Animals and the Afterlife (9 page)

Shortly thereafter, a fifth rat joined our family, so we now had our five-rat family, just like in the dream. They enjoyed their meals on the kitchen floor in five little bowls, just like in the dream. After June’s death, I had felt compelled to start a Rat Rescue in her memory, so it appeared that this was the beginning.

S
AMANTHA, THE NEWCOMER
, was a former college lab rat who had apparently been malnourished. She had narrowly escaped being frozen to death in a freezer (the standard way the lab rats were disposed of when the experiments were over), thanks to the sympathy of one of the students who took her home and called me, having been referred by a mutual friend.

Samantha was white with a small patch of black between dark eyes that made her look almost like a little bandit. She wasn’t like the other rats. She was a loner, and she had the most peculiar, almost other-worldly facial expression. Un-rodentlike mannerisms were uniquely hers. Although her new home was a veritable paradise for rats (friends have often said that when they die they want to come back as one of our rats), Samantha never quite learned to trust humans or to peacefully co-exist with the other rats in our home. She never was able to warm up to me or anyone else. She always seemed agitated and unhappy. Although the rats had plenty of room to run around in the house, it just wasn’t enough for her.

One day, Samantha ate a hole in the screen of one of our windows and disappeared. I had seen her climb up and down that particular screen many times, but it had never occurred to me that she was looking for a way out. Although she was able to access the screen via a sofa that backed up to it, I realized that, once she had jumped down to the ground outside, there was no way she could have gotten back up to return if she wanted to.

I was worried sick about this fragile creature who had already been through so much. I also felt tremendously guilty for not having prevented her escape. After a long search that spanned several days, Jameth and I eventually found her living in a small tunnel under some bushes in the yard. Then a week-long struggle ensued, as we tried to capture her and eventually did, only to have her escape again. It became quite clear that she didn’t want to return indoors.

Not knowing what else to do, I set up a huge outdoor hutch in the yard. The hutch was up on tall wooden legs, so I made a small ramp for Samantha to easily get up to it. I propped the door open a rat-width (to prevent predators from getting in) and put a warm bed with lots of nesting material inside, hoping to coax her to safety. I left meals in the hutch for her, and although I never caught her, each morning the food was gone.

Occasionally, Samantha trotted across the porch, almost as if to say “Hi,” but she always moved much too quickly to be caught. For the first time in her life, she seemed really content, and the bright white rat was often seen running happily through the yard. I wished I could dye her fur brown so she wouldn’t be such a moving target, and I worried about her constantly. I continued to leave meals out for her, and they continued to be eaten.

I worked with several professional animal communicators during the entire saga, and Samantha made it clear that she would much prefer to have a short, risky life outdoors than a safe life indoors. No one could convince her otherwise.

Shortly thereafter, she was attacked by a predator. I found her, still alive, and I held her as Jameth rushed us to the animal hospital. She died before anything could be done.

Extremely distraught, I called Gail De Sciose, one of the animal communicators who had spoken with June after her passing. At this point, I was getting used to the idea of telepathic communication with animals, whether dead or alive, and I needed some sort of comfort. I was filled not only with sorrow, but also with tremendous guilt.

Through Gail, Samantha communicated accurate details of her death, which Gail could not have known, and she expressed that she didn’t want to worry me anymore. She said she had loved her freedom outdoors, had no regrets, and in fact, wanted to come back as a small brown wild mouse, much better suited for a life outdoors. I found the idea vaguely comforting but continued to battle guilt and doubt.

S
EVERAL MONTHS LATER
, Jameth and I noticed something moving at the very screen Samantha had escaped through, the one she had so often climbed up and down. It was just one of many windows in the room, but the movement caught our eyes. The hole she had eaten in the screen was still there, but we had covered it up with a clear adhesive patch.

As we watched, a small brown wild mouse climbed that very screen, up to the top and then back down, just as Samantha used to do (except that the mouse was on the
outside
of the screen). The window was several feet off the ground. How could a mouse have gotten up there from the outside? I approached the window to get a better look, and to my surprise, the mouse didn’t run away. Instead, the tiny creature climbed right next to the patched-up hole and looked me in the eye. Our faces were within inches of each other, and I noticed the most peculiar, almost otherworldly facial expression. I knew I had seen that expression before.

“Samantha?” I asked in disbelief. The mouse just looked intently at me as if to say, “Yes, I’m okay. Look at me—I’m living the life I always wanted.” I recalled the session with Gail, the animal communicator, in which Samantha had mentioned coming back as a small brown wild mouse. Now this mouse and I just looked at each other for perhaps several minutes, as time stood still.

