Energy, Empathy & Animal Voices: A Conversation with Mai
In this episode of Paranormal Pets, host Brandy Stark welcomes Mai, a Reiki master, intuitive tarot reader, and pet psychic medium. Mai shares how her journey of healing and spiritual awakening led her to connect deeply with both people and animals, offering comfort, clarity, and validation. She explains how she energetically communicates with pets—living and in spirit—bringing their personalities, memories, and messages through with remarkable detail. From Reiki sessions that ease anxiety to heartwarming pet readings that bridge the Rainbow Bridge, Mai’s stories reveal the profound bond between humans and their beloved companions.
Listen to Episode #133 Now:
BIO:
Mai
Founder of The Light I Seek
Reiki Master | Psychic Medium | Tarot Reader | Animal Communicator
The Light I Seek was born from my own journey of healing and spiritual awakening over the last 4 years; a path of remembering, reconnecting, and rising into my light. I believe that we each carry an inner glow, a sacred spark, waiting to be seen, honored, and shared. My calling is to help others find their way back to that light.
As a certified Reiki Master, I’ve witnessed the powerful transformation that happens when energy flows freely; when the body, mind, and spirit return to harmony. Reiki taught me to listen deeper, feel more fully, and hold space with compassion and trust. It’s an honor to now share that sacred healing with others.
My intuitive tarot readings offer heart-centered clarity and spiritual guidance, especially during times of transition or uncertainty. I read with honesty, empathy, and a deep reverence for the soul’s path.
One of the most unexpected and beautiful gifts I’ve been called to share is my work as a pet psychic medium. Communicating with animals both living and in spirit. These connections bring profound healing, comfort, and validation, and it’s a joy to help bridge the loving bond between people and their animal companions. Reading & connecting with animals is my favorite gift to explore. I love experiencing their journey or memories, feeling & seeing their personalities. These readings are so special to me & I hope they are to you as well.
Through every offering at The Light I Seek, my intention is to create a safe, sacred space for you to feel seen, supported, and spiritually held. Whether you're seeking healing, clarity, or connection, your light is always welcome here.
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Paranormal Pets. I am your host, Brandy Stark, and today we actually have a pet reader, somebody who communicates with animals, that I met at Art Walk. And this was just like very strange because the timing and the connectivity that we had, so I invited her to be a guest.
And as soon as we get back from some commercial messages, we are going to introduce and talk with Mai. So we'll do that in just a moment. All right, and welcome back.
So today's guest is a psychic who communicates with animals, one of my very favorite topics. And I met her last Art Walk, so in my haunted studio, which was even more fun. I am now driving a bright red hearse around town, so we're really getting to that Halloween spirit.
We were talking and she talked about how she has become very involved, is learning tarot and starting to read, and actually does animal communication. So let me introduce you to Mai. So she says, The light I seek was born from my own journey of healing and spiritual awakening over the last four years, a path of remembering, reconnecting, and rising into the light.
I believe that we each carry an inner glow, a sacred spark waiting to be seen, honored, and shared. My calling is to help others find their way back to their light. As a certified Reiki master, I've witnessed the powerful transformation that happens when energy flows freely, when the body, mind, and spirit return to harmony.
Reiki taught me to listen deeper, feel more fully, and hold space with compassion and trust. It's an honor to now share that sacred healing with others. My intuitive tarot readings offer heart-centered clarity and spiritual guidance, especially during times of transition or uncertainty.
I read with honesty, empathy, and a deep reverence for the soul's path. One of the most unexpected and beautiful gifts I've been called to share is my work as a pet psychic medium, communicating with animals both living and in spirit. These connections bring profound healing, comfort, and validation, and it's a joy to help bridge the loving bond between people and their animal companions.
Reading and connecting with animals is my favorite gift to explore. I love experiencing their journey or memories, feeling and seeing their personalities. These readings are so special to me, and I hope that they are to you as well.
