Oscar Releases His Emotional Burden

Posted on July 8, 2011September 9, 2022

The following is one of Elizabeth’s stories from Animal Reiki: Using Energy to Heal the Animals in your Life (Ulysses Press, 2006). It illustrates what can happen after Animal Reiki treatments and some of the results that Reiki can bring about:

I work with many extraordinary animals, but some animals truly stand out, inspire me with their courage, and leave an indelible print on my memory. One such animal was Oscar, a Russian Blue cat, whom I met at the local shelter in 2003.

Oscar arrived at the shelter in early June; he was severely depressed from the outset; for several weeks he rarely ate and lay with his eyes closed on top of his excrement in his litter box as though making a metaphorical statement about his idea of his place in the universe. He was unresponsive to touch or any overtures from the staff and appeared to have totally given up hope that anything could go well for him. Although I did not know the specific details of his life, what I could see indicated that he had had a particularly rough time. Among other things much of his beautiful tail had been cut off, leaving him with a somewhat ragged two-inch stump. The staff was very concerned about him and asked me to begin treating him.

Oscar began to receive Reiki treatments and a daily dose of the Anaflora flower essence, Return to Joy. In the first treatment the only sign of progress was that he opened his eyes once and fleetingly looked at me. However, within days, and with subsequent Reiki treatments, he began to improve. We first started to notice these improvements when Sunny, a volunteer, was massaging him. He started to purr so quietly after a treatment that we couldn’t be sure it was true until we turned off the music in the cat area. Sunny was so touched to hear signs of life coming from him that she bent over and kissed him on top of his head. Like a person deprived of love and having almost given up on it, Oscar began to cry. For several minutes big golden tears rolled out of his eyes as he looked up at us. We praised him for his courage in being able to open himself up and release his grief.

After this, he became steadily more engaged, making eye contact, then holding people’s gazes, then pushing against the volunteers’ hands when they stroked him. He started to sit up and groom himself. Soon he was coming to the front of the cage looking for attention, batting at toys, coming out onto volunteers’ laps, and looking around with interest at the other cats.

He was always exceptionally sweet and loving. When he wanted to tell someone to stop doing something, he would slowly and gently open his mouth and put it around a hand or finger so as not to upset or startle anyone. It was as though he knew from sad experience what it feels like to receive harsh feedback. After three weeks of treatment, he was alert, healthy, and fully engaged in his life, and a few days later he was adopted to a good home.

I have reflected many times on the tremendous courage it took for Oscar to release his heavy emotional burden and open himself to hope and to interactions with people again despite his previous negative experiences. But Reiki and the flower essences have the ability to reach deeply into a being to restore health and balance, and, in this case, they were aided by the love of the volunteers who took Oscar into their hearts and helped coax him back to life.

When I am faced with such deep suffering-whether it is on the physical, emotional or spiritual level-I am always grateful to know that I have the wonderful healing capabilities of Reiki and the flower essences on my side.

Merlin

Posted on July 8, 2011July 18, 2011

animal communication for wild animals One day near the beginning of my experiences with the deer, I noticed that one of the young stags was limping. When I got a closer look at his right hind leg, I could see a large swollen infected area above the hock and extending down below it. There were several long, open, festering wounds there, similar to the kind of lacerations animals sometimes get from being tangled in barbed wire. It looked as though it had been there for some time.

I sat down and offered him Reiki, which he accepted gratefully. Off and on when I saw him, and when I thought of it outside of his presence, I sent Reiki to him, and, in a couple of weeks his wound had healed. He began to come more frequently to my courtyard, and a special friendship developed between us. He was the first deer to whom I gave a name, Merlin. Merlin has weathered many injuries, including one that almost ended his life. Each time he has come to me, and I’ll never be able to express how much his trust has meant to me.

