December 2012 newsletter

In this issue * Jenny's reflections on 2012 with never before seen photos * Sammys reflections on 2012

Click here to download December 2012 newsletter as a pdf document.  The detail below is just the text of the newsletter, for your interest.

NEWSLETTER - November/December 2012

Hello everyone,

Yes another year has rapidly flown by and it is time to reflect on our journey over the past “almost” 12 months.

 Some of you might remember my trip earlier this year in March to Dorset in the UK. I went to visit Oshine my Orang-u-tan friend at Monkey World.

It was SUCH a special trip. The next series of her introduction to Monkey World and to baby Sylvester is busy being aired at the moment on Animal Planet. It is a little bit out of date but it is still very interesting all the same.

In May we held an awesome workshop at the Pretoria zoo. We were given “The Elephant Indaba” for us to work in. The entire workshop was done with the Elephants standing just outside the door while we were doing the workshop. There were big glass doors that opened right onto the Elephant enclosure.

We were SO lucky to have had two very  special owls join us for a short time. It not only gave us the opportunity to learn about owls and their specific behavours but it also gave us the chance to connect with them and see whet THEY had to say.

In August I was lucky enough to be invited to help judge at a dog show in a squatter camp called “Pheels Farm” It was an eye opening event. Everyone was SO proud of their dogs and the dogs were extremely happy and proud to be taking part in this show.

Everyone walked away with amazing prizes that included food hampers, airtime vouchers, water and food bowls for the dogs and many other prizes. A few weeks ago there was an amazing article printed in the People magazine. It mentioned the work the NDDF are doing to sterilise, vaccinate and feed the dogs in the townships as well as educate the people about the importance of  basic dog care.

I decided because of the Rabies outbreak that I would get myself and my staff vacinated. We all work with animals and come into contact with quite a few stray animals so I thought it would be a good idea. Well I can tell you it was MUCH easier vaccinating my dogs than it was vaccinating my staff! But in the end all was done and everyone was happy.

The next dog show I was invited to judge at was “All Breeds Dog Training School” in Boxburg. Mike and Leanne are running a brilliant school. Everyone andtheir dogs taking part had an awesome time. It was like a VERY BIG family event.

Yes it WAS a fancy dress. “Spot the dog”

In the beginning of October I gave a talk at a faire being held at Shanthi Sanctuary. The fair was in aid of FreeMe Wildlife Animal Rehabilitation Centre. We were celebrating St Francis day and everyone was invited to bring their animals so that some of the animal healers and communicators could work on them. There were dogs, cats and even a bearded dragon put in an appearance.

A couple of weeks later I held a workshop at Shanthi. What an amazing place to run a workshop communicating with animals.

Shanthi Cat was one of the cats we communicated with during the workshop. The atmosphere was amazing at Shanthi Sanctuary. Halfway through the workshop, the heavens opened and we had the biggest hail storm I have ever experienced. The hail stones were the size of half bricks. The minute they started falling we all got up and formed a circle. Together we put protection around the centre and the animals there. Within a few seconds the hail just stopped. It was an awesome experience.

October also saw me travelling to Cape Town (with a broken foot). The workshop we scheduled for Cape Town had to be postponed but I did have the pleasure of meeting some of the ladies who were going to be studying “The animal communication home study course”.

I always feel so vitalised and energetic when returning from a trip to Cape Town. The energy there is SO strong and uplifting.

While I was there Alan and I went to visit Michaela and her family. Her dog Grappa was about to have his 10^th birthday. Go Grappa Go!!!

He still looks SO young and handsome!!! As he tells me he will always be handsome!

Another one of my great highlights this year was when Sheila and her husband, Johnny, took Alan and myself to the Rhino Orphanage in Naaboomspruit. Sheila is the founder of Dance To Be Wild and is doing amazing work raising awareness and funds for this project. I was SO impressed by what the team at the Orphanage are doing. Their passion and dedication is just so inspiring!!!

We met a baby Rhino that had been orphaned when he was only a few months old. He is now quite a big strsapping boy at seven months old. I think it is a full time job looking after him and the other Rhinos.

