When I went to Egypt in 1990, I was intrigued by the temple dogs. In every temple there were skinny, mangy looking strays that seemed to be the guardians of ancient secrets that we humans were not ready or able to access, perhaps carrying on the tradition of their ancient ancestor, Anubis, a god with the head of a jackal.
The temple dogs were small, maybe 20 or 30 pounds, their heads shaped like Anubis, their fur the gold of the Egyptian sand. All were carbon copies, you could not tell one from the other. They lay around in packs, giving a wary eye to anyone who dared come near. They were not friendly to humans, these dogs were wild, not pets.
At the Temple of Luxor I decided to override my common sense and approached a mound where seven dogs lay. When I crossed some invisible line the dogs viciously vaulted toward me growling and bearing their teeth. A temple guard ran over, yelling and shooting a pistol in the air. He pushed me away, kicked at the dogs, and shouted in a combination of English and Arabic to stay away from them.
When I went back to Egypt a couple of years later with a group of around 20 people, I thought of the temple dogs and remembered how much food our tour group wasted at each meal. I asked the waiters to put the leftovers in plastic bags and toted them to the temple the next day. I carefully approached a pack of temple dogs, showing them that I had food. Their interest was piqued but not enough to make them come to me. I emptied the bag of food and backed away. They wolfed down the food and turned to look at me, tails wagging.
The next day, when our tour bus arrived at a different temple, there were dogs waiting. When I stepped off the bus, the dogs came to me wagging their tails, asking for food. I fed them all by hand and they accompanied me through the temple like we were old friends.
From that day on, the dogs were waiting at each temple when our bus pulled in. They never approached my traveling companions; they waited for me. How did these dogs know that I was coming and that I would be bringing them food? I realized that the dogs were simply connected to each other and so were able to easily broadcast information to each other.
Since that time I have communicated with hundreds of dogs, cats, and other animals that tell me that they are part of a network. It’s kind of like the Internet but without computers. They have told me that they can communicate with each other and work together through this network. Sometimes they combine their energies to assist in areas of the planet where there are disasters and war. For instance, many animals told me they were assisting through the network during the worst days of the Bosnian War.
It seemed like such a miracle to me when the temple dogs waited for me, and when I was told about the animals in the network assisting others all over the world. But now, having heard and seen story after story about this network, I see it is simply life illuminating the truth—we are all connected.
The Internet has electronically connected people all over the world. When we look at this electronic web as a physical representation of our energetic connection to All That Is, we can see that the possibilities for exchanging information and working in harmony are limitless. We do not need computers to connect us to others and to help and to heal all over the planet; we are already connected. We need only open our hearts to embrace all of the other species on this planet to realize the depth of this connection.
Like the temple dogs are guardians of ancient wisdom, we hold ancient wisdom within ourselves. We know this deep in our souls. There is a place in us where solutions to all the world’s problems are alive, where we know how to create and live in a harmonious world. Our feelings of being separate and insignificant are not true. Every one of us is an important part of the web of life, our actions matter.
Animals have never forgotten this powerful connection. It is our challenge as humans to remember it. There are days when I feel alone, separate, and helpless. I look at what is going on in the world and I feel impotent. Then I remember the animals and I remind myself that I am an animal too. If I look into the eyes of one of my animal friends, it comes back to me, this mysterious connection to the web of life, to the ancient wisdom within us. I ask for guidance and assistance to bring it forth to show me the way.