Whilst spending time with your pet or in nature you may have asked yourself ‘Do animals have souls or spirits?’
This question has baffled philosophers and theologians across the world, and is of particular importance if you believe in an afterlife since the next question is 'Do pets go to heaven/the Summerlands/get reincarnated' and so on.
Many people wonder if they can use a medium to contact their pet who has passed away.
Are animals the same or different to people?
I believe animals do have souls and I think it is interesting that we feel the need to ask that question. Of course there is no way of proving for sure that we have spirits or souls but if we are going to believe that We do, it seems crazy that we should think animals don’t.
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By thinking that way what we are essentially doing is seeing ourselves as separated off from animals, something very different from them, on a totally different plane of existence. Now I grant you, there are some special things about humans, we’ve certainly come a long way in our mental development, but on the other hand it is so easy to see the similarities between us and them.
Do animals have feelings?
I remember a series from the TV called ‘Do animals…’ and then each week they would explore something like, ‘have a sense of humour’, or ‘feel sad’ or ‘feel happy’. While I found this series fascinating, I did feel bemused by us having to ask some of the questions. (They didn't ask 'do animals have souls' though!).
Anyone who has ever had a pet or spent time with animals will know that they get happy and sad and even that they enjoy laughter. I remember my own dog getting involved as much as she could when we would be getting together having a laugh. Similarly it is easy to picture an animal feeling upset, a harrowing image that sticks in my mind is on David Attenborough’s greatest wildlife moments where zebra gets killed by a lion. It's partner watched on, shrieking in emotional pain and distress. That would happen if animals had no feelings.
Where does this view of animals and people being essentially different come from?
To me, thinking that animals don’t have souls is a kind of crazy arrogance, putting human beings on a pedestal and seeing us as essentially the rulers of animals, that they are here merely to serve our purpose. Yet it’s one that is held as acceptable by many people, why?
Interestingly I think both science and religion have played a role in creating this anthropocentric perspective.
Religion
Certain religions such as Christianity traditionally posit humans as a recreation of God, with animals put here to assist us in daily life, almost as if we were Their God. God created animals to serve man, therefore animals must be different to man.
Science
Around the 18th Century in Europe, there was a cultural movement away from superstition, and as a backlash against repressive churches. They believed that using reason and scientific method, you could find out anything you needed to know about the world. The world changed from something at times unknown, scary and even sacred to something controllable through mind and machinery (think industrial revolution which also happened at this time).
This seeming mastery of those elements (which have always had the power to destroy our lives at any moment – and still do!) helped lead these thinkers down a path that man was really special, apart from, and the master of animals and nature, and also of course that there was no such thing as souls anyway!
(This dualistic thinking persists in much of western culture, from seeing a separation of the mind and body and not realizing that all is one.)
Do animals have souls and do pets go to heaven?
Like I said, in talking about metaphysical subjects we can never actually be certain of the truth.
However it seems totally obvious to me that if we believe we have souls, then we must believe that animals do too.
Similarly if you believe you go to heaven then it really makes sense to believe that pets and animals around the world would too, what kind of god would leave our furry friends out in the cold anyway??!
Can mediums and psychics connect with animals?
Sometimes people who ask do animals have souls are hoping that they can get a medium to connect with their dead pet.
To be honest with you I have had little experience with mediumship and spiritualism, and I am not sure whether anyone is capable of doing it as I wonder if souls/spirits just float about waiting to be contacted. Sometimes I think that perhaps mediums are actually tuning in to the resonating energy of that person, because while that person’s spirit would have gone somewhere else, still in some way it is present and leaves a vibration there.
If mediums (or at least some mediums) are genuine, then I see no reason why they couldn’t communicate with animals too, since I believe that they do have souls or spirits or energy bodies or whatever you want to call it.
I know a lot of people wonder how a medium or psychic could talk to an animal and so I thought I’d mention what psychics tend to say which is that, just as with people and dreams and things, you don’t need to use words to communicate, you get feelings that bypass the brain and then you interpret it using words. Some psychics and telepaths also ‘see’ a connection, like a kind of electric wire connecting them to the animal.
Pets Do go to Heaven - A touching story
Finally, here is a lovely story I read on family.psychics.co.uk of why this person believes that animals do have souls and that pets go to heaven:
“Hi I think we will see our pets. Here's why. My mother took my grandmother's dog Bonnie home to live with her and my dad after my grandmother died.
A few years later, I had a dream that I was with my current dog waiting for an appointment at the vets by my grandmother's house where we used to go when I was little. My grandmother walked in with her dog Bonnie, and I was surprised to see her and asked her what she was doing there. She didn't answer, and I woke up.
A few days later I talked to my mom who told be that Bonnie had died in her sleep. I really think that my grandmother was waiting for her dog and that they are together.”
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Is your pet behaving strangely? Is your pet lost or missing?
Do you want to try and contact a pet that has passed?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions then do try Psychic Source, whom I've used recently. I used to recommend keen but now I prefer PS. They have a pet category to make it easier which I like.
At the moment they are offering 10 minutes for just $10 which is handy as you can see if the psychic has correctly tuned into your pet.
I've used Luna and Psychic Renae and both were good.
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