A standard deck of cards has 52 cards, with the Jack (or the Knight) beside the King and Queen and separating them from all the rest. To me, it is as if the Knight is both protector and companion to the King and Queen. He is bound by duty and honor, but the greatest Knights are bound by love.
Jack, a senior dog who represented himself as still quite young, is the later type of Knight. He is motivated by love for his King and Queen. He is especially bonded to the Queen, as he imprinted on her at a very young age. For Jack, there is no place he would rather be than with his humans.
At the very beginning of the session, Jack explained himself to me. His personality, his intelligence, and sheepishly mentioned with a little embarrassment, that he gets distracted easily. He was not boastful; he simply was helping me understand who he is at the core. When all of this was confirmed by his humans, we were able to get into more specific things. Jack, had some questions for his humans. This shows me that animals can misunderstand human behavior and also that they are curious for clarity. They WANT to understand us. They want a healthy and open relationship.
One of the best moments for me (and hopefully the humans) was when Jack mentioned a small human. He was wondering what was going on, why was this little person in the house all of a sudden. My clients explained the small human is a nephew who had a bad experience with another dog. My clients have him over regularly so that he can spend time with Jack and overcome his fear. I think that is an amazing and very insightful thing to do. When I explained this to Jack, and asked him to take on this "job" of being gentle and playful and loving so that the little boy would not fear all dogs, Jack sat up and puffed up his chest. He was so proud to be tasked with this job. He felt a new found purpose. Don't we all like to have a purpose and to feel needed? Animals are no different.
Jack was very engaged in the session. He was not, however, concerned only with himself. He truly was interested in what his humans had to say and wanted to learn as much about their thoughts and feelings as they did from him. He is a love-bug. He is aware. He answered their questions and was happy to hear the answers to his questions.
I always love communicating with animals. Each session brings another level of understanding for me, and always amazement. My session with Jack reinforced my beliefs that animals truly do consider us (the humans) their pack. They understand life in a way that humans do not. They live in the present moment. Mainly, they love. I feel blessed to have met Jack, and his King and Queen. He is truly the Jack of Hearts!
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