First Language: A Journey into Animal Communication

I first made the acquaintance of Queen, a brown tabby cat with yellow eyes and a tiny orange spot on the top of her head, just as she was approaching death. Her human caretaker, Rain, was understandably sad, but wanted to ask Queen a number of questions. At the time, I was learning some basic skills in animal communication. The idea of humans and animals connecting telepathically to share feelings and thoughts was of great interest to me. While researching the subject for a book I was writing, I had spoken to numerous professional animal communicators (who would have known you could have such a job?) and had even had several experiences of my own where I was able to communicate with a different species. The ways in which this heart-to-heart, mind-to-mind connection with an animal works may at first seem a bit mysterious. But, as I was told and eventually experienced time and again, this silent form of communication - what some refer to as our "first language" is perhaps the most natural form of relating to others we possess. Indeed, as we relax the ordinary, logical mind, we open ourselves to more intuitive, feeling-based states, including telepathy. In this relaxed, connected state of consciousness, we can receive information from animals in many different ways, such as through visual images, inner feelings, and/or intuitive flashes. It is then up to the communicator to translate these impressions into words which other humans can understand. When I centered myself and connected with Queen, she immediately reflected the regal stature of her name. Queen was calm and firmly centered in her heart as she responded to the barrage of Rain's initial questions with an elegant and simple manner, "She already knows all the answers." Queen told me she was preparing to die or, as she put it, "dreaming myself away"; and explained that, for her, dying was like being on a road or path which she could explore little by little. "I walk down part of the path to see what it is like," she said, "and then I come back and feel my body." Queen asked Rain not to worry, reassuring her the path was well marked. As if to emphasize this, Queen shared with me a vision of other cats on this path, which looked like a golden trail through sun-dappled woods. She explained in the past she had been afraid of death. In this ending of her life as Queen, she was working to lose this fear by easing herself into a deeper appreciation of death, saying she wanted some time to consciously move through the "walkway of death", meeting friends and teachers along the way, then coming back into her body to ground this experience into her present consciousness. Queen told Rain this time was for herself and she specifically chose to be with Rain not only to help her, but because she felt Rain would allow her to die in this manner; allowing her this precious time to finish her work. Queen invited Rain to come near and sit with her, to quiet her mind and tune in so as to share in her experiences. "I invite you to see," said Queen. "Please don't feel bad for me. I had a great life as Queen. I know I was loved and I hope you know I loved all of you, even the mice and birds and bugs. It was a great life and I learned many things". "We all go on. Know I am really where I want to be. My body is finished and will be gone soon, and that is how it is with all of us. But I am still alive and I will always be alive, just as you will always be alive. If you quiet yourself and ask to go very deep inside yourself, there you will find me, and many others too… even yourself. In this quiet space, you find the deeper you." Like Queen, many animals impart heartfelt messages of comfort to their humans while offering valuable opportunities to share in some of the most profound moments of healing and elevated awareness. Rain was comforted by Queen's teaching and deeply touched by her invitation to take a more conscious role in the process of her death. In doing so, she began to see both death and life with new eyes. As we open ourselves to ideas beyond our usual frame of reference, we also open to greater levels of knowledge and experience. In this sense, communicating with animals takes us to a deeper place of communion, not only with the natural world and the many animals and fellow humans who share our planet; but with ourselves, as well.