http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pig-wisdom.html
Pig Wisdom
I noticed the scar as soon as she sat down - it stood out like a red beacon over her heart. It quickly faded out of my sight as I talked with the person whose life revolved around this seemingly insignificant concentration of tissue.
Sarah is trained in veterinary nursing, and is also a gifted energy practitioner and speaker. Her passion is to bring energy therapy into mainstream veterinary medicine. She wanted my advice on how to proceed, because she believed she didn’t have the credentials to be accepted in the professional world. How could she get people to hear her, and understand how important energy medicine is to animal healing?
As she told me her story, the animal connection was hard to miss.
Sarah grew up on a pig farm. Her family saw the pigs as income, but Sarah connected with them on a deeper level. Her heart would break as she sobbed over a piglet that didn’t make it. She talked about her empathy, and how she now chooses to do her energy work from a distance. It’s easier than being caught up in the emotions surrounding a sick animal. If she isn’t careful, each case makes her heart ache a little more.
Sarah’s first heartbreak didn’t occur because of the piglet. She was born with a congenital heart defect - a bad valve - and that has caused her many touch and go moments due to heart failure. There is no irony with the physical and emotional broken heart. They are energetically and spiritually linked.
As she told me about her most recent surgery - a valve replacement and the cause of her scar - I said, “Let me guess, it was a pig valve”.
We chuckled about her love of pigs, and how her life was saved by the very animal she took care of as a child. Now it was time for her to learn to empathize, not sympathize. Her physical heart was better, but it risks further damage from her emotions. Compassion and caring without taking on the emotion is one of the most difficult lessons of anyone in a healing or service profession.
I knew pigs had more to teach Sarah, so we talked about what other things we could learn from them. On the outside, pigs smell, they love to roll around in the mud, have very bad table manners and make loud, snorting noises. Most people wouldn’t choose to cuddle up next to a pig. But on the inside, pigs are very intelligent animals, and make loving companions. And how many hearts have been physically healed because their valves are similar to humans?
I suggested Sarah take on some Pig Wisdom. When she can get past the need for approval, and speak her truth no matter what people think, her professional path will open up. Pigs don’t care if people are turned off by their noises, they snort anyway. They don’t care if they smell, and they certainly don’t trouble themselves over appearances. Those of us in complementary healing fields also need not worry about how people see us, or if our words will be received. It is the act of being true to ourselves and speaking up that is important. Of course that’s true for everyone - it’s about loving ourselves for who we really are.
In the immortal words of the Muppet character, Miss Piggy, “There is no one on the planet to compare with moi.”
Dr. Susan Wagner is a board certified veterinary neurologist whose pioneering work acknowledges the bioenergetic interaction between people and animals. She is an advocate for change in the area of interpersonal violence and animal cruelty, and works toward a greater understanding surrounding the health implications of the human-animal bond.
Residing in Worthington OH, she is an active public speaker in the areas of energy theory and healing, spirituality, and the human-animal bond. She especially enjoys teaching about the spiritual nature of animals. Dr. Wagner is published in several peer-reviewed journals. She is also co-author of Through A Dog’s Ear: Using Sound to Improve the Health and Behavior of Your Canine Companion, and was research director for the Through A Dog’s Ear CD series. Dr. Wagner is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University Veterinary College, and a Level IV Healing Touch for Animals practitioner.
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17 comments
add your comment »hey it's true! look at wilbur!
but this article is really cute. good job
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I would also like to share you all guy.As a young man was walking down a country lane he spotted an old farmer picking apples from his orchard and feeding them by hand to his pigs.The young man felt obliged to comment to the old farmer and said, “Sir, you could save a lot of time by letting the pigs eat the apples from the ground when they fall off the tree.”The old farmer thought about this for a moment and replied, “Young man, I thank you for the suggestion, but the truth of the matter is, time ain’t nothing to a pig.”
christmas presents
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So the caregiver should care but not get involved. That is our problem today we care so much that we have to completely ignore that our society does not want to get involved in assisting people with their problems at all. So responsibilty in the general society for social assistance of any kind would erode the profit flowing to the upper echelon to waste or use on their personal charities, lobbyists, campaign contributions and personal agenda while the rest of society slowly sinks. A wholistic system is one in which one benefiting on the decline of the other is a false profit. The whole and the parts have to work together to be in harmony.
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I almost cried after reading this.Thanks for reminding me of their wisdom.
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She loved pigs and accepted a valve from one that had been killed? Words fail me...
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I agree with Ruth and Yvonne: I've rescued two feral hogs when they were babies (one is now almost 4 years old; the other one is 8 months old. They have both lived in the house. Both are super smart and clean. I finally built them a nice house with AC and heat. They are very "picky" eaters...peeled kiwis, strawberries without the green tops--homemade macaroni and cheese, bluebell ice cream sandwiches...both are very gentle and sweet. I haven't had a pork product since I met these two!
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For God's sake. Now we have to have an in-depth discussion regarding whether pigs stink. Most pigs that I have encountered on farms do smell. Pork itself carries a distinctive smell. My Italian immigrant grandfather used to tell me stories of a pig they kept as an in-house pet. He said it was house trained. Pigs that are kept as pets do not really stink but do have that pork essence. No amount of bath salts can remove it for long. Personally I like pigs. I loved Arnold Ziffel too.
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Very informative and so well written.
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Thanks for the helpful comments, Yvonne. Very insightful - yes, there is much pignorance. Interesting info about the mud bath/spa connection. I wonder if the minerals in mud are a reason pigs roll in it. I have learned much from animals by observing them and by keeping preconceived notions in the background. That's why it breaks my heart when I see how factory farm animals are denied natural behaviors because it shows our ignorance and unwillingness to learn.
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I must point out a bit of PIGNORANCE...pigs do not smell unless someone is making them live a very tortorous, filthy life. They have way less odor than dogs and lots of people too. Pigs are very clean but do use mud to cool themselves, as a sunscreen, an instect repellent and for fun! Do kids not play in mud, making mudpies? Do adults not pay money at spas to have mud facials and bodywraps?! BTW, just an important bit about pigs...THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "TEACUP" PIG THAT WILL STAY TINY!. To learn more about pot bellied or "minature" pigs...http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/petcare/pigs.cfm
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