Introducing My Amazing Animal Family

francy and ralfie

I met Francy and Ralfie three weeks after I moved to Chicago from NYC.  They were at an event called Angels with Tails put on by PAWS Chicago.  They were both sitting together in a cage in an art gallery on a super chichi street downtown. Their story was that they were two of the most expensive rescues of the cageless shelter they were in, Treehouse .  Ralfie was attacked by a dog and Francy had been hit by a car and they had required extensive medical attention.  Ralfie was cuter than cute with her one eye and tongue hanging out.  Francy was a noodle,  just limp but safe with Ralfie.  They met in the shelter when Treehouse rescued a dog that Ralfie wanted nothing to do with.  She ran into an office and hid for three months.  Francy would go in and visit with her and sit with her while they ate.  Then they both started to come out together.  Francy was Ralfie’s eyes and ralfie was Francy’s protector.  At the adoption event they were both deemed unadoptable because of their disabilities.  I thought that if there weren’t any ongoing issues that this was just an aestheic problem that I had no problem with.  I have spent the past 11 years with these two beautiful cats and they have brought me so much joy and we have all healed so much, moving beyond any disability whether physically or emotionally precieved.

five

Five came from Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago.  He came in shortly after I lost another cat suddenly.  I had never had a tiny kitten before so I wanted a 8 week old baby boy.  I wanted to name him Five and call him Fiver for short.  When I met him he was tiny and curious.  As he played in my purse I thought the markings on his back looked like an x-ray.  His stripes looked like his ribs and he had a little skeleton pattern.  A little dancing skeleton, Five.  I have spent the last 6 years with him learning about over coming limitations and seeing that even if those around us can’t do something does not mean we are limited.  He was raised by Francy and Ralfie and took on some of their physical limitations.  He is learning that he is a capable able bodied cat.  (We are all learning so much from Hazel!)

hazel

When Five was younger we agreed that when he turned five I would get him a friend.  The year started and I couldn’t imagine how this was going to happen.  I always thought that I would get a big orange boy cat and name him Hazel.  A friend suggested that maybe it might b a girl.  That threw my mind in to a spin!  What about my big orange boy!!?! At the time I was shuttling kittens for Red Door Animal Shelter . Taking them from Red Door to Anti-Cruelty to get them spayed or neutered.  The very first pair of kittens I took were a beautiful orange boy and a long haired black girl with crazy eyes.  I knew he was not my cat but I decided to start a project of taking pictures of the cats I shuttled. i actually only took pictures of the first two.  A couple of months later I went to Red Door for their spa day event with my guinea pig Agape and we visited all the kittens that I had shuttled.  Well, that little long haired crazy eyed girl came right over to us and started to clean Agape’s ears.  Licking, licking, licking.  All the other kittens came up tasted and wapped Agape.  It was quite magical.  After I left I realized that she was the one.  She was so beautiful and graceful and full of spirit.  I called and was told she was available but all kittens were in quarentine for ringworm.  As it turns out Hazel came home and came out to meet Five the day before his fifth birthday.  Hazel has been here for almost two years and she is teaching me how to have miracles.

frermi

Fermi is my amazing guinea pig.  I have had him since 2006.  He has been my wonderful companion to all of the events I have done as an animal communicator.  He is funny and handsome and I have said before that he is the George Clooney of guinea pigs.  Fermi my love.

agape

Agape is....mmmmmm...the most delicious little guinea pig ever!  I met him in a pet store and everytime I saw him I picked him up and he would relax when he was on his back!  Not something that most guinea pigs will feel comfortable doing.  He was named Agape after a definition that I read; the love that transcends will and personality.  He has been teaching me that lesson everyday for the past  three years.  Such an amazing gift to be reminded of the power of love.

tilikum

Tili is my newest addition.  He is a huge guinea pig.  He came to me from Critter Corral via Skokie Animal Control. He was left at a Petsmart in a duffle bag.  He has some nerve issues with his back legs but is the most gentle piggy.  He told me that his last life he was a whale, an Orca.  He got the name Tilikum (which means friend) from the Orca in Florida who is the largest captive bull in history.  We are still getting to know each other and enjoying cuddly evenings.

