Indeed. I've found this helpful as well. It is easier to like people if I spot animal qualities in them, and somewhat easier to understand their ways. I even did a practice of sorts of this- I would draw everyone I knew as an animal and spend time thinking what animals and why. Not slandering or praising anyone, just observing and coming to a conclusion. After this, it was easier to accept them. Some people were very offended when I would tell them these things, but this is the kind of human way of thinking that to be compared to an animal is an insult, even if the animal would be maginificent. But I guess for those who know me, they understand that this. Sometimes it even goes in a way that one can sort of see which animal is inside someone, like I've seen in Aquila.Nefastos wrote:
When I meet with people who are disgusted by humankind & ready to turn into spiritual if not physical violence, I always think how much it helped me to learn to see us human beings as animals. When our very bad attributes are seen in that light - that we just follow the paths of least resistance, as Bailey said, like the other mollusks - it is easier to understand how greatly we often err & how small we often make ourselves. We just don't know better yet, even when we think we do.
I no longer hate children, because I imagine them as puppies. One needs to be a little bit patient with them. It also becomes easier for me to understand their gestures if I look at them like they would be dogs. I still dislike the majority of children, but one can't instantly go for success I guess.