The Spiritual Dimensions of
The Human-Animal Bond
By Sharon Loy, Animal Communicator
For many of us animal lovers, our furry friends are more than just companions. They are healers, teachers, and profound sources of emotional comfort. In my work as an animal communicator, I have seen and felt this time and time again with cats, dogs, birds, horses, turtles---in short, many species of animals. However, over the years, I have noticed a specific way that animals help humans grow spiritually and emotionally. It seems that when humans experience feelings that are too intense to face, our animals will step in and “carry” these emotions for us. It is as if they are shouldering some of the energetic burden of these emotions that are too intense to bear. As a result of carrying these unwanted feelings, animals will often develop physical symptoms or behavioral issues.
For example, with physical issues, an animal will often develop the same illness his person has. Coincidence? Not from my point of view. Not only does this dynamic come up frequently in sessions, but I can see and feel it energetically when I do a body scan of the animal. One client who was diabetic also had a diabetic dog. Another client who admittedly had a lifelong issue with excessive worrying had a dog who developed cancer of the spleen, an organ responsible for worry in Traditional Chinese medicine.
This dynamic is even more obvious when this “carrying” of our unresolved issues results in behavior problems. One client of mine called me to resolve an issue with her two cats. Brother and sister, they had always gotten along, but over the past 6 months, the female cat, Lulu, had begun to withdraw and seemed angry all the time. And in the past 3 month, she had begun to attack her male cat companion, George. When I tuned into Lulu she told me she completely disapproves of the man in her mistress’s life. From her point of view, he was silly, weak, and not “manly” enough. She told me that there was a previous man in her person’s life whom she missed a lot and was more serious, more decisive, and more masculine. Lulu said she was angry at George because he had befriended this “Johnny Come Lately,” and in her view George was being disloyal and not acting in his person’s best interests. The client did confirm for me that she had over the past 6 months been dating a man who has a great sense of humor and is kind of thin and not especially tall. She also said George and he do really get along well. She continued by saying that her previous relationship was her ex-husband, and he did fit Lulu’s description, however, Lulu had never met him! She adopted Lulu and George right after they divorced. This did not make sense outwardly, but was my first clue that Lulu was actually “taking on” feelings that her person could not really face. I proceeded to teach my client a technique called EFT to help Lulu release these negative beliefs and feelings. As she was doing EFT with Lulu, the woman herself broke into tears and expressed that she now realized that this is how she really felt! She missed her ex-husband terribly and was always comparing her current boyfriend to him in her mind. Until that moment, she had not really admitted to herself how grief-stricken she still was over the divorce of several years past. Her cat had been “carrying” these feelings for her all this time. Incidentally, about 10 minutes after we completed EFT on Lulu, Lulu and George began playing together again just like old times!
So because of their love for us our animal friends in a way act as “mirrors” for our own issues by taking on emotions we are not strong enough to bear. If we pay attention and are aware of this way that animals offer healing and support to us, our animal friends can actually function as catalysts for our own spiritual evolution.
For example, with physical issues, an animal will often develop the same illness his person has. Coincidence? Not from my point of view. Not only does this dynamic come up frequently in sessions, but I can see and feel it energetically when I do a body scan of the animal. One client who was diabetic also had a diabetic dog. Another client who admittedly had a lifelong issue with excessive worrying had a dog who developed cancer of the spleen, an organ responsible for worry in Traditional Chinese medicine.
This dynamic is even more obvious when this “carrying” of our unresolved issues results in behavior problems. One client of mine called me to resolve an issue with her two cats. Brother and sister, they had always gotten along, but over the past 6 months, the female cat, Lulu, had begun to withdraw and seemed angry all the time. And in the past 3 month, she had begun to attack her male cat companion, George. When I tuned into Lulu she told me she completely disapproves of the man in her mistress’s life. From her point of view, he was silly, weak, and not “manly” enough. She told me that there was a previous man in her person’s life whom she missed a lot and was more serious, more decisive, and more masculine. Lulu said she was angry at George because he had befriended this “Johnny Come Lately,” and in her view George was being disloyal and not acting in his person’s best interests. The client did confirm for me that she had over the past 6 months been dating a man who has a great sense of humor and is kind of thin and not especially tall. She also said George and he do really get along well. She continued by saying that her previous relationship was her ex-husband, and he did fit Lulu’s description, however, Lulu had never met him! She adopted Lulu and George right after they divorced. This did not make sense outwardly, but was my first clue that Lulu was actually “taking on” feelings that her person could not really face. I proceeded to teach my client a technique called EFT to help Lulu release these negative beliefs and feelings. As she was doing EFT with Lulu, the woman herself broke into tears and expressed that she now realized that this is how she really felt! She missed her ex-husband terribly and was always comparing her current boyfriend to him in her mind. Until that moment, she had not really admitted to herself how grief-stricken she still was over the divorce of several years past. Her cat had been “carrying” these feelings for her all this time. Incidentally, about 10 minutes after we completed EFT on Lulu, Lulu and George began playing together again just like old times!
So because of their love for us our animal friends in a way act as “mirrors” for our own issues by taking on emotions we are not strong enough to bear. If we pay attention and are aware of this way that animals offer healing and support to us, our animal friends can actually function as catalysts for our own spiritual evolution.
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