When I silently acknowledged that I indeed understood what was being communicated, the mouse then slowly, calmly, turned around and jumped down to the ground. I noticed the mouse’s un-rodentlike mannerisms, which were eerily similar to Samantha’s. Looking down at the surrounding shrubbery, I realized that the little creature must have worked extremely hard at getting up to that particular window, and I was unable to figure out how she could have done it. The mouse looked back up at me one last time and then disappeared into the bushes.

T
HAT WAS A TURNING POINT
in my life. I realized that the idea of an afterlife for animals was a topic that warranted real investigation. I wanted to know if others had had experiences similar to mine, and I wondered if the possibility of an afterlife could be as comforting for others as it was for me. What I would soon discover was that evidence of life after death for animals is all around us, and that many people have had experiences that are so profound, it’s just not possible to explain them away.

As I began the research that would eventually become this book, I thought back on how it had all begun. I recalled the precious moments of June’s life and the painful moments of her death. I now realized the magnitude of lessons I had learned from my little angel, both in her life and in her death. I realized that she had opened the door for the new little angels who now shared my life and continued to teach me, and she had opened the door for me to go on and assist others through their own losses.

As I sat at my desk and began writing this book, surrounded by rats, I looked around me, smiled, and sighed.

“Oh, June,” I said softly, “look at what you’ve started.”

-
C
HAPTER
5
-

Asking the Animals

Dear God,
Must I bark, or can you hear my thoughts?

—
FROM
P
ETS’
L
ETTERS TO GOD
BY
M
ARK
B
RICKLIN

M
Y NEW UNDERSTANDING OF ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
, and my conversations with my own beloved animals—both during and after their lives—had brought me tremendous comfort, and I felt confident that it could do the same for others. So when people contacted me for support upon the passing of a beloved animal, I began recommending professional animal communicators as valuable sources of support in handling the grief.

Early on, I discovered that most animal communicators were often sought to communicate with animals who had passed, and that this was just a normal part of their work. I also discovered that they had a wealth of knowledge and experience. So, in researching this book, I interviewed dozens of animal communicators and asked for their perspectives on the afterlife. They generously shared their stories and insights, and they spread the word of my project to their clients. For this, I am immensely grateful. Some of their stories are scattered throughout this book.

Although each of them approached this subject from their own unique perspective, and they came from widely varying religious backgrounds, I found remarkable similarities in what all of them had to say. None of them were merely sharing theories they had read or heard somewhere; they were sharing what they had discovered by communicating with the animals themselves. I found this refreshing in a world often filled with conflicting opinions and confusing conclusions. What they said was congruent, from one animal communicator to the next, and what they said made sense.

When I asked them how they received their information, I found that they all described one or more of the various forms of telepathy that I had experienced in my own life. I was grateful to have had personal experience with telepathy, so I understood firsthand much of what they were describing, and I simply wasn’t able to be skeptical in a realm where I otherwise probably would have been.

They all explained that animal communication is the same process, whether communicating with a live animal or one on the Other Side: It is telepathic communication with the soul or spirit of the animal, which lives on even after the physical body has died. Most of them received this telepathic communication in the form of pictures or images, often described as watching a video or film on an ethereal movie screen.

It was also very common for them to hear words, sentences, even paragraphs of information from the animals. They all corroborated my own theory that, with telepathy, our minds are able to translate the information received into words of our own spoken language. That is why animal communicators often give us messages in the form of very specific words and sentences, even though animals don’t actually speak our language. Likewise, when we speak to animals, they may not understand all of the words, but they understand the
meaning
behind the words. We receive in our own language, as do they. (It should be noted here that many animals actually have quite an impressive vocabulary of words that they
do
understand, and in some cases, that they can speak as well.) Some animal communicators also described hearing specific “voices” with specific animals, making it clear exactly which animal they were communicating with.

In addition to, or instead of, words or pictures, the communications were often described as spirit-to-spirit conversations, thought forms, or thoughts coming into the mind from outside rather than from within. Sometimes the communication was described as simply a sense of knowing. Many of the animal communicators were also able to receive feelings, either physical or emotional, such as pain or other sensations in specific areas of the body, which were then confirmed. Some felt these sensations in their own bodies, while others had a sense of feeling the animals’ bodies. Other forms of receiving included hearing specific sounds, touch, and sometimes even smell and taste (such as the smell or taste of specific foods or remedies that the animal had eaten prior to passing). Such forms of receiving are also relatively common when ordinary people are contacted from the spirit world, as will be covered in subsequent chapters.

