My Pack-Mate, Magic, Passed on to Spirit 6/22/2010 and More Passings

This marvelous painting by Peter Teekamp (www.peterteekamp.com )

depicts a very cosmic Shanti with her two previous incarnations in the

background, Aiko, the Akita on the left and Raya, the

German Shepherd-Coyote on the right. This painting will be the "theme

photo" of this website.

Raphaelle & Michael's Website:  http://www.michaeltamura.com 

Nov. 13, 2010

Definitions:

"R" refers to my female human companion, Raphaelle Tamura

"M" refers to my male human companion, Michael J Tamura

B refers to my other very special caretaker, whose name we will keep anonymous

What this blog is all about: I am a dog who has reincarnated THREE times to be with my present "Human Companion" in her one lifetime. I am writing from my present lifetime as Shanti, a Great Pyrenees dog. We (my human master and I) came together, originally in a far distant time (Egypt) and have been growing side by side, off and on, as souls, ever since. I will discuss this distant lifetime in a future blog, I promise. In each blog you will get a little taste of my present lifetime plus lots of stories about what it is like to be a dog who has reincarnated - and remembers. I am not here to "prove" reincarnation, especially in regards to animals, rather, I am here to perhaps open your mind to consider the idea and at the same time, enjoy my unique, fun and, to me, TRUE story. You don't have to believe to enjoy this blog, though!

Nov. 13, 2010

Hello to ALL My Marvelous Friends,

I would first like to thank you all for your patience as I sort everything out that has happened since I last wrote to you.  It has taken me quite a number of months to be able to get my thoughts together and now I believe I am ready.

I want to tell you that this current blog posting will be a mixture of happy and sad news.  Please remember that the purpose for my writing this blog is not only to share the happy aspects and moments of my life with all of you, but to also talk about life and death from the viewpoint of yours truly, Shanti, a wise dog-spirit in a body, who is interested in bringing some light and healing onto the very sensitive subject of death, whether human, pet or otherwise.  Some people are afraid to bring pets into their homes because (and I have heard this over and over again) "when they die, it is too sad."  I am interested in giving you the idea that perhaps pets are also "spiritual beings with bodies" just like many of you humans think of yourselves. My human companion, R, likes to think of pets as her "younger brothers and sisters in spirit."   I also wish to advocate for the many pets out there that are lacking homes with humans because of this one fear many of them have.  I just want to say, please read this and tell me if it is worth it having a pet that might die before you do.  I am betting on the fact that you just might be cured of this fear, hopefully.  We get to evolve when we are able to connect for a lifetime with humans.  For those that do have pets who have gone on to spirit (died) I hope you find what I have to say of great comfort to you.


My pack mate, Magic's life story is SO "magical" and loving that her human companions (the same ones I have) will never EVER be sorry they took her home after finding her abandoned in a field near their home, seventeen plus years ago.  Before I proceed, though, if you are new to my writings and are interested in my background (and my human companions' background) about Magic, please either start from the very first blog post and move forward, or go to two blogs ago where I paid tribute to Miss Magic when she turned seventeen years old in May of this year.  Once you are done, then come back to read some of the wondrous things I have to say about her and some other things in this blog.  

Just so you know, Magic was not the only one who has passed away since my last writing.  A good friend of mine, another dog like me, has also passed away shortly after Magic did.  It's odd, but my human companions "lost" nine humans they love or were close to or knew in some way since May, and now, I have lost two, myself.  So this would be a PERFECT blog to talk about us animal companions and dying (and also a little about when humans die, too.) My doggie friend that died belonged to M & R's friend (and R's writing teacher for 5 years) Beth Beurkens.  Her dog was a beautiful female golden retriever named "Chelsea," who was ten years old.  Chelsea and I met many times over the years I have lived in Mt. Shasta, but this past year we actually had a chance to become great friends and I even helped M give her a healing when she wasn't feeling so well last Thanksgiving.  Oh, but I am getting ahead of myself.  I'll tell that story later on in this blog, and will include some really nice photos, too.

I hope you won't feel sad while you are reading this, though I know some of you might shed a tear or two.  I felt sad, too, when processing and preparing some of the things I will talk to you about today, but I am excited to share with you MY insights about it all -and the joys that both my friend Chelsea and my pack-mate Magic have been to me.


  This will probably be quite a long blog and I am not sure it will be fully written in just one sitting.  Think of it like reading a chapter - or two - in a really good book (well, I'd really like you to feel that reading this is like snuggling in with a really good book somewhere.) My human companions, R & M were traveling in Vermont and New York as this (part) was being written, so this is a good time for me to get my thoughts together and tell you my whole story since my May posting.  It's a lot, but I really want to share it all and also include some fun and memorable photos.  

I will start with what I have been doing more recently, then I'll talk about my kitty-companion's passing as well as Chelsea, my doggie friend. The more recent events will show you, before I talk about these important passages, that I am all right, though I did go through a bit of a grieving process, myself.  Dogs, like humans DO grieve, though we don't harp on death as much as humans do (thankfully.) 

This year, R & M have been traveling more than ever, so I have only been able to be with them sporadically since the summer (a few weeks here and there.)  Though I LOVE to be at B's farm with all my other human, doggie, kitty, horse and burro friends, I can tell R and M miss me very much because I feel it in my heart when they think about me.  This summer we had some fun activities, though, when we did manage to be together.  Quite a few house guests have come and gone while R & M were home -- and I have fallen in love with ALL of them!  


Let's see, one of the first sets of house guests this year were two friends of R & M's named Cindy Lora and Gary Renard. Cindy is a wonderful singer and Gary is an author like M.  Gary authored a number of books, the best known is "Disappearance of the Universe."  R and M both love his books and love both of them, too.  I do too, now! Last year when R & M went to Hawaii, they ministered to Gary and Cindy's wedding on the Island of Oahu. Here is a beautiful photo of where they got married:

  Where Cindy & Gary got married in Oahu (a Japanese Garden)

Also, here is a photo of Cindy and Gary the day before they were married last year (July, 2009):

Cindy Lora and Gary Renard, July 2009.

And here they are the day OF their wedding last year, 2009:

A Beautiful couple, Gary & Cindy Renard

on their Wedding Day, July 2009

Gary and Cindy came to visit R & M so I thought it would be fun to share some photos of that visit, too.  Actually, there are more photos on R's FaceBook site, but here are a couple of them for you to enjoy:

This is lower McCould Falls where we

started our walk as a group together

(with Gary & Cindy, M & R plus some 

other friends, Peter Mt. Shasta and his friend Ruth)

You can see how tall these falls are in comparison 

to the people in the bottom left part of this photo.

Beautiful! 

Here is another falls we visited, spectacular!:

Breath-taking Middle McCloud Falls, June 2010

Now here are some dog-and-people photos you might like:

Cindy Lora and me, Shanti:

We are friends forever!

Now here is a funny photo of Michael and me on that same walk we took to McCloud Falls:

M and I have SO much fun when R has her

camera out!  M was pretending to be another 

face on my back, LOL!

Now here's a great photo of the whole group of us who were walking that day:

I LOVE his photo!  It was taken with R's camera by

a woman who was a passer-by, and she did a great job.

From left to right, back:  Ruth Moonstein from Switzerland, Peter Mt. Shasta (who

wrote "Adventures of A Western Mystic" a GREAT book from what I hear), M,

Gary Renard (as I said, Author of the wonderful "Disappearance of the

Universe"), Cindy Renard (marvelous singer and wonderful friend, too.) Front row: R and me!

