Triple Nine Gateway

Today I am sharing a post written by Emmanuel Dagher.   We are in a very powerful time right now and people may find themselves getting triggered more frequently or more easily.  This post of Emmanuel's explains what's going on and how we can get through this with as much ease and grace as possible.

Hi my friend,

During the next 24hrs, on September 9th, 2016, we will move through a very powerful energy portal known as the triple 9 gateway. 

September is the ninth month of the year and from the perspective of numerology, this date of September (9) 9th, 2016= 2+0+1+6=9, offers us the pinnacle of a powerful time of completion and new beginnings known as the 9.9.9.

Every pattern we've identified with, every behavior, belief, person, place, and experience that we have been engaging with will now come to the surface to be examined closely to see if they are something that can continue on with us on our journey, or if they are something that we can let go of once and for all at this time. 

You may notice a lot of emotional triggers come up at this time as well, and they are coming up so that we can learn the lesson from them. Once the lesson is learned, these triggers will no longer be in our reality.

If you are finding yourself getting caught up in the 'story' of these emotions, they will feel more magnified and intense during this 9 cycle. This is because they just no longer have a place in the new heart-centered energies emerging and being prepared for us.

The key to moving through this time is to remember that whatever comes up, it's important not to get caught up in the reaction of it. We can feel into the triggered emotions, but we don't have to blame, judge or go into victim consciousness when they come up. 

After the 9 always comes the 1. The 1 is all about creating a foundation to the kind of reality we'd like to create in the next 9 year cycle. This is often a time when new jobs, new homes, new travel, and new relationships begin. 

So when we learn the lessons from our 9, the 1 is set to be a more expanded, whole, happy, fulfilling and abundant chapter of our lives.

Happy 9.9.9!

Love,

Emmanuel
Emmanueldagher.com

It's All In How You Ask

While I always encourage people to talk to their animals and to ask them questions when needed,  I recently noticed that the key words that are often missed when asking an animal a question is "show me."  "Show me" is a wonderful way to not only get information from an animal but to also show them that you respect their intelligence.

It worked like a charm the other day when I was driving home and encountered a Dalmation standing in the middle of the street.  I pulled my car safely around the corner (so Kino would stop barking) and walked back over to him.  After offering him my hand to sniff, he let me pet him.  While petting his neck, I determined he wasn't wearing a collar, so there would be no way to find an address or a phone number for him.  I decided to ask for his help, but rather than saying, "Where do you live?" I said, "Can you show me where you live?"  Immediately he started walking down the street, so I followed along and about three houses later, he walked over to a car and began sniffing it.  I said, "Oh, is that your car?" and he wiggled his rear-end so I took that as a "yes."  Then I said, "Should we knock on the door and see who is home?" and he walked up to the front porch.  Again, I followed along and a couple seconds after I knocked, a man opened the door and said "Charlie, I was just looking for you."

You might think, well, you're an animal communicator, why couldn't you ask him "Where do you live?" and the short answer is, it would have taken too long.  I might have received images and pictures of things about the house - things that would need to be interpreted, etc.  Unfortunately, he wouldn't have said, "oh, I live at 647 Chestnut Street."  Asking him to show me was a much quicker way to get him back home.

There are many times where I hear my friends and my clients ask their dog "What do you want?" when their dog is barking or pawing or something along those lines to try and get their guardian's attention.  "What do you want?" is usually just met with a more insistent tap of the paw or a louder bark, but rarely an answer.  When I gently suggest that they adjust their question to "Show me what you want" it almost always results in some sort of answer.  Upon asking, "Show me what you want" one dog walked into the kitchen and sat down close to the sink.  When I looked at his mom with a question on my face (i.e. What's over there?) she laughed and said, "That's the cupboard where I keep the special dog treats."  Another time when the guardian asked "Show me what you want" the dog walked over to the closet where the leashes were kept.  He was asking to go on a walk.  She said "I'm visiting with Maureen right now, I will take you for a walk after she leaves" and the dog promptly laid down on the floor next to us and didn't make another peep. (I do think that for as much as he likes me, he was definitely looking forward to me leaving that day but at least expectations were clear).

So, keep it in mind . . . "Show me" is a great tool to have in your tool kit, not just because it can get you some pretty quick results, but I also think animals really appreciate it when we acknowledge their intelligence.

