GAZEHOUND’S ANIMAL COMMUNICATION NEWS
September 2009
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Keeping in touch with the animals….
and the people who love them
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Aliens On Earth: The So-called “Lower Life Forms”
In our first Challenge Game we played with the concept of “trust what you receive”, and I used “bugs” to illustrate. I elaborated on why I chose to have people connect with “crawlies” in the following comment:
WHY A BUG?
Everyone’s guesses as to why I chose a bug were great, and definitely things for us all to keep in mind as we interact with the life around us. Cara did have part of my reasoning, in fact, when she said “if we are able to connect with a bug, then we can possibly connect with anything else”.
Think of the title of the game, “Trust What You Get”. Insects, spiders, and other “crawlies” live their lives from such an alien perspective, compared to humans, that I was hoping that what you received would be “different” enough, in some way, that you would be able to really feel that it was coming from the bug. If something you received was foreign to you in some way, it would be easier to trust the inflow.
Did you feel that what you received, since it came from a bug, was unique and different enough to be helpful when you consider the theme of the game?
Some of our visitors expressed some excellent reasons, as well, for connecting with insects, spiders, and their like. On person even chatted with a slug! Here are some of those thoughts:
“My initial thought on why you chose Bugs is, for me personally, I tend to respect them, but not really connect to them. They often get the “Ew!” response. I capture and release them from my home because I don’t want to harm them. Helped me get beyond what their body presents to me and get to their spirit/essence.” (Jan)
“I think you chose bugs as a first challenge because this time of year they can be a challenge. We tend to want to get them out of our space, using pesticides, mechanical means, or whatever to “get rid of them.”. Maybe, we will realize there is value in all living beings and find a way of communicating with them to get them out of our space, if that is what we think is necessary. Ask them to leave, show them another place for them to take up residence and if they don’t what may happen. That’s my 2 cents on what you may have been thinking……….” (Jeanie)
“Bugs are all around us, all of the time. They are a part of our lives whether we are aware of their existence or not. They are our neighbors, our guests, and sometimes our enemies, although that, as with everything else in our world, depends on perspective. Perchance this exercise is in part to make us more aware of the lives around us?” (Susan)
Life on earth is organized in a very specific way, scientifically speaking. I’m sure you all remember the hierarchy (or “taxonomy”) … Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Yes? …No? Sorry; I’m a bit funny that way … that odd tendency to hoard bits of trivia most people would never use again in their lifetime (I wish I could remember where I put my car keys….). The concept began with Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), and is still held today as the standard line of thought on how life is organized on earth.
The two primary Kingdoms of life are Plants and Animals, and when we get to the Phyla of the animal kingdom, we take a look at the different types of animals, organized by biological similarity. Many people, including many scientists, also think along the line of complexity when studying the animal kingdom. The Chordata, animals with backbones, are all organized under one Phylum and are considered to be more complex, or “advanced”, than the Arthropods (which include insects and spiders) or Mollusks (which include our friend the slug).
But does our level of advancement really depend on whether we wear our skeletons on the outside or the inside? There are an estimated ten million species of insects on this planet, of which only a little over a million have been logged and described. It seems to me that this indicates that being an insect is quite a successful way to wander through the universe. It makes one pause and re-think the term “dominant species”, doesn’t it?
When Susan said, in her comment to the Bug Game, “Bugs are all around us, all the time,” she wasn’t kidding!
As our little game illustrated, insects and “lower life forms” are, in actuality, thinking, feeling, intelligent creatures. They have self awareness and emotions, they know what they need and want. They can also impart wisdom, often in interesting and unexpected ways. The crawlies who participated in our game showed us humor, intensity, an unparalleled work ethic, focus, drive…. And some let us know that they really didn’t have the time to stop and talk to a silly human. Self-importance? Wow.
Whether we talk to animals, or just love and respect them, observing nature can teach us so much. Humans can be very egocentric animals, bless our hearts, and often miss out so much because we have a reflexive tendency to walk past other species without noticing them, or with a subconscious (or conscious) attitude that because they are extremely different from us, they are inferior in some way.
Does “different” have to mean “less”?
There are spiritual belief systems among our species which hold fast to the concept of reincarnation. Many of those see a spiritual path as one of growth, from less complex and evolved, to more complex and evolved, which describes more evolved beings inhabiting more evolved bodies. I believe this encourages the tendency, even “among the enlightened” (as the saying goes), to look at other species as below us on the evolutionary ladder … both biologically and spiritually.
By taking this approach, how much are we missing? If you played the Bug Game with us, when you reached for your new connection, were you expecting to touch the mind of an equal? Or were you looking for primal impressions from a creature who might not actually have cognizant, rational thought at its disposal?
Were you surprised by what you received?
In his absolutely marvelous little book, Kinship with All Life, J. Allen Boone introduces the reader to “Freddie”, a common house fly. Boone writes:
“Before Freddie the Fly came to live with me and made such an unforgettable place for himself in my admiration and respect, my attitude toward flies had been one of uncompromising enmity. “
Did your experience, as brief as it was, change how you feel about the species you touched minds with?
