I have a confession to make, something I have suspected for years, now believe firmly is true, and feel it is past time to share with you, since we are together on this curious journey of life. I believe donkeys are angels, dogs are messengers, cats are witches and spirits.

There is something ethereal about them, they watch over me, know me, give me strength.

I have believed this for more than a decade, but was never strong enough to say so or clear enough to be absolutely certain. It is a common thing, for sure, not the end of the world, but a big deal for me. I am not the first person to believe in spiritual power of animals.

But I’ve never mentioned this or written about it, not even to Maria until recently. I thought it went too far for me, but now, I know, it goes just far enough. Some ideas you simply have to live and grow into.

I have written for years that dogs are spirit animals, they come for a reason and leave when they are finished with their work. For me, they are not to be mourned for too long, it diminishes their meaning in our lives. They leave when they wish to leave.

I have often written about the spiritual powers of donkeys, but never put it in proper context. Not until recently, I have spent some time watching and listening to Lulu and Fanny, and noticed that they have been watching and listening to me all this time. They are my witnesses.

They are telling me something, I think that it is time for me to move along, to grow, to write truthfully about my ideas about animals as the most powerful spiritual creatures.

Animals are spiritual beings believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of the divine, in whatever form he or she takes. Most often, they are represented in human form with wings or long robes. But that is the stereotype. Angels have visited me all of my life, when I was a terrified child, barricaded in my bedroom, angels visited with me and told me their stories and comforted me and listened to mine.

I have always believed in angels and sensed when they are near. The wind against my cheek, a robe brushing invisibly against my arm, a circle of light spinning in the air, a beautiful leaf falling from the top of a free, a coyote howling in the night, the wind whistling through the eaves.

I believe angels gave me the gift of story-telling to comfort me and occupy my mind and to save me.

I have always known dogs as messengers, coming to tell me to change my life, to define the next chapter, to stand by me for strength and support, to comfort me when I was lonely and frightened. They mark the passages of my life. When Julius and Stanley came to me, it was time to become an author. Lenore came to usher love into my life and keep me open to it.

When Orson came, I knew I have to move to the country. When Fate arrived, I knew it was time to begin a more joyous and meaningful time – we had passed through the difficult year of bankruptcy. We have been smiling ever since she came, she opened a door that had closed, people say they see it in my writing, they see it in Maria’s work, they see it on my blog.

All this time, the angels were present, they were watching me, cheering me along, shaking their heads and wagging their fingers when I stumbled. They are true mystics, they live in a realm and only rarely give us a peek. They have always been with us, throughout our history, they are stepped in wisdom and experience. They have seen it all.

Red came to mark a period of great transition, he is steady as a rock, it was the time of moving from one phase of life to another, from the first Bedlam Farm to our new home and our new life. He is a magical helper to me, a symbol of trust and faith. All my dogs are messengers, even my first dog Lucky, a puppy who died of distemper, who came to me to get me through dark and cold nights and show me that I could be loved.

Fate is a Gremlin, she stirs the pot, keeps us alive, prevents us from taking life too seriously. (I am still learning about cats, they are mysterious and witchy, they are spirits from the other world. That’s all I feel.)

I have always known the donkeys as spiritual beings, they are intuitive, they see into the souls of people, they can be very loving, they can be independent and difficult. They never give themselves away, you must be true to your self to know the.

I knew my donkey Simon was an angel for sure when he left me open his bleeding mouth and rub his infected gums with pain killer and balm and I kept getting this message from him over and over again: “open up, open up.”

So that’s my confession. I believe the donkeys are angels. Good to bring it out into the light, I’ll write about it more.