Stay In Your Heart

I have been reading about (and experiencing) many of the major surges and shifts in energy that have been coming through this summer.  For those that are sensitive to energy, it can be a bit overwhelming.  It can produce anxiety, pressure and restlessness among other things.

Whether we are sensitive to energy or not, the "theme" of the energy that is coming through right now is triggering inner child and trauma wounds.  Because of that, many people have found themselves experiencing intense emotions over things that happened many years ago or feeling an emotional charge about things they thought they had already put to rest.

The good news is that these things are being triggered and brought up so that they can be healed and released once and for all . . . so I look at it as "short term pain for long term gain" . . . pretty soon we will be on the other side of this and we will no longer have to keep facing the past and trying to heal it.  We will finally be free!  Free to live lives that are filled with more peace and more joy.

One of the best ways to get through this particularly challenging period of energy (and all that it is triggering) is to be in our hearts.  The energy we generate when we focus on love can more swiftly transmute the difficult emotions that have been coming up for so many of us.  All we have to do is stop every so often and focus on something we love . . . and allow that feeling of love to swell in our hearts.

For those of us who are animal guardians, I think we have it even easier because hugging or even just looking at one of our beloved pets can generate that swell of love in our hearts very quickly.

We can use this simple technique when an emotion comes up.  If we keep focusing on that feeling of love and hold it as long as possible, we will ease ourselves through whatever emotion may be experiencing.  Doing this periodically throughout the day can lift our vibration up, which can make the day more pleasant, even if we haven't been triggered by anything.  The more frequently we are able to do this, the easier time we will have getting through this stage of our evolution.

I know it sounds simple . . . almost too simple to work . . . and yet I also know how powerful love is and how much good can come when we shift our focus to love.  So hug your pets (or anyone else you love) and allow the feeling of love to swell in your heart . . . and enjoy the feeling.  It could make the next month a lot easier to get through.

Trust vs. Suspicion

One of the big differences I have noticed between Kino and I is that I tend to be friendly to everyone I meet, while Kino always has his guard up.  A perfect example of this was the other day when we stopped to get gas in the car.

As I got out of the car to start pumping gas, I gentleman was getting out of his truck on the other side of the pump.  We smiled and said hello to each other and Kino promptly began barking in his most vicious sounding bark.  It is just what Kino does (bark first, ask questions later) so I am used to it but not everyone else is as comfortable with his vicious barking, so smiling at the man, I said, "He's just letting you know that he's here to protect me."  He laughed and told me he had three dogs at home and that they were equally protective.

As I filled my tank and washed windows, the man and I continued to chat.  He told me more about his dogs and we chatted a bit about animal behavior.  At one point, I realized Kino had calmed down and was sitting in the back seat as quiet as a church mouse, just listening to us so I pointed to my now quiet dog and smiled.  Laughing, the man said, "Well, he put me on notice and once he was sure I heard him, he must have felt his job was done."  We had a good chuckle, then wished each other a pleasant rest of the day.

The truth was, I knew the man had "passed muster" so to speak.  Kino issues a "warning" to anyone who gets close to me, but if their energy is good, he will back off and become very peaceful.  I have learned to only be concerned if his barking continues because that is Kino's way of letting me know that something about the person's energy is making him uncomfortable.

I was thinking about this while we were on a walk the other day and I recalled classes I used to teach in the corporate world on trust. There was a model I used as part of the curriculum to help people understand our different approaches to trust and it covered the following:

Roughly 45% of the population is "Trust Until" which means they go into each new encounter trusting until the person gives them a reason not to.  Another roughly 45% of the population is "Suspicion Until" which means they go into each situation with suspicion until the person gives them a reason to trust.  Then there are 5% of the population that are "Trust Still" in that they stay in trust no matter what the person does and 5% of the population that are "Suspicion Still" meaning they continue to be suspicions no matter what the other person does.

As we continued walking, I contemplated this difference in Kino and I . . . I am a "Trust Until" and he is definitely a "Suspicion Until. " We are wired differently and since I don't think it is possible for either of us to change the other, all I can do is accept and honor our differences.  This means that instead of getting mad at him when he barks at strangers, I'm better off accepting that he is going to do it.  It doesn't mean I have to be any less friendly to strangers, because it is who I am as a person.  I think my best strategy in dealing with strangers may be to inform them that Kino means no harm, he just feels compelled to put people on notice.  :-)

So, are you a Trust Until? or a Suspicion Until? and how about your pets?  Are you wired the same? or wired differently?  It's important to remember that one is not better than the other, as there are pros and cons to both.  Sometimes, understanding how we are wired makes it easier to navigate in this world and accepting instead of judging those who are wired differently can create some pretty amazing benefits as well.

