Review: There Are No Sad Dogs in Heaven

If you've ever felt bereft and heartbroken after the death of a cherished animal companion, Sonya Fitzpatrick's latest book, There Are No Sad Dogs in Heaven, is for you.

Based on her actual consultations with people whose pets have passed into spirit, Sonya's stories are tinged more with compassion and hope than with sadness.  Like many communicators, she talks telepathically with animals in spirit, and because she recounts their thoughts with uncommon clarity and respect, we eagerly believe every word she says.

Many of her clients come to her wracked with guilt and regret, blaming themselves for what they perceive is their animal's untimely death.  We have all been in that tortured place.  To them, and to us, Sonya offers comfort:

"People think they need to apologize when they lose an animal.  But. . .animals love their humans no matter what, and there's never any need to apologize. . .Even when an animal's death seems premature, it has come for a reason, at the proper time for the soul that is leaving its body.  It's we who are left saying, 'He died too soon,' but for the one who is crossing over, it is never too soon."

On the subject of reincarnation, Sonya wisely counsels her clients that she can't always tell them whether their animals will come back, or when.  Sometimes, she can only say that "they will be with you in this lifetime."  Or not.

In Sonya's experience, there are many ways in which an animal can reincarnate; when they do, they don't always come to stay.  She describes a phenomenon whereby an animal's spirit appears to go in and out of another animal's body.  Or, it will inhabit the body of another animal it knew well in life:

"Many times, when there is a death of the physical form, animals will use one of the dogs they have lived with to experience living in the physical form again.  When that happens, you'll see many similarities between the dog that has passed over and the one that is still living."

In her work with grieving clients and callers to her weekly radio show, Sonya Fitzpatrick comes from a place of love and kindness.  She wants to soothe--not to shock--and she does so without sticky sentimentality.  She preaches a message that we all desperately want to hear:

"What I want everyone to know is that our animals are always happy in the spirit world.  It's a place where there is no sadness, no loneliness, no fear.  And they don't have to miss us because they remain with us even when they are no longer in their physical bodies."

Like Sonya Fitzpatrick, I have been privileged to connect with animals in their "energy bodies," and I can attest that what she speaks of is real and true.  Still, I felt a lot better after I read There Are No Sad Dogs in Heaven, and I think you will, too.

Review: Memoirs of the Bathtub Psychic, by Bethanne Elion

Call it intuition, psychic sensitivity, or just being "tuned in," Bethanne Elion had it. But, like so many of us, she renounced her innate ability to see more than meets the eye, to perceive what was going on energetically around her, and to heed forebodings when they arose, unbidden. The results were painful, and when it came to her beloved Newfoundland, Sophie, even tragic. Memoirs of the Bathtub Psychic is the saga of Bethanne's personal journey to find herself again, and in the process, become the person--the healer, the seer, the gifted empath--she was always meant to be.

As far back as she could remember, Bethanne had a magical connection with animals. "It seemed that the only time I felt at home with my gifts was when I was around animals," she admits. "I intuitively knew they had an understanding of my abilities. She could mentally hear what they were thinking, as clear as day. Fearing ridicule, however, she soon learned how to sabotage her psychic perceptions:

"By immersing myself in my classwork, with music on in the background,
having a few cocktails in the early evening, and leaving the television on
all night while I slept, I could keep the psychic side of me at bay. Noise
helped to stop the clairaudience. Drinking aided in suppressing clairvoyance.
Studying nonstop made it possible for me to avoid deep or meaningful contact
with others. That helped in keeping my soul from wandering off into other
people, animals, or lifetimes."

Bethanne's life changed forever on the day she drove from her home in California to a dog breeder in Oregon, to pick up a seven-week-old Newfoundland puppy, whom she named Sophie. When she brought her precious puppy to get her first shots, she intuitively sensed that something terrible was about to happen, but not trusting herself, she handed Sophie over for the injections. Her big black dog was never the same after that, and within two years, she was dead.

Bethanne subsequently adopted two more Newfies, Emma and Cubby, and when they, too, experienced a series of health problems, she went for help in a different direction. She implemented the nutritional recommendations offered in Wendy Volhard's The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog, learned everything she could about homeopathy, and her dogs improved. But when it was time for Emma to have a rabies booster, Bethanne faced it with dread, instinctively understanding that it would be the beginning of the end of Emma. Within weeks after the vaccination, Emma had developed cancerous tumors at the site of the injection. Bethanne knew that in order to save her dogs, and herself, something had to shift. She decided to move to Vermont.

It was in the quiet of rural Vermont that Bethanne began to allow herself to hear again, and to feel again, and it was there that she began to honor her psychic self by making energetic connections with animals in need. She discovered that she could home in on lost dogs and cats, vividly and accurately describing their whereabouts, but sometimes having to tell bereaved owners that their pets were not coming back. She soon learned to dread such cases.

Bethanne learned to ask permission from an animal before initiating a "conversation," and she came to understand how to distinguish the difference between "that which is symbolic and that which is real" in a telepathic interaction. She learned that some animals simply do not want to be found, and that sometimes, there is nothing that can be done to retrieve them.

