Spirit animal mouse part 2: Mighty Mouse!

Posted on Mar 12, 2024 in Spiritual living, Uncategorized

Spirit animal mouse (part 2)

I wrote a few weeks ago about the appearance of spirit animal mouse in my life and home, and how I could see clearly its symbolic qualities playing out in situations and events. See Spirit animal mouse; tiny but mighty wisdom. This is part 2, a continuation of that story.

Little did I know that this was just the start of what mouse had lined up to teach me. After our wonderful experience of roof and wall insulation, we were about to experience the devastation that happens when uncaring and poorly trained workmen enter the house.

If you prefer to listen to a spoken version of this article then play the video below. Otherwise read on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3sOpdMrlcw&ab_channel=SemeleXerri

It began when a van pulled up on our drive with a name we didn’t recognise emblazoned on it. My heart sank straight away. We’d researched the company for our heat pump installation so carefully, according to their years of experience and reputation/reviews. Something immediately felt off. I even picked up my phone and did a quick search on the name, but could find nothing. My partner and I trusted the company we’d contracted with, so left it at that.

The plumbing team were led by a huge Scottish bear of a man. He was jovial and confident, if rather over-friendly. The nagging in the pit of my stomach didn’t abate, but my partner and I had been persuaded of the integrity of the company who had obviously subcontracted them.

And so began three nightmare days of clumsy, dangerously shoddy work, accompanied by the team’s tales of previous work failures and personal illegal activity. The leader became very confrontational and threatening as we began to question what he was doing, even turning up on the last morning with an obvious and serious hangover. I think he could tell this job was not going well for him.

I’ll spare you all the gory details, but it ended with the team racing off stating work was complete, the leader in a mighty rage. As we walked around the house, we found no attempt at tidying up after themselves. A dangerous blowtorch and an open pot of poisonous substance had been left out open on the bedroom floor. If our beloved dog had got to it first it would have been fatal. Floorboards had been lifted untidily and not replaced, there were massive holes in the walls, solder hung in ugly drips down the pipes and sat in solidified lumps on the tiled floors. The attitude and behaviour of the men had left us shocked and feeling unsafe in our own home. This evidence of their dreadful work had us reeling even further into disbelief.

My partner has ADHD and this kind of situation is when he’s at his most brilliantly effective. When he gets hold of something that motivates him, he clamps his teeth into it like a ferocious ferret! We took photos and videos of everything, scorched timbers and all. He spent hours trawling the Internet searching the company name we’d seen on the team’s van, and the personal name of the leader. What we found was astonishing. He had a history of many companies registered then dissolved over a 15 year period, charges of tax fraud, and previous customers discovering fraudulent qualification claims. A plethora of one star reviews (someone said they’d have rated 0 if it was available) declared substandard work, and unprofessional, unsavoury behaviour described as “a danger to you and your home.”

While this validated our own experience and feelings, we were also filled with horror that this man was being sent into low income and vulnerable people’s homes. What mess could he have left already? What trauma could he have inflicted? It’s a known phenomenon that people inherently trust those presented to them as authorities or experts of any kind. It’s easy to feel that you’re small, insignificant and don’t matter or don’t know anything in comparison to these authorities and experts. You can feel like the mouse, insignificant and apparently powerless in certain situations.

The insistent squeaking of spirit animal mouse, “details, details, details”, became our motivational mantra. We scrutinised every detail of the work done, cataloguing what was unacceptable and why. We read through our contract with a fine-toothed comb, identifying many breaches in that alone. It was interesting that much of our argument came from the company’s proud claim to the Trustmark logo in the contract. This emphasised the level of care for the customer, quality of work and service delivery that was guaranteed from all company staff, even sub-contractors. In the end it came down to integrity and truth; were they saying and doing what they said they would in the contract? The answer was a resounding no.

