Thanks Lono, and Druid, too -- (I know you meant well with what you expressed and didn't mean to negate my current experience with grieving Rosie the dog 
However......
Sometimes Steiner is just full of bunk. (IMHO)
I'd be willing to believe half of what he wrote if I weren't psychic and couldn't talk to animals....plus receive telepathic communication in response.
And I'm not talking about the typical type of quasi-psychic contact of the pet psychic type. (I love pet psychics, but too often they only seem to convey messages from the animal that are boring and made-up sounding, not necessarily verifiable messages of genuine contact with something outside their own understanding....along the overly simplistic lines of "Me love treats. Me love to chase ball." Animals are a lot more intelligent than that. Even bugs.)
I'm not telepathic with my animals 100% of time - far from it, as I'm far too self-absorbed Plus, it's invasive to go around reading thoughts all the time. The cat I have the best telepathic relationship with, my gray cat Smokapuss, doesn't seek me out with contact unless there's a specific message she wants to convey. Same with my other cats, pretty much.
Still, it's very cool when an animal can tell you stuff that is independent of you, i.e, outside your own beliefs and understanding, and you can later verify what they tell you. That's what I'm talking about. That type of contact. I'm not engaged with them at that level all the time, but it's happened enough over the years to be pretty damned cool.
For instance my oldest girl cat, Kirby, once told me back in my bachelorette days that some men had come into my apartment while I was out that day, and she was VERY clear about this message, and she wasn't talking about esoteric "men" or green men but very real humans. She said they came in while I was gone and fixed something, it took a few hours, and then they left.
At the time, I'm going, "Whoa. I don't usually hear Kirby the cat tell me anything. I must be making this up." Still, I went around my apartment and examined things very carefully. I saw nothing amiss or out of place so I just figured I was inaccurate with the message I thought I'd received from Kirby.
That evening my landlord called me and apologized for the fact that he and the plumber had had to make an emergency visit inside my apartment earlier that day on no notice because there was a leak downstairs and it was coming from my plumbing system upstairs. It took them two hours to fix it and then everything was okay. They'd put everything back so carefully and left such a small imprint on my space that I didn't even notice it.
But my Kirby knew! And having visitors suddenly barge into my apartment like that must have startled her, and she knew that I needed to know, so I got the news first from my cat. Much better than CNN!
I'm sidetracking here from my main point, which is that I think it's bunk that animals have a group or "hive" soul and aren't individuals. None of the animals I've spoken to didn't possess a clear, individualized consciousness.
They are also part of a soul group that chooses to incarnate as that species, but in that regards, they are no different from humans. We humans possess an individualized aspect as well as a group soul aspect.
What gets confusing is when you are part of group souls of humanoids from several different planets....like me and many metaphysical seekers...because while you can identify with the Earth human group soul since you've had multiple incarnations here, you also fondly remember other worlds where things are .....nicer....and life is very different.....and so you are processing soul memories and instincts across multiple species.
Again, I digress.
Rosie the dog and Audrey used to love to sit outside with us on summer evenings and talk to us about stuff. I wasn't always tuned into their vibration and didn't always "hear" them. But on several occasions I was receiving such detailed and lengthy communications about their pasts, their hopes, their thwarted desires, and other info that I would be overwhelmed by information. My honey wrote down a lot of it while I dictated notes from the dogs. Maybe I'll go over the notes and see if there is anything that might be interesting to share here. I'll have to dig them out.
Rosie the dog told me lots of stuff about past stuff that happened on the farm and about current stuff going on with our neighbors - stuff I had no conscious awareness of but stuff we were later able to verify. During this same conversation he talked about HIS UNIQUE GOALS, his perceived role or function on this farm, and more.
He was pretty much a happy dog but he frequently expressed one regret - that he never had a "little one" so he could pass on all that he had learned, and all the wisdom he'd accumulated, to his son or daughter. He sent me a clear image of a little black lab puppy and how he wished he'd had one to teach stuff to.
What would he have taught this puppy? All kinds of stuff! About how to ward off etheric intruders, how to keep the people here safe, how to heal (he was a healer and an empath,) and more.
Do these sound like the goals, the aspirations, or the talents of a non-individual? Keep in mind that the things he shared with us were very different from the goals, dreams, and perceptions of Audrey the dog, his companion dog. She has a very different personality and very strong opinions about things. She's also a different breed of dog - an Italian spinone.
During Rosie's passing he showed me that he could see his daddy, a black lab, helping him astrally and guiding him through his transition to the spirit realm. But from his perspective this was simply a loved one helping him out.
No different from what I've perceived around humans who are dying. We were blessed to be a part of my honey's mother's passing. She was 92. She'd been gradually loosening her grip on this plane for about six months prior to her passing. She'd be out of it and then come back and talk about how she'd seen different people - from a minister to family members - nearby. They were acting as guides preparing her for her transition.
No different from Rosie the dog seeing his daddy dog at the time of transition.
So I respectfully submit that if you TALK TO THE ANIMALS -- or maybe more accurately -- LISTEN TO THE ANIMALS.....that they are a lot more like us humans than you might expect.
Individuals like we are AND also possessing strong ties to a soul tribe or group soul unique to that species.
Best,
LipstickMystic aka Jennifer