So, with that introduction, let's welcome Mai on to Paranormal Pets. Hello, Mai. How are you doing today? Hi, Brandy.
I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. Looking forward to talking more about my gifts.
Absolutely. I know, and this is what's always so fun about Paranormal Pets is that sometimes I find that with some podcasts, it's like it takes a while to set things up, and then, you know, they get bumped around a bit, but those always make the best communications, the best podcasts, because when the timing is right, it's right. So, what exactly is it that you do when it comes to pet communication in specific? So, what is your specialty with animal communication? Yes.
So, my pet psychic gifts, what I do is I connect with the pet or animal energetically. I don't have to have them here with me. I can just take a look at their photo and connect with their energy, and they kind of take me on their journey.
I'm just there, and then I just kind of repeat what I see in my mind or the visions that I receive or what I hear, and that's how I connect with them. That's how I relay the messages to, you know, their human or, you know, their owners, and that's how I talk to them. So, it's just energetically connecting with the animal.
So, yeah. And I know when we met, this summer has been very, very tumultuous for me on a personal level between a broken leg with surgery, the used 98 hearse that I bought, having to get a new engine put in. So, hooray for that.
I'm keeping this car, though. And then another very traumatic thing was that my four-and-a-half-year-old pug that some of the listeners have kind of, I don't know, they've heard him grow up here, he had a spontaneous disc disintegration. So, I think discs 11 and 12 basically imploded, and he had to have an incredibly expensive specialist emergency surgery or else risk being paralyzed.
And that was a hard choice because of the amount of money, which was pretty exorbitant, and I am self-employed, but I couldn't not give him the chance because ultimately he had a 60% chance of fully recovering. And so, we went ahead with the surgery, and when I met you, it was his first time not going to a vet for some sort of appointment over June, July, and August. So, it was kind of his first outing to have a little bit of fun.
And I know that you worked a little Reiki with him as well. How did that work? How do you feel that energy, and how do you work with the pet energy there? Yes. So, with pet Reiki, it's very interesting.
It's the same way as we do Reiki for humans. It's just energy work. And the same way that I feel energy on humans, I feel energy on animals.
So, with him, obviously, they shaved the area on his back. So, obviously, we could see where that was. But for him, I felt it with his anxiety.
Obviously, he is finally back out after having surgery and everything, and we could tell he was very anxious, wanting to walk around the studio and everything. And so, I don't know if you noticed, but after I gave him a little bit of Reiki to calm him down, he kind of laid down and almost slept for a little bit. But it's the same way as working on giving energy to humans.
It's the same way that it applies to animals. They receive it just the same. And I'm able to feel whether they're in pain or discomfort, or if they're holding a lot more energy in certain places that cause them physical ailments as well.
And I work through that, and it's no different than working on a human. So, it's a beautiful thing that I'm able to pass that on to pets as well, or animals in general. Yeah.
Bless his heart. As I said, the only thing that would have been worse than having to do all of this would have been if Ajax was part of the 40% that did not recover, because I'd still owe all the money, and he would be paralyzed from the waist down, essentially. So, the fact that he has recovered as well as he has, he's able to walk, and he can control his bladder and bowels.
I mean, this was pretty hardcore, especially since I was recovering from a broken leg and actually doing physical therapy at the time. And then, I am a caretaker for my mom who has mild dementia. So, it has been a crazy summer.
So, I know, you know, I always appreciate any energy that we can get, but bless his heart. You know, he really tries so hard. So, he can't have any other injury for the rest of his existence, and he needs to live to be 20 years old to pay back the exorbitant amount of money that I'm paying on the rest of this year apart of pets.
But, you know, here we are. It's okay. What are you gonna do? Who needs money when you've got a pet, right? They bring more than just that, right? Emotional, you know, emotional compassion, companionship.
That's almost priceless. It is, and he is so sweet. So, you know, it is what it is, and I have to keep going with that.
