The other day I was trying to explain the notion of "Body Memory" to someone and I found myself talking about my dog.
The dog I'm the person of was a rescue animal. I got her at a county run animal shelter that is not a "no kill" shelter; most in big cities aren't. Just recently when renewing her license, I learned I was not her second owner, but her third. I still feel sure that her name has always been the same and that she was born in the home of her original owner, who may have been a backyard breeder. I also learned when I adopted her that she has at least one liter, but for all I know she may have given birth many times, and then was spayed.
My dog reacts emotionally, shaking, when her feet are on stainless steel. Doesn't matter if this is at the vets or in a sink, or anywhere else - the feel of it frightens her. I think she associates the feel with pain and loss.
When I first brought her home she always pulled her feet or paws away if I tried to touch them. Over many full body massages and months of learning to trust me and not exhibit signs of separation anxiety, she stopped pulling away and started waiting for me without crying. Now she lets me touch her feet and paws and I sometimes hold them in my hands. Again, I think she associates the feelings - physical and emotional - with pain.
I took my dog into the closest groomers, a store that also sells cute doggie items, and depending on what sort of barking she hears she will either, wag her tail and look up at me with excitement (small chirpy sounds) or shake with fear and even back away (the harsher barking of a larger dog) and this is very specific. Because she has exhibited fear, which is uncharacteristic for her overall friendly temperament, I don't want to leave her at a groomer and groom her myself. I recently took her to a benefit for the shelter and she peaceably sat near a massive Irish Wolf Hound and German Shepherds. All well behaved. The dogs at the groomers were further away, leashed, and also well behaved, but yet the VOCAL SOUND of dogs either made her think she was going to meet a long lost relative (maybe her mother) or an enemy!
My dog can't tell me what she's feeling or thinking in any moment, but it's clear she is reacting. Memories are inside her - maybe her mind which is part of the body, or her body itself as mind.
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HUMAN BEINGS?
I'm convinced that some people practice genealogy to gain a different perspective on themselves, by way of getting to know more about the people they are genetically related to, especially so if that person has always felt different, as if they were born into the wrong family. (At last you've found an eccentric sea captain a few generations back who seems to be the only other person in the family besides yourself who loved to sail!)
I'm also convinced that some people are very influenced by their past lives. (You sailed and were the sea captain yourself!)
Some people think that there is no such thing as past (or future) lives, as is the case for reincarnation, but that people do have BODY MEMORIES and these can be inherited. (You love to sale because you have the body memory of the sea captain!) A body memory might, as in the case of my dog, give you a reaction - positive or negative - that maybe makes no sense.
Say tuned for more on Body Memory in the future posts of ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY
C 2013 Ancestry Worship Genealogy