We had such a wonderful time together.  Sometimes when friends come to stay at our house, it is very hard for me to let them go.  I know I talked about this in at least one other blog, but it still stands.  I loved them so much I didn't want them to go, so when they left, I moped around the house all day, wishing they would come back.  R tells me they will eventually return, so I shouldn't worry about it. I'm trying but sometimes it's hard. I bond very tightly when I meet people.  Oh, and if I meet you even ONCE, I will remember you for the rest of my life.  I have a great memory.

Okay, so here is another visitor we had this summer (after Magic's passing) so I want you to see, again, that I am happy and well in spite of really missing my pack-mate.  The next two people who visited were also a married couple, Jerry and his wife Rochelle.  They brought with them an energetic two-year-old part-Rhodesian Ridgback dog-boy by the name of Kai.  He was a handful at times, but not to me.   That is because he is so young...a "kid" as you humans would call him.  He's not quite a puppy anymore, but he is certainly not fully matured yet.  He is a very good boy with a great heart - and handsome, too - and, for the most part we got along quite well.  One of the days of Rochelle and Jerry's visit we went up to the mountain as far as you can drive.  Oh, and Rochelle and Jerry were a couple R and M met and Gary and Cindy's (the ones I mention, above) wedding.  Anyhow, here is my little photo album of that visit:

First, meet Jerry and Rochelle.  Jerry works in the financial world (something us dogs NEVER have to do, thankfully) and Rochelle is an actress.  She recently starred in a horror movie short that won awards.  Maybe we can get a link for that at some point to share with you (R will have to check with her to get permission, first.)  Okay, here they are:

Jerry Apadoca and Rochelle Vallese, two wonderful

people I love

Okay, here is a nice photo of Kai while we were on a walk with them:

Kai was adopted by Rochelle and Jerry

through a shelter.  They love him SO much

and are deeply glad they found him.

Taken in front of Mt. Shasta (which was to the right of this photo)

Now here are a few photos of the area where we visited that day:

This is what Mt. Shasta looks like by the end of

the summer.  There is very little snow, just glaciers,

which, in the news, I heard are growing, not melting.

Check my other blogs for photos of snow-covered Mt. Shasta.

Here are a bunch of us who were on that wonderful walk that day:

In the photo: My human companion, M, Jerry, Rochelle,

me (Shanti) and Kai.  We look good together,

don't we?  He had a great time and loved

to run and run while I waas much happier walking.

Photo was taken by R.

Now here are some funny photos I hope makes you smile:

I like making "funny faces" when R is taking a photo of me.

Check out how I have my eyes rolled up.  R laughs and laughs 

when I do this!  That's me, of course in the back of our SUV making faces

behind Rochelle.

  

Here is a better profile photo of me, but

I am still teasing R as she takes this photo.

That's Rochelle again, but this time

she is almost smiling like me!

Here is another photo of the area we were in:

This is the Eddy Mountain Range.  If you go up to the top

parking lot to Mt. Shasta and face out away from the 

big mountain, this is what you will see.  Gorgeous, isn't it?

Here are some more photos you might like:

Here we all are again...

And here's a picture of yours truly (Shanti)

taken while Rochelle, Jerry and Kai were walking with us.

Here's another one of me in the garden in our front yard.

I thought you might like this one, too!

I really enjoyed getting to know Jerry and Rochelle and their boy-dog, Kai. I was sad when they left, too, but I know they will be coming back.  I hope you enjoyed these photos.

Passings

It's funny how humans and their companion animals often end up "matching energies" in so many areas of their lives.  This has happened this year with my human, R, and me and even with M to some extent, at least in the area I am going to now discuss.

It all started a short while before Magic died.  Earlier in the year, an old friend of R and M, Mark Bilan, died in a motorcycle accident in Hawaii.  Then, a beloved but elderly aunt who lived in Palm Dessert died ("Aunt Gin"), then a favorite Uncle, 98 years old, ("Uncle Pat") passed a short while later.  Meanwhile, my pack-mate, Magic had become quite weak and ill herself and she died on June 22, the day after the summer solstice.  I will go into more detail about her passing soon.  Then in quick succession, R's mom, Martha Kent, died at age 87 just seven days after Magic did.  Then her brother-in-law's dad passed, then several more friends, and more recently, a special friend, Mona Lavine, publisher of an important spiritual magazine, SHARE, International, passed away.

After members of R's family began to die, I would come up to her when I felt she was sad and would ask her to give me rubs, especially belly-rubs.  I have always known this makes her feel better.  For a period of time, she seemed sad a lot, but then I saw that if I hung out more with her (when she was home) she always seemed to feel better.  I know she was the very saddest of all when Magic died.  Not that her mom and the others weren't important to her, they were, very much.  But Magic LIVED with us - with THEM for so long, I can't even imagine how hard that was.   


Here was a beautiful cloud that appeared when R and I were walking in Mt. Shasta.  This was just before R's mom passed.  The Angels and Spirit will often give special "signs" like this to help ease the pain of what can and does happen:

A heart in the sky

Just before Magic and Martha Kent's passings

Here are some photos of a few of the ones who R loved who died:

R's mom, Martha Kent, who passed away at age 87

in Miamisburg, Ohio.  I (Shanti) never got to meet her,
but my previous incarnation, Aiko met her many times.

David Ponedel, a kind and gentle friend

R and M say they will miss him greatly 

Magic

One of R's favorite profile photos, taken fairly recently.

Magic, even for her tiny size at the end (5 1/2 lbs)
 was a giant in my (Shanti's) life

Magic was my friend and "mentor, and not just this lifetime.  As I discussed in my "birthday tribute" to her, not only was she with me in this lifetime, but she actually came into the family FIRST before my last incarnation as Aiko, the Akita-ken (dog.)  When Magic came into R and M's home, she was about four months old, having been abandoned in a field and living off moths and whatever she could catch.  R and M describe Magic as a "wild thing" - but smart, too, because she eventually learned ALL the rules of animal conduct in a human home that were expected of her, and did well with them for all these years, I can't even imagine what THAT must have been like for her! 

When I met Magic this lifetime as a puppy, she was already ten years old, definitely an elder by all cat standards.  I was not the least bit afraid of her when I came bounding into HER life as a happy-go-lucky puppy, but, like all baby-anythings, I was, of course, way too big with my energy, so she set out to teach me her set of rules on how to be when she was around.  You might say that I was learning two sets of "rules of conduct" too: One set of rules were the ones R and M were teaching me and I was being mentored by Magic when they were not around with a whole OTHER set of rules.  Of course, R and M did teach me to be gentle around her, but when we were left alone, I wanted to play with her SO much, but at first didn't understand that cats play differently than dogs do.  We dogs love to pester and tease until another dog chases us in a sort of fun mock-hunting, where cats are more solitary animals, but when they do play, they like to chase something together.  If they look like they are playing like dogs, then it is likely they are fighting, not playing.  Cats love to run around the house together and play with toys.  We dogs like to play with toys, even with each other, too, but it is far more fun to "rough and tumble" for a dog than it is for a cat.

Since there were no other cats in the house, I had to learn this all the hard way (Magic reprimanded me many times with a painful swat of her sharp-clawed paw.)  Also, to "keep me in my place" she would often, upon walking past me in the hallway or something, give my nose a good swat, just to remind me who is boss.  My humans were horrified when they saw her do this, but I really did understand this to be a statement from her and nothing more.  Plus, I kind of liked the attention, though at times her "swat" really hurt.  Then I would give R the saddest "feel sorry for me" look if she happened to be nearby when Magic was making her "statements."  It was a fun little game the three of us played!

