A Conversation With Deb Fate-Mental
This is a partial transcript of a conversation I had with Deb Fate-Mental on the True Kinship With Animals Podcast. Deb is an animist shamanic practitioner, herbalist and wise woman, blending both Irish and British traditions in her work to help and educate people. She is an avid gardener, nature lover, mother, and keeper of many animals.
You can hear the entire conversation here or on your favorite podcast platform.
JR: Welcome Deb! It’s a delight having you here and getting the chance to explore with you your thoughts an experiences with true kinship with animals. Before we start, can you tell the listening audience a little about your animal family?
DEB: OK. I have a large diverse animal family. Right now currently I have 4 guinea pigs, 5 fish, 3 dogs, 2 cats and 1 horse. My horse is a mare — that’s an important thing, Horse people will get that.
JR: What do you consider to be true kinship with animals?
DEB: For me, several things. The first is really listening to the animals…that would include stuff like noticing their behavior in situations, listening to my intuition concerning what they want…sometimes psychically talking with them, but that’s last on the list. The second thing is respect. Because I’m an animist, I think of adult animals as on the same level as me; they’re adults. I treat them with respect like I would another adult so not looking down at them but also treating them as the species they are. I don’t treat my dogs or cats like my guinea pigs or horse. I guess it’s respecting them as individuals because that’s what they are.
JR: What’s your favorite way to practice true kinship?
DEB: Really listening to them, getting to know them on the individual level. Not forcing them to be someone or something that they’re not. Like, Peggy loves adventures; Dexter does not. Dexter is cool with staying home with a special treat. Peggy likes to go anywhere. And that’s fine. I don’t make Dexter go to the beach. He hates that.
JR: Why is listening to animals so important?
DEB: I think it’s important for us to be fully human. I feel that when we became really separated from animals with the Enlightenment, things really changed and, at least in Western societies, animals became more akin to things rather than partners that our human lives depended upon. I also think it’s the first step to really being able to become more nature-integrated, so we recall our real place on the Earth…that place where we remember that we’re part of nature not separate from it. And to do that we have to spend a lot of time removing our ego.
JR: Have you ever listened to an animal and not heard anything?
DEB: Plenty of times with both wild animals and domesticated.
JR: How does an animal’s agency play into listening to them?
DEB: It sometimes depends on the animal’s beliefs, too. One time I tried to talk to a guinea pig we had rescued and the pig replied “I can’t talk to you. That other lady said humans can’t talk to animals”. That was kinda funny. One of my dogs told me that she knew I knew enough just by paying attention that she never needed to bother to speak to me. She said it was hard for them to come up with the words.
I don’t think so. We know from archaeology that our animsitic practices in Europe are there from tens of thousands of years ago.
Our ancestors really depended upon our relationship with animals. If the animals didn’t thrive, the humans wouldn’t thrive and for the animals to thrive they needed good care. We were really dependent upon them. So, historically we have that. We also have religious figures like St. Francis talking about our relationship with animals and even the emphasis on nature in the Catholic church in Ireland and Britain. It’s always been there.
JR: Can you suggest one practice, one step, the listeners can do right now to begin listening to animals?
DEB: Cutting way down on media and getting used to being quiet inside aka meditating
JR: Thank you Deb for being with us today!
Here’s an invitation for you to join me on this path of true kinship with animals. My work is devoted to helping you show up in the world for animals from the fullness of your authentic self. I hope this encourages you to look at your relationship with animals differently so that a new place of understanding begins to open for you.
Janet Roper is an animist, podcaster, intuitive practitioner, non-traditional animal communicator, mentor and educator who for 20+ years has helped people restructure their relationship with animals. Two of her most popular resources are her monthly newsletter and her 5 email introductory series to her signature program Deepen. Visit her website and give her podcast True Kinship With Animals a listen.
