Review: The Animal Healer

Elizabeth Whiter didn't know she was a healer until her beloved Danish-bred gelding, Wow, was critically injured, in danger of losing his life.  He'd broken his neck in three places after leaping into a swimming pool, and the best advice vets could offer was:  euthanize him.

But instead of doing that, the heartbroken Ms. Whiter went to the barn and caringly put her hands on Wow, gently but deliberately stroking him, yet not really understanding why.

     "Instinctively, I was drawn to the areas of his body that needed my touch.  I felt incredibly relaxed, yet my attention was solely on Wow. . .My feet were like magnets, pulling me into the ground, and I felt a sense of calmness and strength throughout the whole of my body. . .I noticed that Wow was breathing to my rhythm; it was as if we were synchronized.  It was an extraordinary, harmonious moment.  A silence enveloped the stable and a feeling far greater than happiness swept over my body.

     "Wow seemed to be getting comfort from me, and, as I whispered to him, he began to relax and sigh.  I had never done anything like this before with him.  It just felt right.  I knew nothing about healing--in fact, at that time, I didn't even know what the term meant--but I loved my horse so much that I couldn't bear the thought of having to put him down.  I would have done anything to help him."

That experience was the epiphany that launched Whiter into a career in which she has offered healing to thousands of animals, and taught hundreds of other people how to do it, too.  Her horse, Wow, recovered, and lived happily and fully for many more years.

In The Animal Healer, Elizabeth Whiter, who is based in the UK, tells the story of her personal evolution as an animal healer, one who uses not only hands-on techniques but also, essential and macerated oils, to restore her patients to health.  What she discovered is that healing flows from the healer's "conscious intention," and from her heart.  Whiter stresses that meditation is the key to cultivating the focus necessary to effectively direct energy healing to others, be they animal or human.

But she goes a step further, offering stricken animals the opportunity to self-select essential oils and natural remedies that will bring them back into physical and emotional balance, a technique pioneered by Caroline Ingraham, and known as "zoopharmacognosy."

Whiter's devotion to her animal patients is palpable, and they respond in ways that are often both unimaginable and unpredictable, sometimes defying logical expectations.  The miracles come both from her energy work, as she consciously creates an "ocean of peace" for her healing sessions, and from her detailed knowledge of which oils and macerates are likely to soothe her clients.  She sees hundreds of animals each year, both in her private practice and as a "spiritual warrior" who tends to the needs of scarred dogs, cats, horses, and donkeys in rescue sanctuaries throughout the world, treating them not with sympathy or sadness, but with pure love.

Ultimately, The Animal Healer is the story of Elizabeth Whiter's voyage of the heart, one which has sent ripples out into the world.  I felt privileged to be able to tag along on her journey.