"Gone...But Not Forgotten" documentation pages 25

  Relating the story of the birth of Jesus Christ in a cave, the 
Gospel of the Holy Twelve says :
  " And there were in the same cave an ox and a horse and an 
ass, and a sheep, and beneath the manger was a cat with her little 
ones, and there were doves also, overhead, and each had its mate 
after its kind, the male with the female.  Thus it came to pass 
that he was born in the midst of the animals which, through the 
redemption of man from ignorance and selfishness, he came to 
redeem from their sufferings, by the manifestation of the sons 
and the daughters of God."
  The love of the Master for the animals who had shared His 
birth-chamber is beautifully portrayed in the following legend:
  " As Jesus passed through a certain village He saw a crowd of 
idlers of the baser sort, and they were tormenting a cat which 
they had found, and shamefully treating it.  And Jesus commanded 
them to desist and began to reason with them, but they 
would have none of His words, and reviled Him. Then He made
a whip of knotted cords and drove them away, saying. This earth, 
which my Father-Mother made for joy and gladness, ye have 
made into the lowest hell with your deeds of violence and cruelty. 
And they fled before His face. But one more vile than the rest 
returned and defied Him. And Jesus put forth His hand, and the 
young man's arm withered, and great fear came upon all; and 
one said, He is a sorcerer. And the next day the mother of the 
young man came unto Jesus, praying that He would restore the 
withered arm.  And Jesus spake unto them of the law of love, 
and the unity of all life in the one family of God. And He also said, 
As ye do in this life to your fellow-creatures, so will it be done to 
you in the life to come. And the young man believed and confessed 
his sins, and Jesus stretched forth His hand, and his 
withered arm became whole even as the other.  And the people 
glorified God who had given such power to man " (xxiv. 1-5).
  Reading on, we again find Christ protecting an unhappy cat, 
comforting her loneliness, and providing lovingly for her future.
  " As Jesus entered a certain village He saw a young cat which 
had none to care for her, and she was hungry and cried unto Him; 
and He took her up, and put her inside His garment, and she lay 
in His bosom.  And when He came into the village He set food 
and drink before the cat, and she ate and drank, and showed 
thanks unto Him.  And He gave her unto one of His disciples 
who was a widow, whose name was Lorenza, and she took care of 
her.  And some of the people said, This man careth for all 
creatures . . . are they His brothers and sisters that He should 
love them ?  And He said unto them. Verily these are your 
fellow-creatures, of the great Household of God; yea, they are 
your brethren and sisters, having the same breath of life in the 
Eternal.  And whosoever careth for one of the least of these, 
and giveth it to eat and drink in its need, the same doeth it unto 
Me ; and whoso willingly suffereth one of these to be in want, and 
defendeth it not when evilly entreated, suffereth the evil as done 
unto me; for as ye have done in this life, so shall it be done 
unto you in the life to come " (xxxiv. 7-10).
  For the second time in connection with the Cat, the solemn 
warning is uttered by the Master that all creatures are so closely 
knitted to Him that our every action towards them is counted 
as if done unto Himself.
  The legends are not unduly overlaid with miracle, but describe 
events we need feel no great difficulty in crediting, and in the 
simple narration seem to bear the stamp of truth.  Christ, having 
spent a part of his childhood in Egypt, may easily be supposed 
to have felt a special sympathy for the sacred symbol of his own 
prototype, Osiris-Horus, and to have been shocked at the spectacle 
of his countrymen ill-treating the animal he was accustomed to see 
regarded with so much reverence.

  " The Gospel of the Holy Twelve." Written down and pub. by the late 
  Rev. G. J. Ouseley.  New edition pub. by Edson, Ltd., London, 1923

  By 'psyche' I mean the individuality, the unique something 
which comprises you and distinguishes you from every other 
human being who has existed since the world began, from every 
other human being in the world today, and from every other 
human being yet to be born.
  Personality, individuality, the soul. the psyche -whatever word
one uses, it refers to the uniqueness of each human being. We 
all have something m common with each other; equally, we all 
have something special to ourselves.
  This being true of ourselves, on what grounds do we assume
a monopoly of it? If the human being has a soul, why should a 
dog, not less useful, free of many of the vices and defects 
to which humans are prone, not have a soul also? Or the cat? 
Or the ape? Or the elephant? If anything survives of human 
personality, if the Spiritualists are right in their assertion that a 
'spirit world' exists, then why should it be 'inhabited' (if that is 
the word) by semblances, forms or vestigial survivals of former 
human beings only? Spiritualists, of course, maintain that animals 
do 'survive' in the spirit world. The concept is difficult to grasp, 
since they live (as we do) in a physical environment, in a balanced 
ecology, dependent directly or indirectly upon one another. The
apes need their jungle, the birds their trees and bushes, the fish 
their waters.