Natural Remedy for Tapeworms

Over the course of the last few years, Kino has been losing weight.  He seemed healthy in every other way so I wasn't too concerned.  I tried switching up his dog food to one with higher protein content.  When that didn't make a difference, I assumed maybe he just had a high metabolism, so I increased the amount of food I was feeding him, yet he still kept losing weight.  It wasn't until we were in the middle of packing up the house that I discovered what was going on . . . I found a tapeworm in his poop.

I was disappointed in myself for not figuring it out sooner.  Lucky had a tapeworm once and I was sure I would recognize the warning signs more quickly if it happened again, but looking back, Kino wasn't doing any of the odd things Lucky had done, like eating the dirt out of my houseplants and rummaging through my friend's purses looking for snacks, so maybe that's why I didn't put it together sooner.

Not wanting to use a traditional tapeworm remedy (because I think they are too harsh on the body), I began researching alternatives.  Much to my delight, I found a natural remedy . . . and it worked!  Raw pumpkin seeds!  You give them 1 tsp. of raw pumpkin seeds per every 10 lbs. of body weight each day.  I spaced them out throughout the day, although that wasn't the suggested method, it just felt right to me to give him pumpkin seeds three times a day instead of all at once.

About 5 days into it, I had a moment of panic when Kino pooped what appeared to be almost pure mucus.  (Sorry for the over-share but I think it's important to share in case it happens to you too).  I wondered if I should stop giving him pumpkin seeds but my intuition told me it was his body getting rid of what wasn't supposed to be in there, so we continued through the end of the second week.

I am happy to report that not only are the tapeworms gone, Kino had gained all his weight back.  His coat looks great and since he is getting all the nutrition from his food instead of sharing it with the parasites, I have even cut back on the amount of food I was feeding him so he can maintain his weight.

Something I have observed since we got rid of the tapeworms is that Kino no longer cries when I am preparing his food.  He had done that since I first got him from the shelter.  I always assumed he was just excited to eat and I thought it was cute. I see now that it was an indication that he was *desperate* to eat.  It may also explain why he was prone to stealing food off people's plates as well.  I thought that was a behavioral/training issue but now that I am looking at it with fresh eyes, I can see that maybe my poor boy had this tapeworm since he first came out of the shelter.

I am happy that we found a natural alternative for treating tapeworms and thought I would share our experience in case anyone else is looking for a safe option.  Interestingly enough, raw pumpkin seeds are really good for people too, as they are a great source of iron, zinc and magnesium and can help with a myriad of health issues.  Raw pumpkin seeds are now something we snack on for pleasure.

As our adventure continues, it is nice to know we're learning some helpful things a long the way.

Skunk Lessons

Kino and I had the unfortunate opportunity to learn a lot about skunks recently.  I thought I would share some of our lessons learned in the event that it is helpful to others who are unfortunate enough to also have the experience.

First of all, when your dog gets sprayed by a skunk, it doesn't smell anything like the skunk smell you experience when you are driving down the road.  In fact, the first thing I researched when I got on the computer was what other animals spray besides skunks because I was sure it wasn't a skunk that got him.  So, I learned that the "up close and personal" smell of skunk spray is far different from the "from a distance" smell of skunk spray.

As may be apparent, I learned that Kino doesn't always obey the "Leave it!" command.  It works when we see other dogs, when we see cats and squirrels and birds and butterflies but it seems the excitement of seeing a skunk made him forget that he knew what the "Leave it!" command meant.

I learned that tomato juice really isn't the solution in these situations.  The recipe for skunk smell eradication is:  a quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda and a tsp. of Dawn dish soap.  I learned that it's probably a good idea to always have these items on hand if you live near skunks because if an "incident" occurs and it's after midnight like it was for us, your choice is to either suffer through the night or drive around looking for these ingredients at after-hours stores.  (I also read that it is NOT a good idea to mix the solution for later use because it can explode).

