SOULMATES WITH PAWS IS HEARTWARMING

 Touched By an Angel 

Guiding, guarding, warning, comforting and

teaching—are these cat angels?

 By Cal Orey

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• #74 in Animal Care & Pet Essays

Image used in Cats Magazine with this story
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Recently, Jude Balthis had a dream. Her cat Satie appeared on her bed, green eyes staring down at her owner. “It was clear that she had a message,” Balthis says. “She told me she knew I had done the best that I could to protect her.” The large calico had just died a month earlier.

            “I felt very guilty about her death,” Jude recalls. “In her later years, she wasn’t able to defend herself as well as when she was younger. I had secured the porch from other animals by installing gates, but it wasn’t enough.” One night, while Balthis and her family were away, raccoons broke into the barriers and killed Satie.

            Upon awakening from her dream, Balthis felt instantly that Satie had absolved her from blame. “I didn’t cry, even though I was on the verge of tears, because the dream allowed me to understand that she was in a safe place.”

            Companion animals bring us comfort and love, but are they also spiritual messengers who understand more than what seems possible?

            “An angel cat would be a messenger who would help you to know that love is all around you and that miracles are possible,” explains Linda Anderson, coeditor of Angel Animals, Exploring Our Spiritual Connection with Animals. Bernard Ward says in his book Angels: They’re All Around and They’re Watching Over Us, “Angels are here to guide us, warn us, comfort us, teach us or just be a friend and companion.”

ANGELS AMONG THE LIVING

            Years ago, when Stephanie Laland was in her 20s, she was distraught about her life. She remembers sitting on her bed and crying. “Suddenly, my two-year-old calico cat Yoko jumped up on my lap and put her paws on my face and licked the tears away,” she says. And while some cats are deeply affectionate, Laland confesses, “this wasn’t the sort of action that my cat would normally do. At that moment she was my little angel.”

            Since then, Laland had turned her life around. She is the author of Peaceful Kingdom: Random Acts of Kindness by Animals and Animal Angels, and teaches workshops for people wishing to boost their bond with animals. She feels she knows firsthand how it feels to be touched by an animal angel.

            Many of the stories in her work suggest that the notion of animal angels isn’t merely whimsy. Take, for example, the story of Mrs. Sweeney, an elderly woman who had always welcomed animals in need into her home. One winter evening, she became ill and wasn’t able to move from her bed. As the fire from the stove went out, the house grew deathly cold. Too feeble and ill to move, she was sure she would freeze before daybreak. In the morning, when her neighbor came to check on her she discovered the freezing temperatures and raced to the old woman’s bed, fearing the worst. But Mrs. Sweeney was safe in bed, very much alive—and not cold at all. She was quite comfortable, with seven cats and a dog draped over her warm body like a fur blanket.

            Many near-death survivors have reported feeling a sensation of leaving their bodies—or traveling through tunnels of light.  Some people report encounters with relatives or even family pets.

            During a down-and-out period, reports Anderson, Debi Reimann, a legal secretary from Lacey, Washington, felt herself floating through a gray mist. She recalled seeing light and feeling an overwhelming sense of love. She saw a vision that appeared old and wise. Even though the “being” told Reimann that it wasn’t time to die, she didn’t want to go back to her painful existence in life. The “being” turned her around, directing her toward the tunnel that would take her back to life. At the other end she saw her cat, Missey Kitten, waiting for her. “The cat was the one being on earth that could touch her heart, and Debi made a decision to come back,” recalls Anderson... 

(Reprinted with permission from Cats Magazine, December 1999 issue.)

CONFESSIONS OF AN INTUITIVE

As a prolific, versatile, and gifted storyteller (also a co-author, consultant, developmental writer, and ghostwriter), Orey, a warm and witty wordsmith pens nonfiction books and novels. Categories include: Contemporary Romance, Science & Nature, Sci-Fi--Thriller, Time Travel, Action & Adventure, and Young Adult Historical Fiction. Her books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and landed on bestseller lists. She holds two degrees in English (Creative Writing) from SFSU... The Healing Powers series, nine books (translated in 25 languages) published by Kensington was featured by Bookspan book clubs (Good Cook, Literary Guild and One Spirit), Huffington Post, New York Post, New York Daily, Newsmax, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Woman's World, and FIRST for Women.

By Cal Orey

Is telepathy possible with a dog or cat? Yes! Supernatural powers with our soulmates with paws does happen! The stronger the human-animal bond, the more likely the connection!

No, I do not use incense, hold a crystal ball or provide spells. I’m often in the company of two sensitive dogs and one black cat (they relax me), and listening to alternative music when the phone rings. I am connected to a caller who is often sad, upset or confused. And, yes, this job can be stressful as well as rewarding. Think healer–not fraud. Once I hear a voice, it sets the stage. Often I can pick up if the call is from the West Coast, South, Northeast, Canada, Trinidad, New Zealand, the UK, or Australia. And it’s not always the accents. It’s my animal-like intuition that kicks in from the get go. But there’s more...

Hello, Mother Nature I use the planets as a baseline, lunar cycles (emotions and calls soar during the New and Full Moon), and a tarot card to get an objective read, which often coincides with what I’ve picked up with my gut instinct. As a super-sensitive woman, I can predict callers’ questions by tuning into their voice, energy and words. I can also pick up why I’m being contacted, the age of a person, their sun sign (but sometimes I do ask; usually they end up being on the cusp of two signs). If I’m challenged by a skeptical caller, it can end up in a murky reading or a hang-up. It used to hurt my feelings, but nowadays, I sip chamomile tea until the next ring. I can sense if the caller is sincere — and then it’s show time. Sometimes, the paranormal activity kind of cues I get send chills through my body–like an orgasm which is kind of creepy but it’s making a psychic connection, the real deal. The caller feels it, too. That means that I tapped into their psyche and we connected, big-time.