Well, maybe this is an overstatement, but there's a healthy dose of skepticism out there. On the other hand, few respondents dismissed it outright, and readers expressed a great deal of curiosity about AC. Of 37 responses, 16% had used an animal communicator (AC). When asked "would you use an AC?" about forty percent answered no or probably not. Of the 60% who answered maybe or yes, typical comments were that it would be "fun," "an interesting experiment," or a "last resort." A number of respondents said they wished and hoped that it is possible to communicate with animals.
The success stories made a favorable impression of how ACs can work with a client:
- One AC visited a farm in a remote area. She got out of the car and pointed to a nearby field, saying "there is a grey pony buried there." She was right, a pony had been euthanized and buried there years before. She was asked to communicate with a cat that run away and been missing for weeks. The AC assured them the cat would come home, and the cat returned the next morning.
- Another AC diagnosed a horse had a hearing problem in under a minute, by touching his (the horse's) ears. The horse was mildly hearing impaired but not in an observable way. She had only seen the animal in cross ties in a quiet barn, and the hearing issue was not the reason for the visit.
- One respondent got a "drive-by" reading from a chiropractor who was treating another boarder's horse. He stopped to pet her horse and told her he (the horse) was expecting to move to a new home. The owner was taken aback -- she was leaving for a new barn in a few days.
Are there ways that an AC could come by this information or deduced it other than via the animal? Sure, at least in a lot of cases. In other cases, the knowledge/insight is hard to explain.
There were some scathing denouncements of ACs making inane comments or just being kooky:- One psychic reported "your horse likes the blue blanket over the red one."
- Another told the owner "your horse hates your long hair."
- One AC put the horse's supplement containers in front of him an she claimed the horse indicated "he didn't need them."
- One respondent was distraught by an AC's advice. She had a lame, sick horse that she was thinking of putting down. The AC told her emphatically not to put the horse down, but to sell the horse "to a young girl" instead. The poster felt guilty and angry at this suggestion, which seemed out of line and unrelated to her role as communicator.
Wow, these stories are baaaaad.
My thoughts?
I have never used an animal communicator. Alas, I think that people who can communicate with other species -- if they exist at all -- are more the exception than the rule. If I were to use an AC (and I might under certain circumstances), I would use word of mouth to find one that has a track record of success. Success to me is either a) getting meaningful, accurate information or b) having the AC admit that she had an unproductive session (and maybe charge a reduced fee). My personal preference would dictate that I find an AC that doesn't spew a lot of new age rhetoric. A pragmatic, down to earth approach, with realistic expecations, is more appealing.
Coming up next: A practicing AC offered to do an interview via email. I just received her first set of answers to my questions and hope to share them soon. In the meantime, here are some pretty good resources.
RESOURCES
Before you consult an animal communicator includes ten things you need to know, preparing for a session, and what to expect from a session with an AC (from animaltalk.net)
Animal communicators: Help for your horse? from About.com
Animal communicators: Fact or fiction? from Helium.com
Look who's talking from Horse Illustrated (reprinted with permission)
Jessica Jahiel's take on animal communicators
Equinely inclined: Episode 24 podcast
This podcast includes a discussion of Health, Harmony and Horses Conference held at Esprix Stables east of Stony Plain, Alberta and interviews with horse trainers Josh Nichol and Ken Schmuland, Debbie of Feed Store to Your Door, Donna ONeil of Marsh Haven Farm, and nutritionist Amanda Kroeker.
Animaltalk.net (recommended reading from article in Horse Illustrated)
COTH Posts (anecdotes and opinions)
Animal communicator polls from COTH
Recommended animal communicators from COTH
Animal communicators: Sages of wisdom or nutjobs? from COTH
Animal communicator anecdote
from COTH
BOOKS
Animal Talk, lnterspecies Telepathic Communication, by Penelope Smith. Council Oak Books; 214 pages, $14.98.
Communicating With Animals, The Spiritual Connection Between People and Animals, by Arthur Myers. Contemporary Books; 256 pages, $14.95.
Kinship With All Life; Simple, challenging, real-life experiences showing how animals communicate with each other and with people who understand them; by J. Allen Boone. Harper San Francisco; 157 pages, $13.95.
When Animals Speak, Advanced Interspecies Communication, by Penelope Smith. Council Oak Books; 290 pages, $14.95.
