If you follow my columns, you know I’m an artist and writer with a vivid imagination. My spiritual mentor says it assists me in communicating with the spiritual world. Our anthropologist friend and neighbor says I’m lucky my imagination allows me to explore my unconscious like Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung did. Jung believed the collective unconscious is available for everyone to access. It holds information we wouldn’t find elsewhere. He called the entities and symbols he encountered “archetypes.” I wonder if that might be what Bear is in my bear cave meditations…
“Good morning, dear Bear. It’s wonderful to be with you once again.”
“Hello, Jill. Today you seem to be rather harried.”
“A friend is visiting us from afar, coming for lunch within the hour,” I said. “But I didn’t want to miss our rendezvous. Your pearls of wisdom are invaluable to me.”
“Thank you. It is good to welcome a friend to your den. Being together offers opportunities for growth and understanding. We allow friends to usher in new information and behaviors we otherwise may not be open to. They help us see inside ourselves what otherwise we may be blind to.”
“Fascinating and so true! Is there something I need to be open to or aware of for needed change?” I asked.
“Sometimes, to become aware of those things, we need to dig more deeply within. You have the ability to discover many lessons. State your intentions out loud or in writing then just listen to help bring them forth. New lessons are challenges for our growth. Sometimes we’re ready, sometimes we’re not. But when unheeded, some lessons reappear, again and again until we learn them.”
“Is this like karma?”
“Yes, in a way, because growth is needed to reach higher levels. The way we interact with others determines our future karma.”
“Whoa! I know this theoretically, but I just realized how important meditative pauses can be to alert us to our behaviors. It’s a way to take a break and view our interactions from a higher perspective. Right?”
“Yes. Meditation also cleanses the mind of daily chatter so Source can be heard.”
“So, silence isn’t really the goal—but the ability to hear the voice of Source. That’s why I call my sauna my ‘God Pod’—because my conversations are often with God… I never imagined they’d be with a bear!”
“Augh, Augh! (Ha ha!) Surprised you!”
“Yes, you surely did. (The light in my Heavenly Heat Sauna went out.)The next time I’d like to understand what’s happening.”
“OK. You got it.”
“Sweet dreams and a happy hibernation. I look forward to seeing you again in spring,” I said.
I decided to ask my angels and spirit guides to clarify what’s going on when I speak with Bear and other spirits from the natural world.
I begin meditation and set my intention for guidance from the Spirit realm. I write down every word I receive through the technique called “automatic writing” which I was taught in a Unity Church numerology class years ago. (A similar process of “expressive writing” is sometimes used for healing from trauma.) Words flow freely into my mind. I write them down as fast as I can. This is the message I received:
“Trust your conversations with animal spirits. They are not a figment of your imagination.”
“Thank you for that. I second-guess these interactions due to my imagination.”
“It’s okay—your imagination helps. Someone who can’t visualize what is transpiring or edits it out with disbelief would not be able to communicate.”
“Thank you for verifying my animal conversations. They seem pretty vivid and I couldn’t invent them! The ideas they share are beyond my scope.”
“They broaden your perspective and comprehension.”
“Yes, that’s for certain!”
Marguerite Jill Dye is a writer and artist who divides her time between Vermont and Florida.
