The Souls of Animals. Gary Kowalski

      

      Copyright © 1999, 1991 by Gary A. Kowalski

      All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, or other—without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

      Cover image by Jim and Jamie Dutcher (www.livingwithwolves.org) Text design by Heather Gendron

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Kowalski, Gary A.

      The souls of animals / Gary Kowalski; foreword by Tom Regan; preface by John Robbins.

       p. cm.

      ISBN 978-1-57731-590-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)

      1. Animal psychology. 2. Consciousness in animals. I. Title.

      QL785.K665 2007

156—dc22

2007011912

      Originally published by Stillpoint Publishing, ISBN-10: 1-883478-21-9

      First New World Library printing, July 2007

      ISBN-10: 1-57731-590-1

      ISBN-13: 978-1-57731-590-2

      Printed in the United States on acid-free, partially recycled paper

      

New World Library is a proud member of the Green Press Initiative.

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

      We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know the Great Spirit is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and the four-legged and winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that the Great Spirit is also above all these things and peoples. When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts, then we will fear, and love, and know the Great Spirit, and then we will be and act and live as the Spirit intends.

      —BLACK ELK

      The author invites readers to share their own experiences that illuminate the souls of animals.

      Please send your stories to:

      Rev. Gary Kowalski

      c/o The First Unitarian Universalist Society

      152 Pearl Street

      Burlington, Vermont 05401

      Contents

List of Photographs

Preface

       by John Robbins

Acknowledgements

Foreword

       by Tom Regan

1. Do Animals Have Souls?

       What is the Question?

2. Mortals All

       Are Animals Aware of Death?

       3. Ghosties, Goblins, and Four-Legged Beasties

       Do Animals Have a Sense of the Mysterious?

       4. Hearts of Song

       Why Do Birds Sing?

       5. Art for Art’s Sake

       Why Do Animals Draw?

       6. Evolutionary Ethics

       Do Animals Know Right from Wrong?

       7. Partners for Life

       Do Animals Experience Love?

       8. The Play’s the Thing

       Why Do Whooping Cranes Dance?

       9. The Eyes of Hope

       Are Animals Conscious of Themselves?

       10. The Reflecting Self

       Would We Lose Our Own Souls in a World without Animals?

       11. Do Animals Have Souls?

       What Is the Answer?

       12. One Earth, One Spirit

       Where Do We Go from Here?

Photographs

      By Art Wolfe

       Lowland gorilla

       Shaggy dog

       Hooded oriole

       African elephant

       Brown bear

       Elephant seals

       Whooping crane

       Red fox

       Chimpanzee