In fact, more recently, we had a kitty guest named Eddy (a big, beautiful long-haired 14-pound Maine Coon cat, orange and white who was 14 years old.)  He did exactly the same thing to me, bopping my nose with his (fortunately for me) un-clawed paw.  He never did warm up to me the time he was living in our house (two weeks) but I understood him, too.  He had been traumatized by a dog in his far-gone youth and never got over it.  I got it, but I still had fun PRETENDING like he was just wanting to play with me.  One day, I even gave him the highest honor I could give him:  A joy run!  Once he came after me all halloweenie-cat with his back arched and hissing at me while trying to bop my nose. I got so excited, I ran around the house in joy and fun. It reminded me SO much of my early days with Magic when I thought for a moment her paw-bopping was a call for play.

I am sure you are curious as to what happened to Magic.  It all seemed to happen so fast at the time, it really did take me a while to realize what had actually happened.  The fact of the matter was, Miss Magic had been ill a long time, probably a year or more.  She had gone from a healthy nine-pound cat who loved to hunt in our back yard, skulk around the house, demand attention from M and R (over me, even!) and  also bringing "gifts" to R and M from various "kills" she had made.  I always saw R turn her nose up to these "gifts" when Magic wasn't watching (R had to clean them up, for the humans never did use the gifts like a cat would.) However, to her face, R ALWAYS thanked her for the gifts, some of them very elaborately prepared for her (though I'll spare you the details of this until maybe another time.) 

Magic had a wonderful heart, though, and like me, ultimately loved R and M and even me very deeply.  When I wrote that tribute to her in May around her birthday, I knew she might not make it through this year because she had become very skinny.  She went from her healthy nine or ten pounds to a mere five and a half pounds.  We all knew what that meant.  R took Magic frequently to the vet for various ailments, none of them that serious.  Magic had a compromised kidney from the time she was a kitten, so of course R and M were very surprised that she was able to keep herself reasonably healthy in spite of this.  And it ultimately wasn't the kidney that was her physical doing-in.  In spite of all the care, vaccinations, de-worming, special foods and love they gave her, she still ended up getting some form of cancer in her stomach.  At least that is what the vet said -- and because R did not want to put her through a painful exploratory surgery so late in life, she and M had a long meeting together AND with Magic to make a decision about what to do.  

By the beginning of June, Magic stopped being able to eat very much, though she never lost her bodily functions completely.  She had already stopped grooming herself several years earlier (maybe she was too tired, as Magic had always been a clean and good-smelling cat.)  R made up for this by taking a damp cloth and wiping the dander and dust off her now and then.  By the middle of June she became unable to jump up on the counter tops, which was big because she was always able to do that.  Plus R and M kept her food on a counter-top, because I was always too tempted to eat it all up myself (a doggie thing, I guess!). 

Anyway, she also slept almost all of the time and became too weak to jump up on the bed at night to sleep with them - something I was not allowed to do because I am so big.  So they had to lift her onto the bed and R noticed how fragile her body was and how painful this was for her, too.  Magic slept on R's shoulder for the last two years of her life.  I suppose this was so because R is middle-aged and very warm around her neck and head. Plus, Magic was so small, now, she fit there like a tiny baby.

R had noticed that Magic was now spending almost all her time in the downstairs bathroom or on a very specific little spot at the bottom of the carpeted stairs to the downstairs area of our house.  That special spot was right next to where I liked to hang out a lot, so sometimes, without being locked in the laundry room together (the only time when Magic would lay next to me and cuddle or just "hang out") we now had some great "quality hang-out time" together.  She was a great hanger-outer.  She was "there" but said very little, normally.  However, during this time, I felt she was trying to tell me something, and maybe I didn't want to listen at the time.  I now know she was trying to tell me that she had only a little time left and she wanted to spend some of it with me, letting me know how much she loved me and enjoyed having me in her life.  Here's the kicker, she also told me how VERY much she loved being with me, as Aiko, in my past incarnation as well, since she was in the family before I, as AIko, came in that last time.  

I loved her so much and had been with her for so long, the thought of her wanting - or even needing - to go back to Spirit was a tough one for me.  So I enjoyed the time I had with her and pretended that she would ALWAYS be with me, which to this day, I feel she will.  Well, I know she will, now, but that will be part of this story further on.  However, since I had fifteen years total (from last time through this lifetime) I just couldn't imagine life without Magic.

So imagine my surprise when R and M sent me to go home with B even though they didn't pack suitcases or look otherwise like they were about to travel.  Something felt weird, but of course, I always love going to B's farm so I could be with all my doggie and other animal and human friends.  It's a very sweet part of my life.  Before we left, R brought Magic to me and said, "Shanti, say goodbye to Magic.  She won't be here when you return."  I looked at her as if to say, "What on earth are you talking about?"  R just answered with a sad face, so I kind of knew already what was going to happen, but just didn't want to think about it.  So off I went.

R and M explained to me afterward what happened while I was at the farm for a few days.  R had taken Magic one last time to the vet, who pronounced the tumor in her stomach to have pretty much consumed it (they said it was very large.)  They offered to do exploratory surgery to see if anything could be done.  R and M had a meeting about this and had decided to bring Magic into the decision-making process. Can you imagine how wise a 17-year-old kitty must be? Very few dogs ever live that long, even (though some do!)  Anyhow, since R and M are very spiritual people they ended up spending two days praying with Magic and giving her spiritual healings to try to make Magic comfortable and also to clear the way to be able to communicate well with her.   On the third day Magic communicated very clearly to them that she was "ready to go" and that she was okay to do it "by the needle" (euthanasia.)  She was in great pain and knew R and M were going to be going on a long trip soon, and like them, she did not want to be away from them when it was "her time to go."  She had witnessed Aiko's (my past incarnation's) passing while R and M were traveling and knew how painful that had been for them.  She gave the "go-ahead" - and R scheduled it for a few days hence.

In the small town of Mt. Shasta, it was difficult to find someone who would do this task at their home.  Since R and M knew that Magic might want to come back in a new body, they did not want her to be unconsciously afraid of vets in her next body, were she to actually come back to them.  So they dearly wanted to help her back to spirit at their home.  Since it was summertime, out on the back deck was the place that was chosen for this special occasion.   R finally did find a woman who was licensed to perform the euthanasia. Everything was set.


(R took a break from writing this while traveling)
(Now R is continuing this blog, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2010)

I was not there, so I can't describe how sad and hard this must have been for my humans for I knew how deeply they loved this mischievous and smart little creature.  But I can say, it is easy to imagine it, for I knew how I felt afterward, too.

So rather than trying to "imagine" what went on that day, I will include, here, the letter that R sent out to their friends (and Magic's human friends) right afterward:

Magic died at 2:48 PM on June 22, 2010

Here is the actual letter R wrote (slightly edited and a few details added that had been left out in the original letter) and sent to close friends:

Hi Everyone,

Warning, this might be a two-kleenex email.  If you are not prepared at the moment for something like that, save reading it for a time when you can (handle it.)

I'm exhausted today from a weeks-long ordeal of being ill, hurting my back, having two family members die (elders - an aunt and and uncle) and a niece in the hospital and Michael temporarily health challenged, too (when it rains it pours!) (Note from Shanti:  R and M lost four relatives, four friends and Magic during a five-month period!  R contnues...)  Today was the toughest day of all, but we are making it through.  Magic has asked me to give you all the message about her:

Today, June 22, 2010, at 2:48 PM Magic made her transition to the world of Spirit at the age of 17 years and one month plus.  She had become quite ill while we are in Novato two weekends ago, but her health issues were an ongoing thing that suddenly got worse.  Over the past year or so, she had lost almost half of her weight and had a harder and harder time keeping food down and and was too weak to easily do ordinary tasks like climbing the stairs and cleaning herself.  


