TONY ORZEN'S "TWO WORLDS" MAGAZINE PUBLISHES FEATURE ON SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF THE PERFECT PAIR DOLPHIN TRILOGY

 
This month, Tracy J Holroyd – a writer and dedicated animal advocate - looks at the special psychic relationship developed between a boy and his dolphins during the UK dolphinaria boom of the early 1970s. Is it truly possible for the human and Atlantean species to form a close spiritual bond? Just one of the many questions dealt with in “The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy”, written by Tracy and her co-author, David C Holroyd. This award-winning factional account comprises: “The Perfect Pair: The Enchanted Mirror” (pb £7.99), “The Perfect Pair: The Mirror Cracks” (pb £7.99) and “The Perfect Pair: Shards from the Mirror” (pb £8.99). Available online and from any high street bookshop.
 
“I felt something: a connection of some kind that made me feel light-headed … This animal was giving off some serious vibes.”
               David Capello describing his first meeting with Duchess, a beautiful Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin stolen from the milk waters off Florida to be confined in a covert UK dolphin training facility. It was the early 1970s, and David was the naïve teenage boy hired as a dolphin show presenter.
               But that meeting with Duchess signalled the start of much more than just a job: it guided this young man into his life’s purpose, opening his eyes to the ease with which a human and Atlantean mind can bond - a spiritual joining of profound love that David refers to as “the connection”.
It was this “mother” connection with Duchess that honed David’s ability to communicate psychically with other dolphins: first Herb’e (aka Flippa), his “loveable bundle of mischief”, then his infant Baby Dai and his little blind prizefighter, Scouse.
               The fruits of David’s spiritual connection with these four dolphins were so striking that he was promoted to trainer within a few short months. He states that each connection bore a unique signature: with Duchess, it was fuzzy - swamped by emotion and love; with Herb’e, it was clearer – rivalry softened by affection; whilst Baby was an innocent who only ever wanted to please.
But it was with blind Scouse that David shared the diamond-tipped connection, proving that physical sight was not a pre-requisite for communication. For, during their training sessions together, Scouse was no longer blind – he saw through David’s eyes. “Eventually,” David says, “our psyches completely merged so that I wore Scouse’s battered body like an overcoat, actually guiding him as he performed his tricks.”
               It was this blind dolphin’s bond that triggered David’s ability to seemingly “space hop” – literally be in two places at the same time – much like the out-of-body experiences described by those individuals who have suffered trauma and near-death.
               David’s unique ability to enter the dolphin mind helped him to turn Duchess and Herb’e into the legendary “Perfect Pair” – two dolphins who moved as one, performing the innovative “shadow ballet”. It allowed him to make blind Scouse one of the UK’s top performing dolphins.
               But as David’s psyche became ever more tuned to what he refers to as the “dolphin mansion”, strange things began to happen. He vividly recalls working alongside his mentor during a late night training session. “We stopped for a break and out of the corner of my eye, I spied two rubber training rings floating in the air before shooting at speed into the pool. Frightened to admit what I thought I’d seen, I tentatively asked my mentor, ‘Did you see what just happened with those rings?’ To which he replied, ‘Thank God you saw it, too - I thought I was losing it!’ This admission was almost immediately followed by the banging of doors throughout the building and bucketsful of fish sliding untouched along the pool walkway. Despite our confused bewilderment, the dolphins appeared wholly unperturbed.”
               David then describes the events of several days later: “It was weird. It was the early hours of the morning and I’d just left the pool building. It was then I saw what appeared to be smoke coming from the bell tower. But it wasn’t like any smoke I’d ever seen before: it was blue-tinged and had a strangely calming influence. It didn’t disperse, but appeared to swirl around what I can only describe as a darkened doorway – a phenomenon that lasted for at least ten minutes. I instinctively knew that I’d been privileged to witness it. Some years later, a medium told me that I had been one of the blessed few to actually see what she described as ‘the veil’. This made sense because, sadly, on the morning following my vision, I arrived at work to find that one of my dolphins had passed away during the night.”
               But David’s psychic link took a heavy toll. It drained his strength, leaving him dizzy and nauseous. “A price worth paying,” David says, “as I learned to view my dolphins not as animals but as ‘the people of the sea’ – Atlanteans - sentient beings with their own sense of morality and social order.”  A truly dangerous concept for those that actively promote the captive dolphin industry, and something that shifted David’s loyalties from his employers to his beloved Atlanteans.