moonshine

Moonshine is my amazing singing female canary.  I point that out because most female cananries don’t sing or really make much noise at all. Really, they don’t have to they create life.  She came to me with two other canaries as the Shines.  When I decided to get a canary I heard that there would be three and they would be named Sunshine, Moonshine and Starshine, The Shines.  I told them that they needed to be very obvious when I met them because I had not talked to a lot of birds before and wasn’t sure of myself.  When I arrived all the birds at the bird show directed my to the canary guy who had a huge cage full of them.  The first I saw was Sunshine, she was yellow, the only yellow one. Then Starshine.  She was mostly white with a star shape over one of her eyes. I was pretty impressed at the communication.  Lastly, Moonshine flew by half upside down and crazy looking!  She looked a little drunk….Moonshine!  I have been blessed to have her in my readings and healings for almost 5 years.  If you have had a reading around dusk you certainly have heard her!  Both Sunshine and Starshine have taken their next steps (thank you Hazel for assisting).

the goldfish

I have two HUGE goldfish that came to me three years ago as feeder fish. They were each about one and a half inches long.  Now they are 7 and 5 inches respectively.  Also, the larger one was gray.  He has turned the most amazing gold and the smaller started out gold and is turning an amazing white.  They grace my healing room keeping the energy flowing and in movement.

harmony

Harmony is a sweet beta fish in my healing room.  She enjoys grounding the space and playing dead for clients after healings.  She has an amazing sense of humor!

In Memory of Easy

I originally wrote this a couple of months ago when Easy first started showing signs of illness.  Today Easy took her next step, unfolding into the tremendous spirit that she has always been.  She now has the space to truly fly.

Dear Mary,
I never met you but I have come to know you through the most amazing bird.  Your bird, Easy.  She has come into my life and brightened my days in the short time we have known each other.
Easy is silly and funny and full of energy.  Always ready to make me laugh. Always ready to drive me crazy chewing on my necklace an earrings.  Yelling when she wants to come out and flying around to make sure she doesn’t miss anything.  Always trying to get away with eating whatever she has on my shoulder.
Sadly Easy is coming to her own end.  She has congestive heart failure and is getting weaker everyday.  It saddens me that I will not have more time with her but the time we have had had been of such high quality it is as if we have jammed years into these few months.  We have become friends who have known each other for years, for lifetimes.
Mary you raised an incredible little bird.  Her manners are her own but she would never hurt anyone.  Never peck harder than a small pinch to let you know that she did not like what you were doing.  Easy will always step up and give kisses really no matter how she is feeling. 
I have loved watching her eat beans and popcorn, her absolute favorite food out there.  She has tried to hop into the bowl on several occasions.  We have sat together with a dishtowel on my lap to help keep her joyful mess contained.

I cannot thank you enough for the time we have shared and I know that where you are Mary you have a bird ready to see you again.  There is so much that I understand about death and taking next steps but when it all comes to pass it is still hard to make that separation seem truly unreal. 
I don’t know when Easy is going to leave this world but I know that there is a place that will be complete upon her arrival.  I see her fading into all that is whole and one creating a light so beautiful it is hard to focus and sustain.  Knowing that that true beauty is within me (within all of us).
May I be able to participate in this amazing next step with ease and grace and wholeness that has always been part of me and follow Easy’s gentle lead.
Thank you Mary for sharing this precious gift.  I see you happy and complete after a difficult time here.  May I share in your completeness and wholeness.
Love,
Alicia
                   
I received Easy from my friend Lisa who took her in from her terminally ill neighbor, Mary, just a month before she died. That is who the letter is to.  I have had the pleasure of living with Easy for the past 11 months.  She has been there through my transition from a job I had for 10 years and into my first home purchase and move.  Easy has been a part of my readings and healings and has helped me and all of my animals, bringing amusement and fun throughout all of our changes and adjustments.  Easy always lived in the moment.
She died in my hands today and I am glad that she is no longer struggling to breathe. 
All is well now.  xoxo All my Love to you, Easy.

