As a Medium, communication with the dead is a normal thing for me. I spend many hours, every week in conversation with people who have crossed over. Most of the time, I am helping the living find closure and re-connection after the death of a loved one. I find this to be highly rewarding, and feel proud of the work that I do. Occasionally, I am given the opportunity to take the communication a step further, out of the place of healing and into the place of growth.
This weekend, under the bright full moon my sister and I held our annual, ancestor honoring event ‘The Betwixt & Between’. We have done it for many years and always look forward to it. It has always been focused on honoring our Beloved Dead (family, friends, ancestors and guides), and includes direction for setting up an Ancestor altar, techniques for expanding your awareness; for personal experience with Spirit, and messages from the dead, passed on by me. In the past the Dead we were reaching out to were coming forward to bring love and healing to their living, and it was in many ways like my Gallery Spirit communication. This year we changed it up a bit.
Upon looking at the guest list, I was aware that the majority of people who were attending this year were people with a more advanced skill level in the area of spirit. I saw this as an opportunity to do something extraordinary. So instead of this being a time for people to hear from their dead grandmother; about how much she loved them and things they enjoyed doing together, it became a place of learning. I wanted to model the traditional reasons why tribal society chose to communicate with their dead. In most cases this was done for advice, particularly in times of great need. People would gather in solemn respect for their Ancestors and humbly ask for direction.
21 of us gathered at Blissful Dragon Farm, in Waterford, VT. When people arrived they were asked to walk the labyrinth to center themselves for the work at hand, and invited to tie a ribbon to the cloutie tree (prayer tree). When the fire was ready, everyone walked through burning incense into Dragon’s Teeth Circle; the last stone circle created by Ivan McBeth this autumn, before his passing. As each person was anointed with sacred oils, they were asked to find the stone that called to them, the place they were to set up their personal altars.
With the altars set, chairs were brought into the center of the circle close to the fire. The stones and the family altars created a strong boundary around the participants. By this time, people were starting to feel the energy of the space, and that of their ancestors gathering close. We did spiritual journey work, so that everyone could reach out to their loved ones, and then showed them how the spirits were moving in on the mist. The area inside the circle became thick with the closest ancestors and beloved dead, and the area outside the circle was filled with the many, many spirits that had shown up to hold space and be acknowledged.
The messages past were powerful. I always feel honored, when I have the opportunity to speak for the Wisdom Keepers, who are in spirit. Even though the messages were delivered to individuals, the wisdom was beneficial for all. One of the first Spirits to speak was a recently departed mother. She had made many mistakes in her life, and had a lot of struggle. Her message was of forgiveness. She spoke of the need for forgiveness in our world, and how often the best teachers are the ones that need the most forgiveness. The ones who are unable to change. I found this to be quite profound, as I have been a bit obsessed with the idea of Radical Forgiveness, lately.
Radical Forgiveness is the act of forgiving without expectation. When it comes to forgiveness most people find themselves using the word but, a lot. They say “I forgive you, but…”. This is not true forgiveness. True forgiveness comes with nothing attached, and we give it not only for the benefit of the one needing forgiveness, but for ourselves as well. For through forgiveness, we can break the karmic chains that keep pulling us back to the same lesson over and over again. Radical Forgiveness does not ask us to forget, or to give consent for the actions that caused the wrong, it simply asks us to let go, move on, and stop dwelling on the wrongs done. When we hold onto such things we keep everyone involved, wound up tight in a knot of pain.
Another of the powerful bits of wisdom passed on from the Ancestors was around death itself. The Spirit that came through was a representative of the wounded soldier. He was a military man in life, and spoke of the healing needed when one has lived a life of war. He said that sometimes when the body gets old, and the physical wounds endured in youth become overwhelming, all we can do is prepare for death. He did not speak as poetically as I am speaking right now. He was matter of fact, and to the point. His lesson was not about giving up on life, but about facing your demons and preparing for your passage into spirit. I found this to be a potent lesson, as my father had done just what he spoke of. My dad was a Vietnam Vet, who spent the last 2 years of his life finding a deep spiritual practice. He found forgiveness for himself, and a new purpose in those last years, and was ready when his time came to enter the spirit world. Preparing for death, does not mean your death is around the corner, it means you will be ready when that time comes. When someone has been to war, and seen and done things they regret, their soul needs to find peace. If we do not do this in life, then that is what we will be facing when we cross over.
Two different spirits came through to talk about anger, and love. They spoke from different perspectives on the need to let go of anger and how nothing good comes out of it. Anger directed at another person, seldom changes them, instead it changes the one holding the anger. We spend our days filled with this energy, and it transforms our view of life, showing us more that we can be angry with. But again, how is that helpful, how many of you jump right up and do something for someone who is directing anger and hatred in your direction? How do you feel when you hold such emotions? Transforming anger into love is potent. If you look at it from the terms of quantum theory/what we think, we create. I know I want more love in my life and less anger.
There were many powerful messages passed, and I walked away feeling truly blessed by the experience. The last to speak that night was my friend, Ivan McBeth, the Druid who built the stone circle we sat in. He was so ecstatic to be there, and almost everyone present could see him clearly. His energy was huge, and his message was sweet and beautiful. He spoke of remembering how powerful we are. He reminded everyone present that when we focus on the darkness we will find it in plenty, but when we focus on the light and the beautiful, kind things we are capable of, we can manifest that as well.
I believe we all chose to come in at this moment in time. It certainly is a chaotic one, with many things to fear if we focus our lens that way. But I also believe that this is a time of great change, which makes it a powerful time of healing. I know I chose to be here, and that I will continue to choose to be present spreading love wherever I go. I was deeply touched by the evenings events and thankful for the many spirits who stepped forward to share their knowledge and guidance with us. I hope you enjoyed the read.
spreading love-salicrow