This is a reality I witness a lot of people struggle against. Wanting a straightforward path to follow their hearts. A clear step-by-step A to Z process. They feel confused and disappointed in search of their hearts in this way.
Over the years I’ve been asked the same question in different forms. The essence of this question is how does the spirit world connect to our practical everyday life? And recently someone asked me this question about plant spirits.
When I follow the thread of when poisonous plants showed up in my life, I continue to discover that they called me much sooner than I consciously recognized. In fact, every few months they show me another moment in time when they called me and I wasn't quite ready to say yes. For example, recently my husband started reading a book that I read not quite a decade ago. And guess who stars in the first chapters of the book? Poisonous plants :)
From the impact of childhood traumas to the ancestral burdens we carry, there is wisdom in the poison of our wounding.
Recently I was catching up with a dear spiritual friend of mine that I haven’t spoken to for quite some time. But we’ve had deep spiritual conversations and attended retreats together on and off for the last eight years.
Bridgekeeper. This is a title I heard given to me from the Spirit world many years ago on retreat. It’s a word that keeps returning time and time again. During meditations. During dreams. Synchronicities. And during sacred reflection time.
As I’ve turned this word over in my mind, heart, and soul, I’ve come to know that part of my sacred work in the world centers on bridge keeping. Which of course makes me a bridgekeeper.
For years I dreamed of mountains. Dreams of:
Driving into the mountains.
Looking up at the mountains.
Spending time with mountains.
In other words, mountains were calling me.
Now let’s pretend only 5% of your ancestors are well in spirit. That gives you 104,857 ancestors cheering you on!
Ancestors are a well of support often overlooked in modern days. Pushed aside when our rational minds can’t explain the unexplainable. Or shut out when blood relatives have done real harm in our lifetime.
When I started my ancestors' work, it was a complicated choice. Bloodline relatives abused me in the past. And my lineages have histories of addiction, violence, and sexual and physical abuse. In other words, there’s a lot of baggage.
I never thought I had “money issues.” In my previous tenured government job I operated on autopilot with predictable income. But when I left my 9-5 to run my own business, how money flowed to me changed.
I couldn’t operate on autopilot anymore. I needed to be on top of my finances every single day, week, and month of the year. And if my income dropped, I was responsible for bringing it back up.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to connect with my ancient blood ancestors for the first time.
As I tuned in I saw a tundra landscape. Northern lights illuminated the sky overhead. And a community of ancestors led by a woman approached me.
They surrounded me with joy, cheering and dancing in a circle. It felt like a homecoming that we’d all been waiting for. And one I didn’t know that I’d been waiting for deep down inside.
