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Permalink Reply by Capture on November 16, 2007 at 9:59am

Last night I went to a lecture by Nicloe George--she's an artist/animal rights activist. She talked about animal communication and, as she said "it sounds a little woo-hoo"--but it is real, and obviously very beneficial! I would love someone to communicate with my cats--I would love to know what they think :)

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Permalink Reply by Sue Hawks on November 16, 2007 at 3:07pm

It is a little "woo hoo" from current day's standards, but I am nearly half Cherokee on my dad's side and the Native American cultures always connected with the spirit of animals to ensure a good hunt, or to thank them for giving their lives. Even to ask for guidance. So it is based on our scientific upbringing that shuns the idea that animals can and do communicate to us every day, or that is even okay to try on our human level of communication. The first time I tried to communicate to my cat Bacchus, I took instruction from a book, Straight from the Horse's Mouth. She gives a meditation in that book, if I remember correctly, that leads the reader to getting into the feeling place of their pet. Like just imagining what it feels like to be that close to the ground, to stretch all four legs, to feel what it must feel like to be stroked by a large human hand. What temperature feels like in their skin. I think she goes through all the senses. For taste you might try to see what fresh cat grass is like in the mouth of a cat, and note the aroma of it being crushed between your long feline teeth. If you just imagine life from a kitty's perspective like that for a good long while, it really gets you into a more receptive state. When you really feel a strong connection, you can begin by sending images or emotional information to your little one. They really communicate in pictures, but over time we began to get a general sense that comes through with short one or two word answers.

It's been years since I read the book though I just found it on my bed stand, Ha! But when I tried the exercise the very first time, (it is worth doing whether you want to communicate or not), my kitty Bacchus sent me an image of a heart, like a valentines day heart! Then he crawled up in my lap, purring letting me pet him. I started crying because Bacchus, though a very affectionate cat, has never ever crawled up on my lap before then. He likes to keep his personal just space next to me, never on me. I can probably count how many times he has crawled on my lap on only two hands with fingers to spare and I've had him for almost 12 years now. We learned that he doesn't appreciate being picked up and had to respect that even though at times the urge to grab him and cuddle him is so strong. He appreciates that so much! I think I sought out and signed up for the class the very next day! It's pretty amazing. You should give it a try.

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Permalink Reply by Capture on November 17, 2007 at 8:20am

That is really amazing! I think I would like to try communiciating, however, I have a very exacting personality--while I'm totally open to this being an absolutly real thing, I just don't believe I carry the type of sensitivity needed to comune that intimently. Every once in a while we have comunacators come to a pet store--maybe I'll check out going to one, as long as it's not one of those big, evil pet store chains we all hate!

Thanks for the great discussion,

Capture

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Permalink Reply by Cassandra on January 1, 2008 at 2:35pm

I think it is possible that some people can communicate with animals. My mother seems to know how all her cats and dog are feeling and why they do the things they do. I don't have any of those skills even though I can get positive or negative vibes from people just by meeting them and being around them. I'll leave the communicating with animals thing to the people who can do it. But while on the subject of strange talents, I do have another talent: whenever I get in an angry or really upset mood, it starts to rain heavily outside in the area I am in. Also, every rain dance I have made has worked. So I'm very open to people having special talents. I don't broadcast to the general public the rain related talents but if I'm close friends with someone or they are a family member, I'll usually tell them about it. Sue Hawks, I love the name you gave your cat. Did you know that Bacchus is the name of a pagan/wiccan god? It sounds like a cool name.

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Permalink Reply by Sue Hawks on January 6, 2008 at 12:42pm

Thanks! Bacchus was actually named after a spunky Boston Terrier I once knew who totally fit the name and personality and even looked like the pagan god. My Bacchus is really more laid back and mellow, than silly and jovial. I was much younger when I brought him home, and fresh out of my college days' career of working at a winery. So wine and merriment were a big part of my life back then. Since then I have learned to let my animals choose their own names. I also have Ickus, Scout and Bart. All 3 chosen by themselves (some through trickery but that's a whole different story altogether). Still Bacchus has assured me that if I had let him choose his own name, he would have chosen Bacchus. He's so regal and majestic, so a god's name is certainly fitting.

I love your rain talent! Are you familiar with the work of Gregg Braden? He often talks of a native american friend of his who he witnessed "pray rain" in a drought affected area, and soon after rain fell. You are a gift for sure! Can you make it rain in places where you are not?

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Permalink Reply by Cassandra on January 6, 2008 at 6:36pm

I am not familiar with Gregg Braden's work. Unfortunately, I have to be in the area for it to rain. My grandfather has the same talent. My mother says if she did a rain dance, it would snow. I told her not to do a rain dance here in florida because of my tropical plants. I don't know where the talent came from. So far we have no ancesters of native american ancestry or any other rain making culture even though one distant relative from my grandfather's side did have a different skin color (more of a light brown reddish tan color - it's difficult to describe in words) than the rest of the family and a different hair color (brown hair ). I was considering getting that blood genetic test when national geographic had the genome where people's family originated from study. I still might get such a test done for curiosity's sake.