The decision's been made. He's recovered pretty well, and I guess there'll be some slow recovery up through April. But, considering the fact that I literally had to palpate his bladder from the time that he went paralyzed, which was like a five-hour period on a Sunday night, I'd take him to the emergency vet and then to a specialist.
And so, he's really done quite well. Now, how does your intuition work? So, when I talk to different sensitives, different psychics, sometimes they get images, sometimes they get words, sometimes it's impressions. How does it work for you? So, when I'm connecting with pets, and even humans, I say one thing, I get the vision in my third eye.
So, for them, they take me on almost like a journey or a memory. So, if they're still alive, it's almost like I'm right next to them, and I can see almost everything that they're seeing. If they're in their living room, I can see the living room, which is very interesting.
But if they've passed on and they're over the Rainbow Bridge, and I'm connecting with them energetically that way, they take me through their memories. It's almost like I could either be in their body, and I'm seeing it through their eyes, or I'm right next to them as if, again, with the living pets, I'm right next to them, and they're walking me through their memories, and I'm in the memory. It's very interesting, but that's how I see and I connect with it.
I don't physically see them opening their mouth and talking to me. I just hear the voices in my mind, and then with the visions, it's also in my third eye, my mind's eye as well. So, that's how I get my visions and my readings, and that's how I connect with them.
Oh, wow. Very good. How long did it take for you to realize that you could do this? Well, my first pet reading was about two and a half years ago, almost three years ago, and it was during a psychic medium class that I was attending, and our teacher at the time, his name is Kit Mitchell, he just paired us randomly, and we were all just strangers in a class.
He was just like, start reading energy, and I just started reading. Later on, I didn't realize it was a pet until the person I was reading for told me it was. So, that was my first time, and then after that, I just noticed more pets energy connecting with me, and instead of how mediums connect with human souls, more pets were coming towards me, and that's how I realized, wow, I can actually communicate with pets.
And it's interesting because I've long theorized that not even a theory. I mean, we do know that as humans evolved, literally going from Paleolithic to Neolithic, that animals became part of our lives, and we know, for example, that canines have evolved to manipulate humans. They have puppy dog eyes, which wolves do not have, even though they come from a common ancestor, that that connection between animals and humans is quite existent.
And I think sometimes in today's world, maybe even more so, we have the luxury of having pets as companions, more so than, let's say, 200 years ago or 100 years ago, where they were not only companions, but also work companions, right? They work, and you know, I know pugs, for example, they have no function. They are literally companion pets. That is why they were created.
So, companion pets, feet warmers, and flea attractors. So, the attract lays off of people. Hopefully, I don't have fleas to give to them.
I'd give my Jeep the flea comb handy, but it is interesting that the strength of that bond, perhaps, is also bringing forth more animal communicators as we go through. Now, what made you want to share your gift? I mean, it can be a little daunting, maybe, to talk to folks about this. So, what made you decide to go out and say, hey, yes, I can do this, and I'm here? Yes.
So, I was actually terrified to, you know, go public with it and tell others that weren't in my spiritual community or didn't have the same open mindset as a lot of us, you know, psychic mediums are. But I came across a TikTok one day, and it was of a woman who posted about how she received a pet psychic rating for her Husky. And I have a Husky, and I have a Pomsky, and so that connected with me.
And I was like, oh my gosh, like, other people believe in this too. And her video had, I think, over, like, a million views and, like, I think 400,000 likes. And I was like, that's a lot of people that connected with that that doesn't think it's crazy.
And so, after I started talking more with my psychic community, my friends who are also psychics and mediums, I was just picking their brains about, you know, can you talk to animals? Can you connect with them? And they couldn't. And, you know, a lot of us have similar gifts, or we have more defined gifts. And it was just interesting that I thought all of us could connect with all types of energies and spirits, and I'm sure we all could if we practice on that specific, you know, topic.
But I realized that it was a specialty, and how much I enjoyed it, how much it didn't drain me, and how fun it was. And so, after that video went viral, I actually put a comment on there just jokingly saying, oh, I'm a pet psychic medium too, you know, and this brings me so much joy to see, you know, people resonating with connecting with their pets. And that comment blew up.
