I was just sitting here reading through some of Dawn's interesting articles tonight (instead of getting ready for bed as I should be!) and found this gem. She makes some mighty fine points about "how" to do this in a less constructed way. It's a short article, but I find myself agreeing with her viewpoint - that there's no one, correct, best way to learn to communicate with animals, or anything else you might wish to commune with. This article was a real breath of fresh air!

For example, I took a 2nd course in ACing 2 summers ago and while I did have some good success within it, my own inner voice (and one of our class's Spirit Guides) told me then and has been telling me ever since, that for me, "I don't need all that structured, sometimes fear-based rigmarole type of methodology." It only makes me more nervous (fearful) and strains the natural process and flow for me. That's not how I ever did this with my own kids, and it doesn't work for me with anybody (or anything) else all that well, either. But I also wasn't sure exactly what to replace that structure with. Dawn's article has made this much clearer and I so appreciate her looser approach.

So for those of you who might like to delve into this for yourselves, here's a link to Dawn's article on How to Communicate with Animals, etc.: here.

I'm looking forward to 'playing' with an easier, natural way of doing this in future, without any definitive technique, constraints, 'protections' or restrictions. All I really need do is approach from my heart-centre and third chakra, as I always used to, and how I normally do with any non-human creature. Maybe the hardest trick will be learning how to TYPE the responses while I'm receiving them!

I've taken lots of courses on psychic development, mediumship and also animal communication.

Here is one tip that works very well for me:

Focus on your breathing.

Ask whatever question you want to ask and let your mind be empty. If you "try" you often don't get a clear message. It is by emptying your mind that the messages come through most clearly.

I have had amazing results with this.

Also, I don't type, but I write notes as the responses come.

Unfortunately, in the case of my own deceased animals, my emotions seem to block things sometimes. I have had some "messages" but I need to do this in a state of calm, which is pretty difficult right now.

Jan.

Thanks for the tips, Jan. I do usually start by 'breathing' through my heart (this also links your EKG patterns to your ECG patterns; brain to heart) & then actively open up my heart (if it hasn't already, naturally) and that seems to work pretty well. But the funny thing is, I often have gotten pure KNOWINGS with absolutely no effort whatsoever, and in the midst of regular activity. This used to happen regularly, especially with Sabin - he was a total Master at telepathic connection/teaching, when they were both here. I'd even KNOW, many times, in which direction he was going to next be zooming off during play, it was that easy with him. With Nissa, it was a sort of 'softer', gentler and less 'forceful' connection, if you know what I mean....words aren't adequate here.

And yes, I normally write, not type, but I'm just thinking that typing (however messy it turns out) might be faster than writing....but maybe not, cuz then you have to concentrate on where the keys are, too.

Like you and so many others, I, too, often find it extremely difficult to connect with my own kids if emotions are running high, and this was true even when they were physically here. That hasn't stopped THEM from sending signs of various types (from the other plane), but a more formal process?......often bogs things down from my end.

Do you know Georgina Cyr in BC? Or know of her? And where did you do your mediumship practice? A Spiritualist Church, perhaps?

Yes - the most vivid image I've had that I could describe as a "ghost", is when my mind was on daily things and as I walked around the side of the house near my office I saw Zita, then she very quickly disappeared. I wasn't thinking of her at all in that moment, and my mind was relatively blank or filled with mundane things...

What really disturbs me is how I could not have had any "knowings" when Ziggy initially got shot, and then about the vet, who didn't do the surgery necessary. This is where I look to "spirit" and ask why? Why didn't I get a feeling or a knowing? I thought she would be okay because I got her to the emergency vet within an hour from finding her wounded. She did have a chance but the vet messed up. I know there is no "answer" about why, but I think of the times I have been tuned in to my animals, like finding my husband's 16 yr old border collie in the pond because I just thought I should go out there, don't know why. I also had no "knowings" around Zita's disappearance. I did have one voice come through a dream about her being stuck somewhere and needing vet attention, but I knocked on every door and couldn't find her anywhere. I really don't know what happened to her but there are also cougars in the area, as well as this sick person who revels in shooting cats.

After Ziggy got shot, I felt pain in my own abdomen, and this never normally happens to me, but I had diarrhea for a couple of days - I had no idea her bowel had been severed, but my whole body was saying "bowel problem!" If only I could have interpreted this in a way that could have helped her. Also after the emergency surgery the vet said she had a good prognosis and I was scheduled for a 3 day trip to Seattle for my 5 yr old niece who has Lyme's disease. So I went, having no idea these were Ziggy's last days. Anyway, I don't know the why's of things. I have a hard time thinking that Ziggy volunteered herself to be shot for my learning - mostly because the person who shot her had a choice and she went through such unnecessary pain. She was such a sweet soul. I feel with all my heart she did not deserve this suffering. The outcome "could" have been different. Of course, I really don't know. I think our beliefs are our way of coping and surviving in this world.