A few days ago, she was so weak and skinny looking, that I took her to her vet's who announced, after tests, x-rays, etc.,  she had a large tumor growing in her stomach/abdomen that was very fast-growing, according to comparative X-Rays from four months ago.  Though we had the choice to prolong her life by getting her "exploratory surgery" with all the stresses that go with that along with the possibility that we would find out she is going to die anyway, we chose a different route.  We spent the last three days with her, talking to her about her options, and she very clearly told us she was "tired and ready to go."  She was always the bravest little creature I have ever known - and always blunt and truthful with us.  Seventeen years is a LOT of years for a feline spirit in a body -- and a lot of love, tears and lessons learned on both side -- oh, and did I say a LOT of LOVE?

So we prepared her by taking her "one last time" on a ride in the car up to the mountain where we bonded even more deeply with her regarding our "next step" agreement with her - under the blessings of our beautiful snow-covered sacred mountain.  Magic loved traveling by car, so this was actually kind of exciting for her.  There is so much snow on the mountain, still, that we could not go past Bunny Flats (the lower view area for those of you who have never been here.)  But the snowy view was spectacular.   We stayed for about an hour, with her loose in the car, something we never normally allowed her to do  -- but instead of taking advantage of that freedom, she chose to sit closely and quietly next to Michael the entire time we were there. During the whole time (the last four days) she just purred and purred, a sign she was "getting ready."  Magic purred during this little foray as Michael napped in the back seat of the car.   I opened up the moon roof and let fresh air in. Meanwhile, next to our car a young couple and their two big dogs, obviously camper-camping for a LONG time, were rearranging their "stuff right there in their parking space." Many items were strewn all over the ground while the couple arranged and re-arranged it, while keeping a sharp eye out for their rambunctious dogs.  This was going on the entire time we were there yet Magic was uncharacteristically oblivious to it all.  To me this showed, "life goes on" in such a simple way.  It was a beautiful and clearly blessed experience for us.  

Once home, we settled in with her -- with Michael and I sharing "Magic" stories and communing with her.  Magic was very, very tired -- so tired that though she was able to walk (barely) she was unable to hop up on the counter-tops or even our bed.  She kept going to the cool downstairs bathroom where she would either rest on the bathmat or go into the bathtub seeming to be looking for something.  She licked the bathtub many times.  We're not sure what that was about,  but we tried to give her as much water as we could get her to drink -- her kidneys were basically already pretty much "shut down" as she no longer could assimilate water -- it just went through her. Sometimes cats like to go away from their "family" to die, so we suspect that since we were not allowing her outside for this, that the downstairs bathroom was going to be her own 'chosen place.'  We believe it was because it had a wonderful clear view of the lower back yard, birds and trees, since the door across the hall is mostly made of glass and she could see the beautiful, raw nature from it from her floor-vantage point.

Michael gave Magic several healings over the last few days, and each time he did, she had a little more energy and enthusiasm to be awake and with us.

Last night when we went to bed, Magic literally "clung" to my arm or shoulder (she normally slept on my shoulder or snuggled by my neck) -- and neither of us (Magic or me or even Michael for that matter) slept much last night. Her breathing was sloppy and labored and she sneezed many times. During the night she preened herself from head to tail -- for the first time in probably a YEAR.  Since we had already "discussed" her crossing over, I feel this was a symbolic act for her in preparation to be "beautiful" when she arrived on the other side.  She looked shiny and gorgeous for the first time in ages this morning.  Our appointment with the traveling Vet was at about 2:15 PM (Pacific Time) so we did much preparatory energy work and communing all morning.  I also found a box and ran out to the local fabric store and purchased the cloths and other items we would need for her burial.

The doc came late, but the process, itself, after I had to fill out forms and pay her, took no more than three minutes.  Magic was already mostly "out"  and truly ready to go.   We wanted her to "go" at home, so we set up a space - both physically and energetically - out on our back deck for the occasion (we didn't think the bathroom was all that great for this occasion.)  We used sage to clean the space and brought the energy to a beautiful gold, an energy we associate with the Christ:  We knew this would be very soft and comforting for her - AND for us.

Magic was very brave and only got upset for just a moment BEFORE the process started.  The body will always experience a little fright, but it was only a half a second or so.  Once started, she relaxed into it and it was quick and clean.  The night before, we called in all our Spirit friends to help us with this process.  One of the spirits who showed up was Michael's mom, Kei, who passed in 1996.  She LOVED Magic deeply.   It was Kei who took care of her in the ''early days" of Magic's life, when she was a kitten through her  the first four years of life with our family.  Kei appeared to me in spirit  - I felt her characteristic cool breeze first, then a soft kiss to the right side of my face confirmed Kei's identity.  Once she had my full undivided attention, she told me SHE was going to be the one who would take Magic's soul "home."  How deeply wonderful this was to me.

The doc was a beautiful woman with long, long blond hair who looked like an angel -  we found out her name was "Grace" (go figure!)   She was wonderfully kind to us and neutral yet compassionate about our sensitive emotional space and allowed us to take the time we needed before she got to "work."  Her job involved giving Magic two shots:  One to relax her and one to stop her heart permanently.  This may sound cold and clinical, and many people would NOT make this choice with their animals, and that is perfectly okay!  But this simple and quick procedure would help Magic let go of her sick, old body more easily, so we appreciated that this service was available to her (and us.) Perhaps I will discuss (at some point) more about the "pros" and "cons" of deciding on euthanasia for a companion animal.  But for the sake of today's letter, please know, Magic passed over quickly and easily and was "caught" by a loving and capable spirit (Kei, Michael's mom) the second her earthly life was finished.  She was reborn to the world of Spirit easily and with safety, grace and love.  Would that all pets would be so lucky as to pass surrounded with so much love!

Grace, the doc, left quickly after making sure Magic's heart had actually stopped, leaving us to take care of the rest.  Michael held her during the actual process, and I sat very closeby, touching and petting her as her Spirit slipped away.  After that, Michael and I took turns holding and cradling her body and letting her Spirit go - "handing" her Spirit to Kei and noticing the many spirits who were there to support Magic -- nature spirits, Native American Animal Spirits, angels and many more, as I mentioned.  It was amazing, but sad, of course, and we shed more than a few tears.

We then "packaged" her body in a beautiful flower-decorated hat box in which we included photos of her and notes of love - and a few other things.  We surrounded her in satiny pink cloth, then wrapped a pink fuzzy boa around the edges of the inside, then closed and sealed the box.  A short while later, we took her outside and buried her in a special place just past our back yard line, but still very much on our property.  We also grabbed Aiko's ashes while we were at it, to include in this burial. Aiko had joined our family in 1994, at the age of three months, just six months AFTER Magic found her way into our family though she, unfortunately, passed over naturally eight short years later (in 2002.)  I have held on to her ashes all these years  and since we moved to this house, they had been lovingly stored in the garage.  I felt that nature needed to receive them back.  When Aiko was alive, she and Magic had been great friends, so at the moment of Magic's "funeral," we decided to bury them together.  Magic was with us even before Aiko came into our lives by just a few months (in 1993) and I have been waiting for just the right time and place for Aiko's ashes, too.  This seemed perfect and fitting.

We covered the burial spot with large rocks and have a plan to sometime place a large boulder and/or a meditation bench there.  So much was happening spiritually, I can't even tell you how much love I felt -- from all in Spirit who came to witness the passing over of this "Master Cat" - and to help her to the other side, but also from all our friends and loved ones on the "other side" who came to assist.  Michael and I stopped now and then to weep, but we are okay, now.  Though please know, it is much easier to write about this, yet, than to talk about it.  My voice still gets shaky and my tears well up.  But I know from past experience that this will pass, too.  I have to say, this is the first time I was with one of my pets on their passing, and it is amazing how much better it is to "be there" than not.  It is an easier closure and we know her send-off was spectacular.  Also we know she did not suffer in the end AT ALL.

