Recently in Animal Communication Category
November 15, 2011
A way to rewild yourself: (re)connect with the animals and with Nature
I briefly went to a meat farm today, to get some bones for my dog and for the dog of a friend :(
On my way out of the farm shop I noticed a trailer full of sheep. I had to go and see them. I started to stroke and talk to one of them, who seemed to benefit immediately from the attention. I was trying my best to reassure them and to apologise on behalf of the human race :( I received the clear question that they wanted to know where they were going and they were worried.
A guy was loading the 4x4 that was attached to the trailer so I asked me where they were going, he replied that they were going to another field to graze for winter. I asked him to confirm, to be sure: "So they are not going to the place where they'll never come back?". He smiled and said no.
I tried my best to tell them not to worry, I told them where they were going, and told them that everything will be fine and that it was all for the best that they were going away from the farm, in a field on their own (I find the atmosphere on that farm really heavy, and dark. You can just tell that all the animals there know that they are on the death row, and they all seem worried and anxious about it...:(
They seemed relieved. When I felt it was the right time, I said goodbye and went back to my car. I felt relieved too. The guy didn't make it sound like they were about to be slaughtered anytime soon...
That is something really simple, that absolutely anyone can do! I do not have any special magic powers, anyone can do it! I think that our world would be a better place, both for humans and animals if humans were communicating with animals, or at least to begin with - acknowledge the fact that animals do think and have feelings and emotions just like we do.
Years ago, when I was a photographer I did this work about the way farmed animals were treated (you can see it here). At the time my "thing" with photography was to take b&w portraits of famous musicians, surfers, skateboarders, etc, etc... and I wanted to take portraits of farmed animals the same way, looking at them in the eyes, to see their souls. It all started on a dairy farm, funnily enough. Just an average French dairy farm. I spent quite a bit of time there, it was Christmas, it was cold, and the cows had just been separated from their newly born calves. It was very, very sad. The calves were on their own, in a cold, dark concrete place, a few blocks away from their mums, drinking artificial milk out of a plastic bucket. The mums were just calling and calling in the night and their calves were calling back. They were both very distressed by the situation, it was very obvious. I did come back to that farm to take more pictures and ask questions to the farmer, about his job, the dairy industry and his feelings towards the whole thing. It was very clear that even though he himself had been brought up on that farm to be a farmer, he didn't feel good at all about many aspects of his job and he was burying it somewhere in his chest trying to conceal it. The next day when the truck came to pick up the then 3 days old calves to take them to a factory farm, he looked the other way. He knew they would be malnourished and be anemic so that their meat would look white and appetising to the average supermarket shopper. How did it get that bad? What went wrong in Human History that we ended up so disconnected with animals, with nature and with ourselves and our feelings? How can we heal that?
That time spent with the cows had a huge impact on me. I was taking in all the cows fears, stress, anguish, sadness and it did make me feel immensely sad. I couldn't stop apologising to them, on behalf of humans, I kept telling them that I wasn't responsible for this as I was vegan and didn't have dairy anyway. Following this I had a proper breakdown and rethink of my life, my goals, my relationships with friends and family and I went on a crusade to tell them all about what I had just experienced and how bad it was. They were listening, saying they understood, they nodded, but they didn't change their habits and that did make me feel angry and frustrated. From then on I became a very militant Animal Rights activist. Unfortunately my life started to revolve around what I did not want - what I hated - and I took on the impossible task to change the world around me without trying to change myself from the inside first. Focusing on all that negativity, always pointing out all the things we don't like in other people, and always seeing the problems with everything and everyone quickly becomes a pattern, a habit that's really hard to get rid of!
Graham Burnett, permaculture designer/ teacher and Animal Rights activist went through a similar phase and that's how he got into permaculture: he wanted to focus on the solutions, not on the problems. Focusing on problems only feeds those problems, but doesn't solve them. Focusing on how we can solve them and how we can have a positive impact is really important if we want to succeed. Doing things out of love and not from an angry, hate-filled place is crucial.
What do the animals want? How do they want us to help them? Do they all want to be helped? How do they feel towards humans? What would they say if they were asked?
That's what got me into Animal Communication. I find that both animals and humans could benefit from it. We do have a lot to learn from animals, if only we can slow down and listen to them.
