Diane Samsel is a multi-talented practitioner, combining her passion for astrology and her innate ability to communicate with animals. With many years of experience, Diane has helped countless clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their furry companions. In this article, Mystic Mag will delve into the fascinating world of astrology and animal communication, and explore how Diane’s unique approach has transformed the lives of those she works with.
When did you first know that being an astrologist was your calling and how did it come about?
Astrology has been an interest of mine throughout my life. I began studying art In 1998 when I enrolled in Noel Tyl’s Master Class. His course shaped my appreciation and practice for the next 20 years. I continue to study under Kathy Rose, the astrologer who took over his course after his death in 2019. I call myself an Astrologer. I use Astrology in my daily practice.
How did you start communicating with animals? How do you establish the connection?
As I write in my book, The Magical Language of the Heart, my first memory of a heart connection and communication with another species happened at age 7. I was staying at my grandparent’s ranch in Oregon and taking care of a young calf I named LeRoy. It was my job to carry a bucket of feed (milk and grain) to him and feed him twice a day.
I would stick my arm into the bucket and offer my fingers for him to suckle and take in the milk and grain mixture. In this way I “nursed” LeRoy and became very bonded with him. We would play together and one game involved head butting. I remember my grandmother being tickled at the sight of me when I would return to the ranch house with LeRoy’s white hair mixed into my dark brown hair.
What can a person expect from your Animal communication sessions?
Most of my clients come to me as referrals or after having read my book. Usually a friend has recommended me and told my client what to expect. Some clients find me through Penelope Smith’s site or through other sites. New clients come to me with a variety of needs with questions they want answered.
Often they want to know specific things about their animal such as whether or not they’re enjoying a sport they’re engaging in (such as dressage or western for horses or agility for dogs). My clients expect mainly to learn something about their animal that they didn’t know. In some cases they might suspect something about their animal but need their thoughts confirmed. I have a steady stream of clients that come to me for help finding their lost companion animals.
The other day a client wanted to know why her horse suddenly developed lameness in his right leg. The horse described a fall. I worked with a very nervous mare who had just given birth. She described a pack of coyotes living near the barn (coyotes can attack young horses). When her owner understood the source of her concern, she got a donkey for the mare’s pasture and later reported to me that the mare had calmed down and was doing well with her new baby.
Can you tell us more about Voice Dialogue Coaching?
Voice Dialogue is a coaching method used to access parts of a client’s self system. It was developed in the 1980’s by Hal and Sidra Stone. It’s based on the idea that the human personality contains within it a series of “sub-personalities”. Each sub-personality has its own perspective. Sometimes these personalities can under-function or over-function, causing problems. Sometimes we disown them and project them onto others.
Through a process of facilitation, this coaching method “facilitates” accessing and talking directly to the individual sub personalities. I discovered I could use the facilitation process to help clients with difficult problems they were having with their animals. A client had a young dog that was extremely rebellious and my client was very frustrated. Sensing that she might be projecting her “inner rebel” on the dog, and consequently judging that part of herself to be completely wrong (and making the dog wrong in the process), I used this coaching technique to help her embrace her own rebelliousness.
Facilitation requires the client to sit in another space (another chair for instance), and access the part of the personality they’re struggling with. I will then talk with that part as if they’re a separate person. In this case, I had my client assume the personality of her rebellious dog, and communicate from that perspective. The light went on her mind when she “pretended’ to be her dog”.
She saw for the first time that she was projecting her own disowned rebelliousness on her puppy and making him wrong in the process. When she accepted that she herself was feeling rebellious, her problem cleared up. She was able to access a more mature part of her personality system to deal with her training issue!
What is the most important detail in maintaining a relationship of mutual trust with clients?
Establishing trust is very important in the communication process. When I work with animals, I start with telling the client how their animal is ‘greeting” me. I do most of my work over the phone but intuitively “see” my animal client. Recently I talked with a very aggressive dog with fear of strangers. I reported this to my client, telling her that I saw her dog standing with all four legs rigid and staring at me in a not so friendly way.
She laughed and said I had picked him up, that I had described exactly how he greets new people. At that point I knew my client trusted what I had to say. (I had no prior information except for the dog’s name, breed and age). With Astrology clients my training enables me to go right to the core of the personality without using any Astrology jargon. When the client recognizes themselves they trust that what I have to say after that is trustworthy information.
Astrologer Noel Tyl developed the technique I use in my work and I studied with him for 20 years. The key to developing trust in all of my client interactions is to listen very carefully and then respond to their key concerns. Dialogue between two people involves hearing what is being communicated and then directing your response to the core of what’s being communicated. Going back to the woman and her puppy,
When she appreciated that the problem she was having with her dog was coming from her unresolved issues over rebelliousness, she trusted me enough to try the voice dialogue facilitation. I was able to get to that point with her just by listening very closely to what she was saying. I was hearing the frustration in her voice and working with that instead of trying to give her simple training points (I’m not a dog trainer!). I took our conversation down a path she wasn’t expecting. I I helped her reframe her thinking about the problem in a way that she was able to gain a new perspective. That was done just through dialogue. That’s how trust is built.
Listening carefully to the client and responding to their words in a way that helps develop the awareness around the issue they’re trying to communicate. In the case of my client with the puppy, I just asked her to tell me about her own experience in life with rebelliousness, especially when she was a youngster. That’s when our conversation became very productive. Many of my clients are repeat clients because they already feel they can trust my information. One client with many animals jokes that I’m “on speed dial”!
What do you love most about your profession?
I love talking with my clients. I feel the heart connection. I love the shared warmth and caring that comes through in our conversation. I love helping people.