I wish to thank each and every one of you who have cared for, come to visit and just simply LOVED our beautiful little black and white tuxedo cat who was "quite the character."  She had come to love so many of you - ALL of you - over the years, please know this!  In some ways she had her friendships with many of you outside of the scope of her relationship with us, and that was really great to witness.  So if you see her in your dreams or if she comes around to say "Good-Bye" try not to be sad for she is now free and free of pain.  Also, she has firmly expressed to us that she just might want to come back "for more."  We'll see! (A Note from me, Shanti:  See below for a story about this!  R's Friend Julia L. had an amazing dream about Magic though she had not heard that Magic had died!)

We know that some of you will feel this passage with your hearts and maybe even might be tempted to get us another cat.  Please, I beg of you, do not do this.  We want to have time to go through our grieving process and to decide if and when we will start watching for Magic's return or if we are up to having another feline in our lives.  I am pretty sure we will be, but not right now.  We still have to "break the news" to Shanti who was away this week due to me having hurt my back and Michael having equally challenging health problems this week plus we didn't wish to have her present for Magic's passing (though perhaps selfish on my part, this was my preference.)  We have never quite had a week like this, believe me. I imagine on some level Shanti already knows what is happening (I discussed it with Shanti about four days ago and her whiskers went "down" for the next half hour - so I am SURE she already knows.)  However, for Shanti, we have saved the towel that Magic was wrapped in when she died to let Shanti know what happened through her sense of smell.

Thanks again for all your love and friendship and especially for loving our sweet Magic the way you did (even if it was long-distance.)  She was a great little feline and she loved you all (and us) with ALL her heart.  I know we will all miss her.  But she is happy, at peace and free, now --  so that should (hopefully) help to put us ALL at peace.

With Love,

Raphaelle (and Michael)

This is an as-yet unfinished yet beautiful drawing of Magic 

that M created in tribute to her.  This is

how she sat most of the time during her elder years.
We call it the "breadbox position."

This little sign was created by M a few years ago
for their back door where they let her out.

This was so R and M would know if Magic was outside.
M drew the wild animals in cartoon
but they actually DO live around here, so they had to be
very careful about keeping an eye on Magic
when she went outside.

M draws so well!

(R took another  break from writing this while traveling and giving the SHAPE Retreat)

(Now R is finishing this blog, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010)

Hi, It's me, Shanti, again. I hope you were as moved by this letter (above) as I was. And of course, R and M did "break" the news to me a few days later when I returned to the house.  I still didn't want to believe Magic had passed, so I pretended like she was just at the vet again.  But after a few days, I realized she wasn't going to come back to harass me ever again (I say this with a wink.)   She appeared in my dream one night -- I dreamed she was in that spot at the bottom of the stairs, then I saw her Spirit walk right through the wall, showing me that NOW she really was in spirit and no longer in her body.  I guess it was her way of saying a special good-bye to me.  This is when I got upset for a few days.  You know, we dogs do grieve in our own ways.  We don't have a funeral like elephants have been known to do or people, but we feel very sad and sometimes "act out."  That's what I did.  Each night for three nights, I went down to that spot at the bottom of the stairs where I saw her in my dream and tried to dig and dig and dig, as I was SURE she was just kidding about being "gone"  (or I wanted to convince myself she was) - I dug so much, I started to loosen the hallway berber carpet from the edge of the bottom stair. When that happened, and I saw she wasn't hiding under the carpet, I felt like crying!  


When I am upset, I have a kind of an acting-out instinctual behavior I perform (it seems I can't help myself at times like this. It is part of my evolvement process to get this under control, I suppose.)  My stomach starts to ache when I become very emotional, and I "gulp" filling my stomach with way too much air.   This time, the ache was so deep and so big that my instinct to eat grass to help relieve the pressure in my tummy was beyond my control.  


Since I wasn't outside, though, the closest thing to grass I could find were two fourteen-inch strands of the downstairs berber carpet (right where Magic and I had our last moments) that I pulled up without being caught by R.  I swallowed them down whole like spaghetti and it was very satisfying, at least at the moment I did this.  About an hour later, though I had another problem.  R explained to me later that when I eat carpet instead of grass, my body can't digest it the same way it does with grass.  Grass makes me upchuck the acid and overabundance of air in my stomach and it ALWAYS makes my body feel better.  But the thick carpet strands were being compelled by my digestive system to move through, so I ended up with a much BIGGER tummy ache for three days until both strands finally came out the other end. Sorry to be so graphic, but remember, we dogs don't get squeamish like humans do around our bodily functions.


Needless to say, there were repercussions for a few weeks afterward, since the effect of the wool carpet strands (thankfully more organic than some carpet) in my system took a few weeks to be fully cleaned out of my body. The damage I did to the carpet upset R a little bit (though I did do this before when I was a puppy, so now there are two spots in the house damaged by me.)  However, she has forgiven me fully and told me she will either have these spots repaired or fully replaced.  She said these are the challenges of animal-ownership from time to time and she knew it would not happen all the time and of course, it hasn't. Forgiveness is a wonderful key to still loving pets when they make mistakes like this, especially ones they couldn't help.  If we are trained well and loved well, this sort of thing won't tend to happen most of the time.


In spite of this, I felt kind of bad about this part (damaging the carpet) and have shown her, more recently, that I won't do any more damage.  The other thing is, when that other cat (the one I mentioned earlier, the Maine Coon cat, Eddy) came visiting after Magic died, R became a little concerned about his fearfulness around me. R ended up purchasing a "doggie gate" at the top of the stairs so I wouldn't go down and do any more harm to the carpet down there and also to keep me safe from the dramatic negative cat-behaviors performed by my newer cat-friend, Eddy.  Please know that though his behaviors were "negative" that I really did understand him and loved him all the same and tried every single day to show this to him.  I hung out very close to the doggie gate and he hung out right on the other side of it.  With the gate there, he felt safe and could show me his better side.  He and I would relax together most of the day, except for when I went out for my walks, etc.  R and M loved that kitty-boy, too, but they just didn't want him to hurt me, though I knew that would never happen because what I knew that they didn't was that this elder kitty was mostly a lot of bluster and only a little real action (though he was a great actor as he really made his scariness seem real, LOL.)  Maybe R can get a photo of him in his new home so you can see what he looks like.  He is the cat of R and M's new assistant, Alexes M.  She lived here a few weeks as she made her move from Chicago and finally found a home to live in here in beautiful Mt. Shasta.

More About Magic

Ah, but I digress a little.  I wanted to talk about what else happened in relationship to Magic and so much more.  


The day after Magic died, R and M woke up in the morning, understandably sad and understandably missing her terribly.  I still wasn't home, yet, but I heard the following story after-the-fact.  While R was getting ready for her day, she remembered something:  Suddenly, a memory from when Magic was eleven years old came up.  In that memory "picture" R had eleven-year-old Magic on her lap, petting her lovingly.  While she was doing this, R had a vision:  In the vision, she saw, suddenly, that when it was Magic's time to die, that R's mom would die very soon after.  It was a quick vision, but one that R made sure to remember as it seemed like an important message from Spirit.  


Sometimes Spirit will give a vision, dream or message in order to prepare humans for what is to come, so the experience is not too shocking when it does happen. We animals are much more instinctual in this area, but we have some ability in this area as well.  Magic did, that's for sure!


 Because R has had many visions and dreams since she was a child that have come true, she has come to trust these messages and have learned to discern when action is necessary (as in a warning vision or dream) or understanding it is being given as an "FYI" or "need to know" basis from Spirit for the highest level of your path and learning.


