Description
This beautiful collection of blessings will take readers on a journey of spiritual migration through the animal world. Through poems, prayers, and inspirational prose, readers will share in the ancient practice of blessing animals, which has its roots in a time when we relied on animals for our very existence. Drawing from many faith traditions?including Native American, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist?the book offers moving testaments to our love for animals and reflections on reverence for the natural world, and shows how, through our interconnectedness with the natural world, we in turn are blessed by animals. Introduction ix Part 1: Blessings for Companion Animals 1 Blessings for Dogs 5 2 Blessings for Cats 19 3 Blessings for Other Companion Animals 35 Part 2: Blessings for Wild Animals 4 Animals of the Land 55 5 Animals of the Sky 69 6 Animals of the Stream and Sea 81 Part 3: Blessings from Animals 7 Blessings for Birth 97 8 Blessings for Life 109 9 Blessings in Death 135 Part 4: Rituals and Ceremonies 10 Animal Blessing Ceremonies 159 11 Partings 179 12 Benediction 211 About the Contributors 223 Credits 231 Acknowledgments 237 Editor’s Note 237