I did spend some time with farmed animals in all sorts of dark, cold, concrete places, from a truck overloaded with pigs in a slaughterhouse, or an animal market... I didn't realise it at the time, but I was communicating with the animals, stroking them and trying to reassure them while I was there. I could feel their pain, the terror, the anguish... I wished I could have taken them all home with me in my red van at the time, but I couldn't. All I could do was take pictures to document what they were going through, and stroke them, talk to them and cry with them.
A few years later, I decided to stop being a photographer and then moved to London to be a Campaign Coordinator for PETA Europe as I wanted to be more efficient to help the animals. I was a trooper, a warrior, fighting animal abuse around Europe, doing demos, being arrested, etc, etc, etc..... etc...etc...
It took me to have a child and step out from that activist mindset, to take the time to think about all this and realise that I must do my best to help the animals - and working directly with them is actually a great way to do it!
Now my wish is that more and more people wake up from the dream they're living and realise that there is much more to life than flat sreen TVs, and that they could have real life experiences going out to meet with nature and with animals. Farmed animals deserve more consideration as what they are currently receiving is nothing. Go out there and meet them! Go and talk to them, stroke them, they will love it and you'll find that it's a very powerful healing and moving experience :)
Have a good night,
Noemie.
On my way out of the farm shop I noticed a trailer full of sheep. I had to go and see them. I started to stroke and talk to one of them, who seemed to benefit immediately from the attention. I was trying my best to reassure them and to apologise on behalf of the human race :( I received the clear question that they wanted to know where they were going and they were worried.
A guy was loading the 4x4 that was attached to the trailer so I asked me where they were going, he replied that they were going to another field to graze for winter. I asked him to confirm, to be sure: "So they are not going to the place where they'll never come back?". He smiled and said no.
I tried my best to tell them not to worry, I told them where they were going, and told them that everything will be fine and that it was all for the best that they were going away from the farm, in a field on their own (I find the atmosphere on that farm really heavy, and dark. You can just tell that all the animals there know that they are on the death row, and they all seem worried and anxious about it...:(
They seemed relieved. When I felt it was the right time, I said goodbye and went back to my car. I felt relieved too. The guy didn't make it sound like they were about to be slaughtered anytime soon...
That is something really simple, that absolutely anyone can do! I do not have any special magic powers, anyone can do it! I think that our world would be a better place, both for humans and animals if humans were communicating with animals, or at least to begin with - acknowledge the fact that animals do think and have feelings and emotions just like we do.
Years ago, when I was a photographer I did this work about the way farmed animals were treated (you can see it here). At the time my "thing" with photography was to take b&w portraits of famous musicians, surfers, skateboarders, etc, etc... and I wanted to take portraits of farmed animals the same way, looking at them in the eyes, to see their souls. It all started on a dairy farm, funnily enough. Just an average French dairy farm. I spent quite a bit of time there, it was Christmas, it was cold, and the cows had just been separated from their newly born calves. It was very, very sad. The calves were on their own, in a cold, dark concrete place, a few blocks away from their mums, drinking artificial milk out of a plastic bucket. The mums were just calling and calling in the night and their calves were calling back. They were both very distressed by the situation, it was very obvious. I did come back to that farm to take more pictures and ask questions to the farmer, about his job, the dairy industry and his feelings towards the whole thing. It was very clear that even though he himself had been brought up on that farm to be a farmer, he didn't feel good at all about many aspects of his job and he was burying it somewhere in his chest trying to conceal it. The next day when the truck came to pick up the then 3 days old calves to take them to a factory farm, he looked the other way. He knew they would be malnourished and be anemic so that their meat would look white and appetising to the average supermarket shopper. How did it get that bad? What went wrong in Human History that we ended up so disconnected with animals, with nature and with ourselves and our feelings? How can we heal that?
That time spent with the cows had a huge impact on me. I was taking in all the cows fears, stress, anguish, sadness and it did make me feel immensely sad. I couldn't stop apologising to them, on behalf of humans, I kept telling them that I wasn't responsible for this as I was vegan and didn't have dairy anyway. Following this I had a proper breakdown and rethink of my life, my goals, my relationships with friends and family and I went on a crusade to tell them all about what I had just experienced and how bad it was. They were listening, saying they understood, they nodded, but they didn't change their habits and that did make me feel angry and frustrated. From then on I became a very militant Animal Rights activist. Unfortunately my life started to revolve around what I did not want - what I hated - and I took on the impossible task to change the world around me without trying to change myself from the inside first. Focusing on all that negativity, always pointing out all the things we don't like in other people, and always seeing the problems with everything and everyone quickly becomes a pattern, a habit that's really hard to get rid of!
