A Free Spirit. Betty Shine
creatures pacing up and down on a concrete base, surrounded by iron bars, again tore at my heart. Their humiliation and pain became mine.
My family were mystified by my apparent distress. Although I was too young to understand or explain, I clearly remember that feeling of isolation and of being different. And so it has been all my life.
I spent many years wondering why I felt such intense pain on these occasions. And it was only from my study of the mind that I realised I had the ability to tune into the wavelength of every living thing.
To this day, humiliation and cruelty towards animals (and all other life forms) continues. Time and money are now being spent on trying to eliminate cruelty and extinction, and on improving living conditions in wildlife parks and modern zoos. However, in premises outside these establishments, there is still terrible suffering. In so-called civilised countries such as our own, cruelty towards animals who cannot defend themselves takes place on a minute-to-minute basis. Animal rescue centres are full of pathetic cases, and although television documentaries and series like Animal Hospital and Pet Rescue try to educate the public, there is still a long way to go.
Every single human being guilty of cruel behaviour demeans us all. I believe that the perpetrators of these horrors are mentally maladjusted people, social misfits whose numbers are unfortunately growing. It is tempting to presume that the abusers are all alcoholics and drug users, but I believe that the majority are people who want to take out their anguish on someone or something for a life that has gone wrong, and animals are an easy target. This will not stop until the laws are changed – it is still far too easy to maim and kill animals without having to face the consequences. Although these people may be banned from having an animal of their own for many years, it cannot compensate for the terrible death of even one such creature.
This could change tomorrow if everyone was vigilant and had the courage to speak out if at all worried about a possible case of cruelty or ignorance in the way a pet is being treated. I have heard about animals who have been left out during the winter, without any cover and with only soaking rags to lie on. Although Animal Rescue is notified, stupid laws often prevent them from helping, and the wretched animals continued to suffer.
Similarly, thousands of dogs are tied up in gardens. They howl all day, which is the only way they can ask for help – and they usually get a beating for it.
Mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits and guinea pigs are bought to entertain children who quickly become bored with the effort of looking after them. As a result, these little creatures can be left imprisoned in small cages day after day. Unable to move freely, they show their deep psychological distress by going round and round in circles. These pets usually belong to families who show love for each other but who do not give a single thought to the torment that is going on within the mind and soul of the animal in their care. People should know better.
I have seen snakes who have never been out of the confines of their glass prisons, for that is all these containers are. They are often bought as a novelty – but novelties eventually lose their charm, and that is when the fate of the snakes is sealed. Never to be fed, cleaned or handled in a proper manner, or to experience any positive vibrations, they surely must embrace death as a loving friend.
I wanted to be a vet but it was not to be. However, through the medium of healing I have been able to use my gifts in a more subtle way. Human beings are not superior, they are simply different. It is essential that we show some humility by meeting other species half-way. Only then will we be able to share their lives.
Animals do not understand our language, and for communication to improve we must learn to improve our telepathic abilities. Telepathy is simply an extension of intuition, that gut feeling which everyone has experienced.
Of course, it helps if you have been born with telepathic ability, but even psychics have to learn to adapt to things that are strange and difficult. Lessons have to be learnt, but once you have achieved your objective you will never lose the gift, it will be with you for ever. Individual effort helps make the world a better place for everyone.
If you are capable of compassion, then there is no reason why you should not be able to heal. Healing is a natural ability, born out of love for every living thing.
I was about eight years old when I practised healing for the first time. Walking to school one day, I saw a cat which was obviously in distress. I stopped and stroked it, and then held it in my arms. It just seemed the right thing to do. Then, in my head, I heard the cat speak to me, and I responded in the same way. I was too young to realise that I was having a telepathic conversation, and because of my religious upbringing I asked God to make the cat better. I stroked it for about ten minutes, and then hurried off to school.
The cat was still sitting in the same place at the end of the day, so I cuddled it again for a while before making my way home. As the cat had looked so thin and ill, the following morning I asked my mother to give me some scraps, but when I reached the spot where I had left it, it had disappeared, so I left the food on the ground. As I went home that afternoon it jumped out of a bush, climbed on to my shoulder and began to purr – a totally different disposition from the one I had left it in the previous day. I was delighted.
Some friends told me later that they had seen the cat being stoned by a gang of boys, but by the time they had returned with an adult it had been carried off in a sack. The youths must have dumped it on their way home.
Although still very young, I vowed then that I would try to make the world a better place for any animal that crossed my path. At that time I could not have foreseen just how involved I would become through the power of healing.
Most children are natural healers and have no problem communicating telepathically with their pets. But they become uneasy if adults don’t understand, and they gradually lose the ability. If you watch a young child talking to a pet, you can sometimes see that the child is answering apparently inaudible questions. But if an adult is near, they will lose their spontaneity and reply in the spoken word. It is fascinating to study children in these circumstances, and we could learn a lot from them.
It is important that we do not lose the child within us, for it is only with the mind of a child that we can achieve the impossible. Why is this? It is because children simply do not know that they are not supposed to be able to achieve the impossible. Once doubt arrives, we can no longer work our magic, because the secret of life itself is steeped in magic.
And what can be more magical than the ability to connect with all the other species who share our planet? In the following chapters I will teach you how this can be done. Don’t worry if you feel that you are not psychic and therefore will not succeed. All you have to do is to rid yourself of doubt – it is a negative companion, and if you allow it to enter into the equation you will fail. It is only ‘knowing’ that will unlock the doors of your mind and take you into realms of understanding that would otherwise be closed to you.
Remember, we are all born psychic, but if you neglect any part of your wholeness, then you will lose that talent. Finding the keys once they have been lost can be difficult – but not impossible.
Share your soul with the animals and they will teach you everything they know.
CHAPTER 2 Communication With Our Pets
I shall light a candle of understanding in thine heart,which shall not be put out.
The Bible
2 Esdras
Before any kind of communication with wild animals can take place, it is first necessary to understand the domesticated pet. Most people believe they know what is going on in the mind of their pet, but unless they have a relationship where they are ‘as one’ with them, they are probably wrong.
All life forms have the ability to react emotionally to any given situation. Unfortunately, because animals do not speak our language, they can only respond to vibrations and sound. That is why pets in the home invariably