Master Communicator

Posted on July 8, 2011July 18, 2011

animal communication for cats Years ago I worked with a feral cat named Smokey at the local animal shelter. Smokey hadn’t done well in the shelter and had tried to escape several times. Soon after he arrived he became very sick and would have died if one of the staff had not force-fed him and nursed him back to life. As he grew stronger, however, he continued to be very wary of people, often biting volunteers who tried to interact with him. When I met him they were very concerned because after three months in the shelter he sat hunched in one corner, never moving from that spot, severely depressed. He started at every noise and movement, and, although he could be taken out of his cage by a few of the most experienced volunteers, he would try to bite people¹s faces as soon as he saw them.

Smokey and I formed a strong bond during the month I worked with him at the shelter; his depression cleared and he became much more relaxed and confident with his favorite people. I could feel that it was my love and high regard for him, in addition to Reiki, which brought him back to life and renewed hope. At the time I was still reconnecting with the animal communication abilities I’d had as a child, and Smokey was an expert communicator. With him I received elaborate information effortlessly. I had come to love him very much and knew that we were already a team, and, after much careful consideration, I brought him home to live with me.

From the beginning Smokey was deeply attached to me, but he remained wary of my husband and daughter, our dog, and the two cats. In many ways Smokey was basically still feral and distrustful of people. His failing eyesight aggravated his sense of vulnerability, and he was careful in his interactions with everyone. I offered Reiki to him frequently, and he would come up and lean against me and doze for as long as I could continue the treatment. His tolerance for physical contact improved, and I could touch him carefully as long as he could see my hand approaching. He often slept with me but would sometimes jump down when I turned in the night. When I was sick, however, he stayed with me constantly.

But on the inner level Smokey and I were a wonderful team without any reservations. Smokey was a master communicator, not only with me but with other beings as well, and he was very focused in his desire to help me in any way he could. Almost as soon as he arrived home with me he took on as his purpose in life helping me to develop my animal communication skills. In my early work he acted as a facilitator in my communications with animals, and, with his assistance, their messages invariably came in loud and clear. And on a practical level his skill in communicating with other beings was highly appreciated in our household.

During the summer he came to live with us we had several major ant incursions in our home. I noticed the first of these incursions only moments before I had to leave the house for a long appointment. With considerable agitation I told the ants that it was not all right to come indoors in such large numbers and I wanted them to leave by sunset. I told them I did not want to hurt them but they could not stay here, and, if they did not leave, I would feel I had no choice. Smokey watched me with concern, and, as I left, I noticed his eyes were tightly closed and he had gathered himself into the loaf shape he often assumed when he was concentrating hard on helping me with some inner task.

When I returned several hours later, there were only a handful of ants. By suppertime all the ants were gone, and Smokey was looking very pleased with himself. I had had very good results communicating with ants when they came indoors, but I had never seen such a rapid withdrawal. Usually it took a couple days for all of the ants to move out. Smokey had clearly devoted himself to helping me with this task for a considerable part of his day with his usual masterful results.

Perfect Subjects

Posted on July 8, 2011July 18, 2011

animal communication with horses Some years ago I had been thinking about getting some photos of my horses for my website when I saw a sign-up sheet at their barn for a photographer who was coming to do portraits of people and their horses. I jumped at the chance to get some professional shots of my two beauties. The day before the appointment I sent Reiki to the shoot the next day; I asked Senedad and Annie to help me by being at their best for the photos the next day so that their photos could be a part of my work.

When the photographer came the next day, Annie and Senedad were both visibly excited. When I led them to the area where the photos were being taken, each of them took up a position with all four feet squared and their heads held high with ears perfectly forward. They maintained that stance for as long as we needed them to do so. The photographer, who specialized in equine photography, kept saying, “I’ve never seen horses do this…I’ve never seen horses do this….” over and over again throughout the shoot. When the photos came back, the horses were picture perfect. Anything that was wrong with a shot was the result of something I was doing, never because of them. I got many beautiful photos that day, and I treasure them all the more for knowing how hard they tried to do their part to make the shoot a great success.

