animal spirit guides

Book Review & Giveaway! Saving Simon: How a Rescue Donkey Taught Me the Meaning of Compassion.

Posted by Barbara Techel

simon bookAs many of you likely know, Jon Katz is my all-time favorite author. Whenever he announces he is working on a new book, I find myself on the edge of my sofa, eagerly waiting to curl up with a new book of his.

I have to say that I felt an extra bit of eager anticipation waiting for Saving Simon, as I’ve come to love and understand donkeys more because of Jon writing about them on his blog for many years.

I want to begin with my favorite passage from Saving Simon:

“When an animal guides you, emotionally and spiritually, it is not an obvious thing. Rather, they open doors indirectly, and then a domino effect sets in. They open up one part, and then that experience opens up another.”

As someone whose life has been positively changed for the better and enriched in ways I never saw coming because of caring for a dachshund that was paralyzed, I can closely relate to how the experience opens many facets of deepening in our understanding of love and compassion.

It was difficult to begin the story and read of the conditions in which Simon lived, so close to death when he was found and Jon, and his wife, Maria brought him to their farm. It brought me to tears and I had to set the book down for a moment.

But Simon was now in a place where he could heal and begin to live again. And in the process, as animals often do, they heal the humans around them, oftentimes without us even suspecting what is happening to us.

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Another passage from the book that touched me was this one:

And again, there was Simon’s spirit in my head. I can’t speak for what’s inside of his genial consciousness, but I can speak to what was inside of mine. From the first, I was struck by what I saw as the great trait of acceptance in Simon. People always spoke of him as being abused, rescued or neglected, but I saw no sign that Simon thought of himself in that way. Simon immediately got down to the basics of life—eating, walking, pursuing the girls, getting his ration of carrots and apples, getting brushed and fussed over.

This is what I’ve come to love deeply about animals. Their adversity to getting on with life despite what they’ve been through. Their ability to love again also speaks volumes.

Jon beautifully shares how Simon opened up a new world for him of understanding compassion in a way I’ve thought the same way in caring for special needs dogs.

He describes Simon as a magical helper, a spirit guide to help him on his hero journey. His helper appeared in the form of a donkey. Who’d of thunk, right?

But I believe our animal friends are calling out to us to be open to these important lessons to help heal our planet. Simon was just what Jon’s heart needed in opening to a new way of understanding. And when we open our hearts, we also open ourselves more deeply to understanding our fellow humankind.

Jon’s honesty in sharing how he wished to understand the farmer that had Simon before him, I found, to be extraordinary. In one aspect he wanted the farmer, who was so far down into despair after all he endured the past years of hardship, to snap out of it, he realized the farmer was beyond reach.

If we don’t feel for the human being who is so far into this dark place, how can we care for, and be open to the animals and planet around us?

To feel compassion for all living beings is what helps each of us to heal, just as Jon so beautifully shares through his story of Simon.

Simon, as I believe all animals are, are the definition of compassion. To now know Simon through the written word of Jon has opened another part in me that I welcome and am forever changed for the experience. Thank you, Simon….and Jon.

GIVEAWAY!  Leave a comment below by midnight cst, Oct. 22nd to be eligible for a copy of Saving Simon that I will be giving away. I will be using random.org to pick the winner and will announce on my blog on Thursday, Oct. 23rd (US residents only).

The Animals are Talking!

Posted by Barbara Techel

blue-jayI’ve made more of a conscious decision to pay attention to the messages from all the animals in our world. Though I really believe dog is one of my spirit animals, I also believe all animals have much to teach me.

As I’m opening myself more to this I think I should perhaps change my website/blog name from Joyful Paws to Joyful Paws wings, hooves, etc. GRIN.

The more I understand and read about how animals try to get messages to us, the more I smile in complete wonder. You don’t have to live in a place full of animals around you to pay attention to their messages for you. They can come to you in images you see on TV or in a magazine or book, something you’ve heard, or an animal that appears before you.

Yesterday I posted on my Facebook page an image of Owl and Butterfly together that touched me. In learning to understand all their messages, I  turn to “The Animal Wisdom Tarot” cards by Dawn Brunke and Dr. Steven Farmer’s book, “Animal Spirit Guides.”

When I read about each animal I read and listen carefully to what resonates with me and find my lesson in their offering.