Graham Burnett, permaculture designer/ teacher and Animal Rights activist went through a similar phase and that's how he got into permaculture: he wanted to focus on the solutions, not on the problems. Focusing on problems only feeds those problems, but doesn't solve them. Focusing on how we can solve them and how we can have a positive impact is really important if we want to succeed. Doing things out of love and not from an angry, hate-filled place is crucial.
What do the animals want? How do they want us to help them? Do they all want to be helped? How do they feel towards humans? What would they say if they were asked?
That's what got me into Animal Communication. I find that both animals and humans could benefit from it. We do have a lot to learn from animals, if only we can slow down and listen to them.
I did spend some time with farmed animals in all sorts of dark, cold, concrete places, from a truck overloaded with pigs in a slaughterhouse, or an animal market... I didn't realise it at the time, but I was communicating with the animals, stroking them and trying to reassure them while I was there. I could feel their pain, the terror, the anguish... I wished I could have taken them all home with me in my red van at the time, but I couldn't. All I could do was take pictures to document what they were going through, and stroke them, talk to them and cry with them.
A few years later, I decided to stop being a photographer and then moved to London to be a Campaign Coordinator for PETA Europe as I wanted to be more efficient to help the animals. I was a trooper, a warrior, fighting animal abuse around Europe, doing demos, being arrested, etc, etc, etc..... etc...etc...
It took me to have a child and step out from that activist mindset, to take the time to think about all this and realise that I must do my best to help the animals - and working directly with them is actually a great way to do it!
Now my wish is that more and more people wake up from the dream they're living and realise that there is much more to life than flat sreen TVs, and that they could have real life experiences going out to meet with nature and with animals. Farmed animals deserve more consideration as what they are currently receiving is nothing. Go out there and meet them! Go and talk to them, stroke them, they will love it and you'll find that it's a very powerful healing and moving experience :)
Have a good night,
Noemie.
November 9, 2011
Belinda
I know a female longboarder called Belinda Baggs. She's great. She's very nice and she has a beautiful and unique style on a longboard. I got to spend a few days with her a while ago, when she stayed at mine for a few days with her husband to be, 5 and something years ago, back when I was a professionnal photographer living in Biarritz, in the French Basque country. We did a photoshoot, we went to Spain, I ended up driving them all the way to Toulouse airport so they could get on a plane to England with all their surfboards.
The Belinda I communicated with last night is very different. She is a very, very, very beautiful 11 year old brown and white lady, with big long horns. She has a bit of an attitude and a bit of a stubborn temper about her. I think she would make a very good French Madame!:)
I first noticed her last week, I was watching her being milked and I could feel that she wasn't happy and didn't want to be there. I promised myself to go and see her later. I did ask the farmer about her and he did confirm to me that she was miserable and had a bit of a temper. I have been thinking about her regularly ever since. I went back to the farm last night to communicate with her. Our conversation lasted quite a while, she had a lot to share, and a few other cows joined in too. I realised in the middle of the non verbal conversation that we were having a meeting! the way they were all coming towards me adding their opinion to the conversation! it was quite hard to keep up with them as I wanted to make sure I could remember as much as I possibly could from our conversation. Next time: I must bring a notepad and a pen and take notes. I did write everything down later on last night, and I realised that the more I was writing the more the conversation was coming back to me easily. I'm not sharing the whole conversation here. I'm only sharing what feels appropriate for the time being.
Belinda told me that she was fed up with being pregnant and having babies every year because it's a real emotional roller coaster, with all the hormones changing during the pregnancy - birth - lactation cycle. She said that she would like to retire from being a dairy cow, she needs to have her own space and more time for something else. I asked her what she would do if she had time to herself and her answer was : I just want to be.
She says that doesn't like it in the barn (the cows are now in the barn for winter) because there are cows everywhere she goes and she would like to have her own space. She is a bit claustrophobic and that's why she doesn't like being milked : the area she has to stand on is too narrow and she needs to feel that she has space around her, otherwise she gets nervous. She doesn't like being stroked or touched especially not on the head. She has this invisible force field around her head and she really hates it if you enter that zone. She then shakes her head from side to side to make sure you back off and you don't want to be in the way of these beautiful big long horns that she has!
