The House That Snoopy Built

In August of this year, I received a message from Chicago-based artist, Adrian Wong. Adrian teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and when he contacted me in August, he was getting ready for the opening of a solo exhibition with the Carrie Secrist Gallery located in the Chicago Loop. The name of his show is Crossing The Rainbow Bridge. 

Adrian’s installations, videos, and sculptures draw from varied subjects and explore the intricacies of his relationship to his environment. These organic and open-ended artifacts of his process often involve a collaborative engagement with subjects. Thus, his reason for contacting me. Allow me to explain further, by sharing with you an excerpt from his correspondence with me:

“Due to the potential for animal spirits to be reincarnated as different species, I am currently seeking a cat with experience having lived as another type of animal. What I’d like to propose to this cat is the opportunity to design a custom “kitty condo,” which I would build for them—the more extravagant the better, reflecting on the memories of their past lives. This design would not have any restrictions, and I would do my best to remain as faithful to their design as possible (with creative license reserved in the case of unspecified details or practical considerations). As I am not a cat owner, I was further hoping that you might know a cat whose owner I could contact for permission to participate. If you know more than one cat, that would be even better!”

As a Telepathic Animal Communicator who does have cats and as an artist myself, I was really intrigued and excited to collaborate on this project and I agreed to help Adrian. My initial thought was that I would have to interview several cats about their past lives. But instead, the Divine intervened to help us create this work of art. 

In between our initial conversation and our next, Adrian and his family traveled abroad. Upon returning home, they found out that their beloved pet rabbit, Omar fell ill while they were away. When they landed in Chicago, they discovered that he had been taken to the veterinarian by their pet sitter. Adrian and his family went to visit him immediately upon landing, but despite the care he received, Omar passed suddenly that same evening. Although they were grateful to have been there with him at the moment he crossed over, the effects on his family were devastating.

I have talked to many, many animals after they have transitioned from this life. In an effort to comfort Adrian and his family, we talked to Omar after his passing. 

Omar had a beautiful transition. He said that initially, before his soul left his body, he was aware of some belly pain but that an angel or guide came to him and provided him with relief. “It was like a shot of Novocain,” Omar told us. “One moment the pain was there, and the next, it was gone. This help from the unseen ones also provided a space for complete peace for Omar. 

Adrian told me that rabbits never close their eyes. Even when they are sleeping, rabbits have their eyes open. Adrian wondered what Omar saw during his transition.

At first, I saw Omar in a White Room. There is always White Light around the souls of the animals. I see the White Light as the Light of God. What I found most significant as I viewed the White Room was the way the space made me feel. Peace, serenity, calmness, tranquility, a oneness with all that is. It is difficult to find the words to describe the feeling completely. My heart opened and love flowed through, so much so,  that it spilled out of my eyes in the form of tears.

Adrian asked, “What does Omar look like now?” Through the White Light, I saw Omar’s soul. It appeared to me as a beautiful, soft White Pillow. The pillow looked silky and the top of the pillow was adorned with exquisite embroidery. I am a fiber artist, so the image of this lovely pillow is a very relatable image of beauty and hand work for me.

“Does Omar see any colors or other imagery?” Adrian wondered. “Yes,” I replied.  “His soul is surrounded by violet light which is the Violet Ray.” I see the Violet Ray as a pulsating Light. Sometimes its pulsating waves come towards me and at other times I see the waves pulsating away from me. With Omar, I saw the Violet Ray pulsating up and away from me. The Violet Ray carries the Divine qualities of love, mercy, compassion, spiritual transformation, and freedom. I also saw healing Emerald Green Light surrounding the waves of the Violet Ray.

As we moved on in the interview with Omar, Adrian asked if Omar could tell us about any past lives he may have had.  Omar showed me that indeed he has had many past lives. Behind him I saw a very long line of several different animal species. The fourth animal stepped out of the line and moved to the left. The animal that presented himself was a black and white tuxedo cat. 

I could hear Adrian’s wife gasp. “As a child, I had a black and white tuxedo cat. Could this cat possibly be my cat, Snoopy?” she asked in amazement. Could it possibly be? Could it be that out of the billions of souls, the cat that was in line behind Omar is Snoopy?

“It is quite possible that this cat is Snoopy, and, as a matter of fact, I would be very surprised if it wasn’t,” I answered. It is true that there are billions of souls. It is my understanding that we travel in soul groups from lifetime to lifetime. Many of us have known each other before this life and when we pass on, we reunite in the heavens. I asked him, and he confirmed it to be true. Omar was Snoopy in a past life. In the line of animals, I saw that Omar was a guinea pig, a horse, a pig, Snoopy the cat, a dog, a rabbit, a cheetah, a lion, and a zebra to name a few.

Shortly after this conversation, Adrian and I met again. This time we interviewed Snoopy the cat to find out what amenities he would like to see in the kitty condo. He was very proud of the fact that we were calling on him to help with the concept.

