Ancestral Healing Pt 1: Recognizing the Work
On some level we have all experienced the weight of 2020, granted some more than others, but as we continue to move forward each day into 2021, I noticed an underlying theme that has made itself prominent in my own life: Ancestral Trauma. To give you an example if you are unfamiliar with the concept is the stereotype that black people can't swim.
Historically speaking, black people in America have ancestral trauma closely tied to water i.e. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They were taken captive, boarded on large ships like cargo, crossed the Atlantic Ocean on their way to America to be sold as slaves. Countless lives were lost traversing the Atlantic.
Fast forward to the 1900s when black and white spaces were segregated. Systemic racism forced and continues to force black people into poverty with less accessibility to something as common as a swimming pool. Events such as white men pouring bleach in pools where black people were swimming or when Dorothy Dandridge dipped a single toe in the hotel swimming pool, resulting in the staff having to deep clean the pool are just two examples of the trauma associated with black folks and a negative association with water.
This stereotype has many layers to it, and is overall inaccurate and offensive, but the perspective I'm offering illustrates my point. There are experiences that our tribe, our ancestors and our familial lineage have experienced that find their way, deeply ingrained in our own spiritual DNA.
As I embarked on my own spiritual journey of personal development I realized there was more to the process, more misplaced trauma, that unfurled. The deeper I delved into the recesses of my past, the more I recognized the offshoots of interrelated dysfunction that was rooted in familiarity. As I faced the origins of my own lifelong challenges, I saw how intertwined they were with that of my mother’s.
My father’s.
My brother’s.
I began to wonder, “how far back does it go? Is this something rooted in my parents’ experiences or did they inherit it from their parents? How many generations’ trauma am I processing right now? And when did I decide to take on this titan of a task?”
Simultaneously I had been doing a lot of investigating--I’m very curious by nature and enjoy learning whenever possible. I consumed books, podcasts, webinars. Honing skills and developing new ways to process, well, everything. In true Isabel fashion, I had been simmering in this energy for quite a while before I recognized the work I was doing. The realization hit me like the first rays of sunlight as I listened to Tarot for the Wild Soul podcast.
In this particular episode, Lindsay Mack was discussing ancestral work and the idea that the universe is asking us if we will take on the task (or burden) of not only processing our own trauma but that of our ancestors as well. And if we were already in that process then we already said yes.The concept peaked my interest as I was quickly coming to realize that I was already doing it!
I paused.
When did I agree to this?
Exhaled.
Well now that I know I’m in it, I might as well be more vigilant about it. And so began my conscious journey of actively investigating how to heal my lineage of residual traumas that were in need of resolution.