This doesn't always happen before something that is sad or dramatic happens, of course,  but there ARE times that Spirit will show what is to come so that a person can either mitigate it (take a different direction, make different decisions about a certain situation) and it doesn't have to happen at all, OR as in the case of Magic as well as R's mom, so that R would be more prepared for a time that might be very sad and it wouldn't come as quite as big a surprise or shock. Preparation for certain life experiences that are inevitable is an excellent way our guidance helps us to get through our lives with some semblance of gentleness understanding and healing during certain circumstances.  R's ability to see visions has always been so strong that she finally pursued a path of an education in this area of her abilities by finding a psychic school in the early 1980s.  Her career is completely around helping people and also teaching people how to get in touch with their own answers and psychic abilities as well.


That is why she calls herself "psychic" she had extensive psychic and spiritual healing training.  Psychic means "of the soul" -- so it really means that anyone who is intuitively aware they are more than just a body -- rather they are a SOUL having a bodily experience.  When one becomes aware of this,  then the quality of how one experiences a life is racheted up quite a few notches and the soul begins to evolve much faster. Everyone carries inside of themselves some extraordinary abilities - but at this time in history not so many access this part of their inner being.  R was lucky in that her guidance started working with her through her dreams when she was only five years old (that seems old to me, but apparently with humans five years is still practically a baby.)  She had her very first profound dream, then,  that showed what her future life (the life she is now living as a spiritual teacher) looked like, as well as some other information, such as who she had Karma (unfinished cycles) with in her family and the fact that she had lived before (and would live again.)  When she had that first dream as a five-year-old, it was actually like a memory of what she already knew.  Also, at the end of that dream, when she woke up, she actually experienced being a full-gorwn adult, even though her body was still a blond-haired blue-eyed little girl.  She also innately knew not to tell her parents what she knew, as she somehow understood that they (her parents) would not understand.  It was a pretty wise decision for such a small child.


On that morning after Magic's passing, R was remembering this vision from five years earlier.  It's amazing how the memory works, both in humans and us animals, too.  We animals tend to be much more in the present, but we have our own version of visions, too.  It's simpler and some humans have labelled most of it as "instinct."  Most of it is "instinct" or genetic programming from an animal's forebearer's experiences for survival.  However, now and then we get visions, too.  We notice them but we don't obsess about them the way humans can and do at times.  As it is, when R had that vision, she decided to remember it but still filed it away until it "popped up" again that sad morning after Magic's passing.  


Please know, R has a lot of certainty around her visions and they come true most of the time (except for the times that are very negative yet they give her a chance to change a possible future outcome that she might not like.)  R has the good sense to know that she will probably outlive her animals, so a "fact" seen ahead of time about her pet's passing isn't something that is so disturbing to her (though of course it is always a sad thing to think about, even for a moment) it is just a practical fact that, in this case, Spirit wanted her to make a note of.  If, say, that vision included Magic being run over by a car or something, then R might have taken gentle (not hysterical) steps to assure that was much less likely to happen. As it was for Magic, though, she was extremely "street smart" and never even came close to ever being run over by a car, thankfully. 


When R remembered that vision of her own mother passing "right after Magic," she proceeded to tell both M and her last assistant, who still worked for her at that time, Sylvia. (Sylvia turned her job over to Alexes just after R's mom died.)   R reiterated the memory of her vision from when Magic was eleven and warned both of them that it was possible that she (R) might have to either go to Ohio (where her mom lived) or to a funeral in Detroit, where she, R's mom, had asked to be buried with her husband (and R's dad.)


That evening, R did receive "the phone call":  Her sister, Eileen, called to say that mom's longtime (27 months) nursing home stay was starting to come to a close.  She had started her death process and was fairly quickly moved to hospice, according to her (Martha's) wishes.  


R had visited Martha, her mom, just a few weeks earlier and she (R) had another vision at the end of that visit:  That this was the very last time she would see her own mom alive.  She also saw that she would not be present for Martha's passing.  So she said her very upfront goodbyes to her mom and told her mom that it was okay for her to "go" even if she (R) could not come to her bedside at the last moments.  R explained to her that to travel to Ohio it would take several days (because our family lives up in the mountains and setting up a plane trip to somewhere is a two-day process for them.) She gave her mom this important permission to "go" if the time came and R couldn't come.  


Her mom didn't want to hear this at first, but R gently asked her to look in her eyes and make the promise that when it was her time that she not wait for R.  Once they locked eyes and that special mother-daughter love was exchanged for a moment, her mom agreed. They kissed goodbye and R promised her that she would still always be in contact whether she had a body or not (a cool and unusual aspect of her relationship with everyone around her.) Her mom's body was old and worn out and the Spirit, Martha, was ready for her next step and R knew that.  Permission to "go" is sometimes the best thing you can give an elder who is done with his or her life.  Sometimes the best thing humans can do for one another is to recognize when a Spirit has fulfilled his or her life - or at least recognize their body is just not suitable for their growth any more and that giving gentle permission "to go" in a most loving way to help them out.  Once the person has died, this action, giving permission, is deeply appreciated by the one who has transitioned.


We domestic dogs are so much simpler in this way in that most of us do not live with our mothers or fathers after we are puppies, though, of course, some of us do.  When we come to a new home, we go through our loss and grieving process of letting go of our parent or parents when we are puppies, but we mostly don't remember it by the time we are nearly grown up, much like how most humans don't remember their infancy and/or early childhood. It is a necessary part of our growing-up process.


 I am aware that some humans DO remember their infancy, too, but it is kind of rare from what I hear.  We dogs love our mothers dearly AND our litter mates, too (I had four -- three females and a male) -- but innately, we know it is in the natural order of things (in the wild and domestically speaking) for us to be on "our own" away from our birth-families.  There is always a soft, trace background of remembrance in the minds of your pets for that early time in their lives but they should never be worried about.  At least that is how I experience it. It is a part of who I am, just as your birth-families are a part of who you are as humans.  


To continue the story of R's mom's passing, Martha died on June 29th just after midnight, Miamisburg, Ohio time just a short week after Magic.  Martha was attended by R's sister, Eileen and her husband, Ed Stevens.  This was actually very fortunate circumstance not only for her mom, but for both Eileen and Ed, especially for Ed.

I heard from R that for several years, Ed and Eileen had very frequently travelled from their home (in Chicago, IL) to Ohio, where Martha lived and then to Michigan, where Ed's dad lived, also in the "hospice" stages of care, but experiencing his last days in his own home. Just weeks after Martha died, Ed's dad, Clay Stevens, also transitioned. Spirit arranges things like this at times. R mentioned that Ed told her he had once before witnessed the extraordinary transition to the other side of a beloved Great Grandmother when he was quite young, which gave him the gift of preparing for what happens, especially spiritually, when one passes.  However, had he not recently gone through the very human and organic aspects of the transition experience with Martha's passing, he would not have learned about how to manage what the the body goes through in its final hours when his own father died. R said that when Martha passed, she had 24-hour full time hospice care, so the hospice nurse was on one side of her handling her every physical need, while Ed supported Eileen (and from what I heard, R also did her best to support both of them  whenever possible, by phone) as they helped Martha, on every level, take her next step. 

So, in his father's case, Ed and his family were responsible for his father's physical needs as well as the spiritual support he needed, all without any professional support as his father passed away at home with loved ones nearby. Since Ed had so recently gone through his experience with Martha's death, he was much more prepared for the intensity of his own father's physical needs as he passed. Ed was ready for the spiritual steps his dad was taking, but the body demands were high.  Yet through his experience with Martha, Ed was given the gift of understanding the steps of the body shutting down, preparing him to lead his own family down the same path, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Without that gift, Clay's passing could have been a traumatic experience for all. Instead, Eileen and Ed both had an amazing experience with each parent's passing.