 “My charges reciprocated,” he says, “working begrudgingly – if at all - for other handlers, and downing tools completely when I sent the psychic request.”
               Once, on returning from a short break, David tested their link by secretly taking a back seat in a two-thousand-strong audience. On hearing his psychic call, Duchess and Herb’e immediately left the stage, rising onto their tails to call back. And in the nearby holding pen, Baby and Scouse did the same. The bemused compère – blinded by the stage spotlights – turned his gaze towards the darkened auditorium and announced, “Only one thing could cause this sort of behaviour: the dolphins’ trainer must be somewhere in the crowd. If you’re out there, Dave, come on down.”
David’s Atlanteans had heard his call, and refused to work until he revealed himself and took over what he describes as “the greatest show of my life” – a momentous event that brought the full audience to its feet and proved beyond doubt that the connection worked both ways.
               On the downside, David’s powerful relationship with his Atlanteans didn’t sit well with his employers, who deemed it dangerous to company interests. Nor did his rebellion against an industry which he came to recognise as exploitative and abusive.
               When he lost his beloved Herb’e after only 3½ years, David left the dolphinarium and made the long journey home, vowing never to return. But, incredibly, he did return: that very same night, he dreamed that he was once again on stage, tearing down its colourful scenery and hurling its props across the water – a poltergeist gripped by grief, anger and despair.
               It was then he awoke at 5.45am to a ringing telephone, only to hear his mother reprimanding the early-morning caller. The dolphinarium had indeed been vandalised overnight, and David’s employers believed him to be the guilty party.
               David had the same dream again the next night, and received the same telephone call early next morning. But on the third night, his dream took a different direction. This time, there were people hiding in the auditorium to catch him.
“Dave, you can’t keep doing this … you’ve got to stop this madness … stop it now!”
               David vividly remembers his panic-stricken urge to escape as he turned to see his manager running towards him.
               Next moment, he was again awakened by the now familiar ringing of a telephone, but this time his mother insisted that he take the call. It was David’s manager - and he couldn’t believe his ears. “I don’t understand … How can you be there? I’ve just spoken to you not ten minutes ago here in the dolphinarium.”
               David was never prosecuted, because no one could explain how he could be in two places at the same time. Nevertheless, he was banned from the dolphinaria and never saw his precious Atlanteans again.
               Only once did he return after that - on receiving a psychic distress call from Scouse. But by the time he arrived, it was too late – something that will forever haunt him.
No one connected to this young trainer could ever offer a logical explanation for the astonishing things they witnessed. As for David, it took him over 40 years to finally face his demons, but he never stopped believing that his Atlanteans had chosen him, above all others, to share their psychic gift. His task was to tell their story – to teach humankind that these intelligent, sentient and deeply spiritual beings should not be exploited for fleeting entertainment.
               “Scientists now think that a dolphin has the intelligence of a 7-8-year-old child. Some suspect even greater – that of a young teenager!” David says. “They also believe that – like many animal species - they share a ‘collective consciousness’ – a shared mind. But recent studies have caused some scientists to go so far as suggesting a ‘collective soul’ - and even telepathy. That’s why they want to re-classify dolphins as non-human persons.” David smiles. “I could have told them this over 40 years ago, but no one was willing to listen. Still, better late than never.”
               The spiritual community has been fervent in its support of “The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy”, as demonstrated by the actor William Roache, MBE, aka Ken Barlow of “Coronation Street”, who actually asked to write the forewords for the three books. Bill’s welcome support was quickly followed by endorsements from several celebrities, including Spirit Guide Cara, who says, “I want the whole world to read these books and receive their spiritual message.”
                A message that is clearly being heard: after reading this story, an ever-greater number of people are choosing to shun the sham glamour and glitz of the captive cetacean show.
So a heartfelt thank you to Duchess, Herb’e, Baby Dai and Scouse - four beautiful souls. Your sacrifice is helping to make the world a kinder place.

Tracy J Holroyd