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I didn't reply to the survey, but I had a great experience with my animal communicator. She, with no prompting, told me the story behind the scar near the back of his tongue. Our correspondence was over email and she has never seen more than a candid photo of my horse. I would consult her again in a heartbeat. I know other clients of hers and they were similarly pleased.
ReplyDeleteI'm new here so never saw the survey. I would add Anita Curtis as a recommended AC. I studied it myself with Penelope Smith and Marcia Zais, and had very moving experiences when I practiced daily.
ReplyDeleteYou know, reading the "positives," I have no problem with psychism. Yes, there are people who have more pronounced psychic abilities than others, and that doesn't impress me. I've had plenty of my own psychic events. What I have a problem with is the advice. It's almost like practicing medicine w/o a liscense.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about this blog & survey until this morning. I had two different ACs out to communicate with my mule. At the time I was somewhat impressed with what they offered (tho none of it was verifiable). But some of what they said seemed irrelevant. And then when one called later to tell me my mule was communicating with her (on his own) and asking for more sessions, I felt like she was trying to manipulate me to spend more money. Granted my mule may very well have been reaching out--and I acknowledged that--but I told her I wasn't willing to pay her for another session.
ReplyDeleteBut I admit feeling torn about it because I do believe animals can communicate with humans on many levels. But I think most of us (including many ACs) don't really have the ability to hear (or listen, or 'see' what the animal is offering). But I believe some people DO have that ability--are born with it or have developed it.
I watched a woman trying to catch a horse at a Tom Dorrance clinic. He was verbally assisting her, saying it was tough to do because by the time the words left his mouth and she followed his instructions, it was 'too late'. At some point after 10 minutes or so, he told her to just stop and stand still and he walked up to the fence rail (outside the arena). The horse had been unfocused and avoiding the woman (and all people in and around the arena), but the moment Tom reached the fence, the horse focused on Tom and walked directly over to him. After rubbing on the horse's head for a few minutes (while we all sat in stunned silence), Tom sat down and resumed giving the gal verbal instructions. It took another few minutes for her to catch that horse. I think all who were present would agree that Tom was able to communicate with horses (and certainly that one at that time) in a way most of us only dream of doing.
Timberwolfdog: Here's a teaser for part 2 of the AC series.
ReplyDeleteThe AC I interviwed has a list of "warning signs" that your AC might not be reputable. One sign in her list is that the AC pushes for additional visits.
Kitty Bo: I've never had a psychic experience but I think some people are very tuned into animals -- The Dog Whisperer TV series never ceases to impress me. I'm not sure he is a psychic, but he is astute, and if he addresses the problem (usually an owner that lets their animal take the driver's seat) it doesn't matter to me if he is psychic or not.
i usually really enjoy your blog and find your thoughts to be informative and usually fairly well substantiated. but i was disappointed to see you write a blog about something you could have easily tried in advance, and yet did not, relying only on those surveyed to form the basis for your posting. i think those who are dissatisfied are more likely to respond than those, like myself, who are happy - because bashing is far less work than writing a tome that can even come close to accurately describing how and why it is so amazing, moving, and even to the previously skeptical, real.
ReplyDeletekristie b
Hi, Thanks for your comment Kristie. In my next blog entry I interviewed an animal communicator, and she responds to some of the survey findings.
ReplyDeleteI don't post ads on this blog, although people inquire about advertising pretty often. I don't profit by this blog, and in fact it costs me -- animal communicators are expensive, starting at about $100-150. Sorry, my pockets are not that deep for something I do that is basically a hobby. Sorry if that disappoints you, but that's the story...
wow crazy! Those things actually happened? I never got the survey, I'm not sure how I feel about animal communication yet...
ReplyDeleteUsually an animal communication session will contain lots of information, some of it relevant and important.. some, not so much. It's easy for a skeptic to second guess information derived from animal communication sessions... no one is holding the skeptic's opinion up to the light to see it is correct or not. In the end, horse owners are horse owners. They have the final say on how to treat their horses, be it sell them, put them down, or give them to a rescue organization. I have a horse that was dead lame and couldn't walk at age 15, and an animal communicator said "work on him, he will fix" today at 23 he can jump anything and runs around like a six year old. As in all things related to the horse.. riding, training, and handling.. discernment is important, but derision of things one does not have personal experience with is usually not helpful.
ReplyDelete