FEATURE
Famous guitarist strums medium’s praises The Foreword to Jenny Smedley’s new book “Dogs and Cats Have Souls Too” is written by Brian May, CBE, who is well known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen, which he co-founded with lead singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. Mr May is married to Anita Dobson, who, from 1985 to 1988, played pub landlady Angie Watts in BBC1 TV’s “EastEnders.” On Christmas Day in 1986, over 30 million viewers tuned in to see her screen husband Den handing Angie her divorce papers. Amongst the most unusual highlights in a glittering career was when Mr May played the national anthem on the roof of Buckingham Palace to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. Twelve thousand people were selected by lottery to attend the Party at the Palace whilst an estimated one million people watched outside the building. The event was seen by around 200 million people on TV. Here’s what Brian May says about Jenny: JENNY SMEDLEY is already a name known to animal lovers worldwide, but for those to whom her name is new, let me explain a little. Her thesis – that animals have souls as well as humans – can easily be mistaken for a piece of pure “sentimentality,” but the lightness and humour of many of the anecdotes in this book belie a subtext which is the power behind a very important and growing revolution in our attitude to the other species on planet earth. In my work for animal welfare in recent months, I have been struck by a very clear insight. We all grow up and leave home, and are sure that our system of beliefs is entirely our own, supported by verifiable evidence and logical argument, but for the vast majority of us, nothing could be further from the truth. We don’t have to look very far into our everyday behaviour to see that it is dominated by habit – a whole system of behaviour patterns learned from our parents or guardians in our early BRIAN MAY: “Animals around us see, hear and feel, almost exactly as we do.” Here, he is seen playing at London’s O2 Arena last year. (Photo: Raph_PH)
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PSYCHIC NEWS | JULY 2018
childhood, only marginally modified by ourselves, often in response to pressure from our peers in later life. These behaviours are based on mainly unquestioned beliefs, and many of them relate to the way we treat animals. Many of us eat the flesh of animals daily, reassured by the echoes of our parents’ voices in our heads – “You need your protein,” “It’s good for you,” etc. In spite of mountains of clear evidence that a vegetarian diet is much healthier for our bodies, much more beneficial to the health of our planet and, if adopted by all, would vastly decrease the suffering of animals, these old beliefs, and these behaviours, persist. Ah – the suffering of animals? Here is where we are liable to be accused of sentimentality, of anthropomorphism. Many of us in our youth were given open or implied messages such as, “Animals don’t suffer in the same way we do,” or “Animals are there for us to use any way we want,” or “Animals are dirty,” or “Some animals are vicious, some are pests, vermin – must be controlled” or “It’s brave to kill animals.” So daily, millions upon millions of farm animals are cruelly abused, millions of animals are used in horrific experiments in the name of making humans live longer or look prettier, and what is left of our wild animals have no rights and can be stalked, trapped, snared, shot or torn apart by men with packs of dogs. Even a quick look at all this by a visiting alien would lead him to the conclusion that the human race, while rather laughably considering itself to be more or less the only important species on the planet, comes out as the most badly behaved. The alien would conclude that our behaviours are mainly governed by instinct, and that, while we are anatomically almost indistinguishable
from the other mammals on earth, we refuse to admit their similarity to us, and refuse to recognise their right to live and breathe in peace. Jonathan Safran Foer, in his book Eating Animals, alerted me to a word I had not encountered before – anthropodenial – the illogical denial of the fact that the animals around us see, hear and feel almost exactly as we do. They also feel pleasure, pain and fear, and it is the denial of these truths which licenses those lacking in empathy to try to justify the cruelty they inflict or assent to. All this might seem a long way away from a book which is full of lightness and joy, and insights into animal thinking, emotion and abstract thought, but as you dip into these stories, you will find constant triggers… reminders that we need to constantly question the edicts of old ways of thinking. At my Sunday school, at the age of about ten, we were taught, “Only humans have souls – only humans can go to Heaven.” It bothered me for years – it seemed grossly unfair, and I fiercely resisted the notion that my cat might be turned away from the Gates of Heaven. The thought often returns to me even now. Of course, there is no evidence for that teaching at all, and it must have justified countless unnecessary acts of cruelty and neglect of animals through the ages. On every page of this book, I am reassured that it’s just another old belief which needs to be thrown out of the window for lack of evidence. No! More than that – thrown out because of clear evidence to the contrary, recounted with great skill and dedication in this book. You can be sure of it. As Ms Smedley says… animals have souls, too!
Has your pet made a spirit return? WE would love to hear from you if your pet has returned with good or unusual evidence at a private sitting or an evening of mediumship. As a prize, the best five entrants will each receive a copy of Jenny Smedley’s book and their stories will appear in Psychic News incorporating Two Worlds. Entries should be e-mailed to pneditorials@gmail.com by August 1. Please make the account as detailed as possible, not forgetting to explain exactly who all the central characters are. Good luck! ■