Animal Healing Article
An Introduction To Shamanic Healing For Animals
by Nancie LaPier
Shaman, a Tungus (Siberian) word,
meaning "to heat", refers collectively to those indigenous
tribal members who responsibility for their tribe centered
on healing through spiritual means. These individuals were
our first philosophers, prophets, priests, mystics,
counselors, psychologists and doctors.
Through ceremony and prayer ritual,
the shaman explored exalted states of consciousness and
their ecstatic spiritual experiences were responsible for
bringing forth the information and methods, which ultimately
evolved, into our current religions and medical practices.
The shamanic perspective is that
everything on earth - from the trees, grasses & waters, to
her creatures and human beings - is alive and has a spirit.
No human being is viewed as loftier on any hierarchical
scale; rather every spirit manifesting in physical form is
viewed as being an aspect of God, or the one Great Spirit.
All beings are seen as relatives
and each spirit is accorded honor and respect for it's
special gifts, or "medicine". It is this humble, devotional
perspective which sets up harmonious relationships and
reciprocity between the species, and develops a
compassionate heart for the "people". And it is the
compassionate heart that compels a shaman to explore the
spiritual realms in order to bring help to their brothers
and sisters, whether human, animal or elemental, and
provides the shaman with their access to power.
All powers of the shaman belong to
the Creator alone and are drawn through the compassionate
heart by the beings(s) in need, for whom that grace is
intended.
A shaman understands that the heart is the gateway to the
spiritual realms and the purpose and function of their
spiritual disciplines is to develop an open heart. True
shamans can be recognized by their refusal to lay claim to
any personal power to heal, and will dedicate their lives to
doing whatever is necessary to become a clear vehicle
through which miracles can be made manifest. They have been
referred to as "the tender-hearted ones", "those who walk
between the worlds", bodhisattvas, yogis and saints and can
be recognized within virtually every organized religion of
the world.
A shaman's primary relationship in life is with Spirit;
their primary focus when considering suffering of any type
is the spiritual nature of the disorder and how that
correlates to whole health and well-being. Spiritual
diagnosis results in recommending "treatments" that may
address any one or combination of the four levels of the
body, i.e., physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, and
can range from the very practical to extremely "out-of
-the-ordinary".
All are aimed at returning a being
to balance and harmony by providing opportunities for a
fully-spirited life.
Animal beings tend to respond more
quickly and completely to shamanic healing techniques than
humans because they have not been subject to our mental
educational focus and the associative mental contortions and
manipulations of our society.
Four classic shamanic techniques are employed to diagnose
the spiritual body and return it to harmony, often resulting
in healing at the physical level. These are the arts of
divination, extraction healing, soul retrieval and
psychopomp (soul
piloting).
Shamanic Divination is "seeing, feeling, hearing and
speaking: to the spirits and includes, among other
divination practices, direct communication with animals.
Shamanic Extraction healing involves the removal of
inappropriate, intrusive energies from the spiritual body
which are seen to be the root cause of physical illness,
while ...
Shamanic Soul retrieval
is the returning of beneficial energies to the
spiritual body which have fragmented and broken away due to
life's various traumas.
Psychopomp,
meaning "conductor of the soul", applies to those practices
in which a shaman engages in order to help guide the souls
of those passing over or who have already passes and are
still in need of resolution on the earth plane.
Over 50% of the clients I see in my
shamanic healing practice are animals.
Cases span the gamut from mundane
to "bizarre"; they range from issues of behavior, physical
ailments and lost animals to animal spirit hauntings and
even possession.
I have performed many extractions and soul retrievals for
cats around the issue of declawing; there isn't a cat I've
met yet who has been declawed and who has not named that
procedure as an issue of concern and pain for them. Many
have shown me that when humans undertake this procedure, we
inadvertently wound their spirits by taking away an ability
essential to their sense of power and self-esteem. In these
cases, the extraction involves the removal of their
emotional pain and perhaps, the memory of the physical pain
involved, while a soul retrieval may be necessary in order
to return that part of the spiritual essence, which is
necessary to a cat's "catness". (Same-same for a dog's ears
and tails!)
Simba, a Doberman, was a willful, out-of-control puppy. A
vet and the breeder were in agreement that he would develop
severe aggression and advised euthanasia as the solution.
However, pairing spiritual diagnosis with an animal
communication session clearly revealed something akin to the
Attention Deficit Disorder we often diagnose in humans. I
decided to try an herbal formula, which is equivalent to the
pharmaceutical, Ritalin, and within two weeks saw a
remarkable improvement. Simba is nearly 8 years old now, and
he is still willful, but he is very connected to humans,
well-socialized and is affectionately referred to as "Licky
Boy" by my young niece. When another issue of aggressive
behavior with a vicious Chihuahua presented, the spirits
recommended a neurolinguistic re-programming method, doggy
style - to entice the pup to rotate his eyes in a particular
direction through the use of a "roving" treat.
I have been fortunate enough to pick up a number of
misdiagnoses with animals, and in at least two instances was
able to prevent inappropriate surgical procedures. Once was
a misdiagnosis of hip displasia, which was really a torn
crusciate ligament. Laughably, the other was a misdiagnosis
of torn crusciate ligament, which in fact was a genetic
arthritic condition of the spine. The process of
Divining has also helped me to point human clients in the
right direction when trying to diagnose disorders that are
not apparent.