There is no suffering in Love

 There is no suffering in love.  There is no suffering in love.  It seems that statement needs to be repeated each time it is expressed.  There is no suffering in love.  Where do we find that feeling?  How to we experience this idea?  How do we have this truth in our lives?  This is the essence of animal communication to me.  This is what animals.... all animals…are trying to tell us.  Are telling us.  There isn’t any trying involved.  It is the constant frequency they are broadcasting.  What does it take for us to hear that frequency?  Do they need to be lost? Broken? Mean? Abused?  Where is it that we need to see that there is no suffering in love?
2 of my cats are disabled.  One was hit by a car and the other attacked by a dog.  The first, Francy, lost all the nerve function in her face, her ears don’t move, she doesn’t blink and her whiskers don’t move.
The second, Ralfie, lost an eye, lost sight in the other eye and broke her jaw, so her tongue sticks out all the time.  I met them at a time when I felt like they looked. Broken.  When I went to meet them they were considered unadoptable.  Just like me.  When I decided to adopt them in my enthusiasm I asked the adoption coordinator if I needed to do anything to make sure that no one else adopted them before I got back, He laughed and said that no one else was going to take them and not to worry.  I was a puzzled until I remembered that they we were broken. 

They were great contributors to me becoming an animal communicator.  And through all of my training and practice it took years to finally hear how their injuries came about.  How did it all happen?  How did it all go down?  They each answered in the same way at different times.  They both said “I got the call”.  “I was having my life and I knew I had to get to you but I didn’t know how.  Then I got the call that you were ready.  So I found the road and stepped in front of a car because that is how you could see me”, said Francy.  Ralfie told a similar story.  She got the call and found a neighborhood dog and asked for a favor, injure but do not kill.  The dog obliged and Ralfie was brought to Treehouse in a plastic storage container.  I would not have seen her any other way.  She is a beautiful cat and if she were not injured I would have passed her by.  But they found each other and then found me.  They found me 3 weeks after I moved to Chicago.  It was a miracle.
The story of Francy and Ralfie is completely about no suffering in love.  They have not suffered in their injuries, they have loved.  They knew where they were going and chose to love through what others may call hardship or grievous injury. 

I live with these 2 beautiful girls who now show very few signs that there is anything wrong with them but who love with great abandon anyone who comes through the door.  They are my light and truth that there is no suffering in love.  They show me everyday that animals are telling us that all the time. 
There is no suffering in love.

So next time you are out in the world, with people or with animals, as you gaze into thier eyes simply say to yourself there is no suffering in love and see how the world changes.

Special Events

Animal Healing Circle
Tuesday, July 19, 8:00 - 9:15 PM EDT
This special event is $45 and takes place over the phone.

Join me for an Animal Healing Circle Tuesday, July 19 where I  will look at the spirit of animals as they are working in the world and the energy of how animals are impacted and effecting all of our lives. I will touch on the messages being communicated to us by animals around the world and talk about how we can listen more closely to hear the messages yourself. In addition, I will address questions about your animals or animals in general. This is a special group presentation tele-seminar where individual and universal messages will be shared. Register at www.sevenlevelscoaching.com or call 978-475-7747 to reserve your spot. Upon registration, you will receive information on how to phone in for the session.

I can't wait to "see" you there!

 

BioMat Healings

Jade will infuse your healing with Wisdom, Tranquility, Balance, Peace, and Harmony.


Tourmaline generates negative ions that stimulate healing and remove toxins.


It is like a bubble bath without getting wet.

To help you stay in tune with yourself and not get lost in all that is going on around you, I am offering Biomat healings. My Biomat is made of Jade and Tourmaline. When heated my Biomat produces Far Infrared Rays, which penetrate the body 5"-7" into muscle fiber and every body system. The stimulates healing on a cellular level.

Here are some of the ways a Biomat will benefit you:
•    Improves immune system and blood circulation
•    Reduces stress, fatigue
•    Relieves body pains
•    Promotes deeper sleep
•    Relieves all forms of nerve conditions

The Biomat healing takes place on an energetic as well as physical level, leaving you refreshed and rejuvenated. You will be energized and ready to blossom!

I am offering 45-minute healings for $75.

Piggy Pick Up from the Pound!

 Today I began one of my favorite pastimes. Driving animals to one destination or another. I spent about a year doing spay/neuter shuttling for Red Door Shelter . That is where I met my beloved Hazel.

Hazel

Strangely how after I met her I felt I didn't need to do it any more....Now don't getting any ideas that I am getting another pig...I am enjoying the energy of another little being passing through. 


