The sacredness of spiritual work for animals

The Sacredness of Spiritual Work for Animals
 
By Melanie Lynn
 
All my life, I have had the ability to connect with animals. Like many empaths, I gravitated towards animals instead of people from an early age. It has always been natural to have a knowingness of how an animal is feeling or even what they might be thinking. Through years of training as a psychic, healer, and shamanic practitioner, my ability to communicate directly with animals developed into a more precise art.
 
Just as I work with people for spiritual healing and guidance, I have the ability to do the same with animals. This looks different depending on the client and the situation. Most often people request a reading to know how their pet is feeling, sometimes pets show up in their owner’s shamanic healing sessions, I spent years traveling to barns to assist horses, I have done shamanic healings for animals suffering from trauma, and I have had success in lost pet cases. In my experience, the difference with working on behalf of animals versus people is the absolute necessity of integrity. That’s not to say that integrity isn’t upheld with people of course, but working with animals demands the practitioner to lose all ego and surrender to what you are and are not capable of.
 
It is always the human who asks for spiritual work for an animal. The animal doesn’t get to choose. When an owner makes this decision for an animal, the practitioner must take responsibility and ensure permission before attempting any spiritual work- whether it is reiki, a reading, or shamanic work. Any integrous practitioner would never force spiritual healing on a person who did not want it, so why would this be okay for an animal?
 
Many years ago, I was hired to help an upper level dressage horse who was having reported behavioral issues under saddle. The owner was convinced the horse had pain somewhere in his body that was causing explosive behavior. My plan was to intuitively connect with the horse and then perform a focused energy healing session based on my findings. Upon meeting the horse, it was immediately clear he did not want my help. His body language said no and so did his thoughts. At first, I was admittedly offended and perhaps self-conscious that he was pinning his ears at me with several people watching. I stepped back and closed my eyes to drown out the energies of the people around us. Clear as day, he told me that he was fine, but his owner was not. His body felt good and he wanted to work. “It’s her,” he kept saying. I asked him to show me what was going on and I immediately felt angry and unsettled. It wasn’t his anger, but hers. Whatever was going on in her life, she could not let go of while riding and her horse became the recipient of her frustrations. He was adamant that he didn’t need or want energy work and he didn’t want to say anything more. Needless to say, the owner was not pleased. She told me that she hired me to do a job, and I didn’t do it. Two hours of driving, an earful of unkind words, and zero dollars for me, but at least I knew I did right by the horse.
 
When a human client has a psychic reading, they are able to verbalize when something does not resonate. Often, the psychic relies on feedback or affirmations to move forward with a message. This back and forth discourse ensures that information is accepted by the client. It takes a skilled psychic to move forward with messages even when the client is rebutting the accuracy of the information. A skilled psychic knows when a message is on point, but all psychics have the potential of occasionally being off, and they usually know it. When reading for an animal, the communicator must be on their A game. The information is usually being directly given to the owner, with the psychic as a go-between. What if the information is off? What if the communicator relayed something to the owner that was not exactly what the animal said? When you agree to be a voice for a being that does not have one, it is your responsibility to step up to the plate with skill, honesty, and integrity. Understanding the moral and ethical obligation that comes with literally putting words in another’s mouth is unquestionably the most important aspect of any animal communication work.
 
One of my reiki clients was an elderly horse with terrible arthritis. I was working on his hocks when his owner kept interrupting me with questions. I was getting frustrated because it was a reiki session and not a communication appointment, and I was trying to concentrate on my work. The owner then asked me if the horse loved her. I barely tapped in to listen to the horse and dismissively replied that yes he did and continued on with my work. A couple of nights later, I was doing distance work for an unrelated client when the elderly horse showed up in my meditation. He was furious with me and told me that I did not listen. He told me that he was trying to tell me how she saved him and how much he adores her and knows everything she does for him. He told me that she deserves to know how he feels and that I better take care of it. So, the next morning I drove back to that barn and pinned a letter to her stall. The letter was from her horse and was so beautiful that I cried while I wrote the words he said. That was a lesson I have never forgotten. I take that experience with me every single time a person entrusts me with their animal, and my work is better because of it.
 
Animals are naturally empathic, highly intuitive, and can read our thoughts better than any human psychic. Animals humble me, they keep my work pure, and they push me to be my very best. It is sacred work to connect with the four-leggeds, to be their voice, to help undo what has been done by our fellow humans. It is a privilege to share our lives with animals, and this honor should be met with every ounce of integrity we can muster. Sometimes, as with the dressage horse and the elderly horse, this means we have to let go of our pride, admit defeat, and do what is right for the animal.