I’m sorry!

Murphy, the Incorrigible

 “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” goes the famous line from the 1970’s movie ‘Love Story.’ Well I’m afraid to say that living with Murphy, I’m continually having to say ‘I’m sorry’ to the unfortunate animals he sends to the Spiritworld.

Much to my dismay, a few months ago, Murphy started stalking and hunting the wild animals that visit our plot. I occasionally found a few dead birds or a pile of feathers on the lawn.  I sat him down and told him telepathically and verbally,  that he must stop killing the wild birds and I sent him pictures of him sitting on the lawn while the birds walked around him unscathed.   

He seemed to have got the message regarding the birds, but I absolutely horrified to find a beautiful nag aapie lying on the lawn a few days later. “I’m sorry” I told the lifeless form as I beamed Reiki to it, asking for his soul go to the Light.

I looked at Murphy, he knew he was in trouble again but he seemed confused, “ you said no birds” was his telepathic reply. I again told him that he was to leave all the wild life alone.

Tess, the Border Collie

A few days later Tess and Murphy came to walk the labyrinth with me. The dogs gave chase as a wild rabbit burst out of the bushes. I yelled at them to stop. Murphy caught up with it, and took bit a chunk out of its rump. I shouted again and he stopped and came back to me. Tess then took up the chase. The rabbit managed to get away, but in its haste it ran into the gate at the top of the driveway, in an attempt to get through the bars. As I got to the gate the rabbit just managed to get through the bars and collapsed on the other side of the gate. It lifted its head and stared at me for a few seconds, and then slowly lowered his head and died. It was so upset, I just kept repeating, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” I beamed Reiki and asked for his soul to go to the Light. This time both dogs got a scolding.

While watering the garden one day, I heard the guinea fowl's cry of alarm at the bottom of the garden. I put the hosepipe down on the ground and ran to investigate. I saw an apparition staggering through the trees, it had a yellow body, and 4 legs, but it seemed faceless. As I approached I realised it was Murphy with a guinea fowl in his mouth, the wings completely covered his face. I told him to drop it. He did and the poor bird managed to fly over the privet hedge to safety.

Everything was fine for a few weeks, Tess and Murphy behaved themselves, but I kept a watchful eye on Murphy each time he so much as looked in the direction of the birds pecking on the lawn. He still chased them as they flew overhead, especially the hadedas, but thankfully he stopped catching them… or so I thought!

One Sunday I was cooking at the stove, when I turned around and was surprised to see a dying guinea fowl in Tess’s bed. The culprit sat in his own bed, with his front paws crossed in front of him. His body language seemed to say “ don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with it, it’s not in my bed and look my paws are crossed.”

Now in retrospect, I think he may have been saying “look, I brought lunch!”

Snake speak

Cape Cobra http://capesnakerescue.co.za

I was in the veggie garden sending Reiki to the newly germinated plants when I heard Tess and Murphy barking hysterically. I noted that it was not their usual bark and psychically I heard “snake.” I dashed over to the furrow and saw the dogs had cornered a huge Cape Cobra.

I was worried about the dogs getting bitten (see earlier post about Maxi’s snakebite)

The reptile had its head raised with the hood up, ready to strike. I called the dogs off and asked them to keep their distance and told them to stop barking as the racket was upsetting the snake. Thankfully they did.

I focused on the snake and beamed Reiki to it for a few minutes, then I took my focus to my heart chakra and I sent love and light to it, by visualising a beautiful pink light flowing from my heart to it. The results were instantaneous, I visibly saw the snake relax before my eyes. I continued to hold my hands up in the beaming position, with my palms facing outwards towards it and felt my hands getting hotter and hotter.

I noticed its beautiful eyes and I sensed a feeling of complete surprise. I told the snake telepathically that he was safe and that he would not be harmed. I continued to send Reiki while the snake just stared back at me, seemingly relaxed, as its hood was down. I got this feeling of being connected to something ancient and wise. I cannot adequately find words to describe this feeling, but I felt a deep sense of humility wash over me and I felt honoured by its presence. The cobra’s eyes were locked with mine, they seemed so intent, as if he was looking deep into my soul.