Connecting with the so-called “lower life forms” is not only eye-opening, but it is an excellent way to practice our animal communication skills. It allows us to reach for some-ONE who is so very different from ourselves, that what we receive from them is often foreign or startling. This helps us to trust that it is not just our imagination, and at the same time opens our minds to possibilities that the common man and even the biologist may not have considered. These creatures from distant phyla don’t think like us, but they do think. They don’t feel like us, but they do feel. They have intelligence and a unique approach to wisdom all their own, which can broaden our horizons and enlighten our minds in often … humbling … ways.
I hope everyone who has already played “The Bug Game” enjoyed the experience. If you haven’t yet played, or would like to play again, the page will be online indefinitely and the game officially “open” until the next one is posted in mid-September.
The next time you come across an insect, a spider, a snail … stop and say hello. You never know how they might reply.
FYI NOTES and NEWS
Don’t Forget….
… that gift certificates do have an expiration date. If you’ve given them as gifts, or have them tucked safely away at home, check those dates and be sure to redeem them before they expire. I’ll continue to post this reminder in each issue of “Creature Thoughts”.
Gift certificates are always available at a special discounted price. Visit http://www.gazehound.com, and view the Rates and Services page for details.
There will be a rate change as of July 1st, 2009. The new rates will be:
* Basic session up to 1/2 hour: $36
* Per minute charge beyond the 1/2 hour: $1.20
* Gift Certificates: 1 for $36, 2 for $70, 3 for $90 (which once again buys three for the “old” rate of $30/session)
Website Features
Recent Ramblings!
In Cool Stuff: What I’m Reading: The Artist’s Way
In Pree-Am-Siamese: Pree’s Thoughts On Reincarnation
In Cool Stuff: Book Recommendation: Animal-Speak
In DragonDreamz: The Dreamtime — A Question of Questions
In Creature Thoughts: Challenge Game #1 – Trust What You Get
More News On-Site
Don’t forget that you can always keep up with changes and info on rates, policies, and “other fun stuff” on my website: http://www.gazehound.com, and that you can find archives of this newsletter and other articles on my Creature Thoughts Blog: http://www.gazehound.com/category/creaturethoughts/. Archives before May 2009 can still be found at the old blog site: http://gazehound.blogspot.com.
Testimonials Invited: Gazehound.com | AnimalCommunicator-NY.com, with it’s new format, allows visitors to leave comments on many pages. One of those pages is our Testimonials section. Have you and your animals been helped by our consultation? Please feel free to stop by and tell others about your experience on the Testimonials page.
E-News List
It has become more important than ever, that all of my clients are subscribed to my e-news list. Thus, whenever anyone inquires about information, or sets up an appointment, they will receive both an invitation to the list and a separate note from me letting them know they’ve been invited. I strongly encourage all my clients to stay in touch, by remaining subscribed to this list. And please feel free to forward this newsletter issue to any friends, family, and acquaintances whom you feel might be interested in joining us. On the new site design, there is a subscription box for the newsletter in the left sidebar of every page.
Free Help For Our Animal Friends at NELR
Northeast Llama Rescue and Barnyard Sanctuary and New York Wildlife Rescue (an IRS 501(c)(3) charity) accept Paypal donations through their website at http://www.redmaplefarm.net. I’ve dedicated much time and love in the past several years toward helping to build a safe place for our wild friends in need, and our livestock rescues, and am extending the offer to all of you to aid in their care as well. And now, we have a totally painless (and free) way for anyone to support the animals at NYWRC/NELR. If you sign up to shop online through iGive.com, at no cost to you, every purchase you make through the iGive gateway will earn a donation for the animals.
To sign up to shop through iGive for NYWRC:
http://www.igive.com/NYWildlifeRescueCenter
And even if you don’t sign up (but why would anyone not sign up since it’s free and painless?), you can still earn money with each internet search you do simply by logging in to the iGive search engine rather than Google or whichever other search engine you normally use:
http://www.isearchigive.com/NYWildlifeRescueCenter
I set the above link as my homepage in my browser to remind me to search through iGive and earn pennies for the animals each time I search. iGive’s usual one cent per search is doubled through the month of December, too, so get using it now while we can earn the big bucks!
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Gayle Nastasi (of Gazehound’s Animal Communication) is a professional animal communication consultant and writer, who hopes her connection to the animal world can serve as a way to help her fellow humans enrich their relationships with their animal companions. By better knowing our non-human friends, we ensure a kinder future for our world and we learn what it means to be a unique and essential part of all that is. Permission is given to forward this article to anyone you feel might enjoy it, as long as it is understood that copyrights are held by Gayle Nastasi, and the author’s name, and links to her website(s) are left intact. If this publication has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe to Gazehound’s free monthly e-newsletter, “Creature Thoughts”, just visit the newsletter link below.
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Gayle Nastasi
Animal Communication Consultant
http://www.animalcommunicator-ny.com
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