I received a wonderful email this week from a woman who was a student in my Deepening Animal Communication Retreat in Arizona in 2014.
In the retreat (as well as in the Deepening Animal Communication Online class), we work with an animal or other being who we are unfamiliar with, afraid of, repulsed by, or dislike. This exercise, along with the practice of becoming one with or merging with an animal, allows us to see, feel, experience the world through another being’s perspective, and often opens people to new worlds of wisdom and understanding.
When we ask the question, “What is it like to be you?” we open ourselves to understanding, awareness, empathy, and the wisdom of those we may have reviled, misunderstood, or feared.
Clearly, this experience can have profound implications not just for our relationships and understanding of the non-human beings who share our world, but also for our relationships with others of our own species who we may dislike, fear, or misunderstand. This is, fundamentally, a practice of empathy…of putting our awareness into the perspective of another…seeing through their eyes, sensing through their senses, feeling their perspective on their lives and the world around them.
I’m sharing Julijana’s writing with her permission, and with much gratitude!
Fear of Spiders
by Julijana Vukmanovic
For many years of my life I was afraid of spiders. I never asked myself why. Perhaps their body shape scared me, or because of many stories I heard as a child about spiders being bad and evil, and how they like to hurt people. I can only say this, I did not know much about the spider species, and I was not interested to find out more. I accepted that fear as one of the facts about me.
During the Telepathic Interspecies Communication training, I was given a profound gift, the chance to learn more about spiders.
We did a kind of shape-shifting exercise via a meditation technique called Merging with an Animal. Sitting still and feeling relaxed we invite a specific being we want to learn about, or we allow a being to choose us. This practice allows humans to feel the viewpoints and experiences of different species, giving us the possibility to see the world from a different perspective. It opens up new possibilities, and new ways of experiencing the world around us.
I decided to let myself be chosen. It felt more tempting, and more intriguing. I put my trust in the feeling that I will get what I need the most.
What a surprise! It was the spider that chose me. I saw her with my eyes closed, and this was the first time I did not feel afraid. And then I felt us as one:
I am in the spider’s body, and I am looking down from my web. My location is in the house, on the ceiling corner to be particular, and I am just observing my surroundings. I feel such serenity and peace in my whole body. And then I notice the humans of the house. I enjoy observing them.
They drop things they carry in their arms. They crash dishes in their hands. They even hurt their body parts on the furniture while rushing through the room.
They do not seem very much present in their bodies, and they do not control their movements fully.
And then I see a woman of the house with the broom pointed towards me and my web. She started destroying it. I quickly ran to hide from the certain death. I am watching my home being destroyed. But I am saved, and I am feeling fine. Everything is OK. I will make a new web. Not a big deal.
My home is there where I am. If my home gets destroyed I am building a new one. Anywhere I like.
All I need is me, my life, and all my skills given by the Creator. I feel peace and serenity.
After this meditation in 2014 I started to experience spiders with a completely new view. This new perspective helped me to experience my life and its affairs differently. With great gratitude to my spider friend, spiders hold a high place on the scale, and are one of my favorite teachers.
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