Yes they also have some rescued lions at the orphanage. All the animals there are in SUCH good condition and these lions were just so laid-back and happy.

2012 was the year that saw Sammy and myself launch a new workshop. This workshop was especially designed to teach people how to communicate with their “own” animals. We all know that it not as easy communicating with our own animals because we know them so well. We always battle to “trust” what we are getting from them. We assume it is coming from our own knowledge of what we know about them. In this workshop we introduced techniques that, with practice, would make it a lot easier to get the information we are looking for from our own animals.

The group we had for the day was an amazingly powerful group of ladies. We are expecting to great things from them in the future.

This year also saw another day of snow fall. This really excited the dogs. Riff-Raff and Stacy couldn't control their excitement but Isis thought it was MUCH warmer to stay inside near the fire-plave.

During the course of the year, through my consultations, I have had the pleasure of meeting and connecting with SO many amazing aniamls and their human companions. From a donkey in Isreal to a dog in Mauritious and a cat in Switzerland (not to mention ALL the amazing animals I met in South Africa) It has been an incredibly busy yet eye opening year. I find that every animal (and human) I connect with has so much to teach. All you need to do is be open to the lessons they are willing to share. Yes they have truly enriched my life.

I still believe in the saying “Every student is a teacher and every teacher is a student”.

I always say when I teach that it is not about getting the certificate. Yes the knowledge is important. However the place where you really become “qualified” is when you go out there and put everything you learnt into practice.

I believe that although we should always strive to learn and improve our knowledge in everything we do, we should NOT become permanent students. A time comes when we need to take that next step and “jump” into the communication. Sometimes this means stepping out of our comfort zones.

Yes we never stop learning but the reason we are learning this skill in the first place is so that WE can improve the quality of life and understanding of all the animals we come in contact with.

Its about bridging the devide between the human race and the animal kingdom.

Sammy and I are really hoping we see quite a few of you really taking your abilities further and working (full or part time) communicating with animals and helping others develop a much deeper understanding of their animal friends.

Remember - EVERYONE thrives on love.This goes for animals and humans. So get out there and show them the love that is in YOUR hearts.   Help to open THEIR hearts so that they can also experience the meaning of what true love really is.  It doesn't cost anythiing to smile!!!

Hi to all the beautiful souls out there

2012 has been a year full of extremes, a year of change at its most vital, a year of the most intense release and growth that I have yet experienced.  It was a year of no compromises, and only the focused intent to stay on my path and be guided to my highest self and to fulfil my purpose for the year kept guiding me back from the edge of panic, stress and fear. 

Looking back I feel that I have been through the most intense hurricane, ripping off everything in and around me that no longer served me, leaving me in many ways stripped naked, and having to learn to be in the world without the crutches that for so many years kept me hidden from myself.  At the same time, I have had the most amazing experiences, found myself in the most beautiful surroundings, discovered beautiful parts of myself, and connected with Mother Earth and all her inhabitants in the most incredible ways.

The beginning of the year was an important lesson in learning to do what I love, rather than doing something I'm good at but don't love in order to make ends meet.  During this time, the intense focus required by the project I was working on left me stressed and with little spare time to attempt communications or trackings, and I struggled to maintain a balance between my spiritual self and the “working” self.  At the end of the project I realised that I needed to have the faith to believe that doing what I love will attract to me whatever I need to get to the next moment.  It took several months for me to regain a sense of peace and inner calm.

Shortly after the project ended and I was trying to get back to some semblance of spiritual connection and centred-ness, I found myself organising a double house-move.  My partner's parents were retiring to the Cape, after his dad had been diagnosed with cancer, and we had rented their house from them.  Assisting them in packing up 60 years of memories to truck to a different town, as well as organising our own packing and shuffling from house to house was an intense exercise in de-cluttering. 