Having said that, I do believe strongly that some outcomes are likely though. This is because I went to a medium over 3 yrs old and he brought through a lady who had died from a specific (not common) disease. He said there was a mother connection, and brought through a specific name as well. As it turns out, my husband's former wife had died of this disease and her daughter (my stepdaughter) had the name he specified. The mother connection was that she was my SD's mom, and I would be her stepmom. When I had the reading, I had not yet met my husband. I have also had precognitive dreams - one about the lady next door who I dreamed had died of a heart attack. She spoke to me about things she had regretted in her life. The next day her husband was outside and said she was in hospital having had a heart attack. She didn't die fortunately. I have had other similar dreams also.

So from these experiences I do believe there are some "likely" outcomes, but of course there is also choice. I guess the emotion of having lost Ziggy just makes it seem unfair, whether it was a life path thing or not. I so miss her and Zita both.



Yes I know Georgina. She held an animal communication class at my house in August just a couple of weeks before Ziggy died. Also yes, I go to a Spiritualist Church. I have been to Arthur Findlay College in Stansted England a couple of times studying mediumship and a bit of psychic art. We have brought over some of the mediums who teach there and have offered workshops with them. I take every opportunity I can, within my means, to learn about this. I do some readings myself although not very formally at this point. I loved going to Stansted - it was like being pulled away from my "regular" life and being able to focus just on the world of spirit. However, strangely, it was just within days of returning that my lovely Zita went missing and my surge of enthusiasm from that quickly dissipated.

I would like to be able to do psychic art and bring through animals for people. I'm not sure if that's possible but I would love to be able to do that.

Jan.

Finally getting a chance to get back to this thread to reply....

Wow.....so you got to 'see', in whatever way, Zita! That's SO beautiful and precious! I know there are a few other people here who've been able to catch glimpses, sometimes even quite long ones, of these other dimensions and their babies there, which I'm sure you've read about, too. So wonderful, and I remain so in yearning for the same! I KNOW it would help me go on, and yet still haven't been so blessed this particular way......nothing more than 'shadows' zooming past me out of the corner of my eye. *sigh* Not quite the same. And yet I know I've had at least SOME moments of being relatively "blank", or just open in the Now.....so I still don't get why NOT for me.

As to you not getting knowings when you really wanted and needed them.....of course I have no ready answer. The "why's" can drive you batty, and all I can ever fall back on with stuff like that is a generalization like "everything in its own time, at the best time for all concerned", which I know sounds lame, but I have come to trust that to a certain extent, regardless of my frustration and NOT LIKING IT ONE, LITTLE BIT.

I know it's such a struggle for most of us, even those of us more aligned with such spiritually (and metaphysically) based ways of connecting. In some ways, it's even more frustrating for us, as we try to decipher what's what, what to listen to and HOW to interpret what we hear, see, feel & sense, because we're AWARE of these connections, but aren't practiced enough (yet?) in what to DO with them, reliably.

So in your case, you can of course choose to be grateful (though likely in a very ambiguous way, as it would be for me!) for the fact that you did get that connection to Ziggy's pain, but still, Jan, I can just imagine how you must feel in the wake of that, not knowing what it meant at the time. I know I'd feel the same as I imagine you must and it would be very difficult to stop feelings of guilt in myself, as if I ought to have been 'smarter' or somehow more tuned-in to interpreting what it meant on a fuller level at the time. So I suppose all you can do now is remind yourself over and over and over again that, despite all your understandable regret over this, the fact is you simply DIDN'T know, at....that....time.....and you can't change the fact that you just didn't know, for whatever mysterious reasons.

I guess we have to also remember that while, yes, there's always the choice to change a path one is on, sometimes the 'triggers' we need to do so can be quite large and in-our-face before we actually will decide differently (for both humans and animals). That, plus not being aware of all we've forgotten about our own, bigger picture of our (current) life's passage, which naturally makes those "why's" wholly invisible to us. And while I do subscribe to the idea that as a whole, anyway, animals haven't lost as much of that connection to remembering who they are and where they came from, and sometimes even the why's of all that, everyone's still an 'individual' and may or may not be as aware as the next 'one' as events unfold. That still doesn't mean, though, that a greater purpose isn't being served. It just means it may be above our current level of understanding, or ability to 'see'. And it certainly doesn't shield us from the earthly pain that we experience if we're NOT more aware of all these things on quite a large level. Heck, even most human Masters still feel earthly pain, despite being much more aware of those larger perspectives and dimensions.

