Kristin Tara McNamara

"See Spot's Thoughts" - 9/2001: New Times, San Luis Obispo weekly

An excerpt.

I spent a good deal of my youth sitting in front of the television watching shows like Lassie. I remember marveling over how beautiful that dog was, how regal, how obedient. But what I really remember – what we all remember – is that Lassie could speak to Timmy. “Go find Timmy, Lassie!” someone would cry. “Tell him I’m a mile from the old well, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up, oh - and pick up some eggs and milk from the market on the way!” And indubitably, that collie would pull it off. At the end of the show, here would come Timmy, and he would have in tow a cow and chickens as well as an EMT unit.

Just thinking about it makes me want to have a little talk with my dog. I mean, he’s pretty well trained, but I don’t see him going to the market to pick up a six-pack for me. And even if he felt like it, he’d probably come back with something like Natty Ice, and really, you know a dog’s no good when he can’t pick a decent beer.

But there is hope. You and your pets may not have broken down the language barrier like Lassie or Mr. Ed, but according to some, you can communicate with them. In fact, you may already be doing it. As most of us know, communication isn’t completely dependent on language. Pets may not be able to speak to us, but every pet owner still knows when their little creature wants something.

How can you explain your dog knowing when you're coming home, even if it's on an intermittent schedule? Or how come when it's time to give your cat a bath, he’s nowhere to be found? Or how hundreds of birds can maintain graceful flight patterns without slamming into each other?

According to some, the answer is a mental connection, or telepathy. What’s more, this sort of telepathy is lying dormant in everyone. By reinforcing this connection with practice, advocates say that it can develop into full telepathic communication with animals, and even humans.

Enter Sigrit Morghen, a SLO county resident who has been teaching animal communication classes in the area through community education programs at Cuesta and Allan Hancock colleges. Morghen says that people and animals are constantly sending out messages that we are attuned to ignoring. She says that the main secret to communication is practicing meditative exercises designed to help people let go.

“Our mind is sort of busy with what I call ‘shoulder-sitters,’” she says, “You can just imagine these little creatures sitting there and just chattering at you in a hundred different ways. You have to learn to just shut that off and completely not listen to them.”

Sharon Clowdus of Santa Maria is a recent attendee of Morghen’s seminars. She says she, and everyone else in the class, went into it open minded and eager to participate. “The people in the class were fun. They were really nice, normal people, nobody weird,” she describes. Clowdus shares her home with three dogs and describes her dogs as being akin to children for her. “I already communicate with my dogs verbally on a daily basis,” she says, “so making a connection with them was really not a problem.”

One of Clowdus’ favorite exercises working with Morghen’s demonstration dogs was guessing where they slept. She says that after concentration on the animals, each person was asked to describe location and on what sort of surface they slept, “I had it reversed, I said one dog slept at the foot of her bed and one in the laundry room, but I had the locations switched for each dog.”

Clowdus describes the class as a way to gain new perspectives, “In one exercise, they had us picture peanut butter, and I love crunchy peanut butter, but I found out a lot of people don’t like it!” One of the main benefits of the class, she says, is the different interpretations each person offered. She estimated that her class had about fifteen in attendance and that she’d really like to join a class with more people.

Morghen wanted to approach the public with this revolutionary idea, and she’s found that teaching has reached a much larger audience than anything else. She says of the classes, “It’s easy to learn and that way a larger number of animals will benefit from it.”

Speaking with a genuine concern for the animals, Morghen’s background proves her dedication. She projects an air of sophistication and intellect one wouldn’t expect from an advocate for such an unorthodox claim. She says, “A lot of times, people just look at me and say ‘you look trustworthy,’ and that’s because I can approach people with no judgment and still get a flow from them.”

Kristin Tara McNamara
805.748.1478
maculated@gmail.com