Hector Grows Into His Name

Posted on July 8, 2011July 8, 2011

For six years I lived with several herds of wild deer who came to our house daily for healing and companionship. At the time of this story, one of the herd, Hector, was a young stag slender and frail, with the small, thin antlers of a yearling. His skin was dull, and his breathing was always very rapid and shallow, as though his heart and lungs were in some way compromised and working very hard to power his frail body. He was shy and timid and always stayed in the group with his mother, other does, and the fawns instead of joining the group of young males his age. Encouraged by how well other deer had responded to Reiki healing, I began sending healing to Hector at every chance I got.

A transformation began to take place in Hector. Over the course of several months, Hector began to come into himself at the innermost level. He became a much stronger presence, at first arriving in the forefront of the group, later in advance of it, and finally coming on his own for visits and treatments. He began to hang out with the other young stags and roam in a group with them. His respiration slowed, and his sides no longer heaved all the time. He began to put on weight and fill out, and his coat took on a healthy sheen.

About this time we experienced a series of acts of vandalism, and it appeared for a short time that someone was targeting our house with ill intentions. This worried me, and the deer picked up my worry and took it upon themselves to help me with my concern. For several weeks, at all times of the day and night there was always a stag on “guard duty” in the courtyard. They challenged they didn’t recognize when they entered the courtyard, including the UPS driver. Stags of all ages took turns. And Hector often bravely took the “night shift”, positioned alone in the courtyard, ready to take on any danger that presented itself. He had become a true hero, thus growing into his name, that of one of the great heroes of the Trojan war.

The Top 5 Things Your Animal Wants You to Know!

Posted on July 8, 2011November 15, 2011

1) Your animal is intelligent and has emotions much like you do.

Far from being a “lower order” animals are really members of cultures different from our human ones. Animals have emotions and intelligence just as we do. They have strong feelings for their parents, children, friends and the significant people in their lives and react emotionally just as people do. Their intelligence goes far beyond instinctual drives. They often have an astute understanding of other beings, human and non-human, and of complex emotional and spiritual matters. When we see animals in this way we can be far more effective in understanding and assisting them.

2) Your animal understands you better than you may think.

Animals understand much more of what goes on around them than most people think they do. They are very sensitive to the emotional states of those around them, human and animal. They monitor the emotions of loved ones closely. Your animal knows you as well or better than your intimate human friends. He (or she) understands your best qualities as well as the things with which you struggle. One of the wonderful things about animals is that, although they see all of our qualities, even those we dislike, they are endlessly compassionate and loving toward us and focus on the best in each of us.

3) Your animal has a purpose in your life.

Animals want to be of help to us in our own development and benefit when their people allow them to become close friends and confidantes. Some animals develop their own ideas of how they want to be of help to us; others would like to know more from their people about how they can be of help. Animals are very good at holding the energy for things to come to their people if their people let them know what they’re working toward. These can be material things, like a house or career advancement, or matters of personal development, such as overcoming a tendency to depression or anger. While animals don’t necessarily get every word we say to them, they’re very good at filling in what they don’t get from words with the emotional nuances they pick up; so many animals understand much of what is said to them. Talking to your animal increases the understanding and bond between the two of you and helps your animal know how he can be of greater help to you.

4) Your animal loves you and needs to know you are well and safe.

You love your animal and want him to be well and safe, and he has the same concerns about you. One of the things you can do to help your animal to stay healthy and strong is to take good care of yourself, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Like people animals can become ill out of concern for human loved ones. Similarly they can develop emotional and behavioral issues from worry or in an attempt to help a loved human by taking on matters that are troubling their person. Our animals also look to us as an example of how to handle things so taking good care of our selves helps them to do the same.

5) Your animal will cooperate much more fully with you if he knows the reasons why you want him to do things.

Just like people animals are much more willing to cooperate when they understand the “big picture” in a situation. When their person explains how their cooperation will contribute to their safety and well-being or that of others, animals are often much more willing to offer their cooperation.