I got hundreds of messages afterwards, and a lot of people who wanted to connect with their pets. And I was so overwhelmed to the point where I was like, I don't know how I'm going to reply back to all these people who want ratings. So after that, I think I was like, this is my calling, because before I didn't realize what exactly I was being guided to do with my gifts as a medium, as a pet medium, as a Reiki master, you know, being so intuitive with tarot.
I was like, what, what's my purpose here? And when that happened, I was like, this is my purpose. So there, I decided I was ready to go public and start my business and, you know, provide messages to those that really want to connect with their pets or to those that, you know, are concerned about their pet's health and well-being. I find that I'm very in tune to their energy where I can pick up and pretty immediately, if they've had a fracture, if they have a tummy ache, you know, if they're very ill to where it's the end of life, I've just learned that I can connect with that.
And, and that pushes me to want to be more open about these gifts. And, but yeah, it was really the TikTok video that really pushed me to be public. And it's been such a beautiful journey so far.
You know, you got to love social media, because I know, I think I know the channel you're talking about, but I'm not sure. There's a lady pet psychic who does do lives. And I was able to one time get a question in.
And as crazy as it sounds, I have a pug named Neo Ptolemus, Neo, and oh, he is a doll. You haven't met him yet. But I actually have been wondering if he isn't a reincarnation of one of my prior pugs named Odyssey.
And she was like, yeah, he's a reincarnation. He came back for you. And I'm like, so, I was sort of, you know, it's so cool when they like actually answer your question.
But it's kind of neat to also see how this very social platform, you know, has really kind of inspired people. I never thought 10 years ago, we'd be talking about influencers as careers, which is kind of interesting. So those transformations are fun.
Now, before we go to break, I have to ask you, what is a Pomsky? Oh, my gosh, such a beautiful dog. It's basically a Pomeranian mixed with a husky. So it's a Pomsky.
So she looks just like a husky, but a mini version. I'm trying to figure, well, maybe I shouldn't ask the question how that happens. That must have been one very determined Pomeranian.
I think that breed is, I think they specially make them, if that makes sense. Okay. So it's one of the, like the customized breeds from the 90s that became very popular, like the Poggles.
It is, it is. But the interesting thing is before I got my husky, which was, he's my first time dog ever. I was not allowed to have a dog as a kid.
I was actually looking to get a Pomsky because I was like, I don't want a large dog because I don't want to take care of a dog. It's my first dog. I wanted something cute, small that I could walk and wouldn't drag me everywhere.
And I ended up with the giant husky, the Siberian husky. My husky's name is Miko. And last year, somebody reached out to me on Instagram and they saw how much I loved my dog.
And they were looking to rehome their dog. And when they showed me it was a Pomsky, I was like, that's my dream dog. So that's how I ended up right with Myla, the Pomsky mix.
And she's just such a doll. She's the sweetest dog ever. I honestly, when I first met her, it was like love at first sight.
I automatically knew that was my soul animal, my spirit animal. And she's just been such a blessing to our lives. And my dog, Miko, doesn't connect well with other dogs and he just absolutely adores her.
They get along so well and it's just been amazing. But that's a Pomsky, a husky mixed Pomeranian. That is really, really interesting.
And actually probably a lot of fun. I can only imagine how vocal they are. And huskies are just, they're hysterical in and of their own rights.
They've got a lot of personality. So, and I imagine a Pomsky has attitude to go with that personality. So the little ones almost always do.
She's actually very sweet. The only thing about her that is very Pomeranian is the barking. So my husky, Miko, he's a full bred Siberian husky.
It's very quiet. He never barked. He never really howled.
The only time he did is if he wanted food or something that I was eating. But other than that, he's such a quiet dog. Never made a noise when somebody was walking by the door, opening the door.
