shall all perish.

May our exquisite planet in making all of our lives on her possible, be our
Valentine today for us to love and cherish her children forever.

A Far Fetched Thought from Way-Out-There

2009-02-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

Orthodox Hindu Jains practice kindness toward all living beings by wearing
surgical masks to keep their breath from killing microbes in the air; this practice
is based on the belief and probable reality that consciousness exists in all life forms.

My little dog is still recovering from a recurring staph infection from a pit bull
attack last March. I partially hold myself responsible for that attack since I was
carrying repressed unresolved rage in my body at that time which might have
attracted the pit bull to us as we nonchalantly crossed the street, Sweetgrass on
leash.

Slowly getting around to my far-fetched thought: After eight days of being on
Zeniquin - an antibiotic that viciously attacks staph bacteria - the staph rash
on Sweetgrass' skin is clearing up but, a few new outbreaks are occurring and so
I wonder. Do you think that the bacteria are like humans who jump to their death
from burning buildings in that some of the bacteria flee the attack of the Zenequin
antibodies by making a fast escape through little Sweetgrass' skin only to die a
slow death a few days later?
(My vet said he doesn't know the reason.)

When I ask Sweetgrass, her answer like all of her others is, down-to-earth:
"You think too much."

Dying to Live

2009-01-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

A client wondered if Dobie, her pet, was sick and wanted to die because for
weeks he seemed fatigued and depressed. In a session, Dobie told her that
yes, he was sick and tired and that he was dying because death was becoming
a more lively prospect to him than having to continue surviving the depression
of his other guardian.

After listening to Dobie rant, my client then told her husband who dearly loved
Dobie, what Dobie had told her: that he needs to snap out of his negative self-talk,
lighten up, and find joy in living if he wants Dobie to live.

Happily for all involved, he did.

Animals: Masters of the Art of Letting Go

2009-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

In response to my January 3rd blog, a reader emailed me to ask if the blood
disease in the cat was treatable. I emailed her back to say that since my posting,
the cat had new test results showing that the disease was losing power.

Through vet-medication, plus a discussion with the cat where she was allowed to
vent her frustration regarding her guardian as well as express her love for her,
and the fact that her guardian followed through with the cat's wishes, a miracle
happened. The cat, satisfied in having been heard, was able to then move on
toward a quick and complete recovery.

What can we learn from this particular cat including other animals? Express our
feelings, get unpleasantness off our chests and out of our bodies, and - use our
inborn natural ability to let go of our negative mindsets that cause 'dis-ease',
and - move on.

Even vets will agree that non-human animals heal much faster than we do
probably because other animals are masters of the art we only as a species are
beginning to practice.

Which Came First...

2009-01-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Yet more proof that stress in our bodies is usually reflected in the
bodies of our beloved pets as well, and, apparently vice versa.

Zorro, a Malamute, was limping on his right leg. During a healing session
by phone, I got that the limp was due to stress lodged in between his
shoulder blades and was radiating pain up into his neck.

His guardian told me she was sore in the same place in her body as
Zorro was in his.

After fifteen minutes of long-distance energy work on Zorro, not only
did he show signs of feeling better, but, my client said the crick in her neck
neck and between her shoulder blades disappeared.

Windows to Your Soul

2009-01-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

A client/friend of mine just told me that her animal was vet-tested
and found to have the same rare blood disease as she has.
Interesting.

But, not at all surprising when you think about it.

Don't Be So 'Eerie-ous'

2008-11-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

"You love how I lighten you up with my silliness but, did you
ever think that it takes a very wise being to know that the
innocence of joy is all there is?"

- One Wise, Silly Cat

A victory for the animals as well as our country!

2008-11-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Love, love everywhere, and finally a drop to spare! Doesn't it feel wonderful
to know that not only is the horror done against Blacks in this country coming
into balance as a result of the November 4th, 2008 elections, but, that
Americans have also voted to confront the next slavery issue on our history
list: the imprisonment and torture of farm animals.

The enactment of Proposition 2 means that a sow who before slaughter,
is forced to remain and breed for three years inside of a tiny crate, will
now have grand-children also sentenced to three years in a crate, but -
thanks to you, their grand kids will by the new enforced law, actually
have enough room to stand up and turn around.

Abe Lincoln said that one cannot be wholly human without having mercy
for all creatures. There is hope for us, yet.

A 'Born-Again' Kitty

2008-10-03T08:54:00.001-07:00

During a phone session last night, my client's very recently deceased kitty said
that he would come back to her as a kitten who would look like a Siamese-Tabbie
mix.

When my client asked how she would be able to know it was him, he said that
her desire for the kitten to be him would pull his spirit into the one she would
irresistibly be drawn to.

Reality happens when fueled by the passion of desire and belief.

Regret About Lacking Compassion for Two Animals.

2008-10-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin, John McCain. How frightened they are, more so than most of
us non-human animals.

Fear rages rampant in their ignorance, in their frozen expressions, in their
brazen arrogance, in their desperate duplicity; all shouts for approval that
before now, fell on my deaf heart.

But, as much as these two warrant a larger stretch of compassion from us,
we cannot fall prey to letting them lure us into the final demise of all that
is pristine and beautiful about our Mother Earth - anymore than we can
allow suicide bombers free rein because they murder for the love of god.

Like-Hearted Animals

2008-10-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

A horse’s heart –any mammal’s heart - resonates in energetic frequency with the human heart. I know not just because scientific research has proven this, but from my own experience with animals two of which were horses.

Several years ago, a horse-breeder client asked me to give a Reiki-Polarity treatment to her miniature horse who suffered from chronic shoulder pain. My treatment was something similar to laying on of hands combined with acupuncture without needles.

