There Is No Such Thing as a Dumb Animal
By Jenny Griffin
Humans have been purported to be the most intelligent animal for centuries, because we are ‘blessed’ with rational thought. Other members of the animal kingdom have been given a kind of hierarchy according to how close they come to human intelligence, which apparently is a good thing.
Consider this from another perspective: that of intelligence borne of millennia of evolutionary transformation that has made all creatures on Earth what they are today. We assume that animals are without awareness or consciousness because they stray further from their wild roots and become domesticated, but what if this is a lesson for us instead?
Take the cow, the mild-mannered queen of domesticated livestock. We assume cows are lacking intelligence because they follow each other to their very deaths without too much struggle, yet have we ever really stopped to consider that perhaps the cow has evolved to become more and more docile over time in order to reflect back to us the level of our own lack of empathy? Just how docile do they have to be before we realise the extreme cruelty of mass production and its underlying message that if something can’t speak or rationalise in the way that we do, their value is in some way diminished? How compliant is it necessary for them to be before we discover that we don’t have the right to control the life and death of something else, another soul, simply because we have the capacity to form words and ‘intellectual’ thoughts?
Abattoirs are horrific places filled with implements of torture and terror, ripe with the smell of blood and death; no matter which creature on Earth is exposed to them, they will feel fear, pain and a level of horror that we would not willingly face under any circumstance. Yet we sit on our thrones of rationality and have the audacity to assume that these beings’ lives are in some way worth less than ours. It is not our job nor our right to impose our will on anything around us, as if all of creation is merely a plaything to be tamed and overpowered.
Imagine many, many years ago, a council of creatures was held to vote on the one species who would become ‘official’ stewards of the Earth. All were given the opportunity to speak their part, and all had a vote. Man stood and gave a passionate argument for the use of rational over emotional, and for some reason, the rest of the creatures said, ‘okay, you’re it. Take good care of our planet.’ How have we done? We’ve stripped the Earth of major proportions of her natural (non-renewable) resources; we’ve been responsible for the extinction of innumerable species of birds, fish and animals; we’ve polluted and killed rivers and lakes, torn up old-growth forests worldwide, raised the temperature of the planet to never before seen highs; and we’ve lost the trust of every other species on this planet, by abusing our position of ‘power’ as stewards to this beautiful place, a home which we share with billions of other beings, human and non-human, many without voices to speak their discontent. And we’ve arrogantly disregarded the wisdom of those humans who have followed the traditions of their ancestors, living symbiotically with the Earth for millennia.
As we incarnate into each lifetime, we make a decision as to which form we will take, and we know the lessons we are here to learn and teach. Do not be so presumptuous as to believe that just because we can fashion a gun out of some metal and fill it with bullets that the animals we hunt and kill are not complicit in their death, and the manner of it. They come here to teach us huge lessons about ourselves, our role, and the nature of One-ness. What we do to each other, we do to ourselves. As we continue to ravage our Mother and kill off the children of the Earth, we destroy pieces of our collective soul which cannot be reclaimed. We have done sufficient damage to the planet, and it is time, past time, to begin to set things right.
Treat every living thing with reverence, knowing that their decision to be available to you in whatever form they arrive is of their own volition. This is not to say strict veganism is the only acceptable diet, or that eating meat is an abomination, it is simply to say that it is time to recognise the sacrifices these beings have made in sharing their home with us, their souls are parts of the collective which has endured such damage. Give thanks to the Earth and the animals for providing our bodies with the sustenance they need, not because we have forced them to be submissive, but because they have chosen to take a background role to help us to grow as a species.
Existence as we know it, is at a critical point, a time at which it is necessary for us to take responsibility for our actions and let our rational minds take the back seat. Ask of Mother Nature what she would have you do; ask the animals how to live harmoniously with our surroundings; listen to the wisdom of the Earth’s First Peoples; heal your wounds so that you no longer feel the need to express your damage onto the things around you that cannot speak for themselves; and humble yourselves before the transformation that IS coming. You have the choice to face it willingly, humbly, or fighting it with every last breath (and they WILL be your last breaths).
There are no Animals dumber than humans. We have failed miserably at our task, and the Earth is in distress. It is time to choose Her over ourselves if we wish to continue as a species. We must surrender our collective will to the wisdom of all that is, and trust that we are in time.
Jenny Griffin Also known as ‘The Catharsis Coach,’ Jenny loves exploring life’s twists and turns through the lens of transformation. Her own journey through catharsis, a deep, deep letting go of ingrained patterns and beliefs, resulted in a feeling of connectedness, with the world around her and with that wise and wonderful voice within. Jenny has learned to engage with her life and experiences in a way that allows her to use the knowledge gained through them to serve others. When she’s not writing, she’s coming up with new ways to help people move through change with grace and ease.
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