8 November

Spirit Animals, Victims and The Rainbow Bridge

by Jon Katz
Spirit Animals

Someone asked me why I thought Rocky might be going to a better place if I didn’t embrace the idea of the Rainbow Bridge, and I thought it was a good reminder to think about and write about the life of the spirit animal, what it means to me, since I refer to it so often.

The spirit animal – my dogs Orson, Rose, Izzy, Red, Rocky – is the opposite of the fuzzy-wuzzy embrace of  the Rainbow Bridge, sentenced to spend years waiting for their humans to appear and play with then on the other side, and then all eternity being with them. When I think of a spirit animal, I think of Orson, who brought me to Bedlam Farm, and who left when he was done. And Rose, who helped me live there, and moved on to enter and shape the lives of other people. This is one reason I do not mourn her in the way some people demand that I should.

And of course, there is Frieda, a spirit animal who roamed the wild and allowed herself to be caught so she could bring the greatest gift to me, Maria. She is one of the most powerful spirit animals I have ever known.

I believe her to have moved on, continuing her work. Izzy, too. He led me to confront life and death in our hospice work and reconnected me with people. When they are done, these animals, these dogs and horses, cats and birds,  find a way to leave. Many people think they should live forever, that this is the measure of human love, but I don’t feel that way. Nothing lives forever, not even us.

Rocky is without question a powerful spirit animal. He saw Florence through to the end of her life, just as she told me he would, and he brought Maria and I to our new farm. He lived on his out for years, even while declining, staying with his human for more years than anyone thought possible That is a powerful spirit, much stronger than me, able to do things I could not ever do. When the trouble with the donkeys began, and we began to grasp how much of a struggle his old body was going through,  it seemed clear to both of us and the others who knew him that he was ready to move on. Rocky is a strong spirit, he lived a long time, most of it by himself. He is not and has never been a piteous and needy creature dependent on our mercy, as many people need to see him. He is a powerful spirit, he moves bits of the earth and the people in it around at will, he touched many lives.

Rocky will not be waiting on the other side of the bridge nor Florence for him. Maria and I won’t be there either, hopefully.  These two independent creatures will have moved on to their new work, their new destinies. Hopefully they will meet and reunite, but that is a wish, not a prophesy. The Rainbow Bridge has always seemed a profoundly selfish idea to me, it assumes animals want or need nothing more than us for all time. Run in golden fields, Rosie, run fast and get away from us. How dare us assume we know what they want. This is as arrogant as assuming that the only path to mercy is perpetual life. This is the tragedy of many elderly lives, it won’t be the tragedy of my animals, or of me.

In our time, in our need to see animals as dependent things, as perpetually abused and mistreated and victimized – this is the part that touches many humans so deeply, a kinship with victimization, the angry messagers are almost all talk of victims and they see animals like Rocky in that way – we forget how powerful and strong these spirits are. It is not about their bodies, but their spirits. In our growing need to reduce them to helpless beings of need, are selfish once more. In fact human selfishness courses through our lives with animals again and again.

That is not my view of animals, not my view of Rose or Rocky or Orson or Izzy. These spirits are inhabiting the bodies of animals, and they will come and go, and enter the lives of others. They decide when they come, not us, they decide when they go. They are much bigger than me, and their lives are not only about being with me.

The power and choice about life is only peripherally in our hands, it is truly in theirs. They have been her long before us, and will be here still after we have finished ruining our parts of the earth. Spirit animals demand respect, not pity. They are never weak or helpless. They are not victims of any kind. They do not wish to spend eternity with us, and we do not own their spirits or control them.

You will not see Rocky or Rose on the Rainbow Bridge. They will be entering the lives of other fortunate people, doing good, magical helpers on the hero journey. That is my story.

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