-A letter from an empath-
I became aware of my extra-sensory abilities a long time ago. I don’t even remember when exactly it was. All I know is that ever since I found out about them, they have gotten stronger and my capacity for them has grown. I am a natural born empath, able to sense, even directly feel, other people’s emotions. If there are strong thoughts associated with these emotions, I hear those, too.
I first clearly noticed it while in school. In the middle of class, when the teacher would ask a question and kids would raise their hands, I would search in my head for the answer and find one. Often the answer was not my own, but a classmate’s. Then the teacher would call on another student, and their answer would be exactly as it had been in my head. I suppose this could be considered a minor form of telepathy, but I would rather simply label it under empathy, which is definitely my strongest ability.
A year ago, I was lucky enough to become friends with a really strong empath. He knew a lot about the gift and he knew people with other gifts. He’s still the only other empath I know personally. I do know of a few others, but they don’t know me. He told me that I was an empath, though slightly different from him. He has this “Null and Void” ability, meaning no one else’s powers work around him. When I look at him in half-vision, his presence is a sort of undulating light, kind of sucking in light from around itself. Because of this, I have no healing abilities when I’m around him. But it seems the more time I spend with him, the better I get to know him, the less of an effect this “Null and Void” ability has on me. I’m getting to be able to feel his stronger emotions, but the less vivid are still beyond my reach.
He said that in his conversations with others he has found that there are different kinds of empaths, usually based on the person’s natural tendencies. He told me I was a sort of healer empath, which made more sense than anything else I’d ever heard. All of my friends had come to me seeking advice on, well… just about everything, and I had always been able to tell when a person was hurting inside, even when they didn’t show it.
I have also felt a connection with the natural world since I was very, very young. I remember being teased about my obsession with wolves in grade school, being called “freak”, “weirdo”, and “wolf-girl.” But despite this, I never lost that obsession. Instead, I grew to love nature even more. I felt the breath of God in the wind, I took comfort in the far-off mountains visible from my house, and I always loved having pets. But more than anything, I loved my communication. Well, it isn’t really communication, it’s empathy. When an animal is upset, I can tell. Or when one is hungry, or happy, or sad, or just plain angry, I can feel it. Many animals are attracted to me, and I to them. My friends would talk about how unfriendly their cat was, and then I would go to their house and the cat would just walk up to me. I was, of course, polite, as one should be when meeting someone new, and let the animal get used me before attempting to touch them, but I usually always got them to be quite good friends with me.
This bond was especially true with previously uncared for animals, like stray cats. They were not only desperate for love, but they could tell I was different from other humans. They trusted me much easier than house cats, and took to me much faster. Dogs, too, were aware of my difference. There is a dog that lives across the street from me and she deliberately escapes her backyard to come see me. She won’t even listen to her own people, but she follows me back to her house when I tell her she needs to go home. There’s another dog down the street who is just plain dangerous—most of the time. He only, and I mean ONLY, listens to me. His own people can’t handle him. He has absolutely no respect for anyone else but me. If I look at him with anger on my face, his tail is between his legs in the blink of an eye. When I come over, he is at my side almost immediately, and I’m pretty sure his people are quite embarrassed that a neighbor has better control over their dog than they do.
Even today I had an encounter with a cat, my neighbors’ cat, said to be fond of only a very few people, and she took to me right away. Her people were positively impressed. Her mistress told me that she wouldn’t even let most people touch her, much less pet her and scratch her like I did. She was quite fond of her ears being scratched behind.
I think animals take to me because I understand that they have feelings, and their feelings are often more pure than human feelings. Theirs are only feeling, whereas human feelings often are laced with thoughts, which encumber them and taint them. Animals are sentient beings, and that is what most humans are completely ignorant of. Many humans believe animals to be lower than themselves, but really, we’re all on the same field. We’re all cousins, brothers, sisters, family. What’s good for one is good for another.
Sadly, we humans are vain and power-hungry. That is one of the most common emotions I feel when walking around in everyday life. Deep down, beneath all the shallow facades the human race puts up, there is this desire for power. For humans, in looking after themselves, tend to discard the lives of others.
In closing, I would like to bless all who read this. I firmly believe that all gifts come from God, and mine, or yours, is no exception. God bless you in you spirit-journey, and may you find your purpose in this world. May you find love and joy and wonder in all that surrounds you, and take comfort, in your times of sadness, in the knowledge that someone loves you with all their heart, and know that Heaven is all around you—in the trees, the grass, the wind. Blessings of all sorts be yours.