A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. September's Theme: "Opening"
Volume 3 Issue 6 ISSN# 1708-3265

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It is no secret animals are inherently connected to spirit in profound ways. Looking at a horse standing still in a field, her nose perched to sniff the wind, many might guess that is all that is there. But the moment you make contact at a deeper level, opening yourself to the ancient, silent language of all beings, allowing yourself to commune at a soul-to-soul level, you know at once you are in the presence of a magnificent being - just like yourself.

Many years ago, I was graced with an extraordinary treatise about opening to beauty from a beautiful spirit now residing in the body of a horse called Ellie.

Meeting the Goddess

Ellie lives with animal communicator Carole Devereux in the Pacific Northwest. Although I had never met Ellie, person to horse, Carole described her to me over the phone in glowing and passionate terms.

"Ellie," Carole said with a sigh. "She is perhaps the most stunning horse you'll ever see. She is gorgeousness. Her hair is shining chestnut black. She has a white lightning bolt on her forehead. Her mane is exquisitely thick and long and black. And her tail - she is so proud of her tail! It's incredibly luxurious. The way she's built is like a goddess. If you were to liken her to a female today, she's something like a very tall, lanky, voluptuous model with long, long legs and a beautiful neck and body. And her behind - it's absolutely incredible!

"She has dark brown eyes and a small muzzle. She has a fairly wide head, but the rest of her features are very refined. She has small ears, but they're long. She has little tiny feet, like little teacups. She's very outgoing and friendly, not standoffish at all. She comes right up to you. That's Ellie."

When Ellie first began sharing her thoughts with me, she noted that the topic of our talk would be beauty and the goddess. I smiled, noting the clever ways in which the universe brings pieces of information together in an oft-time staggering sort of way. Hadn't Carole just summed forth the beauty of Ellie? Hadn't she likened her to a goddess? Was this part and parcel of Ellie's message as well?

Judge for yourself, for here are the words almost quite literally from the horse's mouth:

Beauty, by Ellie

"Beauty is an inner knowingness, an inner perspective. While it is true much of the outer world reflects this, I would like to say to readers that, as many human writers have noted, true beauty resides within.

"What is Beauty? Beauty is goodness. It is the manifestation of light in a kind and gentle (which is to say, a loving) act.

"I have had a life in what you know as ancient Greece, where Beauty was much discussed. There, the central image of a fountain and a reflecting pool was used as a touchstone to the act of Beauty. Beauty flows from within, and then reflects both the inner and outer aspects of itself. This is what resonates at the core of your saying, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'

"The reason I wish to address the topic of Beauty is to bring human attention back to the experience - the feeling - of beauty in the world. Beauty is an aspect of what might be termed the enlightenment process. Beauty uplifts the soul, much like bubbles of inspiration uplifting the heart.

"Beauty is not just about reflection - again, I would remind you that beauty is not only the reflecting pool; it also includes the fountain, from which springs an inner rush of beauty - from soul to soul, and from soul to the outer world.

"Beauty is about transformation. Humans have for the most part perverted beauty. This is not to say you have lost the appreciation for beauty, but you have largely forgotten the flow of participating in and creating with beauty.

"It is no mistake that Carole described to you my beauty. By doing so, she invoked the spirit of beauty - not only in me, but also in herself, in you and in all the world.

"I feel this is a difficult notion for humans to understand. For yourselves, beauty is largely seen on the superficial level. Know that Beauty goes much deeper. She invokes the elements of kindness, truth, and feeling at the heart level. The children's fable Beauty and the Beast reveals the growth of beauty in the female, Belle.

"I have much to say about Beauty and how it is tied into the goddess energy. Beauty is about expanding and elevating your frequency. There are many places/dimensions where Beauty is incarnate. Beauty comes with developing a trust of the self.

"I leave you with the image of the fountain and the pool. These two elements work together in revealing beauty. I will speak again about the nature of beauty and how it relates to the Goddess."

Beauty and the Goddess

It took me some time to take in the depth of Ellie's description of the nature of beauty - not as a thing, but as a movement, an act. Not only that, according to Ellie, beauty was an essential aspect of the enlightenment process. Was this, then, how beauty fit with the goddess? What is the relationship of beauty with the divine?

A week later, Ellie relayed the second part of her discourse on beauty:

"Unfold the nature of space and time to recentre with the image of the pool and fountain. This is a spatial memory, which resides at the core of all beauty.

