Lion Diaries: Understanding That the Lion Is Me

By Keli Smith

The lions stepped into her dreams, and then led her on a fascinating journey. Keli shares how her experiences with these majestic beasts allowed her to grow in so many new ways, nourishing her soul in the process. Mesmerised by their centredness, their purity and their power, Keli explores the synchronicities and life-changing realisations that started occurring connected to her visits with the lions. Along the way, the lions led her to discover more about fear, insecurity, healing, meditation, quantum entanglement and telepathic communication between humans and animals, profoundly reconnecting her to nature — and to herself.

 

It's a story about the opening of our hearts and minds to our connectedness; not only to each other, but to animals, nature, and this incredible earth we call home. It asks us to be filled with reverence and love for all life forms and to be filled with the same respect and love for ourselves. Take a journey with the lions and discover that within each of us beats the heart of a tree, a flower, a star, and a lion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Keli Smith
• Release date: Nov 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9780620901796

Keli Smith

Keli Smith is an Usui, Karuna and Lightarian Reiki Master and teacher, an aromatherapist and massage practitioner. She is also a Louise Hay Facilitator for adults and children and has studied animal communication. She left the corporate world of banking in her thirties to start her healing business from home. Keli grew up on a smallholding in Witkoppen, Johannesburg, South Africa. She spent a lot of time in Botswana as a child where her love for the bush and animals truly blossomed. She has a deep love of Africa and feels privileged to spend time in the bush whenever she can. Keli currently co-owns a business with her partner specialising in healthy pet food, concurrently with her healing practice for people and animals. Keli has a great sense of humour and enjoys spending time with friends, hiking, practicing tai chi, reading and various creative pursuits. She currently resides in Johannesburg with her partner and dogs.

Book preview

Lion DiariesFull Page Image

First published by Keli Smith, 2020

Copyright © 2020 Keli Smith

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ISBN 978-0-620-90178-9 (Print)

978-0-620-90179-6 (eBook)

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Editor: Jennifer Mathews

(www.ballpointpencil.com)

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Cover Design and Typesetting by Gregg Davies Media

(www.greggdavies.com)

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All rights reserved.

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The moral right of the author has been asserted.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted

in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other

electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of

the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews

and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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All the names of the people, places and animals

have been changed to protect their privacy.

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Additional copies of this book can be purchased

from all leading book retailers worldwide.

Dedication

For Irish.

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This book is dedicated to an extraordinary man.

A Lion Man. A Great Storyteller. A Lion Lover.

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You were always so courteous and showed me so much. Your love for the lions shone through your eyes, and your sense of humour was especially infectious. You made me feel special and taught me, even in my dreams. I know you are having great adventures where you are.

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Thank you for your acceptance and all the time you made to tell me stories over a cup of tea. Thank you for your beautiful energy and for so generously sharing your lions with me.

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In loving memory of Ian Melass.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Photo Gallery

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Irish and his Lions

Some Lion Facts

About the Author

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone who supported, encouraged and believed in me writing this book.

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Lynette Rink — Thank you for endlessly reading rough drafts and your thoughtful, invaluable lion-hearted advice that helped shape this book. Another journey shared, my Rainbow Sister.

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Marlene Seidl-Pike — Thank you for your help with drafts and your confidence in me. It’s so appreciated, my friend.

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Les Offwood — Thank you for your support and the beautiful photographs that feature in this book.

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My editor Jennifer Mathews — Thank you for all your hard work and patience. It was great working with you.

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Gregg Davies — Thank you for designing such an excellent book jacket, and for the typesetting of my story.

Foreword

There is something special about reading a story — a personal story — about someone’s life. I appreciate the honesty, the realness, the courage, and effort displayed in the sharing. I embrace the moments it gives me to identify with the author and their story. Recognising shared fears and emotions, I find solace in my own humanness and life experiences — and so it is with Lion Diaries.

While reading Lion Diaries, I was going through a stressful and emotional time. The book provided a gentle and calming read, reducing my anxiety, and reconnecting me to something bigger than myself.