I went over to the stables where my client escorted me to a stall with little Sarah standing quietly with her head drooping. I bent down next to her, and ever so lightly touched her chest with one hand while touching my heart with the other. I felt energetically a heart-to-heart connection was instantly established.

That humble little horse was the most powerful container of compassion I have ever encountered in humans, or any other animal to this day. My lungs where too small to breathe in the power of love in little Sarah’s heart. Who would ever have guessed her strength by just looking at her?

Another client asked me to do a long-distance healing by phone for her gelding who was depressed and walked with a limp. Within ten minutes of the phone session, both my client and I on the phone felt her horse who was miles away in his stable, breathe a sigh of relief. We felt his sigh in our own bodies.

The next day, my client told me her horse was strutting around the corral with his head held high and shaking his mane like he was the hottest thing since the birth of the sun. What an inspiration he is for people like me who have wasted so much precious time feeling bad when there is so much joy around to feel; so much to explore in one heart-beat.

Wayne Pacelle, CEO of Humane Society of the United States

2008-10-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow in front of the Santa Barbara Court House, Wayne Pacelle,
the man who truly walks the talk of compassion will be inspiring people
to vote YES on Proposition 2, our opportunity to actually do something
kind for the animals who end up on America's plate.

If we are the kind of people who would never leave our canines or cats
locked up in a crate for twenty-four hours each day of our pet's life
where s/he wouldn't even be able to stand up or turn around, why on
earth would we not extend this little crumb of kindness to animals we
eat, some of whom are even more sensitive and intelligent than our own?

Please, vote YES on Proposition 2. We are lucky to have Wayne Pacelle
who has not only found a way to help the animals feel a little better, but,
us as well.

Caged-in

2008-09-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

A client called me for a phone session about her newly adopted canine friend
who spent the first few years of his life in a cage at a puppy mill, and was later
released to serve time in prison at a women's detention facility.

My client was concerned that there might be emotional scars lingering in
her pet's psyche.

Her dog gave us both a surprise: He said that living in a cage was all he
knew, and so he never felt that he was missing out on anything.

I wonder what we're missing.

She's not begging. She's hoping.

2008-09-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Her big brown eyes fix on the journey of the stainless steel silver spoon
scooping out a chunk of creamy iced chocolate Soy Dream from its container.
They 'drool' as the spoon travels back through space where it makes its drop
into the mouth of a long dark tunnel leading down to cool my stomach and
lighten my soul.
Her eyes then shift to eye my own eyes now reflecting revelry.

"Your dog is begging", says Rick observing her big brown eyes.

"No, she is not. She's hoping."

Amazing how we imprison our pets in a place of helpless dependency,
then insult them further by calling them beggars.

Pro-Death Sarah Palin

2008-09-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the photo of cold-hearted Governor Sarah Palin and her little
daughter squatting with knees rubbing against the back of an innocent
gunned-down bloody moose?
His body is prone, his head is raised and his mouth is open bellowing out his
pain and horror as his eyes recede into his head the moment before his death.

Imagine how excruciating and painful his cry would be for you if you were the
one squatting down next to him. But, obviously not for the oblivious Sarah whose
only concern was for the camera.

Pity that America is full of women who unlike Sarah are strong enough to be
humane yet, like Sarah, impeccably disguise their self-doubt so well that they fail
to embrace the fact that humane is what a truly liberated woman or any human is.

Tragic for the whole planet that our country is still over-populated with a
noisy majority of castrated men and women buying into the lie that a liberated
woman is one who has learned like a man to brutally ignore and even inflict
unnecessary pain and suffering onto others whenever they can get away with it.

The Dominion of Mathew Scully and Sarah Palin

2008-09-08T02:27:00.000-07:00

How sad that Mathew Scully, a vegan, animal advocate, and author of
Dominion, is now writing propaganda for Sarah Palin. He must appreciate
publicity and money much more than a clear conscience.

Anyone who believes he is doing it in hopes of influencing Palin to cease
hunting, put the polar bears back on the endangered list (she worked hard
to have them removed), and open her heart to end her practice of cruelty
to animals is naive beyond any possibility of a positive outcome.

To be so naive in this case is a form of denial that can only have a negative
impact on animal welfare, and on the environment.

Horse Power

2008-09-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Recently, I communicated with an aspiring endurance horse ‘who’ refused to endure his female human on his back. For privacy sake, let’s call him ‘George’ and her, ‘Susan’.

Aside from telling me that that his lower spine hurt and shot pain out to the top of his left haunch, George said that he did not want a wimp such as Susan on his back, period.

During the phone session with Susan, I sensed that she also had pain in her lower back and top of her left hip. I asked her if this was true. She said, yes.

I told her that George was a great gift for her in that he wanted only a confident human on his back. He had enough fear of his own. He did not want to take on hers as well.

Susan’s passion to ride George combined with his nasty attitude toward her, forced her to reckon with her feelings of insecurity, a possible psychosomatic cause of her lower back pain.

Neither horse nor human felt safe with the other in the case of George and Susan.

Usually, when a horse is as headstrong as George, our habit is to use various methods to subdue his self-expression. Fortunately for this particular horse, his human respected his opinions as being as important as her own.

George’s refusal to enable Susan in her fear by letting her ride was a powerful asset for her that could easily have been regarded as a major detriment had she not been interested in his total well-being, and her own.

After several chiropractic adjustments for George, and Susan’s new routine of deep-breathing through fear, and her commitment to positive self-talk, you can now see them riding together into the sunrise almost any cool California morning.

If it had not been for this particular horse’s power in affecting his human, Susan would not be riding in her own power now. They would both still be stuck at the stable frustrated with one another and their back aches.

Like all of our pets, horses have unique strengths that we are just now beginning to realize.

Horse power or any pet power when recognized and appreciated by us, not only enriches the lives of our pets, it can strengthen us in amazing ways.