   "Other pediatric cases are reported by 
William Serdahely at the University of 
Montana.  He surveyed pediatricians throughout 
Montana and surrounding states and asked if 
they had encountered pediatric NDEs in their 
practices.  He collected four experiences. 
Pat was interviewed at age 9 concerning his 
near drowning at age 7. Medical records 
documented that he lost spontaneous heartbeat 
and respirations, and cardiac resuscitation was 
required after he fell off a bridge into the 
water while fishing.  He stated he floated 
out of his body and 'was up in the clouds'. 
'I was a little bit scared. I looked down and 
saw my body on a stretcher and Jim Perkins 
(a medic) with his head in his hands. Then, 
I went into this tunnel.  I wanted to go, 
but Abbie and Andy licked me and nagged me to 
go back.'  Abbie and Andy were his former 
dog and cat who had died."

           Dr. Melvin Morse
           Current Problems in Pediatrics 
           Vol. 24, No. 2, P. 62, Feb. '94

"Here, for -the first and only time, the
particular manner of how life was imparted was
given in the case of Adam. The inspired writer
says, 'God breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul.' As to what
methods were used to impart life to the other
animals and to Eve we are not informed. But to say
that God used one way for lower animals, one for
man and one for woman, when all were made of the
same chemical constituents, would be contrary to
any system of analogy known to reason. Any Bible
student knows that there are many things understood
which are not expressed throughout the entire
Bible, therefore whatever is understood by the
words, 'breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life and man became a living soul', is implied,
though it is not expressed, in the creation of all
other forms of animal life. No animal could live
without the breath of life, and as the divine writer
said nothing about the mariner of its imparted, it must
be assumed that God breathed into the animals and
woman, the breath of life and they became living
souls. Any other assumption would be illogical.

In describing the creation of woman, nothing
is said about the breath of life or a living soul.
Now must we infer that she, like the-lower animals,
is denied a soul because the special manner of
imparting life is not mentioned? And yet if you
deny that animals have souls, because the mode in
which they received them is not mentioned, you will
certainly have to exclude women from having souls
upon the same hypothesis, which has been done by
some crude forms of religion. The Bible plainly
infers that whatever process was involved in
bestowing the breath of life in the case of Adam
was followed with all other created beings. In
reference to the flood, the inspired writer in
Genesis 7:21, 22 said: 'All flesh died that moved
upon the earth, both fowl, and of cattle, and
of the beasts, and of every creeping thing, and
every man, all in whose nostrils was the breath
of life."

E. D. Buckner
The Immortality of Animals and the Relation
of Man as Guardian, from a Biblical and Philosophical Hypothesis
1903

THE RETURN OF PETE

   One of the most remarkable stories of animal survival is the tale of Pete, a
mongrel owned by a man named John Simpson who was a Confederate spy
during the American Civil War.
   The couple were found by enemy soldiers, and Simpson was sentenced,
to be shot at dawn the next day. He asked for his dog to spend the final night
with him, but permission was refused. Indeed, immediately afterwards,
and out of earshot, the Union colonel issued an order to kill the
dog. It was beaten to death.
   As Simpson was led out for his execution he asked the escort if Pete was
all right. The soldier lied to him, said that he was, and promised to look after
the animal. The spy went contentedly to his fate.
   He was tied to a post and awaiting the gunfire when he looked down at
his feet and cried out that Pete had come co see him. '1 knew the old fellow
would come to say goodbye,' he exclaimed. The men, who all knew.
the truth and could see nothing was there, were bemused and blindfolded Simpson.
They assumed that he had simply gone crazy with fear. Then they
saw the colonel staring at the same vacant spot, ashen white and clearly
also seeing the ghost dog.
   Unable to order the execution, the colonel stayed the guns and walked
away shocked. That night Confederates attacked the camp and the colonel
was killed. John Simpson was freed, and apparently argued to the end of
his days that he had seen his dog and that Pete's ghost must have retuned
from the afterlife to save his master.

