Animals and the Afterlife (11 page)

The session was recorded on audiotape, and no one was expecting what took place when the tape was later played back. On the recording, while Natalie kept trying to explain the message she was receiving about tires, a very distinctive “meow” could be heard on the tape. There were no cats in the house when the session took place, and the sound had
not
been heard during the session.

The session took place at the home of Mary Ellen Szwejkowski, where Natalie stayed while giving readings to clients in the area. Mary Ellen later confirmed, “They [Natalie’s clients] all had taped recordings of their readings. In one of the tape recordings, a client’s [Debbie’s] deceased cat made a distinctive ‘meow’ on the tape while it was being played back. It was loud and clear. There was no cat in the house during the taped readings. It was phenomenal. This gave much healing comfort to the client who missed her beloved cat.”

E
LECTRONIC
V
OICE
P
HENOMENON
, or EVP, is the official term used to describe cases in which spirits’ voices are captured by a recording device such as a tape recorder. These voices are not heard at the time of the recording but can be distinctly heard when the recording is then played back. During my lifelong exploration of the afterlife, I had come across many well-documented cases of EVP, in which human voices had apparently been captured from the Beyond. However, this was the first time I’d ever heard of such a case involving an animal.

Although Natalie had heard the voices of deceased
humans
on tape numerous times, this was also the first time
she
had heard the voice of a deceased animal on tape. As she put it, “The tape shows that not only do we live on, but our lovable, adorable pets do as well.”

When I first learned of this case, I expected to hear a subtle, muted sound that perhaps could be interpreted as a “meow” by those listening for it. However, when I actually
heard
the recording, I was quite surprised at the clarity of the “meow.” In fact, I was stunned to hear it as clear as day, and I was covered in goose bumps as I listened in amazement. It indeed sounded as if the cat were right there in the room with them.

In the recording, I did notice that the “meow” took place when Natalie was trying to impart the message about the tires. I got the impression that there was something important about the tires, so I asked Debbie about this.

“As far as the tires go,” Debbie explained, “at first it did not make sense. The reading was on April 22nd. On May 30th, I was in an accident and after the car was repaired, I told the shop the car shook for the past few months. I thought it might be shocks. It turned out that both my front tires were bald on the inside, and if they weren’t replaced they would have blown out! Bijoux knew what I didn’t.”

She added, “I have always thought of Bijoux as more human than catlike; so did everyone who knew him. Natalie told me his presence was stronger than most humans she receives! Once I had a psychic over and he saw the cat and called him ‘Psychic Kitty.’”

So, apparently, Bijoux was concerned about Debbie’s safety and had been warning her of the dangerous condition of her tires, once again demonstrating that our beloved animals continue to care about us and watch over us from the Other Side.

(For more information on psychic medium Natalie Smith- Blakeslee, visit
www.LoveAndLight.com
.)

O
VER THE YEARS
, I discovered that many people grieving the loss of a beloved animal had found great comfort in a message delivered by a medium. The following stories are just a few more examples of people who have received such messages of comfort from the Other Side….

Mr. Brow/Browby

Narelle Box, Contemporary Jeweler
Victoria, Australia

A
FTER RECENTLY HAVING TO SAY GOOD-BYE
to my feline soul mate of fifteen years (his name was Mr. Brow, but we usually called him Browby), I went to a spiritual healer (who is also a medium) in an attempt to ease my pain a little. The medium did not know that I had a cat who had died. When I rang to book the appointment, I spoke to her husband. He just gave me an appointment date, a time, and the address.

Then, when I arrived on the day of our appointment, she opened the door and the first thing she said to me as I walked through her front door was, “Oh, look, there’s a black cat at your feet.” Those were the first words she said to me and that was the first time we’d spoken. I looked down and saw nothing. Then when I looked back at her, puzzled, she added, “Your best friend that has recently moved on, your cat.” What can I say? I was speechless, but it’s great to know that they are still looking after us and keeping us company.

Ozu

Trisha Adelena Howell, Author and Publisher
Washington

I
WAS A GRADUATE STUDENT
at USC film school—taking classes and working a total of about 100 hours per week—when Ozu came into my life. One of my fellow students, Paley, arrived in class one day with a tattered little reddish golden Tibetan spaniel whom she’d found running down the side of the freeway. He was deathly thin, flea-bitten, and with lots of fur missing. As Paley remarked that she wouldn’t be able to keep him, I looked into his sad brown eyes and heard a voice say, “I’ll take him!” To my shock, I realized that the voice belonged to me!

I’d never had a dog before, but Ozu did everything possible to make it easy for me. (I named him after a Japanese film director whose trademark is shooting from low angles—a dog’s eye point of view.) He sat through five-hour film classes in my lap, never making a sound or stirring. He would watch the good films and fall asleep during the boring ones (and, usually, during the lectures). Most professors never figured out that he was even in the class. But he was quite popular with fellow students whom he warmly greeted during breaks outside as he romped among the small grassy hills.

The vet estimated that Ozu was only two, but he’d had a hard life. He’d been homeless on the streets for many weeks before Paley found him and still bore the belt marks of when he’d previously been beaten!

