Thoughts and Resources About Reincarnation Reunions

copyright 2006 Teresa Wagner
all rights reserved

Anticipating the return of our beloved animals back into our lives on earth can be a very exciting time. It can also be daunting as we worry about things like: where will we find them? how will I know the right time? how will I really know it's them? In addition to information you may receive during a communication session with your animal, I have put together some thoughts and resources to help you understand, trust, and manage the typical and natural anxiety of the reunion process. I hope it will support you and I wish you a glorious reunion experience!

From what the animals have told me, the decision for souls to come back together in form on earth is a sacred agreement. It does not happen by accident and cannot be forced. I believe that reincarnation reunions between and among souls who share a deep love and connection have been happening since the beginning of time on earth. What was different in earlier times is that we valued and depended on our intuitive senses as deeply as our physical senses. We easily remembered and recognized souls we knew from the past. What is different today is that we are in a time of barely remembering how to trust and use our full intuitive abilities, and therefore tend to distrust information that is not physically verifiable or "factual."

Will I Know My Animal?

With this as our current cultural backdrop, while we may believe it's possible for our beloved animals to return to us, we may understandably doubt our ability to know when, to absolutely recognize them, or worry that they will come back and someone else will find and adopt them. On this last point, I have had many, many animals reassure their human loved ones that they will find their person! Animals have told me over and over that the sacred agreement of reunion is not dependent on their humans knowing an exact time and place. The soul returning to earth and the spiritual guides of all parties involved make sure that the circumstances of return are in place.

Animals have also told me that souls considering returning to earth have complete free will to make decisions about what is for their highest good--regarding whether to come back, in what form, in what timing, where and with which other souls on earth. The choice of form, timing and place is based upon what would best serve the returning soul's ability to learn the lessons and live out the purpose they wish to experience next on earth.

Yet the details of these decisions do not seem to be made in a vacuum. Animals speak of guides and teachers in the Spirit realm helping, counseling and guiding them about these decisions with encouragement, wisdom and support. I often hear animals describing their plans with great care and concern about what is best for those still on earth to whom they will be returning. I always encourage my clients to let their animals on the other side who are coming back know their preferences: i.e. could you be less aggressive with other dogs this time? could you be as wonderfully cuddly as you were before? Asking for these preferences is no guarantee that they will occur, but just like in our human relationships, those who love us deeply often do what they can to meet our requests.

Mutual Agreement at the Soul Level

Animals have told me again and again that the decision to be reunited with a loved one is an extremely important agreement, made not just by them alone, but by both parties at the soul level. This is an agreement that is met regardless of whether the soul on earth is aware of it on a conscious, personality level.

If you are anticipating the return of one of your animal loved ones to earth, try to relax and trust the process. The exact timing and place of return cannot be forced, and often not precisely predicted, any more than a woman can force or predict the timing of becoming pregnant or giving birth. It happens in perfect, divine timing for all souls involved. Sometimes in telepathic discussions, animals are very specific about which litter, which shelter, what month they will return, etc. Sometimes this information is more vague—sometimes because the decisions haven't yet been made, and sometimes because the person waiting on earth is meant to learn to trust the process as it unfolds, rather than be told each detail of the reunion beforehand.

If you are feeling anxiety about how you will know for sure whether it is your animal, ask your animal for a sign to give your assurance. However, I do not recommend asking for a sign that you choose: i.e. "please lick my ear when you see me;" "please run directly toward me when I see you." It is much better to ask your animal to give you a sign of their choosing and trust that you will recognize the sign as from them, rather than attempting to force them to behave in ways that you control.

Trusting the Signs

I believe that birth, death and re-birth to the earth are among the most sacred spiritual transitions we souls make. It simply doesn't work to expect them to be as predictable and easy to control as buying an airline ticket for a specific destination. There will always be an element of mystery to these sacred experiences, and we can never expect to be able to control them. What can help us, however, is to make an intention to trust our intuition, and to trust the signs we receive from our animal loved ones.

