A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. September's Theme: "Relationships"
Volume 4 Issue 6 ISSN# 1708-3265

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Illuminations Aleesha Stephenson About the Cover Jeanne Cameron The Bookshop Chapter Five Jennifer Kusz All my Relations Toria Betson Building Bridges Not Walls Rev. Cheryl Jewett Impermanence Jacqueline Kramer The Kindred Bond of Universal Breath Dj Brown The Last Time Iain Pennington Loss of a Friend Dr. R.A. Myers David Suzuki PhD Wisdom Michael Levy Reclaiming Oneness A Conversation with Brian McClure, Creator of the Universal Flag Lexi Soulios You Are What You Love How Spiritually Healthy Are You? Vaishali Dial-Up the Girl of My Dreams Derek Wilken Lifetalks Dawn Baumann Brunke Being Mindful Janet Alston Jackson Pet-sense Jean Hofve DVM Walk Your Talk Aleesha Stephenson Wyrd Lynx John Sacelli Meditate a Moment Featuring: Aleesha Stephenson A Cry for Light Janet Alston Jackson A Sacred Sex Devotional 365 Inspiring Thoughts To Enhance Intimacy Edited by Rafael Lorenzo Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra Edited by Lance Dane Magical Motion - DVD Belly Dance with Atea and Friends Lord of the Rings Tarot Developed by Terry Donaldson

I once met a group of five fish living in a tank in a SeaLife Center that promoted public education. These were extraordinary fish. Although not overly colourful or unusual looking—no neon flashes or delicate lionfish tendrils—they were extraordinary to me because of the conversation they initiated as I passed their tank. I wondered later if they had been broadcasting the same thoughts for a long time, waiting for someone who might care to hear their story.

The five round, grey-white fish, no bigger than a dinner plate, had a serious, incisive tone. They spoke in a group voice and reminded me of some elderly scholar who, though possessed of much wisdom and experience, no one seemed to notice.

The fish began by telling me they had "signed on for this project," this gig at the SeaLife Center, though they believed it would be for a mutual exchange of human and animal education so as to deepen relationship and knowledge between species. The fish related that their larger group in the ocean had known humans would be taking some of them for this center, and that they had agreed to be the representatives. Though they didn't say the decision to come to the center was a mistake, they did indicate that what they thought it would be like and what it actually was like were two very different things.

The fish told me they were disappointed in the humans who had visited the center so far. "We thought humans would come to learn about us," they explained. "But most of you have no attention span to speak of. You take a glance and go on. Very few of you stop to actually 'see' us. We have much information we could give to you, but many of you do not have the patience to listen."

I felt bad because I didn't have the time to listen. I had come to the SeaLife Center with a number of children, all of who were quickly racing off to other tanks and displays. I thanked the fish for speaking to me and made arrangements to contact them again.

For my second talk with the fish—this time telepathically from home—I asked if they would comment further on why they agreed to come to the center. The fish began:

We came to help humans learn more about the consciousness of our kind. We saw this as a mind-to-mind meeting place, where we could exchange ideas. We had hoped this would be a temporary situation, and we would be allowed to return when we wished. This, we see, is not the case. Too many human minds are closed to such an idea. Ideally, however, this situation could work as an exchange, in much the same way that you have "exchange students" visit from one institution of learning to another.

Our group is involved in what you might call "research" in that we record daily happenings in the waters. We do not hold the vast memories of life on earth (though we have access to that), but are more like scribes of a particular region in the sea. We sometimes question others about what they do and mentally record this knowledge. We are scribes in the sense that we "de-scribe" life in our waters and hold the information for others. Think of us as a living library. It is in the quest for knowledge that we agreed to come here; however, we thought we would be called on for knowledge as well.

"What would you like to tell humans?" I asked.

First of all, we would wish for you a slowing down. It would be good to centre your consciousness so you can see all that is around you. Fish are very good at this, as we are accustomed to the movements of water and have an ability to "feel" around ourselves entirely.

For humans, there seems to be too much hurry-hurry. From what we have observed, your group consciousness is scattered, going in many directions at once. You seem to hold consciousness on a shallow level. We have also noticed you hold various judgments against animals and thus fail to see the gifts each one has to bring. In this center, for example, everyone wants to see the sea lions. That is much of what we hear: sea lions, sea lions! It is true the sea lions are amusing for humans, though the sea lions say the humans also amuse them.

However, we—as well as every other animal—have gifts of another sort to offer. We could offer you a vision of life in our neighbourhood of the ocean, for example, that is quite beautiful and you could learn much from talking with us. We could learn from you too. There are a number of things about humans which both intrigue and confuse us.

We are hoping to have more exchange at this center. On a more global level, this is called for as well—a deepening in exchange so as to deepen relationships between all. We would like for humans to talk to us, to exchange thoughts, to question us, as well as themselves. Think of our interchange as an opportunity to learn about different cultures and species. We are here as teachers, spokesbeings, ambassadors of knowledge as well as goodwill. There are many things both of our species could gain if we could only open to more like you, and if human consciousness included a bit more respect when meeting other species.

We would like to see more openness from humans, more exchange in consciousness and ideas. We would also like to be returned to the water at some point. It would be best if humans would first ask animals if they are willing to come into captivity. There might be agreements whereby species would visit for a short time and then be returned to their homes. Our feeling is this would be much more harmonious and many animals would be more open to this than the "long stay." This would benefit everybody.

Another way of connecting and exchanging information is by the means we are communicating right now. All of us have the ability to tune into one another. If you chose, you could come "into our eyes" and see what a typical day is like in our waters. By agreement, we could come along on a day with you. It is a learning experience for those who are open and interested.

I thanked the fish for their excellent comments and ideas, as they thanked me for taking down their words to share with other humans. I was touched by how genuinely interested in meeting with humans in an ongoing interchange these fish seemed to be. I felt they didn't understand why we humans would not be more interested in this. And I felt sad that, as a whole, we weren't.

The idea of creating an exchange center where animals and humans meet to share ideas and experiences is an intriguing idea. So too, is the notion that certain animals might agree to come to be with humans in these learning centers for a short period of time, and then be returned to their homes when they chose. Can we ever create such a world?

Telepathy, of course, transcends the boundaries of time and space. As we begin to make use of this very dynamic and creative form of communication, we can open to any animal or being who wishes to mutually converse. In this sense, we ourselves—all forms of consciousness—are the exchange centers through which thoughts, feelings, words, images and all variety of diverse communications may flow to reach out, meet and greet another. In this way, we deepen our relationship not only with others, but settle in to a deeper sense of connection within ourselves.

Indeed, learning to communicate with animals, plants or any aspect of nature is also a lesson in learning to commune with the deeper layers of our being. As we all come to discover sooner or later, the relationships we have with other beings can only be as open and receptive as we are willing to be with ourselves. So, too, does this apply in connection with our deeper selves, those hidden aspects of being that most often drift beneath and beyond conscious awareness.

As the wise fish remind us, all we need is a desire to deepen in a more intimate—and vastly rewarding—relationship with the world around us. How to begin? We might start by opening ourselves to the deeper energies of authentic relationship itself—not only with our ears and eyes, but with our hearts.

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 book "Awakening to Animal Voices" in our May 2005 Issue and her book "Animal Voices" January 2006 Issue.

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