I asked the animal communicators for experiences that convinced them—and their clients—of the validity of their work, and they most commonly cited verifiable details that were unknown to the communicator (and often to the other person) until the details were corroborated after the fact. The animals often described very specific things to let their people know that it was really them. There was no way the animal communicators could have known these details. I discovered that an animal will often describe what their human companions have been doing since the animal’s death, implying that our departed loved ones are still very present and aware of what is going on in our lives.

I also asked the animal communicators for their views of the death process, the soul’s journey, and what the Other Side is really like. Again, the answers were quite similar from one person to the next. I was told that when the animals died, they were greeted and assisted by the spirits of people, animals, and/or angelic beings. They were often accompanied by former animal friends and/or human friends; and when they described these individuals, the very specific, detailed physical descriptions were then confirmed as animals or people who had previously died (unbeknownst to the animal communicator), whom the animal in question had indeed known and loved in life.

A common theme I heard was that, upon passing into spirit, the animals became younger and healthier, as they had been when they were in the prime of life. Interestingly, the people with them were usually (though not always)
also
described as youthful, in good condition, and in the prime of life. Often the detailed descriptions they gave of these people were as they had looked
before
they had grown old and sick. Even though they were in spirit and were no longer actually in their physical bodies, they usually presented themselves in the form their loved ones recognized from when they were alive in the physical world.

The animals always described the Other Side as a very beautiful, wonderful place. They had a feeling of peace and tranquility, and they were very happy and felt very loved. They often described beautiful outdoor scenes, where they were playing and running free. If not outdoors, they seemed to be in whatever environment or situation would make that particular animal the most happy and comfortable. Basically, they were describing Heaven.

The animals on the Other Side often communicated that they felt no real separation from their loved ones on
this
side, and that they were still very much connected to their people here. They described the physical body as merely a temporary vehicle for the spirit. Often, they continued to hang around their former home quite a bit for some time after physical death, as they got used to living in spirit. No matter where they were or what they were doing on the Other Side, they still always had the ability to connect with those of us in the physical world.

These messages from the Other Side have been immensely comforting to many people who have lost a beloved animal. Although I admittedly was very skeptical at first and did put quite a few animal communicators to the test, I strongly encourage people to approach animal communication with an open-minded attitude. If you approach it with a lot of skepticism or sarcasm, this can often make the animal communicator nervous, thereby negatively affecting the accuracy and helpfulness of the session. It’s sort of like suddenly becoming unable to type or speak clearly when your boss is looking over your shoulder. We’re all human, and we can become nervous (and therefore, our effectiveness can be compromised) when we feel we are being scrutinized. So, for their sake and yours, please bear that in mind when first exploring telepathic animal communication for yourself.

I have done enough research and have had enough experience in this field to feel good about endorsing animal communication as a highly valuable tool, both when our animal companions are alive and after they have passed over into spirit. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean I endorse every animal communicator. Just as there are people with varying degrees of talent and skill in any other profession, the same holds true in this one. If you work with one animal communicator and aren’t happy with the results, and you feel you’ve truly given them a fair chance, I suggest trying other animal communicators until you find one you can feel good about working with.

Once a relationship is established with a particular animal communicator, many people find it helpful to stick with one primary animal communicator but to also keep other numbers on file in case the primary one isn’t available. That way, you don’t have to start from square one for every session, but you’re also never left with no one to turn to. Many animal communicators also offer workshops, and I highly encourage people to open up to the possibility that they, too, can learn to develop this valuable form of communication.

Another thing to bear in mind is that telepathic animal communication is just that: communication. As with any form of communication, sometimes intent can be unclear or misunderstood. So, just because it’s telepathic, that doesn’t mean it’s flawless. Often meanings aren’t understood at first, and the true value of a session isn’t fully understood until after the fact. If you feel an animal communicator is downright wrong about something, let them know. It’s possible that something has been misinterpreted along the way. It’s important not to dismiss telepathic communication as a whole simply because of a specific miscommunication. If we did that with verbal communication, I think we all would have given up speaking a long time ago!

If an animal communicator isn’t included in this book, it doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t endorse their work. I simply wasn’t able to get in touch with all of them or to include all of the wonderful stories of those I did get in touch with. If I had, I’d still be writing, and this book wouldn’t be in your hands now. The animal communicators represented here are just some of the many professionals who can assist in communicating with animals who have passed. (For a list of animal communicators and how to contact them, visit
www.CompassionCircle.org
.)

I’ve received positive feedback from many people who have worked with animal communicators, and the following stories are but a few examples….

Please note: In the stories that follow throughout this book, the names in italics are those of the people telling the stories, followed by their occupations and where they live. If a story is from the United States, only the state is listed, and not the country (to avoid being redundant, since the majority of the stories are from the U.S., where this book was written). As you will see, there are stories in this book from around the world.