And when I adopted Milo last October, and she's six now, she is just such a barker. And now he's howling. So it sounds like when I get home and before I even unlock the door, it sounds like there's sirens and ambulances everywhere.
They're just making all kinds of noises. And they love you, right? I mean, you know, I know that I have a pug rumble, and when I come home, it's like total chaos and noise. But it's like, well, at least you know they love you.
And so does everybody else in the neighborhood. But that's all right. We are going to pause here for some commercial messages.
But when we get back, we'll talk a little bit more to Mai and about her readings. And we'll wrap up. All right, we'll see you in just a moment.
And welcome back. So we are talking with Mai. And the next question that I have for you is, when was your first pet reading? Now, this would be outside of the class that you did, right? When you first kind of came out as a pet psychic.
What was your first one? Oh, wow. After class. Okay.
Let me think about this because I've done so many. After class, after I realized I was a pet psychic, my first, I would say, official pet, I was reading for friends after class. But do you mean as far as like within my business? Right.
Within your business. Within my business. Okay.
So I would say the first pet reading that I did officially within my business were, I had all of the TikTok messages that came through. And I'll talk about this. My in-studio pet reading.
I'll talk about my first in-studio one because I do a lot of virtual readings. But the in-studio one is very special. My first in-studio pet reading was with a husky.
And he had just crossed over the Rainbow Bridge a few weeks before. And the interesting thing is that I reconnected with somebody through my work who happened to just see me post about how I was becoming and sharing my gifts. And she just took it as a sign that she was ready to hear from her dog that had passed over.
And she's from Palm Harbor and she drove all the way down here to St. Pete. And we did an in-studio reading. And I felt bad because I was like, oh gosh, I didn't realize it was for a... She had booked it for a mediumship connected with human souls.
And I didn't realize it was for a pet. And so that was just such an incredible connection. I mean, we all cried.
He came through so strongly. And I mean, the details that he shared, things that obviously I wouldn't know. I didn't know her very well at the time.
She was just an acquaintance. Now we're really good friends. But that was my first official in-studio pet reading within my business was connecting with this beautiful husky that had passed.
And he had cancer. And it was a very tough moment for her because she had to actually rehome him because she didn't realize she had allergies to dogs. So she had to rehome him.
And the new owners were about to have a baby and they weren't able to take him on anymore, especially during the last six months of his life because he had developed cancer and he was so sick. So they actually had to readopt him back. And she fought through it with her allergies and everything and really took good care of him.
And it was just really beautiful. We all did not leave here with dry eyes. Oh, wow.
Yeah, that has to be quite the connection. What kind of animals do you read and what's the most unusual animal that you have read? I would like to think that I read all animals. However, I've only had the opportunities to read more of the household pets like cats, dogs.
And the most unusual was the very first time where I realized it was a pet psychic was a guinea pig. Oh, yeah. That was very interesting to me.
Her name was Sunflower and she had just passed. I love that story because it's a very touching story. But my most unusual would have to be the guinea pig.
Okay. Yeah, it's funny. And I have tried to use this particular platform.
And I've talked to people for a very long time that animals, yes, they may have more instinctual drive than humans, although I guess we have our own. But they all have that unique personality and a self-awareness that the West is kindly acknowledging on a higher level. But I have pet rats.
And so I do find that there's some bias and there's kind of this idea that smaller animals or reptiles or fish or whatever, hermit crabs, that they don't have that cognizance and that self-awareness. But I find they all have a personality. And so guinea pigs in particular, in part, because they are so domesticated.
And in fact, when I teach my humanities class, one of the extra credits the students can do is the evolution of the guinea pig through art and culture. So unfortunately, they have to talk about, I think it's Peru a little bit where they're eaten, but how Queen Elizabeth I actually got a guinea pig. And it was considered an exotic animal because they were not heavily in England.
And then how it became wanted. Everybody wanted guinea pigs because the royal family had guinea pigs. And so just kind of neat to watch that evolution.