The lions in this book are lions in captivity. Many humans are drawn to places like zoos and parks to see wild animals. We have an overwhelming urge to get as close as possible, to touch, to join them, experience them. Perhaps it is our own lost wildness and connection to Nature we are yearning for. Some take this wildness, imprison it, even hunt it down and extinguish it. Is the wildness and freedom of Nature and her animals too much and too far from our own, that we feel our only choice is to take it away from them also?

Keli exposes some of the harsh realities of life in captivity for these lions, but much more importantly, she so beautifully and powerfully honours and validates the lions and their lives. Their wildness and freedom of spirit are never contained.

As Keli discovers the full majesty, spirituality, light, and power of the lions, she overcomes her fears. Lion Diaries is a journey of self-discovery; seeing, honouring, loving, and validating the self and the lion within.

Along the way, Keli gives the reader an introduction to quantum physics, meditation, candle focus, energy healing reiki, animal telepathic communication, and the use of crystals.

It truly is a story of heart and truth and growth.

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Lynette Rink

Preface

My experiences with the lions, and the wonderful people I have met along the way, have inspired this story.

After visiting and interacting with these lions, I was mesmerised by their centredness and their purity. I was amazed by the realisations and synchronicities that started occurring in my life, connected with these visits. These experiences led to creating a diary of my time with them.

A few years later, I damaged my foot and was incapacitated for a few weeks. During that time, I revisited my diaries. I decided to write this book to share my story about these magnificent lions who taught me so much and became a distinct part of my healing and my heart. My journey with the lions has been one of joy, and also fear, as I have explored their different natures and their significant impact on my life.

Sadly, my journey with these beautiful beasts and my thirst for knowledge regarding their lives has exposed me to how lions suffer in certain wildlife parks. I have learnt about the canned hunting industry, the murder of lions for their body parts, the removal of cubs from their mothers for cub petting, and all the negative aspects that surround lions in captivity. It’s awfully distressing, showing the greedy and utterly ignorant side of human beings. Many of our beautiful animals face these atrocities.

Many lions have no choice but to be raised in captivity, and there are those keepers of lions that have integrity and treat them with respect, care, and love. I am thankful to have found such keepers.

I am grateful and humbled to have journeyed to places where I got to know these beautiful beings.

This book is written in honour of each one of them.

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Chapter One

One night, lions came walking into my dreams. Then they came walking into my life.

When the vivid dreams began, I was in my late thirties, married with two stepsons and living in the suburbs, a far cry from the wilderness.

I had suitcases full of personal issues that I had been working through. It was time for a change; to live life on my terms and to do work that brought peace to others. I decided on a healing and massage practice of my own.

I gained plenty of knowledge in my pursuit. I studied many forms of Reiki and qualified as an aromatherapist. I became well-versed in life skills training for adults and children. Les, my husband, had studied Reiki with me, and we often taught Reiki to others.

I am uncertain if it was this new view on life and the unpacking of baggage that brought the lions into my life, but they first came to me in my dreams.

In my slumber, I was looking out my suburban front door. Opposite was a lioness padding peacefully along. Strange, I thought. What is a lioness doing striding around the neighbourhood? I followed her and suddenly had a feeling I should look back. I turned to see a huge male lion plodding behind me. Stranger and stranger, I thought.

Nervously, I rang the buzzer on the gate of a house I was near, so they could open and let me in, but no one answered. I did not feel fearful, but definitely concerned. Under normal circumstances, most people would have been terrified. I turned back to see where he was.

He strolled past me and quite unexpectedly said, Oh, hello, and went on his way.

Strange indeed.

When I woke, I thought what a peculiar dream. I had not been thinking about, nor had I anything to do with lions before, yet it was so vivid. I found it bizarre that I had no panicked fear of these beasts because anxiety and fear had been ever-present in my life, so why would I have felt so calm? Perhaps it was because I was working with letting go of fear at that time, that it translated into this dream.

Although big and