I fondly remember an example of this from several years ago. I was talking with a woman on her cell when she was at a shelter looking for her dog who told her he would be back about that time. Within minutes, the white dog she was looking at told me it was definitely him! The depth of feeling and love was very apparent and we were both crying happy tears. Having talked to the dog directly myself, I had no doubt her former dog was back and that this would be a joyous reunion. However, as I was told later, when the woman was driving home with this dog in her car she began to have doubts. She was very scared that maybe her former dog might still be back at that shelter and that the dog sitting next to her was not hers. So she stopped her car, looked at this lovely, large white dog and said, "Look I already love you and will keep you forever and care for you with all my heart. But I really need to know if you are my old dog. If you could just show me in some way it would really help me." At that moment the dog crawled on top on my client and put his paws around her neck in an embrace. A real feat for an 80 pound dog in a car! The best part is that this behavior is exactly what her former dog did all the time in the car. It was actually a "behavioral problem" in the past because he always tried to be a small dog lap dog in his big dog body! But in doing this in the car, my client was sure without a doubt that her old dog was back. And fortunately, it was the last time he crawled on her lap in the car. He had agreed to act like "big dog" this time and kept his word. He told us later that he did it in the car that one time because she asked for a sign.

There are many other examples like this one. And, ones where the confirmation is not so much about a distinct behavior, as an overall personality similarity. In many cases, people tell me they look in the animal's eye and know without a doubt it is the soul of their beloved animal. The feeling of confirmation is different for everyone. Some people tell me they need no confirmation at all, that they simply trust that the reunion will occur.

Reincarnation is not Cloning

Keep in mind that reincarnation is not cloning. When our animals return it is because they wish to live out their next purpose on earth in our company. It is not to come back and be exactly the same as they were before. They may not look the same. They may not act the same. They may have some personality and behavioral similarities, and they may not. A soul returns to earth not to repeat a life, but to begin a new one—with souls they love. On rare occasions I have worked with people who are deeply disappointed that their animal does not look and act exactly as they did in their previous life, despite preparation that this may happen. In these cases the persons involved actually resented the animal and could not bond with them, nor recover from their grief of the previous animal's death. They wanted their deceased animal to come back to earth as if they had not died so they would not need to do the work of grieving and healing from their loss. Reincarnation of a loved one is neither a replacement nor a shortcut for a survivor's grief process. As devastating as losing our loved ones can be, death and grief are natural, inescapable experiences of life on earth and of loving. Reincarnation is a new beginning. Death, for those left behind, is an ending. This ending must be mourned and the pain of it acknowledged and healed. Though the hope or knowledge that we can be reunited with our loved one can certainly make the pain of loss less devastating, this new beginning through reincarnation does not replace grieving. Many animals have told me that the timing of their return is actually planned to be sure their loved ones have appropriate time to heal from their grief before their reunion.

I hope some of these ideas and examples and ideas will support you!  You may also want to read Penelope Smith's book Animals in Spirit, Kim Sheridan's book Animals and the Afterlife or listen to real stories about reincarnation reunions in the 4-hour teleclass The Animals' Perspectives About Death, The Other Side and Coming Back which is offered by The Animal Loss & Grief Support Institute.

I also recommend the following flower essences, which strengthen our ability to trust this process:

Hound’s Tongue:

(available from www.fesflowers.com) Enhances holistic thinking for those who may want to believe in animal communication but still may find it hard to believe in anything less than the scientific, or the measurable. Hound’s Tongue restores a sense of wonder and reverence for life, while also helping the soul to think in clear and specific ways about the spiritual dimensions of the physical world. Helps us synthesize left and right brain functions. Enhances spiritual perception of the natural world.

Star Tulip:

(available from www.fesflowers.com) Softens resistance to the spiritual realm; ability to feel soul communion with higher spiritual forces; receptivity to spiritual worlds; especially listening to one’s inner voice

A Way to the GodSelf:

(available from www.desert-alchemy.com) This helps us connect with our Higher Self and inner guidance, and to communicate directly with it. This essence also helps heal crises of faith (such as conflict between your own internal beliefs about animal life after death and religious dogma which may have been imposed on you that is very different from what your heart is telling you).

Forget Me Not:

(available from www.fesflowers.com) Deepens our awareness of our spiritual connection with those who have physically died and helps us develop telepathic communication with them

Queen of the Night Cactus:

(available from www.desert-alchemy.com) This essence is for honoring your own intuitive impressions. It is excellent for if you place a higher value on what you think, rather than allowing your intuition to be of equal worth. It is also appropriate if you focus too much on outer events and not enough on contemplation and inward looking.