  What else can we tell you? Well, we have been asked to talk about our 
animal friends a little more. It seems that you want to know about their 
souls and do they advance in any way, in view of the service they give to
man and the fine work they do?
  The wonderful thing about the animal soul is that it is without sin, so 
their souls have nothing to answer for. You may think, the way some 
behave, they are full of it but chewed slippers do not constitute sin! And 
animals are not capable of it. They do not have the instinct that man has 
for doing evil. They have instinct that tells them what they should do to 
look after themselves, but not to use against others for their own ends. 
When wild animals kill others for food they do so for that reason only. 
Not for gain or exploitation. When a lion has made a kill it can walk 
through a herd from which it has just taken its prey and they will not run
away. They know it will not need food again for a few days so they have 
nothing to fear.
  Having been blind I am very interested in the Guide dog. They are 
wonderful and so are the people who train them. It is a big strain for both 
sides to achieve what they do. Despite what you may think, it is most 
unnatural for the dog to do this kind of work and he really is on tender 
hooks all the time. He understands that he has to look after the blind
person but things arc cropping up all the time and he is having to think 
about them and because it is not natural to him he is afraid he may do the
wrong thing. On top of that he has no one, on the spot, to ask. Now 
most of these dogs are psychic. They can sec and hear us in the spirit 
world, and the blind person's guide is with them most of the time, so 
they do receive some help. And the dog really does give over its life to the
blind person.
   Then you have those dogs that work sheep and cows. They work very 
hard also but it is more natural for them and they love it. They love being 
involved with the person they are working with and feel the importance 
of it all. We can go on but we have said enough to answer the question. 
The soul is without sin and therefore cannot change.  It does not need a 
reward as far as that is concerned, but it docs need all the thanks it can get 
and love also.  This goes for all pets.  Love and thanks and they are happy 
but also links are formed and you will never be parted from them. They 
will be waiting when you pass over.

 While working at the local animal rescue shelter, I 
was contacted by a woman who had recently adopted 
two kittens from the center. After telling me she was 
afraid I might laugh at her question, she asked 
whether there had been a ginger-colored kitten in the 
litter with her two kittens. Checking the records, I 
found that there had been such a kitten in the litter 
and that it had died. Puzzled, I asked her how she 
knew. She explained that while watching her kittens 
playing in the house, she frequently saw a mysterious 
third kitten playing with them.
 I corresponded with the woman for some time. As 
her two kittens grew, so did the phantom kitten. The 
woman became so used to seeing the kitten she decid-
ed to give it a name. When her cats came through

    
their cat door, the ghost followed-through the 
closed door. After about two years, the ghost cat 
stopped appearing. The woman hoped it had found 
rest or had been reborn to experience life fully.

When my cat. Pepper, was still an unspayed stray, 
she had a litter of kittens under my neighbor's
house. Two of the five tiny kittens were adopted 
by a neighbor before I even had a chance to sec 
them.  Of the remaining three kittens, the largest one, 
a solid black female, became outgoing and people 
oriented. The other two kittens -- a small, black male 
and a gray and white female -- were shy, preferring to 
hide under a bush or behind the woodpile when I
brought them their daily meals. In the evenings, 
however, all three kittens ventured out, following 
single file behind their mother wherever she went.

In addition to the mother and three kittens, I was
also taking care of another stray in the neighborhood
at the time an energetic orange tabby I had named
Sparky. Sparky had taken to exploring a two-story
hotel that was being renovated across the street from
where I was living on Maryland's eastern shore. Every
night before going to bed, I went out looking for
Sparky to give her a nighttime snack.
On one of my nightly excursions to find Sparky,
Pepper, with her three kittens trailing single file behind her, followed me across the street without my knowing. After feeding Sparky, I headed back across the street to my house. I wasn't aware of any traffic on the normally quiet street that evening, nor did I hear any noise from the cats. But as I crossed the road I noticed a dark shape lying in the middle of the street. Only then did I see Pepper sitting on the sidewalk with two of her kittens, the third one obviously missing.

As I approached the dark shape, I realized it was the smallest black kitten, the shy one that was always at the end of the line as he followed his mother and sisters. My neighbor helped me pick the kitten up off the street so I could bury his tiny body in my flower garden.
As I dug the grave, I felt saddened that none of the three kittens yet had a name. Believing that no kitten should die without a name to recall its memory, I decided to call him Cupcake.
That night as I lay in bed drifting off to sleep, I became aware of the weight of Cupcake's little body curled up on my shoulder. As I whispered his name.
he disappeared. I believed he had returned for a brief moment to say, "Thank you."

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