Just before the move, I attended a weekend workshop receiving the intense and incredible Munay-ki healing rites.  9 healing rites were transferred over two days, and we were told to expect a 14 week clearing period thereafter.  And what a clearing period it was.  The munay-ki rites are based on ancient Peruvian shamanism practices and are being released at this time to assist humanity create new energy patterns for the new earth going forward and to release old patterns of living and being.  It clears a lot of stuck emotional stuff that you carry with you, stuff you don't even realise you still have, and in doing gives you the opportunity to grow and learn a new way of being, if you take the opportunities.

The house moving was stressful, intense but as with everything that this year was about, it was cleansing, purifying and ultimately perfect.  With the clearing of the munay-ki, I found the following two months extremely intense and unsettling.  I became ever more sensitive to the energy of people, places and events and found myself unable to cope at first with the intense flood of emotion, thought and negativity that I would encounter in dealing with people.  As a result I became very insular during this time, pulling away from all but those closest to me that I felt I could cope with.  At the same time, I felt lost in the new space, unable to find or make my own space, unable even to meditate or feel a connection to my guides.  My animals were the most incredible souls, as always, and I spent a great deal of time with them, communing with them, connecting with them, allowing them to guide me, learning to live life like they do, one moment at a time.

My partner spent the majority of the next few months in the Cape with his parents, until his dad crossed over in October.  His dad had been like a father to me, my own dad having crossed over 20 years ago, when I was aged 20, so the time my partner spent with him before he died, was not only an incredibly emotional time for him, but for me as well.  What was most amazing were the animal spirit guides that stepped forward at this time to be with me and guide me.  Many animals, birds and little creatures brought messages to me, and reminded me to access and share with my partner the wisdom shared with me by the souls of many animals who had crossed over and who I had communicated with over the years.  In doing this I found my centre again and began to feel that I had safely crossed over an invisible chasm that had been yawning beneath me. 

Going to Cape Town for the funeral gave us an opportunity to visit the beach, and it was here that I unexpectedly found myself performing a simple ceremony of gratitude and release.  I could release the year and surrender to the plan that lay before me , of which I am mostly unaware, but have the faith to know that I will be taken to where I need to be, guided to the people, places and events that will keep me walking forward into light.

 I've recently returned from a family week away near Dullstroom in Mpumulanga and we had two separate days of hailstorms sweeping through the area, more hail than I've seen at once for a long time.  Because water deals with emotion, and hail is frozen water, I wondered what the significance was of the hail.  It eventually dawned on me that the hail, having been frozen h igh up in the clouds, the place I call the “angel's playground”, and then thrown down to earth, was in a way bringing the purity of the heavens down to earth.  Rain would move through the layers of smog, dirt and negativity surrounding a spot, and pick up and be changed by this, yet hail would move through these layers, unchanged and land on the earth in the same state it left the high altitudes, clear and pure.  What a way to cleanse and purify a place.

And just in closing… Mercury is in retrograde until the 26^th.  Mercury governs communications, so expect delays in every way, problems in communications, miscommunications in relationships, etc.  Don't despair, take the time to focus on sorting out things from the past, you'll be most successful with old clients for instance, reworking old contracts and updating them and decluttering your old thoughts, space and way of doing things.  Try to leave decisions on anything new until after the 26^th, and just be patient with yourself and everyone around you until then.  Everyone may say certain things that may be hurtful, but it's most likely not intended, or is just the result of the backwards way of Mercury right now.  Be calm, find peace within yourself and be patient, it will pass.

2012 has been a hard year for most people in different ways.  Try to remember that when dealing with others, make kindness, compassion and forgiveness the priority in your behaviour, and know that everyone else is struggling in their own way too.  Spend time in nature, the quickest way to finding peace and inner calm.  Notice the messages that are all around you, in the colours of nature, the birds, insects, creatures you see.  Send love and gratitude through your feet to the earth below everywhere you walk and say to yourself often, “I am one with the earth and the earth is one with me.”  We are not separate from each other, from other species, or from the earth.  We are all inter-connected in the most wonderful ways… celebrate this connection for it is the way to deal with the collapsing society and the negative energies of corruption, consumerism and greed.  And lastly, be the change you wish to see in the world, don't wait for others to change it first.

 Much love and light and I hope we see you at our get-together on 1^st December.

Sammy

Jenny, Sammy and the animals