Bethanne calls herself an "energy translator," explaining that she is simply a conduit for "information funneling in from the universe." What comes through most of all in this honest and sometimes searingly painful Memoir of the Bathtub Psychic is the author's absolute integrity as a searcher, as a selfless caretaker of her creature companions, and as a bona fide intuitive whose ego never gets in the way of the truth. Hers has been a jagged road, but one truly worth following.

An Interview with Madeleine Walker, Author of An Exchange of Love

As part of my "Conversations with Animal Authors" series, I am pleased to publish this interview with British writer Madeleine Walker, who graciously answered my written questions about her practice of telepathic animal communication, as described in her book, An Exchange of Love: Animals Healing People in Past, Present and Future Lifetimes.

Madeleine is pictured here with the members of her "doggy team," "Winnie" and "Teazle" (the terrier), who help facilitate her workshops in the UK. This delightful photograph was taken by Madeleine's son, Cameron Walker.

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Maureen: Your book, An Exchange of Love: Animals Healing People in Past, Present, and Future Lifetimes, takes the concept of “animal communication” to another level.

Can you briefly describe your own process for making a telepathic connection with an animal?

Madeleine: I always offer my services with complete love and respect and open a heart-to-heart connection mentally, sending those messages and building up trust between the animal and myself. I always "ask" how I can be of service to them and their human carers and for the best possible outcome.

Maureen: You demonstrate, in story after story, how you have been called in to help individual animals who were suffering from physical problems, or who were in emotional turmoil, and the most amazing things happen.

Instead of simply telling you where it hurts, the animals often show you that the origins of their distress lie with events and traumas that occurred in their past lives. In many cases, these animals have chosen to reunite with the people who shared these past-life traumas so they could be healed together, now, in this lifetime. These are remarkable stories.

You use a process called “soul retrieval” to heal the physical and emotional scars that had been inflicted in past lives, and to then integrate the healed “blueprint” of the animal back into his present-day self. Can you describe how you do this?

Madeleine: This is a technique taught to me by horses, where they showed me telepathically, what was required, by facilitating a visualization of a sort of holographic image of the traumatized animal, in its previous incarnation, but this time seeing it healed and whole and then physically blowing the image back into the physical body of the animal, after it has somehow passed through me. Horses have now shown me a whole new technique, where I can work on the human companion’s trauma, by rewriting their script, thanks to the animal’s input which I am really excited about!

Maureen: You say, “Animals so often displayed symptoms that appeared to need addressing, when the real reason for their treatment was to flag up an urgent problem in their owner’s life.”

An interesting case of this occurred with the formerly gentle yearling colt, Neville, who had suddenly and inexplicably started to threaten and nearly attack Graham, the person with whom he had previously enjoyed what you describe as a “cuddly” relationship.” When you asked Neville why he had changed his demeanor toward Graham, he told you to ask about Graham’s new job, and about his left leg.

Can you talk about the case of Neville and Graham, and how you worked to resolve it?

Madeleine: This was a fascinating case and most unexpected – especially for Graham, who was only there out of curiosity, as his wife was so worried about Neville’s antics! Poor Graham became the entire subject of the session as Neville orchestrated from his paddock and divulged the strange series of events that led us to understand the root of the problem, which was a negative energy attachment that Neville was trying to flag up.

Sometimes animals can appear vicious but they are not attacking the person, they are trying to attack the negative energy that may be around them. By alerting us to this we can remove it and all will be well! Neville kept shouting in my head that Graham had picked up a negative energy from his place of employment which he had just started--he even described what Graham was doing there which really freaked Graham out! He also asked me to ask Graham if he had been feeling anything strange in his leg, to which Graham said that he had been experiencing a strange tingling sensation that had started very soon after beginning his job.

Neville showed me a young boy who had been abused and Graham told me that in his place of work, children visited this lovely place for respite and adventure holidays. I felt that Graham had somehow attracted this energy, helping the boy, but it was then affecting his relationship with Neville. However, Neville somehow knew that by behaving this way, someone like me would be called and the energy would be removed by me shamanically and that healing could take place. I use my pendulum and visualize the pendulum "drawing" the negative energy off and then I cleanse the crystal pendulum in water which is carefully disposed of. Immediately, the tingling ceased and the next morning Neville was just as cuddly as ever, even though Graham was slightly puzzled by the proceedings. He was at least very happy to resume peaceful relations with the lovely horse!

Maureen: There are parts of your book that are difficult to read, in that they include vivid descriptions of the violent and brutal deaths that were suffered by animals—usually horses in battle situations—in their past lives. Yet you had to mentally “witness” this carnage and physical agony in order to heal the problem that the animal before you is experiencing.

You say that after being confronted with many of these violent visions, you had asked your guides why you were being shown such horror, and they told you that “horses hold the war consciousness for man.”

Can you talk a little more about this and perhaps help us to understand how we might recognize the effects of this trauma in our own horses, and help them to heal?

In particular, how we might be able to use positive visualizations to release the past-life trauma that may now be showing up in the form of a physical ailment or lameness?

