FREEDOM and LIBERATION
art by Aya Iseem
In the morning when I wake up, I often have to remind myself that anger, sadness, heaviness, and fear are all normal responses to murder, oppression, and occupation. I grow weary/wary of new age spirituality, health/wellness, and magical community remaining silent or neutral in the face of genocide and the harm of colonization. I know we each have our own path, and I know that calling out is not an effective tool.
I'm calling us all in sweet beings, myself included.
Is there a fear around losing support? Are you worried about your brand or image suffering? Are you at capacity and don't have resources to spare? Are you feeling overwhelmed and frozen? Are you avoidant of human rights issues because it feels like just "politics"? Are you confused because the issues feel complicated and you don’t feel “educated” enough to have an opinion? Do you feel like your voice won’t make a difference?
I have been in all of these places. They are all real reasons I stopped myself from showing up, from using my voices. In the end, they are also just programming that we have the power to shift. When I first started my unlearning, deprogramming and decolonial re-education (with my teacher and decolonial shadow work guide Dra. Rocio Rosales Meza) I felt so overwhelmed, ashamed and uncertain how to move without creating more harm. As a white bodied person, I was confronted with all the harm my colonial ancestors perpetrated against BIPOC, harm that I continue to benefit from in this capitalist, colonial system. Colonization never ended, it just became normalized. The work is often painful and challenging, AND the work is vital to the health and wellbeing of our planet, the collective and ourselves.
The key to movement is resource. We must be resourced spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally in order to show up. We need BIPOC teachers and mentors in this decolonial journey. We need reminders that there is unseen support all around us. Reclaiming ritual in my daily life and communication with mother earth, is the medicine my being craves. This is our birth right, this is our magic.
Calling you into awareness. Question your resistance. How can you be an accomplice for freedom and liberation? The New Earth paradigm requires all of us doing the work, in the human realm. As Dra. Rocio amplifies “What good is personal freedom if there is no collective liberation? They are one in the same.”
For my Samhain ceremonies last month, I incorporated journey work to connect with our healed precolonial ancestors. Those beings who lived in right-relationship with the land and communicated deeply with the elementals, plant spirits, stone people, and animals.
Visit them, sweet friends. Whenever the excuses become loud or you feel drained and unmoveable.
They are here to hold us. They are here to support our return to living in alignment with each other and the earth.
Freedom and Liberation for Palestine. Ceasefire Now. Freedom and liberation for all beings suffering under the extractive colonial machine.
We got this. I love you.
💕
Embodiment Practice:
Meditation for Connecting and Healing with Precolonial Ancestors
Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.
Call in your guides, animal friends, mother earth, wise elder self, and/or any other beings or energies you find supportive to help hold and protect your journey.
Imagine that you are standing in front of a large portal. The portal is made of swirling light and energy. It is a gateway to the land of your precolonial ancestors.
As you step through the portal, you feel a surge of energy and power. You are now in a place of deep healing and transformation.
Look around and see the beauty of your ancestors' land. Perhaps it is a place of lush forests, crystal-clear rivers, and towering mountains. Perhaps it is an expansive desert with boulders and cactus. Trust that whatever environment you find is exactly the medicine you need to receive,
As you walk through the land, you feel the presence of your ancestors all around you. They are welcoming you with open arms. “You are here sweet child!”
You come to a clearing in the forest. In the center of the clearing is a large tree. This is a sacred tree of your lineage, your ancestors prayed and communicated with this tree when they needed guidance and support. Notice how the tree appears to you.
You sit down beneath the tree and close your eyes. You feel the energy of the tree flowing through you. Your inhale is the tree elder’s exhale; your exhale is their inhale.
Take a few deep breaths and invite your benevolent, healed, preolonial ancestors to come to you. Imagine them appearing before you. They may appear as human, or they may appear in a different form.
Tell your ancestors that you are here to connect with them and to receive their supportive energy. Ask them for their guidance and support.
Your ancestors may speak to you directly, or they may communicate with you through telepathy, images, sensation or feelings.
Listen to your ancestors' messages with an open heart and mind. Receive their healing with gratitude.
When you are ready, thank your ancestors for their love and wisdom. Ask them if there is anything you can do for them. Knowing that you are always welcome to return, bow to the wisdom and the beings you have connected with before you leave.
Take a few deep breaths and imagine yourself walking away from the sacred tree, back through the ancient forest or other environment, and stepping back through the portal. You are now back in the present moment.
Integration
Take a few deep breaths and ground yourself in the present moment. Notice how you feel.
Spend a few moments journaling about your experience. What did you see, hear, and feel? What messages did your ancestors give you? How did you feel during the meditation? If the ancestors asked you to do something for them, honor their call.
Seal the meditation with an offering for the earth, such as herbs, wine, flowers, song. As you offer, visualize the land of your precolonial ancestors also receiving this gift.