I quickly phone my husband Owen at the office, (which thankfully is nearby) for help. When he arrived he got the “slang-stock” which we’ve used for many years to catch snakes so that we can release them safely away from our home.

Alertness snapped back into the Cobra when Owen placed the noose over its head, but it was not having any of this and it managed to slip out and disappear under the rocks along the bank of the furrow. I decided that I would connect with it again later and ask it to leave our garden and go to the vacant property next door.

To be on the safe side, I kept the dogs indoors for the rest of the afternoon and when I connected with the snake again I found that it had already left.

I pondered over the whole thing, and felt that it was almost as if he’d just popped in for a visit, perhaps with a message for me, so I consulted Ted Andrew’s book AnimalWise. Ted says that: “when a cobra appears we can expect an awakening and heightening of our own intuitive vision that will enable us to make swift decisions and take quick actions that will benefit us tremendously. Now is not a time for hesitation. We should keep our senses alert because the likelihood of unexpected opportunities is about to take place. Opportunities to strike in business are very near and we should be ready. And from the cobra we can learn to read the inner soul of any person.”

I felt so deeply honoured to have had a soul to soul communication with this amazing being.

Murphy and me

If you’ve read the book or seen the movie Marlie and Me you will be familiar with the antics of the hyperactive and totally over the top Labrador called Marley. He was such a handful and I felt that the only reason the author continued to share a life of destruction with this animal was because of the deep bond of love which existed between them.

Murphy, a Labrador-cross, is our latest furry family member and I’m convinced that he’s related to Marlie in some way. They could be distant cousins, they’re both yellow in colour and both have the same destructive nature.

When Murphy first joined us, he was a law unto himself. No matter how many times we scolded him for something, he would do the same thing once our backs were turned. He chews everything he can lay his yellow paws on. We’ve lost a number of our socks as he snatches them from the laundry basket and shreds them into tiny pieces. The other day I found my mint green dressing gown lying in a crumpled heap under the wash line. It was covered in brown paw marks with gaping holes instead of buttons. There was no sign of them, so no prizes for guessing where they ended up. 

My gardener stopped me in the garden one day, poop-scoop in hand and frowning deeply “What type of dog is Murphy?” he asked.  I looked at him puzzled and asked what he meant. “Well you should see all the strange things he eats, he’s not like any of the other dogs. When I go around with the poop-scoop I see bits of wood, plastic, rags all kinds of stuff -  even bird seed. This bit of information led me to change from bird feeding tables to tree feeders, so bird seed is no longer part of his diet.

What can I say?  He’s eaten my flower pots along with their plants, the cushions from the garden furniture, flower bulbs, tree seed pods, bamboo, firewood, my garden ornaments and the dog beds.  I felt sorry for Tess when I saw her staring at the remaining fragments of her bed on the kitchen floor. So I spent a day making smart new beds for both of them. I used strong material and sewed the covers double, of course it made no difference, the corners are already in tatters.

I was so angry when I came home to find my beautiful garden Buddha statute – which usually sits peacefully in the lotus position beneath the trees – standing on its head in the middle of the lawn. I still can’t believe that he managed to carry it there.

Murphy is now just over a year old and he seems to be calming down. I've noticed some subtle changes in him, though he still chases the cat. Inca has no problem in leaving long scratches on his face or giving him a bloody nose, but he keeps going back for more.

He enjoys our fetch-the-rope sessions and now waits patiently until I give the “Ok now you can eat your food ”command at meal times. He also lies quietly when I do TTouch and Reiki on him these days. When he was younger he used to wriggle like an eel and wouldn’t allow me to put my hands on him or the body wrap. The body wrap, ear and mouth work really seem to help him to calm down. 

Like Marley, we’ve also grown to love Murphy. What can you do, when he looks at you with those adoring yellow eyes and continues to offer you his unconditional love no matter what he’s done... you can only love him in return.

Diesel the Boxer Pup’s Spondolosis

At the tender age of 18 months, Diesel, my daughter’s playful Boxer pup, started displaying signs of pain and distress when he sat or tried to lie down. Tests and x-rays revealed mild hip dysplasia, the primary source of pain being spondolosis, a degenerative disease of the spine. His life expectancy was reduced to three years as the disease was encroaching rapidly and was untreatable. He was prescribed painkillers and Bronwyn made him as comfortable as possible and waited for his spine to fuse as the vet had predicted. His quality of life became severely compromised as he responded to the painkillers.