You did this so effectively with the dapple grey mare, Wynn, who had energetic metal fragments of shrapnel that were stuck in her tissue’s cellular memory from a past-life battle, leading to problems with her hocks that had been unable to be fixed using conventional veterinary care.

Madeleine: This is a huge subject and difficult to write a concise answer to, but in a nutshell, I believe that horses have been used in our battles throughout millennia and I feel they are reincarnating again now with these symptoms, again to flag up lessons for mankind.

I have recently been working with elephants in India who have of course been used in battle for centuries as well and also carry this war consciousness and the need to heal this now for mankind and the planet. We need to realise NOW the damage that we are doing to our fellow man and the planet, which cannot continue.

The animals know this and I feel this is their most important message. I feel it is just opening our minds to be shown what a trauma might be emotionally or physically and being prepared that it might not be from this lifetime. If the images you invite from the horses are disturbing, just keep asking what needs to be healed and how it can be done--you will be shown the tools necessary. The animals will show you. Trust your guidance, however strange it may seem – like me having to visualize "picking" out the bits of shrapnel from Wynn’s backside! I then visualized filling each "wound" with healing salves and light: this seemed to really help with her soundness issues and she has made a remarkable recovery.

Maureen: During your healing work with animals, you have encountered malevolent energies and entities, and have learned how to prevent them from latching on to you and draining your positive energy. You talk about the importance of wrapping yourself in cloaks of protection or visualizing streams of white light surrounding you to shield yourself from taking on unwanted energies.

Can you describe any specific techniques you use to protect yourself, both during and after a healing session with a trouble animal?

Madeleine: I have some wonderful animal guides--namely two lions who help remove really nasty energies. Sometimes they will prevent me from doing it myself and will step in to work with the energy; I visualize them destroying and transmuting it.

I always visualize a negative energy being transmuted into a positive image once removed, as it would be very irresponsible to just leave it floating around in its dark form. I always invite protection for all concerned at the beginning of my day and invite a colour and shape to be wrapped within – sometimes a lilac orb or a golden flame –whatever the universe decides I need for my forthcoming cases.

I feel very protected and loved by this, and I always ask to work for the very highest good of all. I ground myself afterwards by placing my hands against the earth or walk in woods to connect to the trees who help me ground and remain focused. Drawing your expanded energies in a little can help from being on "alert" mode all the time so that you can preserve your energy and not get too drained.

Maureen: It’s not just people who can be affected by the sinister energies. You have worked with many animals whose disturbing behavior can be traced to their awareness of spirits lurking from deaths or trauma that previously took place in their home or on their property. You describe this in the case of Dudley, the Wheaten Terrier, who seemed to be in a “permanent state of anxiety” until you discerned that he was in torment from the negative energy lines traversing his property and from the spirits of animals who had died in a part of the house that had functioned as a butcher’s shop in the long-ago past.

In your experience, how can we protect ourselves and our animals from this type of negative predecessor energy?

Madeleine: I feel that it’s important to fill a home or environment with light. I use crystal bowls or drums or incense. These methods are not always appropriate in a stable, so I would check with a crystal pendulum, and then place crystals within--mainly rose quartz. If any energies are felt, then a pillar of light can be created to ask the "lost" energies to go to the light.

Maureen: You talk about the fact that you are assisted in your healing work by “power animals,” including two lions, and that you are guided by your dog, “Pillow,” who is now joyfully in spirit.

Do you have any advice to others who would like to be able to discern their own power animals or to connect with their deceased animals in spirit?

Madeleine: Just sit quietly, sending out your unconditional love to your animal friends in spirit-- maybe holding a photo--or just ask them to guide you and be open to their responses. Ask for help from the animal kingdom and just watch what happens. I have been helped by many different creatures, both in the physical, from cockroaches and flies, to etheric animals like hyenas, T Rex and unicorns! Just expect the unexpected!!

Maureen: You mention in An Exchange of Love that you are a vegetarian.

Were you always a vegetarian, or did you stop eating the meat of animals after you came to know them better through telepathy and your soul retrieval work? Do you feel that being a vegetarian enhances your intuitive abilities? And, do the animals intuit that you don’t eat meat, and do you think they are more trustful of you because they understand that?

Madeleine: I’m not sure the animals trust me because I don’t eat meat–I hope they trust me because of my loving intention. But of course I feel that I cannot eat the beings that are working so hard to heal us! And perhaps being very mindful of everything I eat vibrationally, helps me be clearer in my thought processes.

Maureen: You state that “Everyone who is open to the concept of telepathic communication can learn to communicate with every living thing on the planet—and possibly the spirits of those who have died too. It’s simply a question of remembering your long-buried skills. It only depends on how committed you are to deepening your connection to all that is.”

And then you issue a challenge: “How prepared are you to delve into yourself?”

Why is it necessary for us to delve into our own inner selves in order to make a meaningful telepathic connection with animals?

Madeleine: I feel, like with any healing work, we really have to work on ourselves to be as clear of baggage as possible, to be clear channels of healing and trust. We have to look at our issues and egos and make sure that we honour ourselves and all creatures with integrity and nonjudgmentalism. There is always work to do to learn more about ourselves--it is all about empowerment, both within ourselves and the animals that guide us so beautifully.

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