I'm reminded, too, of Dawn's various dogs (Barney, who helped her write her last book; Zak; Max), all of whom are aware of their connection to the All, but who also live (lived) their lives and even communicate very differently to Dawn. Barney, or as he puts it, Barney as dog (as compared to all that he REALLY is) was and still is her master teacher and is aware of and well-versed in many, many ways and why's of different levels or dimensions. Whereas Max...has spiritually chosen to approach his current lifetime here as epitomizing silliness, fun and love in a more earthly way.

Oh, of COURSE it seems totally "unfair"! If we don't already KNOW all we want to know about what it's all about, how could it not ? In the way we normally think of death on earth, how could it EVER feel acceptable, no matter what the why's are? And frankly, the idea of death is totally opposed to Life and what it's supposed to mean, so it could NEVER be "acceptable" to us as spirits! But on an earthly basis, as far as most of us are concerned, we're missing and longing, in very large part, for the physical expression of our loved one's essence here, and even if we're fortunate enough to be one of those whose communication with their beloved continues unabated after they're physically gone, & which may even provide us with many of the answers to those questions, that doesn't automatically take all the pain away, either. I think it's linked to the pain we feel about our forgetting of being part of Source and the love that's inherent in that connection to All That Is. In other words, if we could remember and therefore re-experience that whole connection anytime we wanted and in any way we chose, we WOULDN'T be apart from our loved ones anymore, even in this earthly dimension, so their physical death wouldn't affect us the same way. But, of course we're not (back) there yet, or only in bits and pieces yet, such as how you merged with Ziggy's physical pain. It's the WHOLE picture of our beingness that we still need and desire.

But wow.....you've taken part in one of Georgina's workshops?! And at your own house yet?! And gone to England for these interests, too?! Lucky YOU, that way.....except for the timing of that with Zita's loss, of course, and I can sure understand how that excitement would severely pall in light of that. However, you and I share a common interest and goal, then, as I'd LOVE to be able to do that for others who grieve, too. Still have some work to do towards that, though. My own grief, plus other learning a new healing methodology last year, have kept me from being able to settle more into ACing and Shamanism just yet. But soon....

So may I ask how you found Georgina's workshop, and her? Did you have much success during that? I've used her once (with another session being scheduled soon, hopefully), spoken to her once outside of that, and am considering taking some of her courses this year. I like the way they're constructed and the amount of content she covers versus many other ACers, who claim they'll address those other aspects, but then don't. Have you ever used her services for yourself? Ever been on her forum, either? Maybe she's just the person you need right now to help answer some of those questions. I also know she highly recommends one of her top students, who lives north of me, and who I would have used this next time, but for Nissa clearly saying to me, "Georgina.....I want you to use Georgina this time." And so I'm doing my girl's bidding, trusting she knows better from her higher dimension now....

Yes, it's hard to get a more peaceful perspective of "the whole" or the reasons for these situations that create pain, when the losses create such obvious holes. The lack of Ziggy's presence is as big, even bigger than her actual presence was. She was such a personality and sought out a lot of attention. My new office was just finished and the day before she got shot I had just brought in the big cat scratch house from the garage. She never even got to use it. Zeus won't go in the office because he seems to associate her dying to this spot. He comes in carefully sniffs a few things and runs away. But Zeus is more independent and not so interested in being an office partner, like Ziggy would have been.

Without the pain of my own personal loss I'm sure I could have a much broader, more open-minded view of "the whole", and even now it "should" be comforting. I guess in the end I am a result of my humanness - living in a physical world and experiencing the loss of one that I love so much. Today was a particularly bad day, I could not stop thinking about Ziggy all day. My wish is to actually visit the world of spirit and remember it to be able to understand more and share it with others. This disconnectedness to the world of spirit is unsettling. I was able to have peace about losing past pets who died of old age and disease but losing such young, lively animals so full of life has really jarred my reality.

I'll p.m. you about some of the workshop stuff and Georgina - I have been very lucky to be able to connect with many very good mediums and the AC work that Georgina does is very similar to what they teach. You would love Arthur Findlay College in England, but I do think there is a need for more mediums who bring through animals. Still communication with the spirit world can be vague and I got so many different stories about what happened to Zita - everything from she is still alive (I feel deeply she is in spirit), she got stuck somewhere, she was taken by a cougar, killed by a dog and the neighbour hid her body, she was shot, and that a neighbour found her and keeps her indoors. Well, in the end I just don't know but I think because she went missing at night the cougar theory is most likely. If she was shot, then an animal could have also taken her. I remember getting an impression of her with a wounded leg. There were a few other things I got, but I can't confirm any of it. I even called Sonya Fitzpatrick because she was supposed to be really good, but I don't think she tuned in to Zita that well although she described the area around our property quite well. I guess I will never know even if someone brings through really good evidence, not until I cross Rainbow Bridge myself and can ask her in person. Or as you say, perhaps a higher part of myself already knows and it is just this physical side that is left in the dark.

