What the Guides Say…

on the subject of

Our Spiritual Duty to Animals

” Every creature is responsible for its own destiny.  By this, we mean that creatures who dwell in lower levels than man can determine how fast the mind within them rises towards individuality.”

More and more today, Spirit teaching is such as to suggest  that, having taken on the responsibility of caring for our adopted animals, we have a duty not only to ensure their physical and emotional well-being, but to nurture their spiritual and mental growth also.  If we aid the development of these faculties, we afford them the experience on their pathways in which to learn and grow.

As the above quote from the returned  Sir Oliver Lodge implies, this, in no way suggests our superiority, as the process is a two-way one.  The words of spirit communicator,  W.H. Myers reminds us of this truth, when, In ‘The Road to Immortality’ we read :

“Animals are not lower in creation than we are.  They are merely less complex.” 

We must remember that we are in this experience with them and as we provide other species with new stimuli, we can learn much from them to deepen and widen our understanding of spiritual and universal law. As our animals often put us to shame when displaying the art of self-less love, those who live independently of us in the wild have much to teach us about resourcefulness and survival skills. During a taped trance session, Colin Fry’s guide, Magnus, stated that all creatures have a life-force, with the more highly evolved gaining individual consciousness. He said that others come under a group consciousness and, while in the flesh, follow a structure and system humans would do well to admire. He further explains :

    ” Take, for example, the termite.  In the morphic world, they exist as a colony.  Individually, they are of  very little importance but collectively, they make up a body.  Do you understand ? When the species individual’s morphic existence expires, then that  part of their consciousness, their life-force, moves into a stage of spirit where the species is a collective consciousness.  They do not have individuality because they never have had individuality.  They have always been a component of the species.”

Before we humans begin to feel ‘special ‘ again, we must be reminded that Silver Birch described each of us as a diamond with many facets, when trying to explain the fact that we are made up of several selves.  Beyond this, there is the wisdom that we, as individuals, just like the termites, are all only small parts of one whole, The Great Spirit.  We are each but a tiny cell in a great body, interdependent on each other in the wider scheme of things. Magnus reiterates this truth when he goes on to say that all life is a continuous process, here and through all the stages of spiritual existence.  He explains that, just as ‘lower’ species work for the earth in the morphic world, they are workers for Spirit in the Spirit world.

When asked if worms, spiders or flies, which some  disliked, were to be found  in the Spirit world, Magnus  assured  the questioner that nothing was repulsive to those of higher consciousness. He explained that flies, for instance, had a spiritual function to perform there, just as, on Earth, they were important to the necessary process of decay.

At this point, it is worth noting the views of those, who, although not guides, in the normal sense of the word, came back to share with us their experiences of life in the Spirit world. Through the means of the Leslie Flint direct voice tapes, Douglas Conacher, publisher of religious and philosophical books while on earth, communicated his findings as regards the wisdom of animals in his realm of abode :

” We learn a lot from animals.  They are a part of the scheme of life and should have respect and regard;  one should always have love and affection for them.  And it is not only domesticated animals that exist here by any means, because there are many forms of animal life, which in their own fashion and their own way are quite developed; they have feelings  and emotions and great understanding, even when on Earth.”

To illustrate Douglas’s point, we turn to  Hans  Reuch’s book, ‘SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENT’, in which a true tale is told about a miner meeting two rats on his journey home from work:

     ‘The man took a stick and killed one of them and then noticed that its friend was blind and had been led along by a straw in its mouth by the other rat!’

Here, not only intelligent thought had been employed but self-survival had given way to compassion…….. and this from  what is usually referred to as filthy  vermin!

A wise entity and metaphysical teacher named Seth described himself as ‘an energy personality essence, no longer focused in physical matter.’  A long-winded way to describe a discarnate being, perhaps, but it helps explain the multiplicity of the self, and the unity of all souls in The Great Spirit, regardless of species.

Seth points out:

 “Animals, as any pet owner knows, have their own personalities and  individual ways of perceiving the reality available to them.  Some gobble experience.  Their consciousness may be immeasurably quickened by contact with friendly humans, and emotional involvement  with life is strongly developed.

   The mechanics of consciousness remain the same.  They do not change for animals or men.  Therefore there are no limitations set upon the development of any individual consciousness, or growth of any identity.  Consciousness, both in the body and without finds its own range, its own level.  A dog, then, is not limited to being a dog in other existences.  Consciousness must by its nature change, and so identities must also change – not one blotting out the other but building upon it while each succeeding step is maintained and not discarded, you see. “

With this and much more evidence to suggest that other species have a mind and spirituality of their own, we should offer them  stimuli along with our love, for, behind the language barrier, we have all the same need for support on our pathways.  It should be that we move each other on to new experience and understanding, preparing the ground for the birth of a new facet of our identity. Although other creatures are not dependent upon a relationship with us for their individual survival in the Spirit world, they benefit from it, should it be supportive and communicative.

As usual the words of the highly regarded guide, Silver Birch, touch the understanding like no other :

 “If man were aware of his responsibilities to all creation, as higher beings are aware of their responsibility  to man, the animal evolution would be accelerated and become more individuated.  …

    All life is one.  You cannot divide life into water-tight, rigid compartments.  All aspects of life, man and animals, must move forward together.  The animals cannot be left behind while man makes his evolutionary ascent.”

And for those who wouldn’t dream of leaving their animals behind but need reassurance that the ascent will not be made without them, we end with words of Magnus :

     “Animals and creatures have their own vibration.  Much certain of your domestic pets is that they have their vibration elevated and strengthened by being in the company of humankind in the morphic world. ………..  And, therefore, when you move into the stage of spirit, yes, the pets and domesticated animals that you have shared the bond of love with will indeed be waiting there for you.”

 Elissa Rattigan.

 Animal Rights inSpiritualism.