So I always appreciate when they can come through. What is your favorite reading? My favorite reading? Oh my gosh. I honestly love all of them because all of their personalities come out.
Some of them are just so hilarious. I crack up because I wish I could just show my brain as if it's like the old time reel, like the video, and play it out loud for everybody to see. But when they take me on their journeys and they're just so funny, their personalities come through.
But I have to say my favorite so far has been connecting with one of my friend's dogs recently that passed away actually a couple of weeks ago. And I didn't realize that I could do this. I mean, I've obviously seen as I'm connecting with pets who have crossed over the rainbow bridge there.
I call them their home and their heaven basically. But for this one, he was still alive. And I was able to see where his home, his heaven would be.
And I was able to actually see who was greeting him before he crossed over. I would have to say that was such a touching and beautiful vision that I got. And it offered so much healing to his human, my friend.
And I would have to say so far that has been my absolute favorite. And it was actually him sitting in front of a pond during sunset. And when I sent her, I always send my clients and whoever I'm breeding for an AI picture of their pet of how I see them in my initial vision and their home space or heaven, their place of peace.
And when I sent that to her, she was like, we have a place with a pond that literally looks just like that. So as I'm seeing this vision, I saw a white cat come over and sit right next to him on the left side. And she actually had a dog, also a Pomsky, who's white.
She just adopted her probably six months ago. And I was like, oh, he probably thinks Mochi is a cat because I don't know why this white cat just came into my vision. And she's like, wait, she's like, I had a pet cat named Bianca who passed away when I was eight.
And she was like my favorite pet. And I was like, oh my God. I was like, then Bianca is welcoming him over on the other side, like she's waiting for him.
And this is her way of saying, I will be here to help guide him through this transition. And it was just so beautiful. I was crying, you know, and, um, it was just so touching.
So I would have to say that's probably my favorite, just being able to offer peace and clarity and to have her know that her other pet from when she was eight was ready to welcome, you know, her beloved bear. His name is Bear on the other side. And that just, oh, just knowing that I brought healing to her and also to Bear to know that he's safe.
I think he was able to see that vision too, because we were energetically connected. I think that was just so beautiful. So I would have to say so far that's been my favorite.
And since you mentioned your funniest, what was the funniest thing you had come through in a reading? Oh my gosh. Okay. The funniest one was when I connected with my first TikTok client after that video and my comment went viral.
He's actually on my Instagram. When I first connected with him, he was so sassy. He like sat on the couch, crossed his hands, and he was just like, they need to trim my nails.
And it was, it was so funny just how he came through and she started laughing. And she was just telling me how, you know, everything in the house was like so loud for him. And he had told me how they just moved, but he wanted to go somewhere quiet and not this quiet.
And then she told me they moved from California to like a very country quiet area. So it was pretty funny. That's probably one of my favorites.
Wow. Yeah. Pets definitely have their opinions.
It's fun. It's got to be fun when that comes through. Now, how can people reach you and what upcoming events do you have? Yes.
So anybody can book with me through my website. It is thelightiseek.com. And then I also am on Instagram with the same name, the light I seek. It starts with an underscore and underscore between each letter.
And I'm on Facebook as well. So if they'd like to book a reading with me, I can do it virtually by phone, even through text messages. I do voice message readings as well.
They don't have to be in the studio. I've done readings for clients in Canada, New Mexico, all the different countries and states. So they can book with me either through the Instagram, which has a book now option or through the website.
Upcoming events that I have, I actually just held my first, not my first, but I held my grand opening on Saturday. We've been open since June and I just decided it was a good time to connect with the community further. So I just had my event last Saturday, but upcoming events that I have potentially, because it was such a success with how many, the number amounts of people who came out to really learn about my practice and what I do.
We are thinking about doing it quarterly. But of course, October is coming up with Halloween. So I think we may be doing something around that time for Halloween.
All right. Well, definitely keep us in the loop on that one. I know since we're up to upcoming events, in fact, tonight is my very first presentation for the Halloween season.