Well, today I am volunteering for Critter Corral. I received an email yesterday that there was guinea pig at the Anti-Cruelty Society (that is where Five came from)

(Five newly home from Anti Cruelty Society, tiny boy...big ears!! He still cuddles with Francy, too!)

and if I could pick him up. Well, of course!! How could I turn down such a fabulous opportunity to hang with a pig! So, I have him now happily munching on greens and hay in my healing sanctuary. Off we go to Hinsdale tomorrow to drop him off with the Critter Corral team who will make sure he is as perfect as he is and adopt him out to his new fabulous people! I love to be part of the travel of an animal to their final destination, a leg on the journey.

So, welcome and so long to the adorable little piggy boy who I am affectionately calling Bow in honor of my sister's amazing new dog, Bo (he is getting a reading tonight so I thought it appropriate!).

Bo

update on the rose colored glasses…a visitation.

I am always amazed at what happens when I ask for something.  I have been asking for a long time for a sign, or a message.  Why does everyone else see God, but I struggle seeing anything?  Well, I realized that what I am looking for and am given is very real.  A visitation that happens out in the world with seeming regular people...or so I think!  Here is my latest visitation experience.

While I was at the Morton Arboretum
fair 2 weeks ago I noticed there was a service dog. He was only wearing a vest so he was not for the blind. He was a companion for a young boy who I had the pleasure and honor of chatting with. We were both enjoying some hand made soaps and he told me very excitedly that he had tasted everything and smelled and touched everything and that he loved it all. Anything he could get his hands on. He said, smiling "my problem is too much pleasure". I put my hand on his arms and said that is not a problem. We chatted some more and as he began walking away I said I like your rose colored glasses (which he was actually wearing)! He came back and stood right in front of me and said "you know that these are glasses, right? They are not sun glasses!" I said "I know, they are rose colored glasses". and as he turned to go I said "You know the only time they don’t work is when you take them off"…he turned and gave me a thumbs up and said "Exactly".  Seriously? Really?
Wow. Who could have planned that! It seems that I might have gotten the lesson! I was and still am floored by that experience; enjoying it so much. I guess its like butterflies, when you ask to see them they show up!

I have been greatly inspired and have since purchased a pair of rose colored glasses for myself to keep reminding me that the only time they don't work is when I take them off.

Enjoy seeing the world anew!

I'm nuts, Your nuts, We're all nuts for Soap Nuts!

What a great slogan! I am now nuts for Yoreganics Soap Nuts !

I have washed 3 loads of laundry with them and they are fabulous! Thank you Kim for showing me what these little guys are and how they work. Soap Nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree (Sapindus 
mukorrosi), similar to the lychee. A long time ago, people in 
South East Asia figured out that when the nuts get wet, they release 
saponin, a natural cleaner, making them great for washing clothes!

I think that my clothes were cleaner and softer than with regular detergent. And the pig fleece does not stink! (my guinea pigs live on fleece instead of litter. It wicks away any moisture and dries super fast. Easy to clean up, too. Just shake and wash!).

That was my main worry. I usually wash it with a cup of vinegar to get any smell out. No need with Yoreganics Soap Nuts! Also, soap nuts don't leave a residue build up so the fleece is more absorbant.
Fermi’s favorite bed was washed with the Yoreganics Soap Nuts and usually he takes a day or two to reacquaint himself with his clean bed but today he hopped right in! Probably no fragrance needed to be aired out.

(Fermi and his favorite bed)

(Agape wante dto get in on the action, too)

So, if you find yourself looking for an organic alternative to laundry detergent or have very sensitive skin give them a try! They are reusable up to 5 loads of laundry, too! Feel free to ask any questions or check out the Yoreganics website.

A Great Green Weekend

(random but beautiful sea slug aka Spanish Dancer from Oceans. More on that later)

I had such a fun weekend I hardly know where to start! I met some amazing people and went on great adventures. Overall a great weekend. It all began on Thursday when I took Fermi to see "Oceans" for Earth day. I love taking Fermi to the movies, he is a great date.
 Sweet and cuddly.

On Saturday I attended an Earth Day party at a friend's house. We all made our favorite green cleaning product. We were assisted by a fabulous young man who did a great job providing for a room full of women. 11 years old and totally had his space! He was great! Thanks, Jack!