So this morning as I was doing my yoga practice, a bluejay landed in the tree outside my window. I’ve not seen a bluejay in a long, long time. He flitted back and forth for a time being and then flew off.

I smiled and could hardly wait to get done with my practice to hear what message he had for me.

As I picked up Dr. Steven Farmer’s book and began to read, I got tears in my eyes from these thoughts from Bluejay that feel right for me right now:

Rather than just dabbling in the spiritual/metaphysical realm, choose a path to explore and go as far as you can with it.

Whatever the situation that has triggered some fear, attack it boldly and courageously.

You’re feeling threatened or intimidated by someone, particularly someone you see as stronger or more capable that you are.

You have an interest in a number of subjects and want to explore them all to a degree.

Bluejay had other thoughts to offer, but the above resonated with me at this time.

What really fascinates me about being more open to the teachings of all animals is how they really speak to us of where we are at in our lives and what we are working through.

I want to know more, and it’s why I welcome being as open as possible to hearing and understanding what they have to share with me.

We shall see who arrives next to share another teaching with me!

The Dragonfly and the Melted Marshmallow: A Rescue Story.

Posted by Barbara Techel

IMG_2111 eFriday evening, as we most often do, John and I gathered around our chimenia to relax. It’s one of our favorite things to do.

This particular night we ate pizza outside and then decided to make some s’mores. We rarely have this treat, but we had been gifted a kit that some genius came up. It comes in a tube with four roasting sticks, a small bag of marshmallows, chocolate pieces, and graham crackers. All you need to add is a fire for roasting.

We did just that and enjoyed this special treat. After we were done, we laid the sticks, with a bit of marshmallow reside on a chair nearby.

The next day, about mid-morning, I noticed a dragonfly on the end of the stick. I smiled and thought, “Oh, he must be enjoying the leftover marshmallow.” I didn’t think anymore of it.

Later Saturday afternoon as I made my way out to our deck again to get things ready for another night of relaxing, I noticed the dragonfly was still on the stick.

It suddenly occurred to me that he must be stuck! I felt awful. I yelled to John who was in the kitchen, “Oh no! The poor dragonfly is stuck!”

I was able to very carefully free his two wings that were sticking to the marshmallow residue just as John came outside. But his intricate, tiny, thin legs were another story.

Turning to John I said, “What are we going to do? I feel terrible.”

At first he said, “Get a knife. Maybe we can gently lift his legs off.”

As I scampered into the house John yelled, “Actually, get a warm bowl of water.”

I brought out the bowl of water, but the concerned look on my face had John guessing my worry, “Don’t worry, we won’t drown him.”

He gently placed the end of the stick into the bowl, just enough to immerse the dragonfly’s three sticky legs.

We watched in total amazement as he first lifted one leg, then two, then three, and off he flew over the top of the house!

I jumped up and down and hugged John. I was so happy that the dragonfly was free.

Last night we sat out on our deck again. As we were enjoying the fire, sitting in silence, we saw a dragonfly land on almost the exact spot, on the deck railing, where we had freed the dragonfly Saturday night.

We turned to each other. Could it be the same dragonfly, we both wondered?

I said, “Maybe he has come back to thank us!”

For the next several minutes we sat and watched as the dragonfly caught bugs as his dinner. We were mesmerized, as well as, wondering why we’d never observed this before.

I said, “Of all the many times we have sat on this deck, how come we never saw a dragonfly do this?”

All I could think is that when you are open to what is around you, you get to be a part of things you’ve never seen before. Such a simple thing brought both John and I so much joy.

It felt like double happiness for me though as I enjoyed John being open to what it was that perhaps the dragonfly was trying to share with us.

I decided to look up dragonfly’s message in the book, Animal Spirit Guides by Steven Farmer. Two messages from dragonfly that stood out for me were:

“This is a time when the magic and mystery of life is reawakening for you.”

“You’re feeling drawn to study any mystical arts or ancient mystery schools.”

As I thought about writing this post today, I smiled because once again, the name of my blog is Joyful Paws. But just like the snail I encountered a few weeks ago and now the dragonfly, I have to wonder if perhaps I need to change Joyful Paws, to Joyful Creatures!

But alas, it is the play on paws that originally comes from “pause” of which my dogs began the teachings of learning to pause and find joy around me. And now perhaps it is all the other creatures that are making their way to me with many more messages that I am now ready to hear. I’m game.