I treated him with some hands on Reiki sessions and there was a huge improvement.

His appetite improved and he stopped crying out when trying to sit or lie down. He even started playing again. I used the ‘Reiki Laser’ (a technique given to me by my Reiki guides in which I visualise the energy as a laser beam and focus it on the

dis-eased area) to break up the dense negativity surrounding his spine. I extended my psychic fingers and performed psychic surgery* on the whole area, removing the **energy blocks. I visualised a brilliant blue light flowing down his spine and saw the pain being flushed out the end of his short stumpy tail. As I mentally drew the Reiki symbols I asked for help from my Divine Helpers: God, Reiki Guides and Angels. I asked for the healing energy to flow to the cause of the problem and heal it. I felt intense pain in my hands and psychically saw scenes of a puppy having his tail docked. I asked for healing for his highest good and that the memory of this pain be released from all the cells in his body and especially from the area of his spine. 

Some months later x-rays revealed that the spondolosis had slowed down dramatically. The vet was amazed with the results, as the dog's spine was expected to have fused and it had not even progressed to the halfway mark. Diesel is almost 12 years old now and thanks to the healing power of Reiki and some nutritional supplements, he still leads a full life, running, jumping and swimming like a true Boxer.

* psychic surgery is a technique taught in my Reiki Master’s Degree course

** the removal of energy blocks is taught in my 2^nd degree Reiki course.

Murphy’s arrival

Life didn’t really return to normal after the passing of the old dogs. Having shared our lives for such a long time, it was very difficult to adjust to their absence. I especially missed their exuberant greeting early in the morning and at the front gate upon our return home when we’d been out.

Nikki had always loved doing the rounds in the garden with me each day as we walked from feeder to feeder, putting out seeds, fruit and bread crumbs for the wild birds. All the dogs usually accompanied me to the veggie patch at the bottom of the garden. They would sit in a semi circle around the enclosure, and wait for me while I picked veggies. It’s at times like these that I missed them the most.

Inca, the cat, carried on with her life as usual, but seemed to spend more time in the kitchen with Tess, the remaining border collie. I felt that she was sensing Tess’s loneliness and offered her company especially during the recent thunder storms.

I’d been giving Tess a few Reiki treatments and Bach Flower Rescue Remedy, to help her to cope with the parting of her friends.  But she seemed to sink into a depression and hardly wanted any food. I know animals suffer from grief just as we do, so I increased the Reiki and included some TTouch during the sessions as well, setting my intention for the healing to help ease the grief. We took her for walks and spent more time in the garden playing frisby with her and she seemed to perk up a little.

We’d decided that we’d not get any more dogs for a while, but then we wondered if it would help Tess if she had some canine company.  I believe that it’s a good idea to always consult the animals first about any upcoming changes in their lives. So I connected with her and asked if she would like a friend. I got the sense that yes she would like to have somebody to play with again.  I checked with Inca too, she said she didn’t really mind if it was dog, but definitely not a cat.

We decided against getting a very young puppy and opted for the chance of giving a shelter dog a good home. Our daughter Colleen put us in touch with an organization who’d rescued an eight month old Labrador-cross type dog from a busy street and was now in foster care.

For days before he’s arrival, I kept telling Inca and Tess that Murphy would be coming home soon. I’d look deeply into their eyes and visualise the young yellow dog being in our home. They seemed to understand what I was telling them.

We collected Murphy last Saturday and brought him home. Colleen, her dogs and Bronwyn and family came round to welcome him as well. It was wonderful to see all the dogs romping together in the garden.

Tess was a bit weary of Murphy all day on Sunday, but early Monday morning they’d made friends and playing together.

Murphy is hyperactive and needs lots of Reiki, TTouch and training, but I’m working on it and I’m pleased to say that Tess is helping me too, but in her own way.

Creating a sacred space for your soul

The Universe has many ways of communicating with us.  Very often when the universe feels we need a ‘cosmic klap*’ we will suddenly notice that we keep seeing messages about the same thing, in a book, on TV, an advert on a bus or hearing the same song on the radio.