Jan.

No matter how I might sound right here, right now, I still can also feel like you do right now. Whatever helps us is only comforting AT THE TIME that it becomes so, if ever, and even then that can change from one day to the next, or even one minute to the next. I'm really only offering these thoughts towards some undetermined future date when they might be more useful for you, or if and when you might want to fall back on them.

Me, too. I know a man who was clinically dead for a good amount of time, but claims he actually argued to come back.....for the sake of his (human) kids. Disappointingly, he can't readily explain what it was like there, in great detail, and has also said he HAS forgotten quite a bit about how it was, despite not wishing to. He IS one peaceful guy, though, even though he came back an apparently improved 'model' BUT still retaining a normal share of human and often annoying personality quirks. But the good news for me was that the few things I asked him regarding loved ones in spirit (and yes, including animals - he knows they're where my heart is the MOST), were confirmed, and it seems my Higher Self already DID have the right ideas, ideas which I got NOT from books, or others, but from within.

Oh dear, that must have been, and still be, not only infinitely frustrating and disheartening, but really maybe only make things that much worse in the sense that it could easily 'make' you doubt even MORE things. I'm so very sorry about that, too! And also about Sonya not being as good as she's trumped up to be (not that I was that impressed by her as opposed to some other ACers). I also had one experience like that with another very famous ACer who's purportedly excellent, but who didn't seem to have connected with Nissa, but someone else. The difference being, to her credit, she apologized profusely and refunded my payment in full, both of which I truly appreciated. Now THAT was true professionalism and integrity! Now I go into any session with an ACer with the expectation that like any profession, they can't get everything right all the time, so even if I only get one or two nuggets that seem to ME to be bang-on, at least I have those to cling to. And if there are more than that, it's a bonus. I also try and take into account how THEIR interpretation of something might have their own individual stamp on it, but if anything about what they're saying echoes in some close way what I feel myself, already believe or have actually experienced with my kids, I think they've done a good enough job. I also have noticed that, with the planetary energy and frequency shifts that have been occurring in the last few years, some ACers also seem to be benefiting (as they should be) by this and seem to be getting better themselves, so I can only hope that keeps going up and up and up.

But I still know what you mean - only when I'm in that other plane myself, will I truly, truly know everything I want to know about my kidlets, their crossings, or whatever...unless I'm fortunate enough to have some full-blown inner experience HERE, that gives me the same knowingness/knowledge beforehand. And 'they' do all say, trust YOURSELF before anyone else. But when we're in the throes of grief, that can be one of the hardest things to do, or sort out.

And yes, when you're up to it, please do PM me about Georgina, etc.. I'd love to hear more about it.

I also know what you mean by "...there is a need for more mediums who bring through animals." I was quite chagrined to see the looks of surprise on a good number of the faces of mediums in one Spiritualist Church here, when I asked if any of them also connect with departed animals. To me, it's a no-brainer, but even in the mediumistic world, there are still too many who put animals in a slightly different (read "lower") caste, and I don't like it at ALL. That's just spiritual elitist garbage and has no place in true spirituality. Unfortunately, I've found that there are just as many spiritual egos around as there are everyday ones. Or, maybe most of them just don't seem to want to bother, even though it would help 'recruit' more members to their flocks again. Until then, I'm not so interested, as I don't really care as much about connecting to most dead humans. I'd even rather connect with the rocks, water, trees, or anything in nature, frankly.

Yes. I was thinking today how years and year ago I believed (before ever reading anything like it) that we are like cells all a part of a bigger organism and that God is part of us, and us a part of God. It still comes back to that it seems. Besides using common sense, I also believe in what "feels right" to me. I have never believed in being a blind follower of whatever the latest guru has to say, but does it feel right on a deeper level...? It is like with religion, there are many common beliefs in most world religions and it is what we understand and empathize in one another that connects us.



Yes, trusting yourself first, I totally agree. And I do hope I have one of those full-blown experiences. I'd love to hear from someone who has.... I want to do some more reading on this....



I've pm'ed you now - hope it goes through.



Yes, although connecting to dead humans can sometimes bring answers about our passed fur-friends. So far I guess I don't have enough humans "over there" to give me the info I need. And yes, there are egos in every belief system. Although some of the British mediums I've met have had excellent techniques and brought through verifiable evidence, some of them have also been some of the most judgemental people also. And some simply do not "get" the connection to animals. I guess it is our job to "educate". Big job.... but maybe it is possible to make a mark....?

take care

Jan.