desiring to remember
from an offering to one of my favorite tree friends
While we are deep in winter in the northern hemisphere, it is deceptively warm and sunny where I live in the south. Through the tiny window of my phone, I witness a world on fire.
How to work with the element of heat, of fire? Heat has many degrees and dimensions: a fever, a fight or flight response, a detonated bomb, for example. Faced with literal or emotional flames, we might react with panic, fear, exhaustion, haste, denial, or detachment.
Heat can also indicate a source of light. If I steady my focus, I can feel a small, precious flame glowing in the deep, dark hearth of my belly. How can I nurture this brilliance with the utmost care?
These long nights call for long sleep, though I often wonder how I can even think to close my eyes while bearing witness to injustice and illness — not only abroad in places like Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Haiti, and the Philippines, but in Hawaii, the Weelaunee Forest, Puerto Rico, our own backyards, and in our very bodies and spirit.
But if we can access our dreams through states of rest, how can I afford not to sleep or bow to the winter spirits? After all, rest and dreaming, solidarity and liberation are not mutually exclusive.
~
Hi dear and curious one,
Much time has passed since I've written to you! I could spend time catching you up, or I could tell you where I am and where I am headed. I'll opt for the latter :)
First things first: My hypnosis and past life regression books are closed until the spring. I am taking time to clarify my values, sharpen my vision, and recommit to this sacred practice of care and healing within the context of liberation and justice. I am also making space for other dimensions and parts of myself to play within my practice.
In Healing Justice Lineages by Cara Page and Erica Woodland, Woodland says:
"Forgetting is a tool of white supremacy. It keeps us from building upon prior strategies led by our ancestors and elders. White supremacy also teaches us that we must be the first – the first to confront a particular issue or problem and therefore need to create something new instead of drawing from our rich history of revolutionary work available to us.
Memory.
In direct opposition to white supremacy, the lineage of healing justice is built upon each instance of resistance led by oppressed peoples to confront state violence…We must acknowledge, learn from, and mark this history to honor our ancestors and to serve as a reminder of the uninterrupted legacy of resistance that anchors our work today."
My desire to remember has led me to an exciting opportunity to earn my certification in Ablon Hilot Therapy, this year — an ancient, indigenous, spiritually-based healing art and manual medicine of the Philippines. As I recommit to a path of healing justice, it feels vital for me to retrieve these lost parts of myself/ancestors. I look forward to sharing more about this in the future.
~
In other news:
I wrote a ghost story with an accompanying, original soundscape as an avenue of expression and imagination about the times we're in. I'm sharing this story as an invitation not to escape the moment, but perhaps to inhabit another dimension of it for perhaps five minutes of your day. Read it here.
I'll be releasing another album later this year under my experimental devotional sound project 'taupe set xl.' In the meantime:
Listen to 'elemental channels:' sonic impressions and ancestral transmissions inspired by meditations with various plants as a part of Kai Delgado Pfeifer's 'Filipinx Food as Medicine' course from September 2023
Listen to 'shadow of venus,' my 2021 album release. I have one artist copy left on cassette — email me if you'd like to purchase it.
Listen to 'Mar,' my 2020 album release. I also have one artist copy left on cassette — email me if you'd like to purchase it.
~
I genuinely want to know:
How have you been? What dots have you been connecting? What flame(s) are you tending to? What memories are you retrieving? What visions of the future do you hold in your heart? If we've worked together, are there gems of wisdom to retrieve and integrate from our past sessions?
With fierce care,
Kristen