When I took Ozu to an animal communication seminar, the leader tuned in to him and informed me that he’d lived with a woman whose boyfriend beat him mercilessly, so he ran away from home. Ozu said that he’d never known what love is until I came into his life, and his only question was, would he be with me forever? My heart soared with love and joy, and I promised him he would be with me always.

No matter how busy I was, we walked every day. He was always so bright and happy. When I studied, he sat at my feet. When I slept, he was in his little bed by the side of mine. When I showered, he waited for me on the bath mat.

Ozu and I had a very happy life together. I could never before have even imagined the intense joy a ten-pound creature could bring.

O
ZU HAS BEEN GONE
for ten years now, and I’ve never stopped missing him. Yet my grief has turned into joy as the result of several amazing incidents.

Over the years I have had a few psychic readings. Even though I haven’t mentioned Ozu to them, psychics have remarked that they see a small dog who loves me very much in my energy field. So he is still with me! Sometimes I have vivid dreams about him in which we cuddle and play together happily.

Four years ago I met a remarkable woman. She radiates a profound calmness, clarity, and joy and is quite a powerful psychic. One day, out of the blue, she started talking about a small, deceased dog I love who had a message for me. The message is that he loves me and will always be with me. He doesn’t want me to grieve any longer but to remember all the good times we had together. He knows I love him and did everything possible for him. And someday we will be together again.

I think this message of hope is true for all beings who have deeply loved one another. Neither time nor death can separate us. Our loved one’s energy is always nearby, and we will be reunited in some other dimension of life.

Kim’s note:
Although Trisha doesn’t refer to the psychic as a medium, she is clearly acting as a medium in delivering this message from Ozu. Those delivering such messages don’t always call themselves mediums, but in these cases, they are indeed acting as mediums, regardless of title.

Geisha

Trés Hanley, Actress/Opera Singer
New Jersey

G
EISHA DIED UNEXPECTEDLY
. She was at the vet for the removal of a large noncancerous tumor that was interfering with her walking and running. We had been told that the tumor was nothing to worry about, but that if it interfered with her agility we might want to remove it. It had grown, so we decided it would be best to get rid of it, as she loved to run and it was starting to bother her.

She went, happy and healthy (so we thought), to the vet. A few hours later, we got the dreadful call. It was cancer and had spread. The vet asked if we preferred not to wake her up, as she would otherwise face another surgery (which would involve amputating her leg) and then chemotherapy, with an outlook of about six months.

She had never been sick a day of her life, and now this. We couldn’t decide what to do, as we were in shock. While we were going over the decision we just couldn’t make, she suffered cardiac arrest and the vet was unable to revive her. It was like she knew we couldn’t decide, so she did it for us.

Geisha had just turned eleven. She was the youngest of my canine brood of four, and she was just as frisky at eleven as she was at one. We’d had her since she was five weeks old. Right from the start, she was the comic of the family. She was always the baby and the one with the “personality” and mischief that made her the focal presence in the house. Every time my parents made their bimonthly trip to Atlantic City and came home very late, she would take my father’s shoes out of his closet and carry them into the bedroom, along with emptying his trash bin in the wardrobe….

This has continued since she’s been gone. We have no explanation for it. It can’t be the other dogs doing it, as they are now in my brother’s apartment downstairs on the nights that my parents make the trip to Atlantic City. There is no explanation. The only reason we have all been able to get through the loss of Geisha is that it seems she
still may be with us
. We still grieve, but there is a bit of comfort in these incidents.

Because of these strange occurrences, I decided to go to a medium. I have always been a “Doubting Thomas,” so to speak, about near-death experiences, the afterlife, etc., but I am starting to think maybe
there is
something to it all. So, I went to a spiritualist society to “sift through” mediums. They have “group readings” once a day but limit the audience to about twenty people and have different mediums every day. It is a way for those who don’t have lots of money to see if they get lucky that day, as no one in the audience is guaranteed to be chosen for a random reading. I decided to go a couple times a week to see who may
not
be a fake and then book a private reading.

I spoke to
no one
and knew no one there, so there was no way anyone knew anything about me. I was the third person chosen by the medium, and she said a few things that were correct. They were intriguing comments but could have been lucky guesses. Then she said, “I want you to know that dogs and other animals go to the Other Side. I tell you this because you love dogs and there is a very large one standing behind you with her paws on your shoulders right now. You have been talking to her picture every day and weeping. She said she had her own chair in your house, and not to cry; she is with you.”

Well, that was it. I broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. The medium went on to read three-fourths of the room, and I was the only one with a
dog
to come through, but then again, I have lost no one that I was close to other than her.

So, I am wondering, what
is
going on? Something must be. There were some other strange things that happened in the house after she died. Things that only
she
would do. Also, regarding the comment about the chair, I realize that perhaps most dogs have a chair they favor, but not most
big
dogs, usually smaller ones. And it was interesting that she noted that she was a large dog.

I still hurt and grieve, but I continue to talk to Geisha in case she can hear me.

Kim’s note:
An interesting element to this case is the fact that there were already significant signs of Geisha’s presence before Trés even went to the medium. Such cases are not uncommon, and the phenomenon of mysteriously moving objects will be covered further in a later chapter.