A note on the previous blog: aborignal peoples regarded (and still regard)animals as sacred, whereas we relegate them to the status of "pets." I have spent many years studying and practicing shamanism, the original religion, and when in a shamanic trance, animals appear to you. Shamans call this altered state of consciousness "the other world." These animals are guardian spirits, helpers, allies. We "moderns" have lost this perspective, though we still love our pets. But perhaps it's time we return to the wisdom of animals. It can't hurt, can it? (and if you're interested in shamanism, the best place to turn is Mircia Eliade, who wrote countless books on the subject, the best called simply, SHAMANISM.