I have been following stories of the heartbreaking devastation of war on the Ukrainian people and animals and have taken small actions to support them. I keep everyone in my daily prayers, and send Reiki to the situation for highest and best good. I’ve made donations, shared information on social media, and reminded my students of actions they can take to make a difference.
However, when news broke about the impact of war on the animals at the Kyiv Zoo I felt a clear call to ceremony on their behalf. I suppose it was not surprising given how many years I have spent bringing the prayers of Zoo Animal Ambassadors in the U.S. to ceremony, but it would be the first time I had been called to do so with animals I had never met, at a zoo that I had never visited.
From all that I read, the situation was dire. The Kyiv Zoo was home to an estimated 4000 animals that were impossible to evacuate. The sheer noise of warfare on the front line had so terrified elephant Horace that he had to be put on tranquilizers. Keepers and their families had moved in to try to keep the animals safe, but they estimated that they only had enough food for another 10 days. It appeared that they might run out around Saturday, March 14, the day my guides had set for the fire ceremony.
I invited students that had been trained in how to do ceremony for the animals to do their own ceremonies on that night. One found a map of the Kyiv Zoo which we could then use as a focus point.
Screenshot of map of Kyiv Zoo.
I knew in advance that I would need to ask for guidance from my allies on what form the ceremony should take.
First, I was directed to do clearing work around my feelings about the animals at the Kyiv Zoo. That brought up a few tears since I had been worried about them. I was told that I needed to accept even the worst outcome in order to be the best straw or hollow bone for the ceremony. That was challenging, since the worst outcome was unthinkable, but as I cleared my attachment to all outcomes I felt how freeing it was. I let go and trusted my allies.
My guides said I was now ready to send Reiki to the situation for highest and best good. Since I did not have permission to send to individual animals or people, as the energy flowed, I also asked that Reiki be sent to a common pool of energy that the Animal Ambassadors and their keepers could draw upon as needed if desired.
As the flow of Reiki energy slowed, mountain-lion-in-spirit Windwalker appeared in front of my face. He was an ambassador at A Walk on the Wild Side at Earthfire Institute who became a Teacher and guide in spirit when he crossed over in 2011 (see Windwalker’s Message for the World).
White Bengal tiger Almos appeared next. My students and I met with him in ceremony annually at Cougar Mountain Zoo for Listening to Zoo Animal Ambassadors (see ReikiShamanic Ceremony with the Tigers) until he crossed over into spirit in 2020.
African lion Xerxes presented himself next. He was a very important Animal Ambassador at Woodland Park Zoo, most notably for a special Ceremony with the Lions in 2015. Xerxes had recently crossed over into spirit.
As more spirit animals continue to gather around me, tears sprang to my eyes. I realized that all the Zoo and Sanctuary Animal Ambassadors I have known and done ceremonies with over many years—all of those now in spirit—were gathering to partake in this ceremony for the Animal Ambassadors at Kyiv Zoo.
Some of the Spirit Ambassadors were ones that I had not met in person, like tiger Tatiana who showed up at a despacho ceremony for clearing (see Revisiting New Year’s Revolutions). She had been tragically killed after mauling a zoo-goer who had been taunting her. I also saw giraffe Marius from the Copenhagen Zoo (see Message from the Other Nations on the Death of Marius the Giraffe). So many Ambassadors…too many to name them all.
My heart was overflowing. Their presence was completely unexpected, I had not called to them—the Spirit Ambassadors had all voluntarily come to participate in ceremony on behalf of their living fellow Animal Ambassadors. A wise human Elder Teacher I knew once said, “When you get something completely unexpected, that’s when you know it is real.” This moment definitely fitted the bill.
I turned to Windwalker and asked for his guidance on how to conduct the ceremony. I was instructed on how to create the Prayer and Gratitude sticks and was then told to be quick about it since a lot of energy was building up in preparation. I ran to obey. Windwalker does not say such things lightly.
I sat in front of the fire and was told to place gratitude for all my encounters with the animals over the years into the Gratitude Stick. I could feel all the Animals at my back, and faces flashed across my inner eye.
I was told to place the Gratitude Stick in the fire and hold space while it burned. It was halfway consumed when I was told to raise the remaining Prayer Stick up and invite the Animal Ambassadors at the Kyiv Zoo in Ukraine to place their prayers into the stick. I heard the sound of an elephant trumpeting, a lion roar, and felt/heard sounds from many more animals down to the smallest and quietest.
Once all the prayers of the animals at Kyiv Zoo were in, my guides instructed me to invite all of the Animal Ambassadors in spirit that were present to add their prayers to the Prayer Stick, which I did.
My Gratitude Stick was still burning, and I was told to carefully place the Prayer Stick of the Animal Ambassadors on top of it so that my gratitude and love could mingle with the prayers of animals living and in spirit and then be carried by the Wayras (Wind People).
My spirit allies said that what made this ceremony powerful was love—mine and theirs—human and animals, those physically present and those in spirit.
I saw the Spirit Ambassadors and my other allies encircle the Kyiv Zoo. There was a sense of protection, but also of support should the worst happen. Those that transitioned would be supported on their journey into spirit.
My guides stressed that while this ceremony had arisen out of a desire to help animals, people were also included. The keepers and their families had voluntarily put their own lives at risk out of love for the animals. My allies said love is shared on both sides, among all species, and together we are strong!
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UPDATE: Ukraine’s Dedicated Zoo and Shelter Workers Risk Their Lives to Care for Animals is the most up-to-date article on conditions at zoos in Ukraine I could find, with ways to donate.
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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.