My message came in the form of my Doreen Virtue’s Archangel cards. I kept drawing  the Space Clearing card. So I thought ‘yes, ok, it is time I did a clearing, as I hadn’t done it for a while. So I got busy and cleared out the clutter, old books and magazines and stuff I now longer wanted or needed.  I attacked my clothes cupboards and sent all the clothes I’d not worn for ages to an animal shelter’s charity shop. It’s amazing how clothes and stuff just seem to pile up.
 

I then performed my usual space clearing ritual with candles, salt water, Tibetan singing bowl and bell. Once the negative energy was cleared in each room, I sealed and protected everything with the Reiki symbols.

The whole house looked brighter and I could actually feel the vibrant energy as it swirled through the house. I felt a deep sense of peace and accomplishment. Another bonus is that I also sleep much better at night. I gave myself a congratulatory pat on the back for a job well done.

You can imagine my surprise, when I again drew the Space Clearing card the following day. I thought ‘naw… the Universe is playing tricks on me. The card says you can ask Archangel Jophiel for help, which I did. I immediately got the message that yes, I’ve cleared the energy in my home, but what about the other areas of my life.

 I then realised that to do a complete spare clearing, we also need to focus on clearing the junk from our handbags, the hard drive on our computers and our motorcars. After all, are the personal things we interact with every day, not also extensions of ourselves?

Like our homes, they’re not merely a means of shelter, but they’re also mirrors of ourselves. They reflect our interests and beliefs, our passions and our spirit. Our homes are the sacred space where we interact with the Universe. If we space clear on a regular basis it can be our sacred refuge from the chaotic world outside, offering peace and harmony for us, our families, our animals and all our invited guests.

*slap

Postcards from Beyond

“How will I know he or she’s visiting” is a question which often comes up during readings for my clients with their deceased animals.

The days following the death of our beloved animal companions is a very sad time for us, but we must not allow our grief to close us down and block the flow of love and communication which still exists between us. If we keep our hearts and minds open, we will be aware of the many different ways our loved ones keep in touch.

 These visitations come in various guises and they always leave some form of confirmation, like a 'post-it' or postcard, confirming their visit. A popular one is a leaf or flower from the garden, a clump or tuft of fur on the lounge chair or bed, which you know was not there the day before. Sometimes there are rumpled pillows on the bed or couch where our pets used to sleep.

A client asked me to communicate with her cat in spirit to see if he was ok and asked him to give her a sign when he was visiting. He said “tell her to look out for the fur”
She phoned me the next day very excited, she suddenly woke up around midnight and was amazed to see a clump of fur floating in the middle of the room. She was almost speechless with joy as she knew that it was a message from her cat Magic.

A few days ago, we found a huge rain spider in our bedroom around 3.00am. My husband caught it and I went to open the front door so he could take it outside. I stayed on the veranda while he deposited it in the hedge. I suddenly got a feeling that Maxi was nearby and as I turned around I saw him lying on “his spot” by the front door. The vision was so vivid and the feeling so strong that there’s no doubt in my mind that he was definitely there.

The following morning I got another surprise when I rolled back the bed covers and found a tuft of black fur inside my bed, which I knew was definitely not there when I went to bed.  I asked “o.k. who’s hair is this?” I immediately got a picture of Nikki’s  laughing face and I got a sense of her saying “Got you!”  My pendulum confirmed that she had indeed been visiting. I smiled as I saw the three of them psychically. I picked up their sense of laughter, they thought it was very funny.

Last night I was sitting in bed reading, it was around 22.30h when I heard the floor creaking in the dressing room as it does when someone walks through to our bedroom. Inca my cat was sleeping next to me. Her head shot up and she just stated and stared into the dressing room. There was no breeze in the room but I saw the fringe on the fabric throw on my dressing table sway, just as it does when somebody walks past.

I said: “Ok so who’s out there, who’s visiting this time? Immediately a picture of Maxi flashed into my mind. Inca seemed quite relaxed about it and put her head down and went back to sleep.

This morning I found his postcard, a tuft of the dear Border Collie’s fur on the coffee mug beside my bed.