Venus, page 3
15 July
I’m woken from deep sleep by Finn, rushing to my basket to pick me up. I growl loudly and Mum tells me off. Me! He’s the one who’s invading my space. Isabel immediately wakes and hops out of bed to join Finn. Struggling to carry me between them, they drop me onto the bed. As soon as I can escape, I dive in with Mum and snuggle up to her.
After lunch two of the families leave. At last, I can hear myself think. But Isabel and Finn stay and for a while I enjoy playing with them until Finn fetches a big ball and starts kicking it. I thought I liked chasing balls, but I soon learn that football is a dangerous game. I keep dodging this hard, flying object and nearly get hit several times. I try to hide indoors but my angels call to me, ‘Experience and enjoy, Venus!’ That’s all very well — they don’t have physical bodies.
At last Isabel takes me to a quiet part of the garden, where that hoodlum kid footballer can’t reach me. She says, ‘Sit, Venus,’ and each time I do so I get a treat. This is great and I’m soon full! I ponder the lesson in this and decide that it‘s to get myself away from stress and go where the energy is right for me.
In the evening the children and their parents go to visit Mum’s brother. For some bizarre reason they want to look at one of Stray monster’s kittens. I remember darkly our visit to Mum’s brother.
When they come back they declare excitedly that the kitten is cute and they might even have it! Stop! I must not energize that horrible possibility with my thoughts. No. No. No.
Brutus, the tabby, is bad enough. I’m wary of him but no longer terrified. However, a monster kitten would be a step too far. I ignore my angels, who whisper to me to be open to the Divine plan. Absolutely not!
16 July
Mum and Isabel are taking me to the vet for my second injection today and I’m not looking forward to it. Isabel carries me into the surgery where the nice vet lets me sniff around the room again. I make a huge fuss when she sticks that great needle into me, but she says I’m a very healthy puppy.
Mum comforts me and tells me it’s worth it because now I’ll be able to go to the woods (whatever they are) and on walks, which sound amazing fun. She says there are trees and dogs and lots of lovely smells. I can’t wait.
In the evening we go to another puppy party, and Isabel and Finn take it in turns to hold my lead. Some of the puppies are still nervous, but not valiant Venus! I plunge right in and get as much sniffing done as I can. The people laugh at my daring, but I don’t care. When the universe presents you with an opportunity, you should go for it. It’s a dog’s life for a top dog. I can see my angels cheering! They obviously like it when I’m courageous.
Chapter 5
Meeting the Elementals
17 July
I’m so excited! Today Mum and I are walking for the very first time along the street to those woods I’ve heard so much about. Wow, she’s right — it’s fabulous! I keep stopping to sniff the scents on the roadside. It takes so long that she picks me up and carries me until we are among tall trees and bushes. Then she places me on the ground.
Oh no! This is terrifying. Scary creatures are staring at me from the long grass and bushes! I whimper and Mum lifts me up and cuddles me. She says, ‘It’s okay, Venus. That’s enough for today. We’ll go home.’
I was so looking forward to going into the big wide world. The angels are most sympathetic and explain that things aren’t always quite what you expect. They tell me that I’ll soon understand and get used to the woods and then I’ll love my walks. I hope they are right.
In the afternoon Mum ties a toy to the lawnmower on a long string and I chase it up and down the lawn. This feels safe and is real fun. The cord keeps getting tangled up so she only gets half the lawn done, but she doesn’t mind.
18 July
It’s the challenge of the woods again today and I stay very close to Mum with my tail between my legs. She’s puzzled, as she expects me to be enjoying the walk. She doesn’t understand how overwhelming it is. Why aren’t my angels helping me to understand?
In the afternoon I see Mum’s angel whispering into her ear. I wonder what he’s saying and whether she has really taken it in. But she must have done for suddenly she announces that she’s realized why I’m scared in the woods. She tells me that I’m a very sensitive little dog and that I’m feeling the energy of the nature spirits and elementals. She says she knows how to make that better. Oh, I do hope so!
19 July
Today Mum is going to introduce me to the forest elementals. Apparently, all those watching eyes belong to the little creatures who look after nature. Mum tells me that they aren’t hostile, just curious.
She carries me into the glade and sits on a bench with me. I see a glorious blue-green angel of nature floating between the trees watching us. Mum strokes me while she invites the elementals to come and say hello. Something extraordinary happens! A whole host of little creatures stream across the clearing: fairies, elves, imps, brownies and others little beings. Mum introduces me to them.
There are dozens of fairies, all about 45cm or 18 inches tall. They are like brightly coloured lights that flutter towards me on wonderful iridescent wings. Mum says that they are the air elementals who tend the flowers, and some of them are fifth dimensional. They look so pure and playful and they greet me in such sweet tinkling voices that I want to jump right down and gambol in the grass with them. However, I sit bolt upright and say hello back, in a dignified way, with my tail wagging. I like them and they like me. One of them grins and tickles my ear.
Then a whole crowd of sylphs flies towards me, all smiling and wafting air in my direction so that the hairs of my tail stir in the breeze. Sylphs are tiny little air spirits who clear away pollution from around flowers and plants to keep them healthy, but mostly these little creatures enjoy flying with the wind. Mum says that she can feel them blowing away her tension headache.