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Permalink Reply by Sue Hawks on January 7, 2008 at 7:42am

Well if you are at all interested, you might enjoy Braden's book, The Isaiah Effect.
There's a guy named Michael Tsarion who (he's very radical but I like his views) believes there were at one time land bridges that connected all the earth's continents. And he says that the Druids actually interacted with and taught the Native Americans the spiritual practices that we attribute exclusively to them. He said that the Gaelic language is almost identical to Native American tongues. So who knows if it's genetics? Maybe it's all about lineage or perhaps simply a past life issue. Whatever it is you could really use your gift to serve communities in need. Pretty cool.

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Permalink Reply by Kiz on January 10, 2008 at 6:28pm

Great topic, Sue!

Personally, I would recommend one particular book for anyone who isn't convinced of its authenticity: "Communicating with Animals" by journalist-reporter Arthur Myers. ISBN: 0809231492. Myers was a sceptic who explored the phenomenon of animal-human telepathy by interviewing a multitude of different practitioners coming from varying backgrounds. It's a great read.

This topic is one that has interested me since childhood, (approx. age 7), when I first had a positive interaction with a kitten. I sent a thought-message to this particular kitten with whom I had formed a special bond, and she responded physically with actions that confirmed she had received and understood my intentions. It was truly magical and incredible, and back then I felt I possessed a secret that was known to me alone. As a child, my belief in my ability came much more easily to me, as it does I guess with most children. But as an adult, it has been much harder to break through the barriers that build up and re-learn the skills needed to attain some level of accuracy.

When we first connected to the internet in '97 animal communication was one of the first things I did a search on. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. I bought a mountain of books on the subject and eventually found two local women who worked together running "beginners workshops". After their workshop I remained in an online practice-group for two years, and have since had many more successful interactions.

I now believe anyone can learn the skills to do this. It seems that the biggest hurdle for most people is their attitude of superiority over other creatures. Once you realise they have a voice, you can no longer treat them as inferiors, and I think that scares a lot of people. Knowing that animals have thoughts, feelings and especially opinions obligates people to accept responsibility for their choices and morally requires them to change their lifestyle and habits.

Thanks, Sue, for being brave enough to "come out".

X

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Permalink Reply by Sue Hawks on January 10, 2008 at 7:36pm

Ha ha! Coming out indeed! I love that you knew when you were a child that you could talk to animals. When I was a kid I used to try to control the wind. I think it worked sometimes too. I've heard of people cloud busting but I get worried that I would be harming a cloud by trying to manipulate it. I don't know, maybe clouds are sentient beings too.

I actually think everything is sentient to some degree, at least everything natural anyway. I talk to stones or crystals and trees and flowers too, but not as often as I do with animals. I don't have children of my own but I think that we could probably communicate with babies this way. I have tried with a few I'm related to but I think most of the time there's a sense of disbelief. I get it from a lot of animals when I approach them for the first time. Often they look at me like they're in shock, and don't respond at all, or they'll give a short curt answer. It's funny but the disbelief can work both ways. Can't say I blame them for not trusting it's real.

I totally agree with you Kiz, anyone can do it. It really is about shedding the belief that humans are superior. I wonder if we taught animal communication in schools, how many people would grow up and continue eating meat.

If anyone's interested I have a post on my blog about my experiences in my class on animal communication. http://spiritualdeepdish.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/dr-doolittle-at-y...

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Permalink Reply by Kiz on January 15, 2008 at 2:54am

Thanks Sue. Your blog is great. The experiences you share about your class remind me of what went on at the workshop I attended. Most people were blown away by their results. It gives me hope for our world when I know that there are people like you out there who are actively healing the bonds between the species. It is an important job. Best of luck to you, and keep up the wonderful work.

X

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Permalink Reply by pradtf on January 30, 2008 at 9:25am

hi sue!

i'm curious to know what you think about animal communication with respect to language. when you talk to your animals i presume you do it in english, right? certain languages eg chinese are more 'musical' in nature than english. others like bengali are more onomateopoeic - for instance, in english we say wind, while in bengali the word is hhhawa.

(in fact, it seems that the great canadian writer northrope frye once commented about canadian english, that it had all the eloquence of the honk of a canada goose ... which i do think was being rather unkind to those birds)

do you think that language makes it easier or harder to talk to animals? or is it possible that the communication is telepathic to the extent that it may not matter?

in friendship,
prad

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Permalink Reply by Sue Hawks on January 30, 2008 at 12:06pm

HI Prad!

Well I can't say for sure how it works as far as language is concerned. I kind of think perhaps the ego jumps in and likes to make us think that we need to complicate matters with a complex system of communication. I mean communication barriers certainly keep us from connecting on deeper levels a lot of the time. I speak only English so I "hear" responses in English, but maybe it's more of a visceral understanding that undercuts language, and grammar and rules. One of my best friends is bi-lingual. English is her second language. So often when she comes over and greets my dog Bart, she talks to him in Spanish. It seems to me as if he gets everything she's saying. I should make her give him commands in Spanish or something next time to see how he responds. But she "can't hear" his response so that is a bit of a stumbling block. Most of my communication with him and other animals is very simplistic. Do you want this treat or that? Are you hungry? And my partner and I play a game - twisted as it may be - Did you poop when mommy last walked you? So in those instances I don't really think language is how it's truly coming to me, though that is how I interpret it.

Sooooooooo I guess in a long winded way, I don't really know, but I think language is most likely the human ego getting in the way. Think about babies and mothers and the way they just seem to know when something's wrong with the other. There's definitely more going on here than language exchange.

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