Humans are more complicated than animals when it comes to death, but in the lives of those who live and love us animals, sometimes the experience can be the same, at least to the humans.  As we animals evolve, we, too, are becoming more mindful about how the death process affects those humans who love us and we are learning to work with you as much as can when our time comes.

 It is never easy losing such beloved and major people in their lives, but they also know, as I do, that a person's (or animal's) time to "go" is almost always predestined, based on the free will of the soul of the person (or animal.)  This is often true of accidental or other types of death.  Ultimately the person (the SOUL of the person, not the body) has the final say-so, even if the way a person chooses to die isn't something their close loved ones are exactly pleased with.  Everyone involved always has lessons to learn and forgiveness to practice.  If it was something other than a natural death, the wheels of Karma (and human law, as the case may be) always take care of things when one free will is imposed uninvited on another.


Which leads me back to the way Magic passed.  As a soul, she already arranged the seventeen years to live with, teach, learn and experience living with me and also with our humans, R and M.  In some deep place she also knew that she would end up being "helped" by R and M to the other side, though that isn't necessarily their favorite way of going about things.  In my first lifetime with R, I didn't live with her the last two years of my life.  I lived with her former husband and his present (at the time) wife.  I had some type of sudden brain problem and suffered from a seizure that was scary and painful and basically paralyzed me.  In order to not prolong my suffering, an agreement was made to put me down via euthanasia in that life (I was named "Raya" then.)  I was fourteen and lived seven plus year longer than the docs said I would, so I was okay with that. I will talk more deeply about my passing as Raya at another time.  As a soul I was very happy to be helped over as Magic was this time, since I was finished with that life.  I hope, however I "go" when THIS life as Shanti is done, that it will be peaceful and loving (and I do hope M and R are with me this time, since I died last time when they were traveling. But if it happens a different way, in the overall picture, that is okay with me, too.)


I hope I haven't gone off on a tangent too far with talking round and round about all that has gone on recently.  I know how painful it is to lose a doggie friend, and how excruciating it can be for the humans who love us.  It is a lesson we pet animals have to learn, too.  Sometimes we can't "move on" when humans are grieving too much for us, though some grieving is normal.  Grief, when not healed and let go, ends up holding the soul being grieved for (human OR animal) back and keeps us in a pretty heavy place.  R had a very difficult time when I died (as Aiko) so much so that it took a good six weeks (and my appearance in her dreams) for her to start to live life happily again.  Because of this, we pet souls who are starting to evolve more are "requesting" to come back to the same humans we lived with before just to show them we are okay and to have more FUN with them, too!  


Sometimes we are granted this wish, sometimes not.  One of the rules of thumb:  The more you can let us go when we die, the sooner we can "move on" as souls -- and the sooner we can reincarnate and possibly come back to you if it is in the best interest of both the human and animal soul.  And of course, some animals don't reincarnate the way humans do, since humans are highly individualized souls.  In our phase of evolvement, we are mostly part of a "group soul" - and in general, most pet animals return to that "group soul" when we pass, only to merge back with the rest of the soul of "dog" or "cat" etc. when we die.  But then, there are some of us (pets) who have had such incredible growth opportunities in our lifetimes, that we begin to move beyond the soul-group consciousness to more individual consciousness, not unlike what many of you have gone through millions of years ago.  


As I have said previously, as the Earth Changes and larger cycles are happening (finishing and starting anew) all the kingdoms of the world are evolving, not just the human kingdom.  Included are:  Human Beings, the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, mineral kingdom and of course the Earth herself. It could even go beyond this planet, but that is not in my area of expertise as a doggie soul.  Suffice it to say that as humans become more enhanced beings, so, too, do the rest of which resides on this planet, including us humble pet animals. So if you have had a dog or beloved cat die, his or her soul may or may not hang around for a while to make sure you are okay before they move on, then they may decide to "rest" for a while and NOT incarnate (IF they are an individualized animal soul) but eventually, they always come back, and usually it is to the situation, animals and people that will best suit that soul in spiritual growth, which is the same way humans reincarnate, too. That means it could be you OR it could be someone else.  Sometimes we animals souls, when on the "other side" will help you find a NEW pet to replace us and then we stick around for a little while to help you "train" the new animal.  Now that's kind of fun.


I have heard some of you are actually aware that your same pet-soul friends have returned to you, and some even more than one time, like me!  It's an honor for us to be able to be with you more than once, but also, sometimes we need to move on to a more advanced lesson than working with you at some point.  This is not any kind of insult, either.  Sometimes pet animals will work with more spiritually aware people for a few lifetimes so they (the pets) can get ready to reincarnate into a life of full service:  Like being a service dog for the physically challenged or to be in a family to protect an abused child (these can be hard-working lifetimes.)  Remember, a lot of us dogs worked our way into human hearts by finding ways to help out - on farms or out in the fields.  We Great Pyrenees have a history of helping sheep herders with guarding their sheep.  Often we worked in threes and fours to keep the wolves and thieves away, but early on, we were more like the other wild animals, taking what we wanted when we needed it.  Learning this (working with sheep herders, for example) was partially motivated by the survival instinct ("belonging" to a human usually ensures we had enough to eat in the far distant old days) but as we became closer with humans over the millenia, we learned to serve them in many other ways besides in farming, herding and guarding.  We bond very closely with our humans (at least most of us do) and we are motivated more, now, by the love in our hearts for you than we are by mere survival.  See how this works with evolvement?  


Anyhow, I wanted to share one more Magic story:  The weekend following Magic's passing when R and M had to go give a seminar in Novato, CA came very quickly for them.  One of their students, Julia Lord, came in and said to R (before they had a chance to chat about anything):  "Hey, I had a dream about Magic!  She said to me, "Tell M and R I will be coming back to them!"  


R immediately asked Julia, "Had you already heard that Magic died?"


"No, " Julia said, looking shocked "I was wondering why she would give me such a message, especially since I have never met her "in person."


This brought a tear to R's eye, that Magic would find a way to get a human-to-human message to her in this way.  That is certainly how capable Magic was (is).  She was a strong "astral being" even while alive, even to the point of appearing and disappearing physically even when her body (when she was still alive) was snoozing somewhere away from where she was appearing. Even non-psychic people at our house would see this phenomena with Magic happen. 

Beth Beurkens' 

Chelsea

I also want to share a thing or two about my beloved doggie friend, Chelsea, who passed away recently.  It has been such a whirlwind of changes, I can't even tell you at this moment just exactly when Chelsea passed.  Her human companion, "Beth" said it was okay if I talked about the two of them.


I met Chelsea for the very first time the second year we lived in Mt. Shasta.  It was at a place called "Pages" a sort of "UPS Store" type of place.  We did not get to sniff each other as Chelsea was having a bit of a rambunctious day, but we locked eyes and recognized each other as old "soul friends."


Over the next few years, when R was taking a womens' writing class from talented writer and professor, Beth Beurkens, sometimes R would bring me to class to give M some time alone up at the house.  A few of those times, much to my delight, Beth brought Chelsea.  We both sat diligently, by each of our human companions' sides, staring at each other (or so it appeared to our humans.)  We were actually communicating, telepathically, doggie style.  First we showed each other where we lived  using "pictures" then we each bragged about how wonderful our humans were - and also how silly they can be sometimes (you wouldn't believe how much we dogs chat about you!  But don't be spooked by this, it is usually a contest of "who has the best human!"  or in worse case scenarios, "who has the worst human" or "who has the very hardest job to do for a human.") Of course, we have the BEST humans, but since I really love her human, Beth, there wasn't even a contest.  We were just joking around and having fun.  


