Animals Metaphysically Speaking
Nancy Kindl, in communication with her angel, learns of ten different animals that symbolize aspects of divinity on earth. The animals profiled in Animals Metaphysically Speaking serve as messengers from heaven meant to represent God’s loving communications with humanity. In Kindl’s sincere and sometimes endearing book, each animal is introduced with a rustic sketch. A spiritual interpretation of each animal’s symbolic meaning is followed by an opportunity to find spiritual meaning through meditation on the animal’s profound gifts.
Kindl’s first profile is on the dove, which symbolizes God’s love and has the useful ability to exist in both the spiritual and physical worlds. As an example, she shares a childhood dream that she had after the death of her grandmother; the dream shows the dove’s loving nature. On several occasions, Kindl uses personal anecdotes, dreams, and visions to enliven an animal’s meaning—intimate touches that add a welcome authenticity to the text.
Profiles on the elephant, dolphin, and owl follow the section on the dove. There were no surprises in terms of what these three represented—memory, playfulness, and wisdom, respectively—the predictability of the symbolism threatens to undermine the book’s originality.
With the squirrel, Kindl does hit upon a creative analogy, using the animal’s behavior through the course of a year to mimic one human lifetime. At the end of the book, Kindl recounts an entertaining and meaningful vision she had about a squirrel, a passage that would have worked better in the squirrel profile.
On the caterpillar and butterfly, Kindl writes of rebirth: “Bring the message of the Caterpillar into your spirituality. Envision his metamorphosis to become the Butterfly in your mind’s eye and experience the lightheartedness and freedom of your spiritual body—your destiny!” And later, when explaining the zebra’s gifts, she states that, “While presenting us with a rainbow every day of his life, the Zebra continuously communicates a reminder that both guides and comforts. His symbolic message is that we are colorful light spirits who walk the earth….”
Unfortunately, confusing and overdone prose immersed in new-age vocabulary are the rule rather than the exception in Animals Metaphysically Speaking. An abundance of poorly structured sentences, typographical errors, and redundancies may prove to be a distraction to the reader.
Reviewed by
Patty Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