I love the earth elementals, who approach me next to say hello. There are little elves with their jaunty caps, who serve the trees, as well as taller pixies who look after the soil and co-operate with the bees. The pixies are very shy and I thump my tail to make them feel more relaxed. We exchange smiles.
I meet the elementals
And lastly come the sweet, wee imps, who stand only 2.5cm or 1 inch tall. They are a combination of earth, air and water, and they aerate the soil and help seeds grow.
Right now I don’t care what the little spirits’ jobs are. I jump down from the bench and race round in the grass playing with them. Wowee! I’m so happy to meet them. The woods are fabulous after all. Thank you angels, you were right!
When we are home again and I have snuggled up on the sofa with my eyes half closed, my angels sit on either side of me for a chat.
‘Are you feeling more comfortable now that you have met the elementals?’ they ask. I nod sleepily. They explain that elementals have never had much to do with animals in the past but that things are changing now. As the frequency of the planet rises, elementals and animals are starting to help each other. ‘How could an elemental help me?’ I ask, thinking of myself first.
‘If you get lost, for example, an elemental can tune into your wavelength and lead you to a path you know,’ they respond.
‘Of course, that won’t apply to me because I never get lost,’ I reply, fully closing my eyes.
I faintly catch the angels saying, ‘And you can help them by appreciating them.’ I fall asleep and they sing to me in my dreams.
22 July
Today I win a point from Brutus, that huge tabby cat. He’s stalking across the lawn as if he’s king of the world and he doesn’t see me lying in a flowerbed behind a bush. I suddenly jump out behind him! He’s so startled, he runs. That does it. I fly across the lawn behind him and I, Venus the puppy, chase that mammoth cat. I trot back across the lawn, grinning widely, with my tail wagging. Brutus sits on the zip-wire platform and glares at me. See if I care!
I still can’t understand why Elisabeth adores Brutus. She’s now sitting on the lawn stroking him and calling him her ‘best boy’! After a short while he gets up and strides off, most ungrateful, not even giving her a lick or a purr. I run up to her eagerly for my share of attention and she does stroke me for a little while and throw my ball, but she doesn’t lavish love onto me. Perhaps it’s the fact that Brutus was found in France that makes her like him? Is he an attractive foreigner, an alien cat? But I thought we were all One?
It’s strange how you think of a question and the answer is sent to you immediately. This afternoon Mum and I are in the woods and we meet a friend of hers called Gobolino, who is a very interesting goblin. Goblins are highly evolved, enlightened earth elementals with huge, well-developed heart centres. Indeed, he opens his arms to us and a huge shaft of pure love pours from him right into my chest. Ooh, that is unexpected!
Mum says, ‘Hallo Gobolino. This is Venus, my puppy.’ He smiles and bows to me in an old-fashioned way. ‘What do you think of all the dogs in the woods?’ Mum asks him.
He replies, ‘We are all One yet we’re different!’
Bingo! I get it at last. The answer to my question about Brutus… he’s just different.
I like Gobolino. He’s just over 1 metre tall and has a jolly face with laughing eyes, yet he’s also very wise. I believe he strives diligently to clear ley lines and to link spiritual people and places together.
25 July
Elisabeth has received a letter from her husband’s solicitor demanding more maintenance money for the children. He lives on state benefits while Elisabeth toils all hours doing any work she can to earn money to send to them. She scarcely eats and looks as if a puff of wind might knock her over.
She still hasn’t told us how she came to be in this situation, but maybe she will explain soon. I think Brutus should be more supportive. She gives him so much love and would rather starve herself than see him going short, but he never rubs himself against her or purrs.
I gather the courage to tell Brutus what I think and he looks at me as if I’m a mouse who might become his dinner.
In the afternoon Brutus corners me to tell me that the task of cats is to raise the energy of a house, not to cosset the people who feed them.
I nod and dare to say, ‘But I thought cats helped their owners?’
It’s the wrong thing to say. ‘Cats do not have owners,’ he scowls. ‘We graciously bestow our presence on people who feed us.’ I swallow nervously. I’m half his size.
‘But cats are healers, aren’t they?’
‘Sure, it’s in the energy we radiate. But the purrs and cuddles are extra favours we can choose to offer or not, and this cat chooses not to.’
He struts off more like Emperor Brutus than a common tabby. I glance at my yellow angel who murmurs with a smile, ‘Cats have egos, too.’
26 July
Mum and Elisabeth light a candle. They ask the angels to help Elisabeth connect with her two teenage children, Annie and Ben. They live only a few miles away, but their father has threatened he will move away immediately to a place she won’t be able to find them if she tries to see them. She’s incredibly sad. I lick her foot and she raises a smile for me.
Elisabeth tells us she has an older son by a previous marriage and the three children were brought up together and were very close. They always kept in touch by phone and e-mail, supporting each other through the difficult times. but now her husband has forbidden Annie and Ben to have any contact with their half-brother. He won’t let them communicate with their grandfather either, so he has cut off family support for all of them.
