Once again I have to apologize for the delay in a post. Things are very busy on the farm and those of you on our mailing list, should be getting a newsletter in the next 2-4 weeks. It is at the printers now. In the meantime, here are two questions submitted from a supporter in Denmark.
Dawn
Dear Amber,
I was very happy to read on the website that you have moved to the smaller stable where it is warmer in the winter. And I was even happier to learn that you enjoy being with new friends and still keep in touch with your old friends.
Your blog means a lot to me. Thank you for your patience with us humans. I feel there is so much to learn and understand about how you animals look at and understand the world. Lately, I have become quite interested in understanding how everyone (human) is conditioned – socially, biologically, culturally – all these conditionings influences our way of thinking and perceiving the world. And I understand that – in relation to you animals – my thinking is conditioned by being human. But I find this last point hard to explain to other humans, as many don’t acknowledge that there is only one consciousness – which manifests in both animals, humans, plants and everything. So all your answers are very precious to me, as they help me to broaden my understanding, and break up my conditioned way of thinking.
I hope you will help me with these two questions.
1. I live with my 4 cats on the countryside. They are all very good hunters, and I understand that it is their nature to hunt, even though they are fed by me with plenty of food. However, when they “play” with mice, frogs, and birds, I always wonder if they really don’t care about how the mouse, the frog, or bird feels. Don’t they care about the fear, or pain of a fellow creature? I must admit that my ability to communicate fails at that point because I get very involved emotionally. I would like to understand my cats, and I would like them to stop playing with their prey and causing more fear and pain.
Amber Donkey: This is a very interesting question. First, let me tell you that the answer lies within your very question. Just as you said above, there are many factors that come into play and influence our way of thinking and perceiving the world. That is not just true for humans, it is also true for animals. Animals also can become separated or more distanced from their nature. In fact, the more we are around the energy of humans and the culture and social structure of humans, the more affected we are by that. That is not a negative statement about humans now either. It is just a statement of fact. You could say, the more domesticated we become, the further from our natural instincts we get. So your cats have all the instincts to hunt but they don’t need to for their survival so their actions become tainted or skewed. They are not deliberately torturing the prey animal. But they are also not wholly honoring their relationship either. You see? Its not totally balanced as it would be if they were in the wild and they were hunting for food. In the wild state, they would remember the quick release of their prey is important. But when their lives don’t depend on hunting, and food is handed to them, they lose that part of the relationship, just like humans. There is no easy way to work around that. It is their state of current awareness and relationship. Their intention isn’t to harm or torture, it is to play. They have been numbed in a way to the emotions of their prey. It is no different for humans and their food. Or humans who watch a lot of violence and then seem indifferent to violence when they see it for real.
2. I often tell other people about Spring Farm CARES, about you and Dawn and everyone else I’ve met or heard of on the farm. Some humans become very inspired; some find it hard to believe what I tell them. When I told a friend that you animals are very well informed about what is going on in the world, she wondered, “what does a horse (or donkey, or any other animal) do with this information? They don’t take action, they don’t vote, they are dependent on our actions and decisions. So why should they know about what is going on in the world?”
Anne
Amber Donkey: Now there is a very human response. Imagine how it would be if we animals asked, “what does a human do with the information we give them? What do they do with all the information that nature provides them? They don’t seem to take action and just keep making the same choices over and over again, even when it is obvious it doesn’t work?
You see, Anne, it just depends on what side of the coin you are looking at. By the way, I have often told other animals about Spring Farm and the humans here and they have found it hard to believe at first too! But I digress.
The truth is that all living beings strive to find out what is happening in the world around us. Because we understand that what affects one, affects all. What is happening thousands of miles away from this farm, can and does, affect this farm. Humans think they have the monopoly on communication. They just have a piece of communication technology. But where you rely on technology, we animals understand it is simply about listening. We don’t require technology to communicate. You don’t either, but you have forgotten that. Its ok. Eventually your technology will come back around full circle and catch you up to what you already knew how to do anyway, if you hadn’t separated yourselves out of nature.
I thank you for your wonderful questions!
Amber
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