In 2010, at the request of the animals, a group of people gathered at Earthfire Institute Wildlife Sanctuary and Retreat Center for a unique event. Entitled A Wild on the Wild Side: Answering the Call of the Wild, it was where I first met resident cougar Windwalker as well as other Animal Ambassadors.

During that event all of the animals took us on a powerful journey of personal transformation, and I learned that Windwalker was a Master Teacher.

In the year following Windwalker and I connected from time to time. As the date for the 2011 A Walk on the Wild Side approached it was clear that Windwalker’s health was failing. With an effort of will, support from loved ones and from Spirit, Windwalker was there to greet us. Throughout the event he offered insight, guidance, and healing. All who attended were forever changed.

On November 5, 2011, one month after our event, Windwalker crossed into Spirit leaving us a legacy of inspiration. Jean Simpson speaks movingly of their time together in Farewell, Windwalker.

But Windwalker was not gone—he had only shed his body. He contacted me two days after his passing, and made it clear that he would be continuing his mission from the spirit world, and that I was to listen.

On November 22, 2011 I had an interview scheduled with Janet Roper on her radio show Talk2theAnimals. In a previous conversation I had told her about Windwalker and the amazing moments we had shared during the event, and she offered him air time for any message he wished to share.

The following is a transcript of the shamanic journey I took to meet and speak with Master Teacher Windwalker.

Windwalker: Message for the World

The journey began in a great meadow where all the animals were gathered. Windwalker sat in front, grooming.

I greeted him.

Windwalker turned and showed me a vast plain and only a few buffalo, encircled by a fence. On the other side of the fence a man was crying. Windwalker told me that because of the separation that we had created between man and wildlife both suffered. The bison had no freedom without and man had no freedom within.

I heard, “What has been sundered must be made whole again or all will die.”

I asked Windwalker what we must do to become whole again and he put a paw across my shoulders and together we looked out across the land. He said, “We must work together.” I looked at him and asked, “You and I?” He laughed, and with a rough lick to my face rumbled, “I meant people and animals, but yes, we still have work to do together you and I.”

“What must the people do?” I asked.

And he showed me a view inside a person, from heart to belly. Inside that person I saw a landscape where birds sang and plants grew. And as I watched, the tendrils grew, until they were outside the person and reached toward other people each with their own gardens.

“Each person must cultivate a garden within themselves,” he said, “and when they do we—the animals, birds, plants, fish—will reach back to them. Together we are strong. Together we can heal ourselves and this world.”

And he showed me each person tending their inner garden, healing themselves by removing weeds of anger, pain, loss; planting seeds of empathy and compassion in fertile soil nurtured with love and organic nutrients.

The scene changed, and all was dark around me. Windwalker was to my right and I realized that we were swimming deep in an ocean. He was searching for someone or something, leaving me alone and then returning. Out of the darkness a large eye appeared and as we surfaced I saw Windwalker riding the back of a great Whale.

Whale showed me the vast oceans and instead of seeing living animals I saw marine fossils from long ago. Then I saw great bleached bones on the shores of the land—Whale was showing me how long he had existed and the rise and fall of species he had seen, the mass extinctions. And he made it clear that we were facing another such time right now.

And then a great wind reached down and picked Windwalker and me up, spiraling into the clouds, and as I watched Windwalker riding the winds I realized how he got his name. He told me we were going to speak to the winds. I was not sure about this, what would I say?

Around us gathered storm clouds, gentle breezes, and all the weather patterns in between.

Windwalker and I were in the center of this amazing gathering, and with speech that I felt rather than heard, the Wayras, Wind People, communicated that weather patterns were changing. I was shown buffeting winds, and smoke rising everywhere which I took to be carbon dioxide and pollution. Then they showed me each person planting a tree, their suggestion to help bring things back into balance. They also showed me an image of many feet walking, and more closely knit and smaller communities within cities.

The Wayras told me that they did not want to treat the earth and the people roughly but that balance had been upset and without our help it could not be restored. They also mentioned ceremony, showing me offerings being made. It was suggested that we had forgotten gratitude for the natural elements, and that had made a difference also.

And then the Wayras showed me all of them holding hands, and those hands extended to the people and the animals, and they showed me the heavens and the hands extending from the stars toward us. “All is connected,” they said, “what affects one affects all, but it also means that you have our support. It is time to recall what has been forgotten.”

Tears were streaming down my face, and I hugged Windwalker, overcome with awe and gratitude for what I was being shown. I thanked him, the Wayras, the Stars, and Whale. And with my journey ended, I returned.

The animals know a wild way to heal

In accordance with my journey with Windwalker and the guidance of All Our Relations, a shamanic teleclass series called Bones, Stones, Feathers and Fur has been created to help grow our inner gardens and connections with the natural world.

Related Videos, Interviews and Articles

The making of video The Pachamama Stakes: Race for the Earth was guided by Windwalker and All Our Relations. They are reaching out to us—we can do this together!

Inspired by Windwalker’s message an artist and a musician from California Institute for the Arts created Windwalker the Cougars Message to the World, a film set to music to express the shamanic vision. It contains stunning footage of Windwalker in his prime.

The complete audio version of Tales from a Walk on the Wild Side and Windwalker’s Message from my interview with Janet Roper on Talk2theAnimals is available. You might also be interested in reading Answering the Call of Windwalker the Cougar.

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©2011 Rose De Dan. All Rights Reserved. www.reikishamanic.com

A WILD WAY TO HEAL
Rose De Dan, Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing LLC, is an animal communicator, Reiki Master Teacher, shamanic energy healer, and author. Her classes, sessions and ceremonial work are inspired by wild and domestic animals who have issued a call to action for personal and global healing.

Her book Tails of a Healer: Animals, Reiki and Shamanism features heartwarming stories about animals and their role in her evolution as an energy worker and shamanic healer.