I want to bite Elisabeth’s husband but my angels beam peace down to me and explain that under all his bullying and threats, he’s a very unhappy, frightened man. They remind me that at a soul level the family has called in these circumstances and is acting out their drama in order to learn. So the decisions each one makes are the foundation for the next part of their life.
‘The greatest support you can give is to love Elisabeth,’ they suggest. I know they are right, so I creep to Elisabeth’s side and sit on her foot. I wish I could do more.
1 August
I get into trouble today. Some small children are running through the trees and I rush up to them barking loudly and ferociously. They are satisfyingly terrified. Their mother gets very upset and Mum has to catch me, which is not easy, I can tell you. Then she makes me lie down. She sits in the pine needles with me and passes the children treats to give me. I gobble them. Finally, she holds me firmly while they stroke me. They are happy and their mother is pacified. I have to go on a lead for the rest of the walk, which Mum says is my karma for being naughty. Oh, but it was worth it!
3 August
After my success at frightening small children, I’m on the lookout for more possibilities. I spot a mother with two little boys. Aha, I think, they’ll be scared of me. I rush at them unleashing my truly terrifying bark — a lion could not be more frightening! But they aren’t in the least bit bothered. One laughs at me and says to his mother, ‘It’s a bit mouthy, like Scamp next door.’ Oh, the ignominy of being described as ‘mouthy’ and compared to a dog called Scamp. There’s nothing like a put-down to take energy from you. I’m quiet for the rest of the walk.
5 August
Mum says she has a special treat for me today! I salivate. Is it chicken, a bone, fish? I imagine them falling from the sky and landing in a pile at my feet.
Instead, I hear her say, ‘I’m taking you to the seaside.’
‘What’s that?’
Later
I now know what the seaside is. I can’t believe my eyes when I see it. We walk on yellow gritty stuff that has lots of squawking children playing all over it. And worse, beyond that is this vast expanse called ‘the sea’… an eternity of turbulent, grey-blue water with dangerous-looking, white, frilly edges. We stroll along beside it. Mum takes off her shoes and paddles at the edge, saying, ‘Come on in, Venus! It’s lovely.’ She must be mad. Nothing would induce me to join her. I plod along with my tail between my legs as near to her as I can be without actually getting my paws in the water. I don’t like the seaside.
Then I see a big bird land on the sand. I’m off. I shoot like a bullet towards it and nearly catch it before it flies off. Wow! Brilliant! Panting, I trot back to Mum, my tail wagging proudly. The sand’s not too bad after all. I just don’t like that cold, wet water. I’m a dog, not a fish! My angel says that you can’t take someone out of their natural habitat, and I must say, I agree.
Chapter 6
Falling in Love
8 August
It’s a hot and humid August afternoon and Mum pauses to rest in the shade of a pine tree. I take the opportunity to loll on the thick bed of scented pine needles, idly chewing a fir cone. Suddenly I see him – the most enormous, magnificent, hairy German Shepherd, with a huge yellow and deep-blue aura. This creature is a god, I’m just a little dog. So when he strolls up to me, I cower in front of him while he sniffs me. His name is Michael. I expect he’s a good friend of Archangel Michael. I notice his angels observing from a distance. This Alsatian clearly doesn’t need much protection.
Michael the Alsatian
11 August
We meet Michael the Alsatian again and as soon as I see him I lie on my back and wave my paws in the air. He sniffs me again and I do so hope he likes me. I wonder if I’ll dream about him?
His owner is travelling to Greece tomorrow to find a brother for him, a Greek rescue dog. There are lots of rescue dogs in the woods and during our walks we hear some dreadful stories.
Today a man tells us how his Labrador was badly treated before he got him. My heart thumps with indignation when I hear this but now, with his owner’s love and care, he has become a proud, happy, handsome dog.
We chat to a lady who has a beautiful Parsons Jack Russell. It’s so pretty and gentle, with a shiny coat, and it’s full of life. The lady tells us she found it cowering in her garden: beaten, starved and skeletal. She fell in love with it, took it in and fed it. Then the dog warden came to see it and said that no one had claimed it, so she could keep it! She changed that little animal’s life and it changed hers. She clearly adores it and it reciprocates.
We hear so many sad stories on our walks. However, there are a lot of very kind people who have rescue dogs.
The dog owners in the woods sometimes talk about puppy farms. Apparently there are people who keep dogs just to breed them and sell the puppies. Can you believe it? The breeders don’t love the dogs and often the poor little creatures just live in sheds and are taken from their mothers too early. Oh, I whine at this and lick Mum. She picks me up and hugs me tight.
‘Why does God allow this to happen?’ I question my angel. ‘It’s too awful.’
She nods sadly. ‘Indeed, it is. But God doesn’t allow this to happen. He set up the conditions on Earth and gave humans free will. Then He stepped back to allow people to create their own world, but some of them closed their hearts and chose to exercise their will by hurting animals. It’s quite unbelievable to us.’
‘Can’t you do anything about it?’ I feel quite choked up as I ask this.
‘When humans pray for animals or ask us to help them, we can and do help. For instance, do you remember that Parsons Jack Russell you have just seen?’
