April 11th, 2203

To Trevor Madison, 

Minister of Scientific Exploration of the Spiritual Realm,

Good day sir and thank you for the response of wanting to hear more about my discoveries and ventures including the vastness of the realm of spirits. I am happy to say that while my journeys through the realm have left me physically unaltered with more wisdom than one may have thought possible. That being said, the topic that I wish to discuss is that of animals, or rather that of other species that are not men.

Mankind has a very unique appearance in the spiritual realm. We all almost look how we ought except for one thing, but it is likened to such a thing that none can remember what we have forgotten. It is like we have left our phone next to our ears telling our friend on the other line that we cannot find our phone when it is clearly in our hand. It is a bizarre phenomenon, and yet it happens without notice every day. Such are the human spirits, I figured that this reason is why it took men thousands of years to convince themselves that they had spirits at all. It is something that we all have and clearly we had forgotten that we had such things. 

All this to say there are many animals that have spirits as well, they are just more in tune with what they are as they have never forgotten their spirits. Most people would consider the physical prowess of a cat to be little more than a pet, however in the realms of spirit, cats are giants and beautiful to behold. Cats are guardians of the dead and keep the dead from intermingling with the living. They maintain a balance between the afterlife and the living space. Perhaps this is why the Egyptians worshiped them once upon a time.

I don’t suppose that you have heard of Pather-Runs? It would surprise me if you had. He is a man that I met that used to live on the South American continent before the Spanish assailed it in the early 1500s. He is so in touch with his animal spirits that can catch up to him in the sky above. Indeed, I only happened across him when he stopped to enjoy the same scenery as myself. He had the long legs of a giraffe, mixed with the strength of a bear, the speed of a cheetah, and nimbleness of a mountain goat. He stayed and talked a good while with me. He said that even though he had accepted his death as unavoidable, it was his humbleness before Death that forced his spirit to wander forever in the stars, to observe wonders and yet not interact with them. In his wanderings, he came upon many animals that shared in his wonder and perhaps they felt in tune with him, thus they joined themselves to him. He is a wonder himself these days. Perhaps that is why Death looked upon him with favor. A man that can befriend animals even as a spirit. That is just my opinion though. 

Animal spirits are quite the delight to behold. They harbor no ill intent toward humans in that realm. They enjoy the attention of humans and often behave as equals for that is how they perceive us. 

Those are my findings concerning animal spirits. Though I am sure that others have come across other experiences, after all, we all have a difference of opinion when it comes to spirits.

May Peace surround you,

Rufus Gand