What rats taught me about miracles

“I don’t know what to do,” said a client I'll call Sarah, visibly worn down by what she was about to share. “I’ve lived in a guesthouse nearby for over 2 years. I love where I live. The location is prime. The best. I have a little yard filled with plants, and I don’t want to leave, but I don’t know what to do. Rats live in the walls, and my landlord, who lives in the bigger house on the property, won’t do a thing about it. The rats keep me up at night. I can’t keep living like this. I don’t want to hurt them, and I don’t want to move.”

“Have you ever talked to the rats or given them a voice?” I asked.

“No. I’ve only talked to my landlord, who won’t do anything about it, and it’s been TWO YEARS.”

I acknowledged Sarah's resilience and invited her to lay down in our session space.

I invited Sarah to breathe. Connecting first to herself and opening to the land of her home. We called in Divine Support and asked for only that which is for the Highest Good to be brought forward. After we’d communed in sacred space, I began guiding Sarah to connect within and call forth the rats. When she felt connected to them, I invited her to ask the rats if they are open to communicating. Sarah said she was having a hard time connecting and asked if I would talk to the rats.

Normally in client sessions, I serve as a guide for the client’s inner exploration - I ask open-ended questions that lead to the heart of the matter, and intuitively direct the flow of the session to get to the only thing I’m interested in: Truth. Very often this requires navigating through various expressions of resistance - which is what Sarah is experiencing here. In a typical session, I would prod her through this, however - in this instance (I was still very new to facilitating sessions), I felt guided to give the rats a voice for her, so I agreed.

I started by asking the rats if they would speak to me.

I heard “yes” in my inner consciousness.

“What is your purpose in Sarah’s home?”

I sensed that they had taken up territory they felt was theirs. They seemed oblivious to the fact that someone other than them inhabited the space.

 “What do you need to leave and move elsewhere?” I asked.

Gratitude. Acknowledgement. Appreciation. They wanted to be seen and witnessed. They would not leave until they were treated as kin.

 I relayed this information to Sarah, and we both thanked the rats for speaking with us. Sarah communicated her request that they depart her home.

To complete the session, we once again said a prayer for the Highest Good to unfold - Thy Will Be Done - and Sarah left.

I had no expectation of what would happen from there. Communication is an art that requires choice and free will on both ends. It can take place without anything outwardly changing, and sometimes it can radically shift a person's perspective and circumstance.

Early the next morning, I received an email from Sarah. She said:

Madeline,
I can’t believe it! I was in my room late last night and started to hear the rats moving around in the walls. I started to get frustrated and angry, and then decided to try something different. I took a deep breath and started laughing! I laughed and laughed and laughed and acknowledged the rats, genuinely feeling gratitude for their presence. And you won’t believe it. This morning they are gone. GONE! They left! I am overjoyed and in shock. Thank you so much!

That was over 3 years ago, and the rats never returned to Sarah’s home.

***

A few months after this session, I read the book To Hear the Angels Sing by Dorothy Maclean, one of the 3 founders of Findhorn. Dorothy communicated with angels and nature devas to grow the seeming impossible on barren soil in Northern Scotland. Eventually, their garden produced 40-pound broccoli and pumpkins that drew people from all over the world to visit. It’s now a spiritual community, a pioneer in regenerative farming, and one of my favorite places on the planet.

In the book, Dorothy writes of a time when they had trouble with moles on the land. She went through a similar process of communicating with the moles, asking what they needed, negotiating with them, and eventually – when a clear agreement was made between the two of them – the moles left.

While these experiences can sound magical, they are ordinary. We are simply reclaiming our inherent ability to communicate with nature not as a separate entity, but as part of the natural world. There are countless books on this, such as The Secret Life of Plants, Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm, Summer with the Leprechauns, and so many more.

At this pivotal, sobering, and transformational time in history, we’re called forth to embody our innate ability to commune with nature. I challenge you to walk the road less traveled, and remember that there is ALWAYS a win-win solution available that doesn't require poisoning sentient beings.

I lovingly encourage you to talk to your animals, plants, the land that surrounds you, and of course - humans! When you enter challenging conversations with sincerity and openness, what comes forward may completely shift your perspective.

In some circles, a shift in perspective is the definition of a miracle.

Love,
Madeline