Animal Voices

Species Link, Issue 47, Summer 2002

By Sally Rosenthal

 

“Have you heard about Animal Voices?” a friend asked me a few weeks ago. The editor of a journal focusing on animals and spirituality, she had just finished reading a review galley of Dawn Brunke’s new book. “It’s wonderful!” she enthused and I made a mental note to get a copy. Before I had a chance, however, I received my own review proof for Species Link a few days later. It just goes to prove that when the time is right, what I need arrives in my life—or, in this case, in my mailbox.

 

No one would agree more with that sentiment, I suspect, than Dawn Brunke herself. A number of years ago, the author of this luminous exploration of interspecies communication and her family moved to Alaska with their possessions but without employment. Within a month or so, Brunke, who had no editorial experience, had been hired as the editor of a holistic publication. Little did she realize, though, that these acts of hope and faith were only the beginning of the life-changing journey she had undertaken.

 

In Alaska, Brunke’s professional and personal lives meshed in an unexpected way as she worked on a magazine story about animal communication. Accepting the challenge and encouragement from communicators that she herself had the natural ability to telepathically communicate with animals, Brunke took several deep breaths, tried to shed her self-doubt, and opened her heart and mind to the animals’ lessons. What she learned brought about not only profound spiritual awakening in her own life but also prompted her to write Animal Voices. With the input of over two dozen professional animal communicators, Brunke set out to explore interspecies telepathy and why this connection is so vital.

 

The journey of discovery she describes in Animal Voices is nothing short of miraculous. Through her own experiences and her collaboration with communicators, Brunke was able to connect with a variety of living animals and spirits who were more than willing to share their feelings about the connectedness between the animals and the humans who must work together to spread messages of love, spirituality, and environmentalism in this new age.

 

While Animal Voices follows in the wake of an ever-growing number of communication manuals and memoirs, it is quite different from many recent works, combining, as it does, the author’s own experiences and insights with those of the professional communication community. But the most impressive aspect of Animal Voices is the actual animal voices; in interviews with Brunke and others, animals tell how they feel about their place in the world and the roles they assume to help and teach us. Brunke covers both expected territory and exciting new ground as she delves into areas such as shamanism and shadow lands. From dogs and cats to coyotes and moths, the animals speak of the need to listen, connect, and, most importantly, love.

 

As I closed Animal Voices, I found myself agreeing with my friend who had proclaimed it to be wonderful. It also is one of the most important general animal and animal communication books to come along in quite a while. All of us living on Mother Earth now need to hear the wisdom inherent in Animal Voices.