And, while shamanic techniques are not always an exact
science, neither, apparently, is allopathic medicine.
Soul retrievals can be very helpful in situations of abuse,
abandonment, surgical trauma, accidents and separation
traumas, and a shamanic practitioner can often find herself
involved in a sort-of spiritual midwifery. Of interest was a
very special rescue cat who was traumatized by terror, but
surprised us with an immediate and complete turn-around when
we honored his request to rename his new "fully-spirited"
self, Jupiter. He is only one of several who have benefited
from the vibrational shift that occurs with a name chosen to
honor their true spirit.
A combination depossession/soul retrieval resulted in the
joyful reunion of two sibling cats, whose bonded
relationship with one another was nearly destroyed when both
were attacked by a feral feline while enjoying a peaceful
slumber together in the sun. The siblings became violent to
one another after the attack, were physically separated and,
at the advice of their vet, were being prepared to go to
different homes, when I received a call from their caretaker
who was "willing to try anything".
To me, there is no more sacred or
worthy service that we can offer any being than to be fully
present with our assistance as they are making their final
transition from this life to the next. Engaging with an
animal and their human companions to help with choices in
the deathing process has proved to be an awesome privilege
filled with enormous grace.
I recently came in at the tail-end of a one-year old Blue &
Gold macaw's fight with a fatal disease known as Macaw's
Wasting Disease.
This fighting spirit kept surprising everyone by making
continual comebacks from his illness which earned him the
name Otis, though I renamed him Magic at his request. During
one of his more serious bouts of attack, I offered to help
his person out by delivering him to the vet for his
appointment.
On the drive, I explained to Magic
that we humans were limited in our knowledge of how to help
him at the physical level, and that his visit to the vet
would involve some pretty invasive explorations of his body
to that end, I wanted to give him an opportunity to make his
own choices and let him know that he could "leave the body"
whenever he decided it was appropriate for him. He died with
great dignity one-half hour after I dropped him off, before
the scheduled procedure. Before I received word of it, Magic
visited me in spirit at the time of his passing. Just before
falling off to sleep, I saw him hovering above me, wings
fully outstretched. The following morning I journeyed to
Magic to ensure that he had made a clean transition. To my
complete and unexpected surprise, when Magic appeared to me,
he brought along Sam, a Scarlet Macaw, to greet me. I had
worked with Sam several years before, when he had lead
poisoning, but to my knowledge he had recovered and was
still alive. It was later confirmed that Sam had indeed
passed over, and even more astonishing, that both Sam and
Magic's human companions were one-time business partners and
friends.
Nothing I've yet experienced compares to the generosity of
Mimi, a yellow lab/shepherd cross. Together with her human
companions, I sat vigil with her for nearly two days while
she communicated the details of each stage of her dying
process, expressing her needs, asking questions and offering
her wisdom and parting sentiments. Before she passed, Mimi
`s most urgent need was to engage me as an intercessor so
that she and her loved ones might learn and practice
spirit-to-spirit communication together in order to remain
connected and to continue their relationship after she had
moved on.
Imagine my overwhelm at witnessing the parting dance of
Echo, a magnificent white Arabian, who performed an "honoring
dance" on the astral plane to thank me just before crossing
the rainbow bridge. Or the final blessing of a Great Blue
Heron as he directly transmitted his "birdness", passing on
to me the kinesthetic sense of the greatest freedom (not to
mention lung capacity!) I have ever known. The experience
took my breath away. They all do. But at the same time, it
leaves you fuller with the grace and wisdom that is
necessary to heal through the grieving.
All healing modalities (and
religions) emerged through the practice of shamanism. When
approaching healing from the shamanic perspective, we are
accessing the tree of the knowledge, rather than a branch
from the tree of knowledge. It is important to understand
that each and every being is an individual spirit with a
unique set of mental, emotional and spiritual circumstances,
and resolutions to each vary dramatically from animal to
animal or from person to person.
As "spiritual specialists" shamans understand that the
spiritual/physical body relationship is essential to optimum
health. Shamanism does not take the place of traditional
veterinary or medical care. We must certainly address
body-oriented disorders through the use of allopathic
specialists. However, many conditions are not physiological
in origin, and it is my belief that animals and humans alike
would be best served with an alternative compliment.
Shamanic practices enhance traditional care, support
recovery and do not negatively affect any treatment or
procedure.
Healing is not always curing, but the practice of shamanism
helps us all to rest peacefully in our processes and to
access the knowing that no matter what, all is well.
© Nancie LaPier 2005
Nancie
LaPier maintains a private practice at The Center
Pole in East Haddam. Dedicated to serving the spiritual needs
of both individuals and animals, she facilitates workshops
in the Shamanic Arts. She was a participating editor and
featured in the newly released publication, Animal Voices,
by Dawn Brunke, and is the Proprietor of The Bird Drop Inn,
providing boarding services for exotic parrots and education
on their care. Visit her website at
http://www.nancielapier.com
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