Okay, so maybe this is too much information, sorry if it was.  Anyway, Chelsea and I agreed we wanted to be friends, even though both our humans didn't give us a chance to make contact "doggie style" at the place where the writing class took place.  I feel this was probably because we were poised and ready to have a good, rioteous romp which might have been too rough for the delicate building we were in.


Finally, though, Chelsea and I got to meet at our house, a much better place!  In fact, Beth brought her for several writing classes here as well as for a holiday dinner (last Thanksgiving.)  We finally DID get to romp as hard as we wanted to after Thanksgiving Dinner, which truly surprised Beth, since apparently Chelsea was not feeling so well.  We ran up and down the hallway and played until we were both almost breathless. But this didn't happen until Beth, M and I gave Chelsea a healing, after dinner while R was doing the clean-up detail in the kitchen.


I am so glad we got to fulfill both our wishes to play together, since we never really got to get together this way, over these years.  The circumstances just didn't come together for us any sooner, but I was glad we were able to make it happen.


About a year later (a little over a month ago) Chelsea passed away.  As I heard it, she collapsed in Beth's living room, and of course, Beth ran her right to the vet's in Medford where they live now.  While waiting for an examination (or prognosis) Chelsea died at Beth's feet at the vet's office.  As you can imagine, this was very devastating for Beth as it would be for my human or any other.  If you have ever lost a pet, you understand this well.  Beth is a very spiritually advanced soul as was her beautiful Chelsea, but our human companions are also so very human and when a special connection like that is suddenly severed, it can be quite a process to heal it.  In fact, the reason why I have created this blog with R is so that we can help heal both new and old "wounds" and pains around loss or death of pets. R and I are both healers and since I was Aiko, we have both seen the need to communicate and hopefully heal some of the grief associated with the losing or death of a pet.  Together, pets and humans help each other grow spiritually, so the healing part allows us to continue in our lives (and maybe even get another companion animal with a new awareness intact) and also to help the animal soul who has passed over, be able to process through much more easily, too. 


At any rate, this was the perfect way for Chelsea to "leave" since it was "her time," -- honoring Beth with her last moments and breath together and "going naturally" which they both preferred.   I see Chelsea in my dreams, at times, too, and mostly she is with Beth these days and is also looking at what she will do next.  Chelsea was very energetic right up to her very last day, so her Spirit is quite strong and she will surely do something important (with Beth for sure) - and soon.    I loved my beautiful "girl friend" Chelsea and I miss her with all my heart, just like I do Magic, since she was such a sweet and wonderful friend to me. But I also know BOTH their spirits are safe and well. My main message is:  Yes, we pets live on!  Yes, there is a "rainbow bridge" that is the route the animals take to their "real" heavenly home.  Yes, we do reincarnate, if our souls have advanced enough in the same way as humans.  I will try, now,  to be LOVE for both Beth and Chelsea in hopes that will help create a speedy healing on "both sides of the fence."  Now, here are some beautiful photos of Chelsea and Beth that R took  when they were on a "boat cruise on the lake" writing class:

My sweet friends,  "Chelsea" and Beth Beurkens,

photo taken approx. four and a half years ago

Here's another one!

My beautiful friend, smiling, happy friend Chelsea, now in the world of Spirit

I'll miss you my dear girl-friend!

How I (Shanti) Am Now

It's funny that it has taken me months to get this communication to you, as I have thought about it SO much over these past months.  It is now November, FIVE MONTHS since Magic's passing.  I do seem to be healing, though for a time, life just wasn't the same.  I guess my upset caused me a little "health issue" but R and M helped me to get it taken care of.  I did well in the surgery - the vet took a small tumor off one of my mammary glands.  I was lucky because I managed to get the best surgeon in town.  I felt great the week I had the surgery and could even jump in the car right afterwards.  I just couldn't bark very well for a few days (since I used muscles that seemed to criss-cross with the surgery scar.)  I have a great prognosis, and it is my hope to stay a long LONG time to love my human family and ALSO to tell you about my many wonderful doggie-life lessons. 

The incision is now fully healed and I am now looking forward to sharing birthdays with R next week.  I was born two days after she was -- oh, let me correct this.  I was born 50 years and two days after R was.  Her birthday is Nov. 17 and mine is Nov. 19.  I will be eight years old.  You can figure the math for her age.  She's VERY old from my perspective, but remember, I'm a dog, and our life spans are much shorter than humans.  She tells me she doesn't feel a day over 38 most of the time, but I know she feels at least 50 sometimes because she tells me so.  It's funny because now I am in my doggie "middle ages" so it is almost like I have caught up with her in "age."  It's all in how you look at it.   I have been slowing down a little with my energy, but I can still run like the wind when I am at the farm and now and then perform my highly impressive, and to humans, very powerful, "joy runs" around the house.  I look like a "blur" to them as I run as fast as I can to and fro in the house and also as I make happy growling sounds that are my joy sounds.  I am told this sounds a little scary to human ears- at least it does to those who have never experienced this form of my expression of love, enthusiasm and joy from a dog before. But of course it is NOT scary at all, I am expressing the fullest joy I can with the vocal chords I was given at birth.

More news:  Very recently I have had some fun visitors.  The day before yesterday, it was my human friend "Oxana" who is a student of M and R's.  She is a doctor who was born in Siberia, but now lives in Hawaii.  I have never been to either place, but they sound quite exotic!  She came to the house just to visit me for a half an hour (and to chat with M and R for a few minutes.)  She petted my soft fur and I turned myself upside down and offered my bare belly for her to rub -- I LOVE belly rubs!  I live for them, it feels sooo great!  She laughed and giggled when I did this, so I accomplished my goal:  I made her happier plus I got a sweet belly rub!  Also yesterday, a workman who came to the house to fix the garage door brought his almost nine-year-old son.  The boy lit up when he saw me, even though from in the house, I was having fun saying hello to the two of them by barking and barking at the front window. R finally came out from her office, leashed me up and took me out to be with the boy.  He let me lean really hard on him, though I almost knocked him over the first time I tried.  I heard R telling him to put his feet firmly on the ground, and the human boy replied that he was taught how to do this when playing football.  Once he got his "grounding" I could lean as hard as I could and he held me up easily.   He was a sweet boy and I hope we get to see him again sometime.

As you see, my life has gone on.  I still dearly miss Magic - and Chelsea, but my grieving process is pretty much finished, after all, I LOVE having fun and being happy every day, and being in "present time" is one thing we dogs do SO well. I am hoping that if Magic is to come back, that she comes before I have to transition back to Spirit myself.  We'll see.  R tells me that she and M are taking a bit of a break from having a cat -- to help heal R's mild cat allergies, but also to give Magic the "time" she needs to come back if she really ends up managing to create this.  I feel this is very possible.  On about the fourth day after Magic died, R an M's gardner saw a tiny black kitten come out of the woods into our back yard.  The kitten ran away never to be seen again, but R took this as a sign that she really was going to try to come back (Magic was black and white.)  I'll let you know if anything progresses in this regard.  I will try not to take so long to write in this blog next time, sorry you had to wait!  My writing partner, R, has been so busy, and as you see this was created in three long installments over this five months.  Please, I would love to hear what you think of my blog or if you have a question to ask me.  Scroll below for instructions on how to do that.

One last thing:  I would love to wish you all a very happy THANKSGIVING.  I will see if I can write a "gratitude"-themed blog, since that is one of my favorite things, to be grateful for all the wonder and MIRACLES of my life.  Take care and stay in touch if you feel like it!

With All My Love,

SHANTI

(Via Raphaelle Tamura)

A good but final photo of Magic

and Me.  XOXO