When I first met Maro a half century ago, he was a baby bullsnake my biology teacher brought me, mistaking him for a nightsnake. I raised him, and people said he was clearly attached to me. I released him into the wild before departing for Japan. A few years later I had a sudden strong vision of him, and realizing he had died, I urged him to try becoming a cat as a reasonable step forward. After that, I continued to have occasional strong visions of him. He healed or protected me several times. It seems to me that he was reincarnated at least once more as a snake, and I was expecting him to go purely spiritual because he was so strongly oriented that way. My impression is that for a snake, there is not much difference between life and interlife. Of course, the Hopi are noted for esteeming snakes' spiritual connectedness. About ten years ago, when he was healing me from a bad cold, I got a look at how a snake views the world--transparent, with the goal in view. and as I formulated that non-verbal vision into words to share on JMG's blog, the snake could see what I was doing--what my goal was--and was impressed. In January 2020, I had a sudden vision of him again. He'd been stretching himself out in a comfortable warm place and was suddenly attacked by something big, he couldn't tell what. He'd crawled off to a bush, and it was too late to try to heal him. However, I knew exactly what had attacked him. Poor snake out on a road. That ability to deduce useful information really impressed him. We adopted Maro about ten months later, and I shortly realized who he was. I had initially been hoping he would go from cat to dog for a life or two, because the transition from cat to human strikes me as very difficult. There was something rather dog-like about him, though, even as a bullsnake, and Maro, as a cat, was often mistaken for a dog at a distance. And it also says a lot that he died defending his house. I think as a human, if my divination is correct, he will have to overcome insecurity and jealousy issues, which snakes don't face, but he would make a good soldier. The important thing in the life he just finished is that he learned the basics of language, i.e., a sound represents something physical. He also got his first taste of the difficulties animals capable of complex thought face. The other evening we were out walking with Akko, his sister, and Shinobu saw a cloud that looked just like Maro. As we watched, the cloud transformed into a human face, a very rugged masculine one at that. I expect his spirit to hang out with us until Obon is over, and then begin the hard work of his transition. At that point, I will change the prayer accordingly, but until then, I am grateful to everyone for helping him remember his spiritual connections.
I have been too busy to do anything with my project, but thank you all for your prayers there and promise to get back to that work as soon as possible.
Re: Maro's spiritual journey
About ten years ago, when he was healing me from a bad cold, I got a look at how a snake views the world--transparent, with the goal in view. and as I formulated that non-verbal vision into words to share on JMG's blog, the snake could see what I was doing--what my goal was--and was impressed.
In January 2020, I had a sudden vision of him again. He'd been stretching himself out in a comfortable warm place and was suddenly attacked by something big, he couldn't tell what. He'd crawled off to a bush, and it was too late to try to heal him. However, I knew exactly what had attacked him. Poor snake out on a road. That ability to deduce
useful information really impressed him.
We adopted Maro about ten months later, and I shortly realized who he was. I had initially been hoping he would go from cat to dog for a life or two, because the transition from cat to human strikes me as very difficult. There was something rather dog-like about him, though, even as a bullsnake, and Maro, as a cat, was often mistaken for a dog at a distance. And it also says a lot that he died defending his house.
I think as a human, if my divination is correct, he will have to overcome insecurity and jealousy issues, which snakes don't face, but he would make a good soldier. The important thing in the life he just finished is that he learned the basics of language, i.e., a sound represents something physical. He also got his first taste of the difficulties animals capable of complex thought face.
The other evening we were out walking with Akko, his sister, and Shinobu saw a cloud that looked just like Maro. As we watched, the cloud transformed into a human face, a very rugged masculine one at that.
I expect his spirit to hang out with us until Obon is over, and then begin the hard work of his transition. At that point, I will change the prayer accordingly, but until then, I am grateful to everyone for helping him remember his spiritual connections.
I have been too busy to do anything with my project, but thank you all for your prayers there and promise to get back to that work as soon as possible.