We presented all this carefully collated information to the company, expressing our deep disappointment and dissatisfaction. My partner, protective of me as he is, was very angry about what had transpired and didn’t trust himself at all to be calm or rational with them. So I became the gentle, quiet but firm and determined mouse spokeswomen. Always polite but nonetheless clear on what we now expected to happen to put this right. Mice can often appear in myths and folklore as warriors and armies – tiny they may be but it’s clear you can never underestimate their strength.

So persuasively and urgently did we present our evidence, that two directors of the company travelled four hours from different ends of the country to meet us around the table in our freezing cold, unheated kitchen. They came face to face with the human repercussions of failing to uphold their word. Not just a profit figure on a balance sheet. We were real people in a living/working home who were rightfully furious and distressed.

They assured us that everything would be put right, that only long-term experienced employees of the company would rectify and complete the installation – and they would arrive in company-branded vans; absolutely no subcontractors. As I type this, the workmen are here now making good on that promise and doing so in the most professional manner we expected first time.

I have mulled over why this happened, and what the lesson has been through this experience. Mouse had very clearly appeared in advance to warn me of interlopers into the home and to pay attention to their actions. I had to remind my partner several times not to become too obsessive over this, as he was in danger of continuing to research beyond what was useful and necessary. In his description of spirit animal mouse from Animal Speak, Ted Andrews talks of the risk of unhealthy fixation on one thing (read it here on Facebook).

It has certainly been a reminder of personal power; the right use of it and the understanding that I do possess it even when I feel I’m up against someone or something that seems to to be so much bigger than me, in terms of size and available resources. I commented to one friend that it felt like the corrupt, greedy, and uncaring energy of the patriarchy had infiltrated my home for a time.

It was about courage and determination. We could have let fear stop us speaking out. The company could potentially have abandoned us to no working heating or hot water system, with the prospect of having to foot a prohibitively expensive bill to get it all straightened out. The power we were choosing to wield was not just for our benefit. Our main concern was for those far more vulnerable than us who might also receive this atrocious and disrespectful service. They might not know how to or simply be unable to challenge the shoddy work and service. The elderly, the long-term ill, the frazzled families working every hour just to keep that roof over their heads. It was unthinkable to say nothing and potentially allow this to happen to others. Yes, we wanted a good job done for ourselves, but we also wanted to save others, especially the less resilient, the heartache, stress, and discomfort we had experienced. We were perfectly placed to be able to champion them through our complaint.

We also had to call on mouse specialities of adaptability, and making the best of challenging, changeable circumstances. How could we best feel warm in very cold weather, with only small and expensive to run heaters at our disposal that barely raised the temperature? I smiled as I took shivery strip washes in the sink, feeling a connection with my not too distant ancestors. They didn’t even have the luxury of running water in their homes, and my gratitude for that alone was amplified. I carefully managed and monitored money as I was unable to work as normal for several weeks. In turn, this freed up time to have a good sort through and clear out of our cupboards and rooms to free up space and energy for the new.

Ultimately, and with the end now in sight, I feel like I’ve gone through a kind of initiation for greater empowerment and service. I’ve often said that because the home is so important to me, I would never choose major house renovation. Living in a chaotic building site is my idea of hell. But I’ve looked my fear in the eye for six weeks now, and survived. There’s something liberating and confidence boosting in that. I sense it’s tempered me to manage adjustments to everyday life we may all have to make in the coming years.

As a spiritual worker, I consciously modulate my environment and relationships to the highest vibrations I can manage. But corruption, greed, selfishness, lack of integrity is still out there in force. I – we – have a duty to challenge it wherever we find it. Sometimes, despite our best efforts or perhaps because of them, we may find it right in the centre of our own homes. Sometimes, it’s the quietest of messengers who let you know.

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Semele Xerri

© Semele Xerri is a psychic intuitive guide, healer, animal communicator, and Reiki Healer / Master Teacher. To find out more about her and her services, go to her Work with me page.
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