"Deep within the reflecting pool is a clarity which illuminates the true inner brilliance of Beauty. There are many stories (even instances) of humans staring into reflective bodies of water and suddenly falling in. In many cases, this is the 'leap,' the first step towards reaching out in order to merge the inner and outer aspects of Beauty.

"I wish to emphasize to human consciousness that Beauty is not a thing so much as an act. It is a flow, a movement or current, which carries the wave of truth and light. Like the fountain, Beauty is a bubbling up, an active motion, an inspirative energy, which arises from the heart. The heart chakra is a bridge, a link between the physical and spiritual. In many ways, this too is what beauty does: it links, and has a function of allowing transformations between dimensions to occur.

"The movement of Beauty - the flow of its nature - is what allows humans (as well as many other beings) to connect to the divine. Make a note of all the religious and ecstatic experiences humans have recounted and recorded - in each instance, you will find the mention of beauty. As noted before, this is an understanding which was seen and honoured at certain points in your past, though largely overlooked at present.

"How does Beauty relate to the Goddess, to the Divine? We will pull in many concepts and ideas here and invoke their energies: inspiration; a bubbling up of ideas; a rush of emotions; a flood of feeling; a rising of passion; the union of active and passive, yin and yang, male and female. When you call up the image of the pool and fountain in your heart and in your mind, do you not see all of these elements and how they co-exist in simultaneity? So too is it with the presence of Beauty. It is an interaction, a union - in many ways, the nexus between the idea and the manifestation, the thought and the act, the physical form and the divine.

"I wish to emphasize that Beauty is 'an act becoming.' Meditate on Beauty and you pull yourselves closer to who you really are."

A Creature of Light and Beauty

Although Ellie hadn't yet finished talking, I felt a need to interject at this point. "How does this relate to horses?" I asked Ellie. "And why is this such an important issue for you?" Gracefully incorporating my wandering thoughts, Ellie responded:

"I am a creature of Light and Beauty. I could be a fish, a ferret, a mink, a rose. I am aligned with Light-beings who usher beauty into this world as a conduit to the next. I offer guidance in nurturing your skills of manifestation. In this sense, I am as an Art teacher reminding you of the beauty of form, how form reflects function, and how all elements of manifestation work together to create an image of God, the working of Love in the Universe.

"I relate the time/space of Old Greece and the ideas of this point or bubble in time because many of you were present then as designers, artists, artisans, architects, storytellers, dancers, and weavers, both of cloth and ideas.

"In preparing for the future earth, we (the group of Light-beings) would like to inspire the element of beauty, not only as a tool for manifestation, but as a bridge to the divine.

"The Goddess of Beauty has returned to the earth. In truth, she never left, though she has been dormant, allowing others to have their time, their hand at manifestation. She moves quietly, though some aspects of her become enraged and act with fury. There is still a rift between the Goddess and this aspect of the Dark Female - a rage at injustice to women, children, animals, the earth, all things female, and to the corruption of beauty.

"I speak of Beauty not as an ideal but as an active element of enlightenment, of waking up, of coming home. She is a guide, and a very creative and artistic one at that.

"I would like for all of you reading this to begin to see and feel beauty - outside yourself, in others, in simple acts and those 'random acts of kindness,' as well as in yourself and those you love. Know that they all are the same. By falling into the reflecting pool, you merge to a new understanding of beauty, grace and light. When you come out, you will never be the same."

Becoming Beauty

As Ellie ended her discourse, I felt a wave of quiet inspiration. Her words reverberated within me. For many years, in fact, Ellie's words would come to me, the image of the fountain and reflecting pool reminding me that beauty is not a thing out there, but an act within.

Opening to the wisdom of animals such as Ellie offers all of us the possibility of acting from that inherent state of beauty which resides within all beings. In connecting with what we perceive as others - be it a dolphin, a gnat, a horse, or fellow human - we come to know aspects of ourselves in deeper, more authentic ways. We merge then, as Ellie notes, "to a new understanding of beauty, grace and light." In becoming beauty, we enliven consciousness in the world. And we - and the world - will never be the same.

Photo of Ellie by Carole Devereux

Dawn Baumann Brunke is the author of Animal Voices: Telepathic Communication in the Web of Life and Awakening to Animal Voices: A Teen Guide to Telepathic Communication with All Life. Both books explore the deeper nature of our relationship with animals, nature, each other and ourselves. For more, see Dawn's website.

Be sure to read the reviews of her books in our May 2005 Issue and our January 2006 Issue.

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