Sunday I met my friend Pam from Morton Arboretum for an Earth Day festival. There were vendors selling different earth friendly stuff.
That is where I met Kim selling Soap Nuts. They are a laundry detergent alternative. Should be great for dirty guinea pig fleece! Here is a link to their website:
Yoreganics
I am super excited to try them out and will report back my findings soon.

What I found the most exciting about the whole weekend was that everyone I met was having such a great time, having fun doing what they love. What fabulous inspiration from the Earth, doing what you love!

♥ Happy Earth Day!! ♥

Good day to You amazing Earth! What a fabulous time you are having. I love to see your amazing forward movement into our limitless future. Growth and change can be messy but you do it with such ease and grace. I thank you for your delicious example!
I want to share this amazing poem by e.e. cummings.
Enjoy!!

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake
and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)


e.e. cummings - i thank you God for most this amazing


**¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♥ Happy Earth Day, Earthlings!♥ **¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•


(PS: check out my first review
....its fabulous!)

Rose Colored Glasses

Seeing the world through rose colored glasses.

I have always heard this saying as cautionary but as I throw caution to the wind I am now seeing (through my newly rose colored glasses) that seeing the positive in things feels so much better than seeing where things are not working. Why focus on it? Looking at the big picture seems to be working much better for me these days.

I do like to try and solve things.

Mind things. Give me a problem and I can think it right out of the park. When I do this it seems that I am peeking over my rose-colored glasses trying to look into a future that does not exist. I am not seeing what is right in front of me, and part of me all the time.Rose-colored glasses are a metaphor for neutrality.

Which in my mind is another way of saying joyfully participating in the experience of life. Viewing life through your own unique vision that is shared by the world’s own unique vision. We’re here to experience joy and happiness. What better way to do it than with some fabulous rose colored glasses!

The only time rose-colored glasses don't work is when you take them off.

I have committed to my rose colored glasses today. I am going to see the world they way I would like to see it; joyful, full of presence, stillness, openness and space. I give this to the world today and see the rosy glow around all things.

Pigs at the Lake

Yesterday was the first day that the guinea pigs have enjoyed the fresh air and grass at the shore of lake Michigan since last year. It was the earliest we have been out with the unseasonably warm temperatures here in Chicago. Usually we are not out until May.
One of my favorite pastimes is to sit at the lake with the pigs and some good friends. Last summer I had 4 guinea pigs and caused quite a stir when I with my stroller full of pigs pulled in. I have met some fabulous people who are curious and thrilled to see these guys out and about. Their pictures have been taken by tourists from other countries and are now, I guess world renowned. I met a couple of people from Peru who had never seen guinea pigs as pets, only as food. I think some Americans might have the same experience with chickens! They were impressed at how cute they were and said they would remember that.

This year I am 2 pigs lighter (future posts will tell the stories of Jasper and Pi). But I am still planning on a summer by the lake with my beloved Fermi and Agape. As you can see I keep them separate. They don't get along all that well, especially when there is all that tasty grass to claim!


I am hoping for a beautiful summer (my favorite season) giving plenty of days to be at the lake and meeting even more amazing people.
So, if you are in Chicago and would like to participate in a pig lake day I try to post it on Facebook . We'd be happy to have your company! Maybe I will try and get virtual about it and take some video next time.
in joy!

Fermi is the George Clooney of guinea pigs

I was sitting with Fermi, my amazingly handsome guinea pig the other night and he just very plainly and out of the blue informed me that he is the George Clooney of guinea pigs.

I stopped and looked at him and actually could see exactly what he was talking about. He is the George Clooney of pigs. Fermi is very handsome and can make all the girls giggle, as does George Clooney. I have witnessed this many times with him as we do many events together (Fermi and I, not George Clooney). I will have him in my arms and a pile of women will come around and start petting him and then start giggling for no apparent reason (I will occasionally join in as well!). I tell the women that Fermi is quite a ladies man and the laughing intensifies. He creates his own cloud of hysteria (very mch like George Clooney)!
Men have a strong reaction to him as well. They seem to focus in on him and know that he is the man's man of guinea pigs. Fermi will often pee on men, as I imagine George Clooney does in his own way, probably not literally.
I have other guinea pigs but Fermi has always attracted the most attention. Maybe it's the magical sparkle in his eye. He is just a fabulous, sexy pig. Yay, Fermi!