Insights on Forgiveness from an angel cat

From my own experience with losing a beloved animal companion, I have found that connecting with the animal in the afterlife can bring a degree of comfort and peace that can otherwise be impossible to obtain when you are grieving deeply the loss of your animal friend. Especially the feeling of guilt after pet loss can be challenging, and forgiveness in this case can be very elusive.

I often use shamanic journeys with a special writing technique I have developed for connecting with my angel animals, and am thus able to capture the words of wisdom and love that I receive from my beloved animal companions that have passed.

Preparing for a shamanic journey, I seek the stillness within, by not resisting the sounds around me. Listening, just being here, being present with what is. When I don’t deny the present moment but go with and stay present with what is – when I don’t try to force my expectations on events but allow myself to accept the Now and going with the flow – surprisingly I can easier make conscious decisions, take the right steps, see my path more clearly. Resistance narrows the perspective immensely and cuts us off from the power of the Now which contains the peace as well as the heart-to-heart connection with other living beings.

Where a deceased or dying pet is concerned, staying present without judgment and without resistance becomes acutely important. For in the space of the Now, your connection with your pet or their spirit becomes much more clear. You become more alert to their needs, their messages, and their love when you connect with them in the peace of the present moment.

Even though we strive to be peaceful and to be present during challenging times, it is not easy and we may end up taking actions that afterwards cause us much sorrow or regret and enormous guilt.

Questions like:

• “How do I know when it’s the right time to let my beloved pet pass?”
• “Did I have my pet euthanized too soon – or perhaps too late?”
• “Why wasn’t I home when my pet died?”

– and many more questions like these might go through your mind, making you suffer with the unbearable thought of having let down your pet.

The love we feel for our pets is deep, and forgiveness for ourselves is especially difficult when it comes to our beloved animal companion.

During a shamanic journey, I ask my angel cat, Kia how we can reach forgiveness after pet loss, and as I ask this question, I return to being here now, filling out my body with my awareness. I experience sitting next to Kia in a dark, starry night. I feel her soft, gentle presence. She says:

“Guilt and blame help neither you nor me. Guilt and blame do not bring healing. They keep us in pain; they keep us separated – or rather: feeling guilt and blaming either yourself or someone else, prevents you from experiencing the connection of love that still exists between us. As in life when I was with you in my physical body, it is in the space and light of peace that our souls meet, that the heart-to-heart connection is revealed. It is in peace that healing takes place. In order to reach the peace, you need to forgive – forgive yourself, forgive others – whenever you’re holding on to guilt, blame or grudges. Let them go and return to the peace of the present moment – to the experience where being here now is okay”.

M: “Thanks – but what can people do more specifically, because they may have difficulty in letting go of guilt.”

Kia:

“Imagine being the pet – whether the one dying or the one that has passed. Imagine how your pet experiences your state.

What is the difference you experience within yourself if you imagine being a pet watching your human suffer, blaming themselves or others, resisting the present. What energy comes to you then? How is the connection between you in this case?

And then afterwards, imagine being your pet – one close to death or one in the afterlife – who’s watching their human at peace, open, acknowledging the present moment whatever it is: What is the energy you feel from them? How is the strength of the bond between you? With which words would you describe this situation?
As you do this exercise, make sure you don’t step into self-blame. Use it to gain insights and make more conscious and aware decisions.

As I’ve said before, it’s in the peace we’ll meet. It’s in the peace of forgiveness that healing will take place.

Let me end by giving you the image of a butterfly: a butterfly coming out of its cocoon, unfolding its wings and flying off in the sunlight. As I step from my physical body into my spirit self, your forgiveness, your peace, will allow me to unfold my wings, and it will allow me to step into the unlimited self that I am, and which you are too. As infinite beings we are one. As you keep returning to the peace of the light, you’ll know we’re one and we can never be apart. I am the light in your heart. I carry your dreams.”

I thank Kia and ask if there is anything else she wishes to say.

Kia:

“Just a simple exercise: Light a candle and imagine the light connecting us. See us both in the light – see us both in the place beyond “right” and “wrong”. See us in the place of light and love, of Being.”

I thank Kia for her wise and loving words and we say goodbye for now.

I end the journey.

Action step

What are you struggling with in connection with pet loss? And what is your biggest takeaway from this journey? Please write your thoughts in the comments below.