She told me that doesn't like changes. With new calves being born, some older cows will leave, she feels that she is about to be taken somewhere, and she is worried because she doesn't know where. She asked me:"Where do the cows who leave the farm go to?" - Silence -
I asked her what she thought about the farmer and she told me (and a few other cows joined in) that she loves him. He does care for them and looks after them in a very loving way. He is on their side and stands up for them. They trust him to do what's best for them as he has their best interest in mind.
They told me that they want to be celebrated and recognized. Humans take, take, take... but don't give that much in return. The world is changing and they feel that they are in a position to bring something else to human kind other than milk : Healing.
"We do like humans but they are moving too fast. They need to slow down! We would like them to see us and acknowledge us. We see some humans making a big fuss over their dogs, but they don't even see us, they just walk past us without looking at us, as if we were invisible! We would like to have more of a pet status. We don't understand why humans make such a fuss over certain animals but ignore and don't seem to care about others. It doesn't make sense. Humans can do great things and we have a lot to bring them. They need to listen more and slow down".
Belinda knows that she is reaching the end of her "career' and she is worried about what's going to happen to her. She told me she last had babies 1 year ago, but never really enjoyed motherhood.
The farmer told me afterwards that he was supposed to have made the phone call to get her sent to slaughter for the last few days but he didn't for some reason, which is probably how she knew, she would have picked up on his thoughts and on his behaviour towards her. She has a lot of insights to share with us, regarding the farm and its future, and the relationship between cows and humans. For now she will be allowed to retire from the dairy farm and she will be given some space and some time for her self-development. The farmer is really interested in Animal Communication and he believes that farming and especially Biodynamic farming could greatly benefit from listening to the animals and from working in harmony with them and what they want. He's struggling a lot with the farming concept that animals have to be here for a purpose: serving humans and be killed at the end when there are no longer use for them. We have great conversations every week, and it's so good to get to meet a farmer like him. It does give me hope that another way is actually possible, and it's great to see someone in his position caring and trying to make his own peaceful revolution in dairy farming. I'm hoping to have a chance to communicate with Belinda again next Tuesday, during my weekly visit to the cows. I'll take some pictures too, so you too can see how beautiful she is :)
Thanks,
Noemie.
The Belinda I communicated with last night is very different. She is a very, very, very beautiful 11 year old brown and white lady, with big long horns. She has a bit of an attitude and a bit of a stubborn temper about her. I think she would make a very good French Madame!:)
I first noticed her last week, I was watching her being milked and I could feel that she wasn't happy and didn't want to be there. I promised myself to go and see her later. I did ask the farmer about her and he did confirm to me that she was miserable and had a bit of a temper. I have been thinking about her regularly ever since. I went back to the farm last night to communicate with her. Our conversation lasted quite a while, she had a lot to share, and a few other cows joined in too. I realised in the middle of the non verbal conversation that we were having a meeting! the way they were all coming towards me adding their opinion to the conversation! it was quite hard to keep up with them as I wanted to make sure I could remember as much as I possibly could from our conversation. Next time: I must bring a notepad and a pen and take notes. I did write everything down later on last night, and I realised that the more I was writing the more the conversation was coming back to me easily. I'm not sharing the whole conversation here. I'm only sharing what feels appropriate for the time being.
Belinda told me that she was fed up with being pregnant and having babies every year because it's a real emotional roller coaster, with all the hormones changing during the pregnancy - birth - lactation cycle. She said that she would like to retire from being a dairy cow, she needs to have her own space and more time for something else. I asked her what she would do if she had time to herself and her answer was : I just want to be.
She says that doesn't like it in the barn (the cows are now in the barn for winter) because there are cows everywhere she goes and she would like to have her own space. She is a bit claustrophobic and that's why she doesn't like being milked : the area she has to stand on is too narrow and she needs to feel that she has space around her, otherwise she gets nervous. She doesn't like being stroked or touched especially not on the head. She has this invisible force field around her head and she really hates it if you enter that zone. She then shakes her head from side to side to make sure you back off and you don't want to be in the way of these beautiful big long horns that she has!
