Over the years, many have asked what happens when animals pass into the Spirit?

We could answer this question very simply by stating that animals are spirits, as we are spirits. They are born, they live, they die, and they come back, again and again, into earthly bodies. In Spirit, they experience very much the same type of growth that we humans do.

To some, this may seem distressing. After all, humans are supposed to hold a very special place within creation; well, indeed we do. But this does not mean that we humans are the only living spirits in God's great Kingdom of Spirit. Animals are spirits; plants are spirits; even the rocks and minerals of the earth have some form of spirit life within their bodies.

But, what about animals? Are they, in fact, like us humans? The answer to this question is both YES and NO. Most of whom we would consider to be members of the wildlife kingdoms belong to what is known as group souls. They have not experienced what Ancient Wisdom calls "individualisation"; that is, one spirit/soul to one body. They tend to travel as a group over soul and incarnate, jointly, within many different animal bodies. For instance, one hive of bees may, in fact, be one group spirit/soul incarnated within all of the individual bees.

In the Bible, when it says that God gave us "dominion" over the earth, it means that our task is to take care of the earth and her inhabitants. Part of that responsibility is to help members of the "lower" kingdoms move along in their spiritual progression. We do this by showing, through example, what it is to love, to sacrifice, and to think and reason with logic. This influences members of the Animal Kingdom and inspires them to be more "human-like" in their interactions.

We all know of great men and women whom we wish to emulate. These great people walk the earth with wisdom, love, and charity. We observe their kindness and wisdom, and that inspires us to want to be more like them, because we see something in them that we have not yet attained in our lives.

This causes us all to grow and move along. This is why God sends us such great men, women, prophets, and masters, from time to time. Thus it is with us and animals. They share life with us, and a little bit of us "rubs off" on them. This causes them to grow and move along in their journey.

At some point, these animals will want to become even closer to us humans; they do that by planning, as spirit, incarnations which will bring them into close human contact. They do this primarily by becoming domesticated. These are the multitude of pets which we humans receive into our care and custody.

In this respect, these animals become even more intimate with humans and share in the "human family" experience. This causes them to learn, even more, about love, dedication, loyalty, responsibility, and all the other characteristically human traits.

Eventually, certain animals will have achieved a high enough level of human-ness to make what can be considered a quantum leap in their spiritual growth and evolution. They separate from their group and become individualized spirits and souls. That is, they are no longer dependent upon the group. They are totally separate souls and spirits, just as we humans are. Each spirit incarnates into one body. There is no sharing of experiences or of bodily forms.

At this stage in their development, their progression is very similar to that of humans. They incarnate, reincarnate, develop experiences (as domesticated animals), and become more and more human-like in their character. They learn to love with greater passion; think with greater focus; plan, with greater ability; and, generally, become more and more human in their overall behavior. Many people comment on how human their pets seem to be. The fact of the matter is: they are becoming more human in nature.