It takes more than sage

In recent weeks, I have learned that it can often require a lot more than sage to cleanse a house and address some of the things that may be occurring in our homes.  It all started last month, when I was first working with Kino on the "sit" command. I was at the kitchen table working on my laptop and throwing the ball across the room for Kino (because it is a requirement that he get as much attention as my computer).  :-)

At one point, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him stop at the base of the stairs and stare at something on the staircase. I stopped what I was doing to observe him and it was then that I saw him sit, in a perfect sit, and then cock his head to the left and to the right, the way he does when I am talking to him.  I figured it must be the little girl spirit that has been in my house as long as I have been here.  I forget she's here, since I don't see spirits, but from time to time, either a child or a dog who is visiting will remind me that she is here.

I mentioned the experience with Kino to a friend and she pointed out that even though I didn't mind having spirits in the house, that it's actually not fun for them to be stuck here.  I decided to have someone come over the next week to help the little girl cross over.

I thought the focus was going to be on helping the little girl, so I was quite shocked when the gal began picking up all sorts of other things when she got to my house.  She felt dark, murky energy and she sensed it originated under my house.  She asked me, "How do you concentrate?  This energy is so dense, I don't know you can focus."  The wheels in my mind started to churn, as I realized that I DID have a very difficult time concentrating.  I had also been having a really difficult time grounding myself and releasing energy that I absorbed from others.  The tools I had used for years no longer seemed to work and I couldn't figure out why I was having so much trouble doing things that had always been relatively simple.  I had been on a mission all year to find new tools to help me and had only been mildly successful.

As I sat with the information I was getting, more of the puzzle pieces started to click into place.  It had all started about a year ago when the city was doing a major sewer project outside of my house.  I thought at the time it was just the incessant jack hammering that was making it so difficult for me to focus, or ground myself or release energy but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that it had never gotten any better after the project was complete.

She was able to determine the origin of the disturbance under my house (a very ugly battle that took place on the land many many years ago) and it made sense that things got stirred up when they were doing all that digging outside of my house.  She was able to release all the old, murky energy and restore balance to the land under my house.

With her help, the little girl, who passed away when her father was working on the construction of my house, was finally able to cross over.  It seems she had been trying to find him all these years and I was glad she was finally able to leave this plane and I pray she has at long last reunited with her father.

I had always thought a house cleansing was just about saging.  I have done it many times, not just at my own house, but at friend's houses as well and I assumed that was all that was needed to cleanse a space.  I never thought about spirits who may be stuck on this astral plane or wounds in the land underneath the structures we live in.

It was an eye opening and very positive experience for me.  It has been a relief the last few weeks to be able to stay grounded, to release the energy I pick up from others, to concentrate (well, as long as I don't have a 90 lb. puppy vying for my attention) and I'm even sleeping more peacefully at night.  I wish I had thought to do it sooner, but I also trust that we find our right next step exactly when we are supposed to . . . so I will assume this all unfolded the way it was meant to.

The Fostering Adventure Continues

It's never a dull moment around here with my foster dog Kino.  One of our challenges has been that he gets over-excited the first time we do something he’s never experienced before, so each "first" can be a bit overwhelming. 

The first time he saw me dust the house he went wild. “Is that a toy? Can I have that? Should I bite that? How can I help?  Are you sure I can't bite that rag?”

The first time I sunbathed on my stomach in front of him, he was thinking “Wow, the small of her back is the perfect place to put my tennis ball” and he proceeded to munch on his tennis ball in the small of my back, again and again until I finally gave up trying to get my back tan.

The first time I stood in the tub and shaved my legs in front of him, he thought we were playing a new game--one where you try to lick the water and soap off my legs in a wild frenzy before I can touch my leg with the razor. 

The first time I took him to a pet store, he yanked me all over the store to the point where one of the employees handed me a brochure for their beginner training course.  I was humiliated that we looked like we hadn't done an ounce of training prior to that afternoon.  She looked at me like I was fibbing when I told her that I was an animal communicator.  

The first time I asked him to “Wait” while I put his food down, he was befuddled.  “What are you doing?  Are you crazy?  That’s my food!  Why would I wait for it? I want it NOW! If this is some new game, I don't like it.” 

Fortunately each time we do these things, his reaction is less over the top, he's calmer and not frantically trying to make the most of the new experience - well, with all of them except the sunbathing.  I haven't had the guts to try laying on my stomach again since that first time because feeling those gigantic teeth in the small of my back is not what I would call relaxing, but with everything else, each time he is more at ease than the time before.  

One of our other challenges is that he has still been over protective of me and the house, so greeting people at the door was something I was beginning to dread.  I knew we needed to get better at this, so I had several friends come over last week so we could work on having him sit and wait while I opened the door and they entered the house.  The first couple times, it was a disaster, (Sit? Stay? What? Do you want me to bite them?) but eventually, he started to show signs of progress and I was feeling less stressed about having people come to the house.  There was still the issue of him competing with my friends for attention, but one thing at a time, right? 

Yesterday, a man came to the house and once again, we appeared to not have done an ounce of training as he barked and lunged at the guy.  It hadn't occurred to me that it had only been my girlfriends coming to the house and that he might react differently with a man.  

So today, I got one of my guy friends to come over and we worked on our door greetings.  Kino sounded pretty ferocious the first time I opened the door and he did attempt to lunge, but my friend Joe wasn't deterred.  He kept leaving and coming back and with each knock on the door, Kino got better and better.  When we wrapped up our official training session, Kino decided that Joe was alright and insisted on laying on the floor with him, frequently resting his head on Joe's leg.  

I know training is a process. It's all about consistent practice and positive reinforcement so that's what I am committed to doing.  Hopefully in time, we will have covered all the "firsts" we could possibly cover and we'll look less "untrained" to the casual observer.  In spite of our focus on training, I'm also making sure that Kino gets a chance every day to be a puppy.  After all, he's only a year old and he deserves to have goof-off time every day.  It's a nice reminder for me that sometimes it's good for the soul to just goof-off and act like you don't have a care in the world.