The solution needs to be applied and rubbed in, left on for 5-10 minutes and then rinsed off.  If you can still smell skunk, the process has to be repeated.   I learned that once is probably never enough and that neither the dog or the human probably has the patience to repeat more than three times.  I also learned that peroxide can lighten the hair of dogs just like it can people, so Kino is now sporting a more "beachy" hair/fur color on his head.

I learned that placing bowls of vinegar around the house actually DOES help absorb the smell that got everywhere else (floor, rugs, furniture etc).   I also learned that the vinegar needs to be changed every 24 hours if it's going to be effective and that even days later, you are still going to get a whiff of that nasty smell when the wind blows or you walk past something that still has the skunk oil on it. I also learned that I dislike the smell of vinegar almost as much as I dislike the smell of skunk spray but it was a necessary discomfort.

I learned that if your dog sticks their head out the car window while it is raining, even if it is a week or more after a skunking incident, the smell is going to be just as strong and just as awful as it was the moment it happened.

And finally . . . I learned that lecturing your dog about how all of this could have been avoided if he had just LISTENED when you said, "leave it!" results in nothing more than blank stares.

Just to be on the safe side, we are now using a leash when we go out in the yard at night.  Kino doesn't enjoy the lack of freedom and I don't necessarily enjoy traipsing around the yard in my robe while he finds just the right spot to relieve himself, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to avoid having to go through that experience ever again.

Life these days seems to be just one adventure after the next.  :-)

A dog named Hero

I just had to share this video . . . it knocked my socks off (and made me cry).

It's a story about a stray dog who found a woman who had been in a car accident  . . . what he did for her, without any prior training will blow you away.  A lot has been written about the bond that animals form with their guardians but to see what this dog did for a woman he had never met before will inspire you to expand your view of what animals are capable of.

Enjoy!!!

Hero's Story

Embracing Change

I have never been one to embrace change.  In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I have always resisted it with every ounce of strength I had.  But something has been compelling me to make changes for a while now, as I have had a growing sense that I needed to shake things up in my life.

At first I started with small changes . . . because that was all I was comfortable with.  I did things such as giving up the morning crossword puzzle and using that time to meditate and giving up certain foods in an effort to be healthier.  No matter how many of these small changes I made, it wasn't alleviating the pressure I felt inside to do something different.

For quite some time, I have felt I was being guided to move but it was guidance I wasn't really open to receiving.  I could come up with a million reasons why I shouldn't move and yet, something in the back of my head kept telling me it was what I truly needed to do if I was going to fulfill my purpose.

With some hesitation, I put my house on the market to see what happened and I asked the Universe to show me if it was the right thing to do.  Within two days, the first people to look at my house had submitted an offer.  I took that as a sign the Universe was saying "Yes."

The path to finding a new place to live wasn't quite as "easy."  I have always wanted to live by the ocean, so I figured I should follow my heart and find a place to rent for a little while.  Unfortunately, I am not the only person out there who wants to rent a house by the ocean so I have not been able to secure a place to live yet.  I've been experiencing an odd mixture of fear of the unknown and trust that it is all going to work out exactly as it is supposed to.

Two days ago, I closed escrow on my house and moved out.  Packing up and moving on from a place I have been for twenty years was not an easy task.  My house is filled with more memories than I can track. (It was also filled with an unimaginable amount of "stuff" that I managed to accumulate over the years).  Sorting through it all and letting go felt like the ultimate test from the Universe but I think I passed the test.

Every room in the house holds stories and as I walked through the house one final time, it was as if a movie was playing in my head . . . of all my relationships - the good ones and the not-so-good ones, parties and friends visiting from out of state, home improvement projects.  I could remember in vivid detail what it was like when Lucky first came to live with me, a vividly remember when she made her transition fourteen years later and everything in between.  As I was making my final walk through, Kino was right on my heels, as if he was paying his respects right along with me to the last twenty years of my life.

For as much sadness as I felt as I said goodbye to each room, I was equally sure this was the right thing to do.  Kino and I are setting out on a new adventure.  It's not as smooth of a transition as I would like (we're staying in a pet friendly motel at the moment) and yet, I trust that we will find our way and that soon we will get our belongings out of storage and set up a new home for ourselves.

I may not be as consistent with blog entries for the short term, as I don't know where I will be and how much internet access I will have but when the next part of our journey unfolds, I will be sure to get an update published.

Wishing you all a magical new year!  May you be showered with blessings and love, compassion and peace.