The first “must have” on the list is room for exercise and play. The ground floor should contain a recreation center complete with spaces to hang toys from the ceiling. Snoopy asked us to take into consideration the height of the ceiling because cats like to jump up to grab things that are hanging. 

Second, there should be a space for food and water in the “locker room” of the rec center, but not a litter box, that activity would be handled somewhere other than the kitty condo. Off the rec center there could be a short hallway with a gazebo attached to it. The gazebo would represent an outdoor space. It would be screened-in and there would be live grass and cat-friendly plants. It would smell like the great outdoors. As much as we liked the idea of a gazebo, it was determined that this space would be impractical and not the best use of the budget. Dirt and water would be involved, and there would be a good chance that someone would abuse the privilege of an outdoor space and use it as a kitty litter box. 

The next floor would have space for a few cats to gather. This is a space for sociability. The third floor is for private contemplation and napping. There should be several small closed in spaces in the shape of cardboard boxes. Every closed in space needs to have a small window so that the cats can look out to see what is happening in the world outside of the condo. The windows need to be small for two reasons. One, so that the cats can reserve the right to look out the windows whenever they please and two, the windows are small enough so that humans cannot see in without coming up really close to the structure in which case they would not be able to see inside anyway because it would be dark inside the space because their faces would be pressed up against the window. This provides a great hiding space.

On top of the third floor would be a tower in the shape of a lighthouse or a barn silo. To get to the top of the tower, one would have to climb a closed in spiral staircase. The staircase would lead to a lookout area just big enough for one cat to fit in comfortably. 

We then asked Lion if he would like to share any insights as to what is needed in the perfect kitty condo. Lion suggested that there be a tree trunk against the wall in the rec center. Said tree trunk should have a strong branch reaching out into the space. This branch should be sturdy enough for him to perch upon. Both Adrian and I agreed that because of size constraints, he may have to compromise on this one. Plus, lion is an outdoor cat and probably doesn’t understand budget, time, and space constraints. 

As far as having a whole tree trunk with a branch was concerned, Snoopy suggested that we compromise and saw the tree trunk in half lengthwise thus opening up the floor space in the rec room. His argument included that the tree was not only good for climbing but it would also serve as a scratching post and a place to stretch after a good work out or a nap. Like a tiny house, many items inside are built to be multi purposeful and Snoopy thought this was a brilliant idea!

Adrian did see to it that there would be a branch for perching upon and he spent several days hunting for the perfect branch. Being that he had one drill bit that would accommodate a hole large enough for a sturdy and strong branch, he knew that he may have to come up with a creative solution to hold it in place. On the last day of the hunt, coming home with nothing suitable, Adrian found the perfect branch on the sidewalk leading to his own front door. Way to summon the help of the unseen ones and manifest the perfect branch for the project, Adrian! It turned out that this branch fits the hole perfectly without having to do anything at all to keep it from falling off the condo!

On September 14, 2019, My friend Sue Powers and I made the trip from Door County, Wisconsin to Chicago Illinois for the opening of Adrian Wong’s Solo Exhibition “Crossing the Rainbow Bridge.” I found it fitting that Sue and I should be present at the opening of the show. After all, it was Sue who invited me to attend a Reiki Level I Class and introduced me to our mentor, Rebecca Moravec in 2002. Rebecca taught me about animal communication and I was able to study with her until her transition in December of 2014. I consider Sue my scout, she has introduced me to many people who have influenced my journey. It was an honor to stand there with her in front of “The House That Snoopy Built.” 

I was also pleasantly surprised by the light and sound installation called “The Violet Ray,” This installation was generated from the conversation we had with Omar. The conversation was recorded and is playing during the exhibition. I recognized the silky pillow immediately, as it is a physical representation of Omar’s beautiful soul.  

About the Show:

For Dream Cosmography a cat, a dog, three hamsters, and two rabbits offered up their dream journals for analysis, presented here as a meditation on the origins of space and time. Telepathically Designed Bespoke Rabbit Warren II is an architectural form in glass and steel, built to the specifications of Ernesto, a Silver Marten rabbit, under the supervision of a structural engineer. The Violet Ray is a light and sound installation generated from a mediated conversation with Omar, the artist’s recently deceased Holland Lop rabbit. And The House that Snoopy Built is a kitty condo designed by Snoopy, a piebald cat, purportedly reincarnated as Omar—transmitted from across the Rainbow Bridge.

Works on view were produced in consultation with the Institute for Animal Communication, Thomas Cheng, Lynn Schuster, and Isabelle Yu.

Carrie Secrist Gallery

Website: http://www.secristgallery.com

Photos curtesy of Carrie Secrist Gallery

The show runs through October 26, 2019. To see the show, and listen to the recording of the conversation that I had with Adrian, Omar and Snoopy, stop by:

Carrie Secrist Gallery

835 W Washington Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60607