She told me that doesn't like changes. With new calves being born, some older cows will leave, she feels that she is about to be taken somewhere, and she is worried because she doesn't know where. She asked me:"Where do the cows who leave the farm go to?" - Silence -
I asked her what she thought about the farmer and she told me (and a few other cows joined in) that she loves him. He does care for them and looks after them in a very loving way. He is on their side and stands up for them. They trust him to do what's best for them as he has their best interest in mind.
They told me that they want to be celebrated and recognized. Humans take, take, take... but don't give that much in return. The world is changing and they feel that they are in a position to bring something else to human kind other than milk : Healing.
"We do like humans but they are moving too fast. They need to slow down! We would like them to see us and acknowledge us. We see some humans making a big fuss over their dogs, but they don't even see us, they just walk past us without looking at us, as if we were invisible! We would like to have more of a pet status. We don't understand why humans make such a fuss over certain animals but ignore and don't seem to care about others. It doesn't make sense. Humans can do great things and we have a lot to bring them. They need to listen more and slow down".
Belinda knows that she is reaching the end of her "career' and she is worried about what's going to happen to her. She told me she last had babies 1 year ago, but never really enjoyed motherhood.
The farmer told me afterwards that he was supposed to have made the phone call to get her sent to slaughter for the last few days but he didn't for some reason, which is probably how she knew, she would have picked up on his thoughts and on his behaviour towards her. She has a lot of insights to share with us, regarding the farm and its future, and the relationship between cows and humans. For now she will be allowed to retire from the dairy farm and she will be given some space and some time for her self-development. The farmer is really interested in Animal Communication and he believes that farming and especially Biodynamic farming could greatly benefit from listening to the animals and from working in harmony with them and what they want. He's struggling a lot with the farming concept that animals have to be here for a purpose: serving humans and be killed at the end when there are no longer use for them. We have great conversations every week, and it's so good to get to meet a farmer like him. It does give me hope that another way is actually possible, and it's great to see someone in his position caring and trying to make his own peaceful revolution in dairy farming. I'm hoping to have a chance to communicate with Belinda again next Tuesday, during my weekly visit to the cows. I'll take some pictures too, so you too can see how beautiful she is :)
Thanks,
Noemie.
October 27, 2011
My Journey Back Home...
It took me a while to come back in these parts. Amongst many reasons, one is that I needed some time. In fact I didn't have any but I needed some to really think about the new direction I wanted to take in my life, and therefore, in here.
Now I can see it. I can see the picture. Until now I just didn't know what could possibly be my humble contribution to this endless pool of information and all this noise that you can already find on the internet! I didn't know what to say/share that may be of any interest, as there are already so many things to read out there! What can I possibly bring to this world that may be of any use to anyone?
This question was on my mind, everytime I thought about this website. I needed to step out for a while, leave and come back with a different outlook and with a vision. Now I can see the picture I want to paint :)
I've never been really good with finding anything positive to say about myself and what I do... but I'm working on it! So here we go: I think that I have, amongst a few other things, still a few things to do to help some dearest friends of mine, the animals, but this time I would like to do it from a difference place.
As an Animal Rights activist, I have done all sort of things, when I say all sort of things, I mean it... you have no idea! :D
I have been in all sorts of situations (and positions) in all sorts of countries, taking part in or organising all manner of demos to raise the media/public awareness about different aspects of animal exploitation. Back then, I was angry, frustrated, sad... I wanted to be the animal's voice and I wanted to save them. All of them, "until every cage is empty". Well, I burnt myself out and in the process it took me to a dark and unhappy place. I wasn't doing all this from a (self)loving place, in fact it was the opposite. A lot of it was self neglect, driven by guilt and some sort of martyr syndrome.
Eventually I stepped back from it, and managed to have a close look at myself, and who I really am. I realised that things like:"Hi, my name is Noemie, I'm a vegan/photographer/animal rights activists/(...)/(...)" were just attempts to define myself but that's not who you really are! Every single one of us is much more than any of those things. We all are complex individuals coming from our own walk of life and following our own path/journey.
The will to help the animals from a more loving place led me to learn Animal Communication. Learning non verbal communication with animals is a way to directly ask the animals what they want, and how we can help them. We have a lot to learn from them.
I hope you'll find this blog and my journey helpful, and I hope that I'll manage to bring a different and timely perspective on Animal Rights Activism...
:) Have a great night,
Noemie.
